LingoflyHoidalka, hodynnyk, okuliary: the number surprises
A dozen everyday words carry the opposite number from what English expects. The word standing next to them gives the slip away at once. For example: “Гойдалка (hoidalka) скрипить (skrypyt) на (na) кожному (kozhnomu) русі” — The swing creaks at every move. A rule from the Ukrainian course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
A dozen everyday words carry the opposite number from what English expects. The word standing next to them gives the slip away at once.
Singular in Ukrainian, plural in English: hoidalka a swing, hodynnyk a clock, brama gates, volossia hair, vzuttia shoes. So: hoidalka skrypyt, hodynnyk vidstae.
Plural in Ukrainian, singular in English: dveri door, mebli furniture, hroshi money, liky medicine, revnoschi jealousy. Then kovzany skates, lizhy skis, okuliary glasses, drova firewood, rodzynky raisins. Verbs agree: dveri zachyniaiutsia, liky pomohly.
One last pair: skhody is the whole staircase, skhodynka is one step. The quick test is a verb: put one next to the word and listen. Moi okuliary rozbylysia sounds right; mii okuliar does not.
Table
| in English | in Ukrainian | the number |
|---|---|---|
| a swing | hoidalka | singular |
| a clock | hodynnyk | singular |
| a door | dveri | plural |
| medicine | liky | plural |
By example
How the rule settles in your head
A rule is not memorized from an explanation. It is memorized from an attempt to use it and a mistake — that is why the app delivers it mixed in with words, not as a separate lesson: it resurfaces exactly where you forgot it.
Frequently asked
Hoidalka and hodynnyk: singular where you least expect?
Singular in Ukrainian, plural in English: hoidalka a swing, hodynnyk a clock, brama gates, volossia hair, vzuttia shoes. So: hoidalka skrypyt, hodynnyk vidstae.
What does it look like in a Ukrainian example sentence?
“Гойдалка (hoidalka) скрипить (skrypyt) на (na) кожному (kozhnomu) русі” (Hoidalka skrypyt na kozhnomu rusi) — The swing creaks at every move. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.