Basic words in Ukrainian

309 words on the topic

• так

  yes

  Looks like it should mean "so" or "thus", but it is simply "yes". A small freebie once you know it.
• ні

  no

  A short, firm "no". To negate a verb, put ne in front of it: ne rozumiyu — "I do not understand", no helper verb.
• добре

  fine

  The standard answer: dobre, diakuyu — "fine, thank you". The adjective dobyi is "good" — same family, different job.
• погано

  badly

  The plain opposite of dobre — how you feel or how things went. Pohano sounds a touch like "poorly", which fits the meaning.
• чудово

  excellent

  From chudo, "miracle" — so "miraculously good". Warmer than dobre: say it when things really are great.
• треба

  it is necessary

  An impersonal word that never changes shape: treba pratcuvaty — "one must work". Add a person with a little word: treba mi — "I need to".
• на

  on

  Works as expected: na vokzali "at the station", na roboti "at work". After it comes the "where" form case — the "location" ending.
• в

  in

  Before consonant clusters it swaps to u for the ear's sake: v misti but u Kyivi. Same word, two costumes, zero change of meaning.
• і

  and

  Between vowels it shrinks to y, like an apostrophe: mama y tato — "mom and dad". A second "and" is ta — you will meet it soon.
• але

  but

  The plain "but" of protest. After a negation Ukrainian switches to a: ne kava, a chay — "not coffee but tea".
• а

  and (contrastive)

  The "and" that sets two things against each other: Ya pratcuyu, a ty? — "I work, and you?". For plain "but" Ukrainian uses ale.
• чи

  or

  Two jobs: at the start of a question it works like "whether" (chy tse kava? — "is this coffee?"), between nouns it is plain "or".
• дуже

  very

  The all-purpose intensifier. Duzhe diakuiu — "thank you very much" — is how you pump up a thank-you.
• можна

  one may, it is allowed

  An impersonal permission word, like "may one?". Mozhna kavu? — "may I have a coffee?" — is the polite way to order without ever saying "give me".
• половина

  half

  For "half past" times Ukrainian switches to piv, which glues on: piv hodyny. Polovyna is the noun — half of a bread, half of anything.
• ще один

  one more

  Shche is "still, more" and never changes: shche odyn chay, shche odna kava. The ending changes on the noun, not on shche.
• досить

  enough

  One word covering both "enough" and "that will do": dosyt, diakui — enough, thank you. Stress sits firmly on the first syllable.
• усього

  altogether (in total)

  The till word: usoho sto hryven — in total, one hundred hryvnias. The same word can mean "merely" — only the voice decides between the two.
• більше

  more

  Grown from velykyi, "big", though the root shrank along the way. It serves both size and amount: more space, more time, one word for both.
• менше

  less

  The mirror of bilishe. Menshe tsukru, bud laska — "less sugar, please" — and after it the noun takes the "of" form, as after every comparative.
• важкий

  heavy

  One word for heavy by weight and heavy by difficulty — a heavy bag and a heavy problem use the same adjective.
• легкий

  light (weight)

  Stress at the front: LEH-kyy. Light by weight and light by difficulty are one word — the exact partner of vazhkyy.
• новий

  new

  Novyi rik — New Year, with the adjective agreeing in gender: novyi, nova, nove. An honest decliner, no tricks.
• старий

  old

  Old things and old people alike: staryi dim, "an old house". For asking age: skilky tobi rokiv? — "how many years to you".
• зламаний

  broken

  From zlamaty, "to break". Machines break with the same verb as bones — an arm and an elevator share the grammar.
• усе гаразд

  everything is fine

  Harazd is an old word from agreements — "in good order". More often heard as a question: Vse harazd? — "all good?"
• усе добре

  all is well

  At the head of a phrase it is use; after a vowel it flips to vse — the language shuffles u and v for a smoother mouthful, a habit you have seen elsewhere.
• одинадцять

  eleven

  Built as "one-on-ten" and you can hear both parts. Like after five, the noun after it takes a special form:odynadtsyat hryven — "eleven hryvnias".
• дванадцять

  twelve

  Dva "two" plus -nadtsyat, and the arithmetic is visible right in the word. Twelve months is dvanadtsyat misyatciv — the same form as after five.
• тринадцять

  thirteen

  Try "three" plus -nadtsyat. The whole run to nineteen is built the same way, and the numbers themselves never change form.
• чотирнадцять

  fourteen

  From chotyry, "four", with nothing dropped — the longest word in the row. Four-plus-ten, spelled out honestly.
• пʼятнадцять

  fifteen

  The apostrophe marks a little "y" glide: p-yat-nadtsyat. A quarter hour is said with the number: piatnadtsyat khvylyn — "fifteen minutes".
• шістнадцять

