Questions & Answers about Його підборіддя мокре.
What does його mean here?
Here його means his.
In Ukrainian, його can be:
- a pronoun form meaning him
- a possessive form meaning his
In Його підборіддя мокре, it comes before a noun, so it is understood as the possessive his: his chin.
Does його change to match the noun?
No. As a possessive, його does not change for the gender or number of the thing owned.
So you get:
- його брат = his brother
- його сестра = his sister
- його підборіддя = his chin
- його руки = his hands
This is different from adjectives, which do change.
Why is it мокре and not мокрий or мокра?
Why is підборіддя neuter even though it ends in -я?
Because in Ukrainian, not all nouns ending in -я are feminine. Some are neuter.
Підборіддя is one of those neuter nouns. Other common neuter nouns with similar endings include:
- життя
- питання
- ім'я
So even though the ending may look unusual at first, підборіддя is grammatically neuter.
What case is підборіддя in here?
It is in the nominative singular.
In this sentence, підборіддя is the subject: the thing being described as wet. Because it is nominative singular neuter, the adjective is also nominative singular neuter: мокре.
Why is there no word for is?
Because Ukrainian usually omits the verb to be in the present tense in simple statements like this.
So:
- Його підборіддя мокре literally looks like His chin wet
- but naturally means His chin is wet
This is very normal Ukrainian grammar.
Why is мокре after the noun?
Because here мокре is the predicate adjective: it tells you what the chin is like.
So:
- Його підборіддя мокре = His chin is wet
If you move the adjective before the noun:
- Його мокре підборіддя
that becomes a noun phrase meaning:
- his wet chin
So the word order helps show whether you have a full sentence or just a noun phrase.
Could I also say У нього мокре підборіддя?
Yes, absolutely. That is also natural Ukrainian.
У нього мокре підборіддя literally means something like At him, the chin is wet, but in natural English it comes out as:
- He has a wet chin
- His chin is wet
The version with його підборіддя focuses more directly on his chin as the subject. The у нього pattern is a very common way to express possession.
Is його ambiguous because it can also mean him?
By itself, the form can be ambiguous, but the sentence structure usually makes the meaning clear.
Compare:
- Я бачу його = I see him
- Його підборіддя мокре = His chin is wet
When його comes directly before a noun, it is normally understood as possessive: his.
How do I pronounce підборіддя?
A helpful rough guide is pid-bo-RID-dya.
A few points:
- the stress is on -рі-
- і sounds like ee in see
- ддя is soft, something like ddya
- say it slowly first: під-бо-рід-дя
Also, the double дд is not silent; it gives the ending a slightly lengthened sound.
How do I pronounce його?
A rough guide is yo-HO.
Two useful notes:
- the stress is on the last syllable
- Ukrainian г is usually pronounced like a voiced h sound, not like English g
So його does not sound like a hard g word.
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