Zlamav, rozbyv, zipsuvav: how it broke
English says broke for all of it; Ukrainian asks what actually happened to the thing. For example: “Дитина зламала олівець” — The child snapped the pencil. A rule from the Ukrainian course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
English says broke for all of it; Ukrainian asks what actually happened to the thing.
Lamaty snaps a whole in two: a branch, an arm, a pencil, a lock. Zlamav hilku, zlamav nohu, zamok zlamavsia. Rozbyvaty shatters what shatters: a cup, glass, a window. Rozbyv chashku, vikno rozbute.
Psuvaty ruins without any visible crack: zipsuvav nastroi spoiled the mood, produkty zipsuvalysia the food went off, zipsuvav fail corrupted a file. For a machine that quit, speech gets shorter still: ne pratsiue. Rozetka ne pratsiue, lift ne pratsiue.
Fixing is lagodyty or remontuvaty: polahodyty stilets, vidremontuvaty mashynu. There is no one-size verb like English fix — you pick by what died and how.
Table
| what happened | the verb | example |
|---|---|---|
| snapped clean | lamaty | zlamav hilku |
| shattered | rozbyvaty | rozbyv chashku |
| ruined, no crack | psuvaty | zipsuvavsia nastroi |
| stopped working | ne pratsiue | rozetka ne pratsiue |
By example
- Дитина зламала олівецьThe child snapped the pencil
- Я розбив склянку на кухніI shattered a glass in the kitchen
- Молоко зіпсувалося за нічThe milk went off overnight
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
Zlamav, rozbyv, zipsuvav: three kinds of broke?
English says broke for all of it; Ukrainian asks what actually happened to the thing.
What does it look like in an example sentence Ukrainian?
“Дитина зламала олівець” — The child snapped the pencil. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.