  sixteen

  From shist, "six" — the letter i inside is the tight vowel: "shyst". No apostrophe after the sh, unlike piatnadtsyat.
• сімнадцять

  seventeen

  From sim, "seven", no apostrophe — not "sim-yat". Said "simnadtsyat"; seventeen plus ten more will finish the row.
• вісімнадцять

  eighteen

  From visim, "eight" — a word you may know from cafe bills. No extra opening consonant: the "vo-" of borrowed words simply is not there.
• девʼятнадцять

  nineteen

  The last of the -nadtsyat family, with the apostrophe marking the glide: dev-yat-nadtsyat. After it the tens are built differently.
• двадцять

  twenty

  Two-plus-ten again, but with a vowel dropped: dvadtsyat. Compound numbers just follow: dvadtsyat odyn, dvadtsyat pyat.
• тридцять

  thirty

  Try "three" plus -dtsyat, the arithmetic showing again. English "thirty" hides its three; Ukrainian wears it on the outside.
• сорок

  forty

  The one ten that stands alone, not built from a unit — its own word, just like "forty" is odd in English too.
• пʼятдесят

  fifty

  The apostrophe again: p-yatdesyat. There is even an idiom piatdesyat na piatdesyat, "fifty-fifty", working exactly like English.
• шістдесят

  sixty

  From shist, tight vowel and all: "shystdesyat". Sixty khvylyn equals one hodyna — the arithmetic teaches the words.
• сімдесят

  seventy

  From sim with no apostrophe, said exactly as written — unlike piatdesyat, where the apostrophe changes everything next door.
• вісімдесят

  eighty

  From visim, no opening "vo-" bolted on. Recognizable on the second glance — and that is a normal pace for this word.
• девʼяносто

  ninety

  Another oddball ten: no visible unit inside, apostrophe in the middle — devyanosto. Memorize it whole, like "ninety".
• сто

  one hundred

  A short, clean word, said "sto". The bigger hundreds reshape it — dvisti, trysta — so the bare sto survives only at exactly one hundred.
• тисяча

  one thousand

  A recognizable cousin of "thousand", both from the same old borrowing. After pyat tysyach the noun takes the "of" form: tysyacha hryven.
• мільйон

  million

  An English ear hears "million" at once — a straight international borrowing, spelled here with one l and no doubled consonant. In speech it is often clipped to a shorter form.
• нуль

  zero

  The same word can mean "nothing" in a score — a null result. Said and spelled about as you would guess.
• перший

  first

  Ordinals agree like adjectives: pershyi den, persha kava, pershe mistse. One shape for each gender, exactly like the adjectives you know.
• другий

  second

  The same word also means "other": druhyy den — "the second day" or "the other day" alike. Order and otherness in one word.
• третій

  third

  Recognizable root, with the tight i where another vowel might sit. From here the row runs regularly: chetvertyi, pyatiy.
• останній

  last

  Both "last" and "final": ostanniy raz, "the last time". Its natural pair is pershiy — first and last bookend everything.
• скільки

  how much

  You know it from skilky koshtuye; alone it asks amounts: Skilky vam rokiv? — "how many years do you have?", the way ages are asked here.
• пара

  a couple

  Para khvylyn is literally "a pair of minutes" but means "a few" — the counting is honorific, not exact. A pair, a couple, a small handful.
• штука

  piece

  The word for counting things one by one: pyat shtuk, "five pieces" — the after-five form you know. Markets run on this word.
• відсоток

  percent

  Literally "from-a-hundred" — the arithmetic is baked into the word. The o is a fleeing one: vidsotok but dva vidsotky.
• кожен

  every

  Nothing like "every" in sound — memorize kozhen. It agrees in gender: kozhna kava, kozhe misto, and takes a singular noun after it.
• хто

  who

  Said with a firm kh at the front. It bends for cases — khto, koho, komu — and for things the question word is shcho, "what".
• чому

  why

  Covers both "why" and "how come". The answer usually starts with bo — "because" — one short syllable, no longer word needed.
• навіщо

  what for

  Built on na shcho, "for what" — it asks about a goal. Chomu asks the cause, navishcho asks the purpose; the split matters here.
• який

  which (what kind)

  Stress lands at the end: yakyi. It bends through the genders — yakyi, yaka, yake — and moonlights as "which" inside longer sentences.
• чий

  whose

  Agrees with the thing owned, not the owner: chyi dim, chyya kava, chyye misto. The sound is a clean "chey".
• ніхто

  nobody

  Ni plus khto — "no who". The negative is doubled: nikhto ne pryyde, "nobody will come". One ne alone would be wrong.
• щось

  something (a thing)

