How to Use Demonstrative Pronouns in Ukrainian for English Speakers

Understanding Demonstrative Pronouns in Ukrainian

Demonstrative pronouns are words used to point to specific things or people. In Ukrainian, these pronouns help indicate proximity or distance relative to the speaker, similar to English words like "this" and "that." However, Ukrainian demonstrative pronouns change form based on gender, number, and case, which can be challenging for English speakers.

Basic Ukrainian Demonstrative Pronouns

The most common Ukrainian demonstrative pronouns are:

• цей (tsey) – this (masculine singular)
• ця (tsya) – this (feminine singular)
• це (tse) – this (neuter singular)
• ці (tsi) – these (plural)

Demonstrative Pronouns for "That" and "Those"

To indicate something farther away, Ukrainian uses:

• той (toy) – that (masculine singular)
• та (ta) – that (feminine singular)
• те (te) – that (neuter singular)
• ті (ti) – those (plural)

Gender and Number Agreement

Unlike English, Ukrainian demonstrative pronouns must agree with the gender and number of the noun they refer to. For example, if you want to say "this book," you use "ця книга" because "книга" (book) is feminine. For "this table," you say "цей стіл" because "стіл" (table) is masculine.

Using Demonstrative Pronouns in Sentences

Here are some examples of demonstrative pronouns used in Ukrainian sentences:

• Цей будинок великий. (This house is big.)
• Та машина нова. (That car is new.)
• Ці квіти красиві. (These flowers are beautiful.)
• Ті люди друзі. (Those people are friends.)

Cases and Declension of Demonstrative Pronouns

Ukrainian demonstrative pronouns change their endings depending on the grammatical case (nominative, accusative, genitive, etc.). This is different from English, where demonstratives remain the same regardless of sentence structure. Learning the declension patterns is essential for proper usage.

For example, the masculine singular pronoun "цей" in the nominative case changes to "цього" in the genitive case.

• Nominative: цей (this)
• Genitive: цього (of this)
• Dative: цьому (to this)
• Accusative: цей / цього (this)
• Instrumental: цим (with this)
• Locative: цьому (about this)