LingoflyTalking after a quarrel in Ukrainian
Making up and making plans in Ukrainian. 6 phrases that the conversation is made of: «Вибач (Vybach) за (za) вчора (vchora). Я не хотів (ya ne khotiv) образити (obrazyty).» — Sorry about yesterday. I didn't mean to offend you; «Нічого страшного (nichoho strashnoho). Я (ya) теж (tezh) була (bula) сердита.» — It's nothing. I was angry too. The conversation is predictable: few lines, and almost all of them repeat from one exchange to the next.
How the whole thing sounds
The situation: making up and making plans. The conversation is short and predictable — which is exactly what makes it good for a first try: few lines, and almost all of them repeat from one exchange to the next.
- Vybach za vchora. Ya ne khotiv obrazyty.Sorry about yesterday. I didn't mean to offend you.
- Нічого страшного. Я теж була сердита.Nichoho strashnoho. Ya tezh bula serdyta.It's nothing. I was angry too.
- Ти маєш рацію. Я просто хвилювалася.Ty maiesh ratsiiu. Ya prosto khvyliuvalasia.You're right. I was just nervous.
- Zaspokoisia, use harazd. Skhodymo kudys uvecheri?Calm down, it's all right. Shall we go somewhere in the evening?
Lines one by one
| Ukrainian | Reading | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| Вибач (Vybach) за (za) вчора (vchora). Я не хотів (ya ne khotiv) образити (obrazyty). | Vybach za vchora. Ya ne khotiv obrazyty. | Sorry about yesterday. I didn't mean to offend you. |
| Нічого страшного (nichoho strashnoho). Я (ya) теж (tezh) була (bula) сердита. | Nichoho strashnoho. Ya tezh bula serdyta. | It's nothing. I was angry too. |
| Через (cherez) дрібницю (dribnytsiu) сваритися (svarytysia) не (ne) варто (varto). | Cherez dribnytsiu svarytysia ne varto. | It's not worth quarreling over a trifle. |
| Ти маєш рацію (ty maiesh ratsiiu). Я (ya) просто (prosto) хвилювалася. | Ty maiesh ratsiiu. Ya prosto khvyliuvalasia. | You're right. I was just nervous. |
| Заспокойся, усе гаразд (Zaspokoisia, use harazd). Сходимо кудись (kudys) увечері (uvecheri)? | Zaspokoisia, use harazd. Skhodymo kudys uvecheri? | Calm down, it's all right. Shall we go somewhere in the evening? |
| Звичайно (zvychaino). Обійми мене (Mene), і (i) мир. | Zvychaino. Obiimy mene, i myr. | Of course. Hug me, and we're friends again. |
How to prepare for a conversation like this
Memorizing the lines is not enough: the other person will say their own thing, not what is written. What helps more is catching the key words by ear and keeping three rescue phrases ready: “I don't understand”, “repeat, please”, “slower”.
And one more thing phrasebooks do not mention: awkwardness gets in the way more than not knowing the words.
- Fear of making mistakes gets in the way of learning a language, and noticeably so. The link turns up study after study, and together those studies cover almost twenty thousand people.checked many timesTeimouri, Goetze & Plonsky, 2019, Studies in Second Language Acquisition 41(2) · 19,933 participants from 23 countries; correlation with results r = −0.36.
- That fear can be dealt with — the methods have been tested and they work.checked many timesXiong et al., 2024, Journal of Language and Social Psychology · 37 studies, anxiety reduced by −0.61. Of the seven conditions examined, only age turned out to matter.
Frequently asked
How do you start a conversation in Ukrainian in this situation?
“Вибач (Vybach) за (za) вчора (vchora). Я не хотів (ya ne khotiv) образити (obrazyty).” (Vybach za vchora. Ya ne khotiv obrazyty.) — Sorry about yesterday. I didn't mean to offend you. The first line in such a conversation is almost always the same, and that is the one worth learning: the other person will carry it from there.
What if you did not understand the reply?
Say “I don't understand” and “repeat, please” — both are in the rescue set. Admitting your language is still shaky almost always makes the other person more patient.
Should you memorize the dialogue?
No. It is more useful to catch the key words by ear: the other person will say their own thing, and a memorized line will not always fit their reply.