  Built on shcho, "what". U mene ie shchos dlia tebe — "I have something for you" — a gift of a sentence.
• обидва

  both

  For masculine pairs it is obydva, for feminine obydvi: obydva druzy, obydvi kavy. Two genders, two forms, no exceptions.
• не знаю

  I do not know

  Ne glued to znaiu — negation is one solid block, no helper verb. Znaty covers knowing a fact and knowing a person alike.
• ризик

  risk

  The international word, same sound, same meaning. Na vlasnyi ryzyk — at your own risk — is said in the mountains and by the water alike.
• запасний план

  backup plan

  The adjective "zapasnyi" already did duty for the spare tire and key in this unit. A failed plan "provalyvsia" — fell into a hole, as the language sees it.
• неприємність

  trouble (a mishap)

  From priiemno, pleasant, with ne- bolted on. The closed syllable keeps the i: nepryiemnist, plural nepryiemnosti — a small unpleasantness that bends like any noun.
• причина

  cause

  Lives inside a few set phrases: "prychyna pozhezhi", "shukaty prychynu", "bez prychyny" — and on forms "z osobystykh prychyn", for personal reasons.
• результат

  result

  Three main uses: "rezultat testu", a test result; "bez rezultatu", without result; "yak rezultat", as a result. In sport it is the score.
• тому

  therefore

  One word doing the whole job: "It rained, tomu we stayed home." A comma goes before it, none after. Do not confuse with the "because" word — the two halves of a sentence swap places with them.
• тому що

  because

  The comma before it is always there. The shorter conversational twin is "bo", also with a comma, and starting a sentence with "bo" is not done. The pair: "because" answers why, "therefore" answers what followed.
• через це

  because of this

  "Cherez" here is a preposition of cause and blame, not of crossing: "cherez doshch", because of the rain, "cherez noho", because of him. Cooler than "therefore" — it points at the culprit.
• залежати від

  to depend on

  The same construction as in English, with "vid" plus the "of" form: "zalezhaty vid pohody". The most common answer in conversation is the one-word "Zalezhyt." — it depends.
• пояснити причину

  to explain the reason

  Two verbs split the work: "poiasnyty" is to make circumstances clear, to justify; "roztlumachyty" is to untangle the hard to understand. You "poiasniiuete" a reason, you "roztlumachuiete" a task.
• мета

  goal (an aim)

  The same meta that opens the border phrase about the purpose of a trip. A go-getter is tselespriamovanyi — and that long word carries a different root, tsil.
• сенс

  point (meaning)

  "Sens zhyttia", the point of life; "nemaie sensu chekaty", no point waiting. The meaning of a word is "znachennia" — a different word, and the two are not interchangeable.
• висновок

  conclusion

  From "vysnovuvaty", to draw out — a conclusion is what you drew, like the summary at the end of a chapter. The main phrase: "diity vysnovku", to reach a conclusion.
• можливість

  opportunity

  From "mozhlyvo", possible: an opportunity is a possible thing. Learn the pair "maty mozhlyvist" and "vtratyty mozhlyvist". An option-variant is "variant" — do not swap them.
• можливо

  possibly

  The same adverb does duty for "maybe" and "it may well be" — the comma after it does the splitting. Intonation, not vocabulary, marks the difference.
• неможливо

  impossible

  Just the "ne-" prefix. In speech people more often say "ne vykhodyt" — it does not work out. The second sense is about people: "nemozhluva liudyna" is an impossible, unbearable person.
• необхідність

  necessity

  Held up by two phrases: "nemaie potreby", there is no need, and "za potreby", if needed. The adjective keeps its o in the first syllable. The handy impersonal "treba" you already know.
• обовʼязково

  mandatory (definitely)

  The apostrophe inside is required writing, from "oboviazok", duty. Signs say "Reiestratsiia oboviazkova" — registration is mandatory. As an answer it means definitely: "Will you come?" — "Oboviazkovo!"
• мені доведеться

  I will have to

  An impersonal dovedetsia with the to-form beside it: meni, tobi, yomu. From dovesty, to bring a thing all the way — necessity as something delivered to you.
• дозволено

  allowed

  From "dozvil", the permit. Works without a subject: "Tut dozvoleno kuryty." To a person you say it with a verb: "mozhesh kuryty" — you may. The noun you already collected.
• заборонено

  forbidden

  The partner of dozvoleno, from zaboroniaty. After the exit sign, this is the sign you meet most — smoking, parking, entering, all in its power.
• вибір

  choice

  From "braty", to take: "vybir" is the thing taken out. Three phrases cover life: "maty vybir", "ne maiu vyboru", "za vlastnym vybom" — by one's own choice. Second sense: the assortment in a shop.
• варіант

  option

  In living speech exactly the option word: "maiemy dva varianty" — we have two options. A "mozhlyvist" is what you miss; a "variant" is what you pick between.
• сумнів

  doubt

  Phrases: "bez sumnivu" — without doubt, "u mene sumnivy" — I have doubts. Careful: "bez sumnivu" expresses certainty, not doubt — a ready-made formula of agreement.
• сумніватися

  to doubt

  Reflexive, taking "v" plus the "where" form: "sumnivatysia v nomu". The more common pattern is with "shcho": "Sumnivaiusia, shcho vin pryide" — I doubt he will come. Alone, "Sumnivaiusia." says it all.
• упевнений

  sure (confident)

  Built on "pevnyi", definite or certain: to be sure is to be "made certain". It agrees — "vpevnenyi", "vpevnena" — and takes "shcho". Overdoing it gives "samovpevnenyi", overconfident, already a rebuke.
• навряд чи

  hardly (unlikely)

  Literally "unlikely-whether": the little question word "chy" closes the pair, and no comma follows. The short answer is just "Navriad." Next to it stands "Sumnivaiusia, shcho..."
• напевно

  surely

  From pevnyi, "certain" — literally "certainly". One word with two weights: "surely" and "must be" — the intonation decides how sure the speaker sounds.
• точно

  exactly

  Both senses in one: "Tochno pryidu", I will definitely come, and "tochno o piatiy", sharp at five. Easy to confuse, painful to mix: "definitely at five" is a promise to the minute.
• мені здається

  it seems to me

  From "zdavatysia", to seem, and it reaches for "shcho": "Meni zdaietsia, shcho zachyneno." Its favorite spot is the end of a sentence, as a little tail: "Zachyneno, meni zdaietsia."
• насправді

  actually (in fact)

  One word: "on the truth of it". It corrects what was just said and opens a sentence: "Naspravdi vse bulo inakshe." The neighbor "iakraz" is "just the opposite", a different animal.
• припустити

  to suppose

  From "puskaty", to let in: to suppose is to let a thought in. "Prypustumo, shcho tse pomylka" — let us suppose it is a mistake. The noun is "prypushchennia", a supposition.
• я не впевнений

  I am not sure

  The polite formula of disagreement: instead of "no", people say "I am not sure". A woman says "ia ne vpevnena". It continues with "shcho" or "chy": "I am not sure whether it is a good idea."
• досвід

  experience

  The same root as the certificate word "svidotstvo": experience is what you witnessed yourself. "Dosvid roboty" went into your resume. An experiment is "eksperyment" or "doslid" — a different word.
• випадок

  case (situation)

  From "vypadaty", to fall out: a case is what fell to you. Phrases: "v tsomu vypadku", in this case; "v bud yakomu vypadku", in any case. An example-illustration is "pryklad", the next word.
• приклад

  example

  Listen out: this word also means the stock of a rifle — one word, two worlds. "Navedy pryklad" is give an example; "pryklad na plechi" is about a gun. Here it is a model to follow: "dobryi pryklad".
• наприклад

  for example

  One word, letter for letter as expected. It sits mid-sentence with commas on both sides: "Vzimy shos teple, napruklad sviter" — take something warm, for example a sweater.
• різниця

  difference

  From "riznyi", different: a difference is what makes things different. "Riznytsia mizh tym i tym" takes the "between" word; "nemaie riznytsi" — no difference. In a shop it is also the surcharge when exchanging goods.
• порівняння

  comparison

  From the compare verb, with "rivnyi", even, inside. The headline phrase: "porivniano z mynulym rokom" — compared with last year, ready for prices, weather and statistics.
• відрізнятися

  to differ

  Reflexive, with "vid" plus the "of" form: "vidrizniaietsia vid inshykh" — differs from the others. Without the reflexive ending it means to tell apart: "vidrizniaty kolory". Simpler speech says "buty inshym".
• схожий

  similar

  Takes "na": "skhozhyi na batka", takes after the father; "tse skhoze na nashe" — that is like ours. And "buty skhozhumy odyn na odnoho" is to be similar to each other.
• схожість

  similarity

  From the same adjective: the thing that makes two alike. "Skhozhist mizh nymy", "pomitity skhozhist" — to notice a similarity. A word made for learners: two languages are full of similarities and of traps in equal measure.
• зміна

  change

  One word for a work shift and a change of any kind. To change something is zminyty, to be changed is zmynytysia — the noun keeps both doors open.
• по-перше

  first of all (firstly)

  Written with a hyphen and opening the list; a comma after it is normal. The list word is "po-", not the one you might guess. And "for the first time" is a different word, "upershe" spelled differently.
• по-друге

  secondly

  Built like "firstly" and standing in the same spot — the first word of the second half, often after the comma that splits the two halves. The row continues "po-tretie", "po-chetverte", and closes with "nareshti", finally.
• насамперед

  first of all

  One solid word where three would do: na-sam-pered, "on the very front". Its bookish twin peredusim says the same thing with more starch.
• крім того

  besides (moreover)

  The preposition "krim" takes the "of" form — hence "toho" of "that". It stands first and a comma after it is usual. Neighbors: "okrim tsogo", the same, and "bilshe toho", moreover.
• до речі

  by the way

  Literally "to the point": a comma after the two words is normal — "Do rechi, ty vzhe bachuv ioho post?" Mid-sentence it means "fittingly" instead. The chatty substitute is "slukhai".
• загалом

  on the whole

  One word, from "zahalnyi", general: on the whole, all in all. It opens the sentence and takes no comma. As a filler word people say "nu" or "slovom" instead.
• коротко кажучи

  in short

  Kazhuchy comes from kazaty, to say — the same root as kazka, the fairy tale. Literally "saying it briefly", the phrase does what it claims.
• іншими словами

  in other words

  The instrumental after "inshymy", other — as you would build it yourself. It opens the sentence with a comma: "Inshymy slovamy, zaiavu treba pysaty znovu." Shorter: "kazhuchy prosto" or "tobto", that is.
• головне

  the main thing

  Not a noun but a neuter adjective standing in for one — so it lives only in the frame "holovne, shchob...": "Holovne, shcho my vchasno pryikhaly." The comma before "shcho" is required. A real noun is "holovna rich" or "sut".
• врешті-решт

  in the end

  Hyphenated, from reshta, the remainder — literally "in the rest of the rest". The doubling gives it a resigned shrug you can borrow.
• хоча

  although

  From khotity, to want: even this, want it or not. Push it harder and it becomes khoch by; plain khoch is the "at least" word.
• зате

  but then again

  Ends on e and is written solid: zate. Concedes first and pays back second — expensive, zate reliable — the trade-off built into one word.
• навпаки

  on the contrary

  From an old word for "back again". It covers both a contrary opinion and a contrary position: "sydity navpaky" — to sit opposite. Stands first, almost always with a comma.
• незважаючи на

  despite

  Literally "not looking at" — a verb form that hardened into a preposition. To open a whole clause add "ne zvazhaiuchy na te, shcho", and there the comma before "shcho" is obligatory.
• однак

  however

  No final o: odnak, one syllable lighter than the eye expects. It opens a sentence or follows a comma, whichever the rhythm wants.
• з одного боку

  on the one hand

  The word here is "bik", a side — literally "from one side". It opens the sentence, takes no comma after itself, and almost demands its partner "z inshoho boku" in the second half — leaving it alone sounds cut off.
• з іншого боку

  on the other hand

  The partner of "on the one hand", first word of the second half, with the comma before it because it splits the halves. "Inshyi" is other — while "druhyi" is second in a row: "druhyi poverkh" is the second floor.
• тим не менше

  nevertheless

  Literally "by that not less" — the phrase stays alive word for word: "Everyone talked me out of it, tym ne menshe I tried." First in its half, after the comma. The conversational substitute is "vse zh taky".
• замість цього

  instead of this

  Zamist comes from mistse, a place: instead is "in the place of". It demands the of-form — zamist tsioho, zamist mene — and keeps it always.
• усе одно

  it is all the same to me

  Two words with two lives: at the front of a sentence it means "anyway, still"; with the dative it means indifference — "meni vse odno", it is all the same to me. Do not confuse with "odnakovo", equally.
• випадково

  by accident

  From the case word: by accident, as a chance happening. Very common in conversation: "vypadkovo ioho zustriv". The antonym is "navmisno", on purpose — and "spetsialno" in that sense carries a reproach.
• спеціально

  on purpose

  The word carries both tones: "vin zrobuv tse spetsialno" — he did it on purpose, with a reproach; "spetsialno dlia tebe" — specially for you, with warmth. Intonation decides. Sharper still: "na zlo", out of spite.
• невдача

  setback

  Just ne in front of vdacha, luck. But vdacha also means temperament: lehka vdacha, an easy disposition — context tells luck from character. The first setback did not stop him.
• крок за кроком

  step by step

  The second word is instrumental after za — the same mold as "day after day", "year after year". One pattern, all of time: krok za krokom, den za dnem, rik za rokom.
• порядок дій

  order of steps

  Diia is an action, plural dii — so the phrase is literally "order of actions". Poriadok itself covers tidiness in a room and order in a schedule. Write down the order of steps.
• докладно

  in detail

  From dokladAty, "to report or lay out": in detail is "as if fully reported". A detail is a detal — the international word doing small work here.
• своїми словами

  in your own words

  The with-form, no preposition needed — the words themselves do the instrument's job. It restates what was just said, plainly.
• простіше кажучи

  simply put

  The tail on kazhuchy turns a verb into "speaking-wise" — the same device as "briefly speaking". The first word is the comparing form of "simple".
• наведи приклад

  give an example

  You never hand one over — examples are LED IN: the verb means to bring up to the point. The word for an example is built on "to apply".
• покажи, як це робиться

  show how it is done

  The verb wears the -sia tail and names no doer: things simply "get done" — an impersonal turn. And the comma before yak is not optional.
• зрозуміло?

  is that clear?

  The teacher's Zrozumilo? A softer friend asks Vse zrozumilo? — "everything clear?" And "Is anything unclear?" is Chy ie shcho ne-zrozumile. A whole classroom of clarity checks.
• тепер зрозуміло

  now it is clear

  You can add the dative: meni teper zrozumilo — clear TO me, personally. Without meni it is a general clearing: now everything is clear, to everyone, everywhere.
• я заплутався

  I got confused

  From plutaty, "to tangle": confusion is plutAnyna, a tangle. A woman says zaplutalAsia — the tail and the gender both land at the end of the word.
• згадати

  to recall

  Built as "to guess at" something — z-hadaty. Without the z-, hadaty means "to divine, tell fortunes", so the little prefix carries the whole meaning.
• забути

  to forget

  One clean word for forgetting things, facts, and people. To leave an umbrella behind: zabuty parasolku u kafe — the same verb, no extra machinery.
• намір

  intention

  One word for intention and aim. Navmysno, "on purpose", grows from the same root; "to be going to do" is zbyraiusia — a different verb entirely.
• передумати

  to change one's mind

  Built on dumaty, "to think", with a prefix meaning "over, re-": think it over differently. Without the prefix the verb just means "to think" — the prefix flips the outcome.
• усе за планом

  everything is going according to plan

  Ukrainian says "all according to plan" with za plus the instrumental case — za planom. No verb needed; the bare phrase is nearly an idiom of reassurance.
• якщо вийде

  if it works out

  Yakshcho is "if", fused into one word. The verb is the go-out verb again: whether it "comes out" is whether the plan works.
• поки не вирішив

  I have not decided yet

  Poky is "for now", standing on its own. Stretch it to poky shcho, "for the time being", and it buys you a little more patience.
• усе змінилося

  everything changed

  The little -sia makes the verb intransitive: zminyty "to change something", zminytysia "to change oneself". The noun zmina means both a change and a work shift.
• на краще

  for the better

  Where English says "for the better", Ukrainian uses na plus the comparative: zminytysia na krashe. The literal "do krasheho" sounds off — na is the natural choice.
• на гірше

  for the worse

  The second half of the pair, built the same way. Hirshe, "worse", comes from pohan yi — and it stars in the proverb chym hirshe, tim krashe, "the worse, the better".
• належати

  to belong

  Ts ei dim nalezhy t susidovi, "this house belongs to the neighbor". For belonging to a group: Ya nalezhu do ts ie i komandy — "I belong to this team".
• чужий

  someone else's

  One adjective covers "another's" and "foreign": chu zha mov a is both "someone else's speech" and "a foreign language". The opposite is svii, "one's own".
• спільний

  shared

  From spi lno, "together": a shared account, a shared kitchen. Zahaln yi is "common" in the other sense — common to all, general — a fine distinction worth noting.
• штовхати

  to push

  A fully native verb — shtovkhaty machyn u, "to push a car". The perfective adds -nu-: shtovkhn uty; you can hear the nudge in the sound.
• тягнути

  to pull

  The root of "pulling power": tiahn uty chas, "to drag out time", and tiahar, "a weight, burden" — one family, one direction of force.
• вдарити

  to strike

  The first v is the sound-flow rule again, as in vsty hnuty. A kick at the ball is an udar; vdary ty po m-i achu is said exactly like "strike the ball".
• метр

  meter

  International. After numbers the case shifts: dva metr y, pi at metr iv. A square meter is kvadratn yi metr — in apartment ads simply m2.
• сантиметр

  centimeter

  International, abbreviated sm. Smaller still is a mili metr — and note the i where you might not expect it: s-i-nt ymetr.
• кілометр

  kilometer

  International with the long i. Speed is kilo metriv na hod ynu — kilometers per hour, km/h on the signs; distance measured out in hours, a very road-trip habit.
• літр

  liter

  International. Half a liter is pi v li tra; a liter and a half is pi vtory litr y — with the apostrophe compulsory. A bottle says 1 l, and the comma in numbers is decimal.
• грам

  gram

  International — on labels just the letter h. After five and up, "of" form: dvis ti hramiv. The kilogram you have known since the numbers.
• вага

  weight

  One nest, four words: the scales are this word in the plural, and "heavy" and "important" grow from it too. Weighing things and weighing decisions share a root.
• довжина

  length

  From dovh yi, "long". All four measures build the same way — adjective plus -ina — and all four are feminine: dovh zyna, shyryna, vysota, hlybina.
• ширина

  width

  From shyrok yi, "wide" — built almost letter for letter as expected. A "wide gesture" travels whole: shyrok yi zhest, no translation needed.
• висота

  height

  From vysok yi, "tall, high". A person's height is also vysot a, and altitude is vysot a nad rivnem moria — "above sea level", on every signpost in the Carpathians.
• глибина

  depth

  From hlybok yi, "deep". V hlyb ini dushi is "in the depths of the soul" — the same image; the pool sign says hlybina 1,4 m.
• приблизно

  approximately

  Built from blyzko, "near": approximately is "near-ly". Its cousins are blyzko, "about", and des, "somewhere": blyzko pi atoi, des o pi atii.
• майже

  almost

  A word you simply have to memorize — nothing gives it away. Written as one block, stressed up front: MAI-zhe.
• рівно

  precisely

  From rivn yi, "even, level": an even number, a level line, a plain — one root. Ri vno od yn ki lo hram, "exactly one kilogram"; ri vno o somii, "at seven sharp".
• у середньому

  on average

  The middle-word again — the same root that names Wednesday, the week's middle. The whole phrase sits in the at-form behind the little u.
• удвічі

  twofold

  Multiples end in -ichi: udvichi bilshe, "twofold more". "In two times" also translates it — u dva razy — longer, but impossible to get wrong. Learn both.
• цифра

  digit

  International — but only the single sign from zero to nine. A whole number is chyslo, and a phone number or shoe size is a nomer: three words where English manages with two.
• чверть

  a quarter

  From chot yry, "four": the quarter is the fourth part. A quarter of an hour is chvert hod yny — "of" form, with no way around it.
• зважити

  to weigh

  From va hy, "scales". Zva zhyty is the one-time, complete act; zvazh uvaty is the ongoing one. And "zvazh na tse" means "given that" — weight turned into consideration.
• зайвий

  spare (extra)

  Zaivyi covers both "spare" and "needless": an extra ticket is zaivyi, and so is a remark nobody asked for. One adjective, both judgements.
• порожній

  empty

  From the noun porozhnecha, "emptiness" — a hollowness, not just a lack of things. The soft -ii ending is the long-form giveaway.
• уникати

  to avoid

  What you avoid goes in the "of" form: unykaty tsukru, "avoid sugar". To walk around a problem like a puddle is obiity problemy — the same verb you will meet for detours.
• факт

  fact

  International and easy. The set phrase is fakt poliagaje v tomu, shcho — "the fact is that..." — and the comma before shcho is obligatory, just as before "that" in careful writing.
• питання

  question

  From pyty, "to ask": a question is literally "an asking". U mene odne pytannia — "I have one question" — is the opening line of every official phone call.
• важливий

  important

  From vaha, "weight": important means weighty. A heavy suitcase is vazhkyi, not vazhlyvyi — one letter, and you have weighed luggage instead of importance.
• позитивний

  positive

  Built the international way. It works for both evaluation and analysis: pozytyvnyi test is a positive test — in a lab that is the result you want, in life it depends.
• негативний

  negative

  The pair to the positive word. A negative review is nehatyvnyi vidhuk, and to deny is zaperechuvaty — the same root as the objection word from this unit.
• порівняно з

  compared to

  From rivnyi, "even, level": comparing is leveling two things side by side. What follows is the instrumental case: porivniano z mynulym rokom — "compared to last year".
• такий самий

  the same kind of

  Literally "such the very same". Odnakovyi is "identical", and toi samyi is "the very same one" — three different samenesses, and the middle one is this word.
• перевага

  advantage

  From perevazhaty, "to outweigh": an advantage is what weighs more on the scale. On the road the same word is the right of way — whoever has perevaha goes first.
• недолік

  drawback

  Literally "a lacking" — the not-enough of a thing. Careful with brak: it means a defect or a shortage here, while marriage is shliub, three ideas English keeps apart.
• наслідки

  consequences

  From slid, "trail": consequences are the trail a decision leaves behind it. Usually plural: nesty naslidky — "to bear the consequences", carry your own trail.
• враховувати

  to take into account (ongoing)

  From rakhuvaty, "to count": to account for is to count in. Vrakhui, shcho... — "mind that..." — the everyday imperative of the same verb.
• скоріш за все

  most likely

  Literally "sooner over everything": the comparing form of "soon" plus za, "beyond". Comparisons here climb through za, not through a special word.
• напевне

  for sure

  From pevnyi, "certain". Its sibling napevno hedges — "probably" — while this form commits. Context, not spelling, tells you which one you heard.
• імовірність

  probability

  From imovirnyi, "probable". Velyka imovirnist is "high probability"; mozhlyvist is possibility — a probability is counted, a possibility simply exists. Two words, two worlds.
• припущення

  assumption

  From prypuskaty, "to suppose": an assumption is a guess made before the check. Then it becomes a fact or a mistake — tse lyshe moie prypushchennia, "this is only my assumption".
• схоже, що

  it seems that

  Literally "it is similar that". Beside it live meni zdaietsia, "it seems to me", and sudiachy z usoho, "judging by everything" — this one sits in between.
• мабуть

  must be

  You have met this word as "probably"; here it leans "must be" — one word, two weights of guesswork, and the context tips it. Povynno buty also works but tastes of obligation.
• не може бути

  it cannot be

  Both "impossible" and the gasp of disbelief — "it cannot be!". Possible is mozhlyvo, impossible nemozhlyvo: one little word covers both the verdict and the surprise.
• принаймні

  at least

  A whole phrase squeezed into one word. Next to it: khoche b raz — "at least once" — and shonaimenshe, "no less than", which is about numbers. Three tools of understatement.
• у будь-якому разі

  in any case

  The hyphenated any-word again, this time inside the at-form. And raz is "a time, an occasion" — no word for "case" anywhere in the phrase.
• про всяк випадок

  just in case

  Literally "for any case" — the foresight phrase, not the outcome one. Unlike the neighbor "under any circumstances", this is about keeping a spare umbrella, not about what happens next.
• якби

  if (hypothetical)

  One word doing the job of a two-word phrase. After yakby comes the past tense, and bi appears in the other half: yakby mav chas, ya b dopomih — "had I time, I would help". Real conditions take yakshcho, which you know.
• за умови

  on condition that

  From umova, "condition" — a transparent build. The full form is za umovy, shcho — "on condition that" — the contractual, small-print flavor of "if".
• навіть якщо

  even if

  The word for even keeps its own little i, and yakshcho handles the real, possible case with a plain present tense — no would inside.
• у такому разі

  in that case

  Razi is the "where" form of raz, "time, case", bent into place. In speech it shrinks to todi, "then" — the long form for negotiations, the short one for the kitchen.
• інакше

  otherwise

  From inshyi, "other": otherwise is "otherly". Two senses by position — mid-sentence it is a threat, pospishai, inakshe zapiznyshsia; at the start it means "to put it differently".
• тоді

  back then

  Then-as-in-that-moment: todi ia buv dytynoiu — "back then I was a child". Then-as-conclusion is u takomu razi, and todi and potim, "later", are kept carefully apart.
• для того щоб

  in order to

  Shchob is "so that", squeezed from shcho bi — you know it from hotiv bi, "would like". A single shchob does the same job: ya pryiishov, shchob dopomohy — "I came to help".
• немов

  as if

  Built from ne plus mov — literally not as said. Its partners niby and nache mean the very same thing: three flavors of one doubt.
• замість того щоб

  instead of

  Zamist with the "of" form is for things: zamist kavy, "instead of coffee". With shchob it is for actions, and bi usually follows — instead of doing, one word longer.
• переважно

  mostly

  From perevaha, an advantage — a word built on vaha, weight. One tidy word where English reaches for two.
• як правило

  as a rule

  Kin to pravylo, a rule — the same root as pravda, truth. Its everyday synonym is zazvychai, built on zvychai, a habit.
• майже всі

  almost everyone

  Maizhe does the work of almost, and vsi is everyone, written with an i; at the head of a phrase you will also see usi.
• виняток

  exception

  From vyniaty, "to take out": an exception is a thing taken out of the rule. Za vyniatkom is "with the exception of", and vyniatkovyi is exceptional — the whole family is regular.
• і так далі

  and so on

  Abbreviated i t. d., like the English etc. The homegrown twin is toshcho, "and the like" — shorter and more local, the one conversations actually use.
• на відміну від

  unlike

  Vidmina, "difference", from mieniaty, "to change": a difference is a change made visible. The "of" form follows vid; simpler is inakshe, nizh — "other than".
• крім

  except

  Spelled with an i, and it pulls the of-form after it: krim mene, krim toho — of me, of that. The ending does the grammar.
• не зовсім

  not quite

  Zovsim is "entirely, altogether". In speech ne duzhe, "not very", is more common, and ne shchob — "not exactly" — is the most conversational of the three softenings.
• більш-менш

  more or less

  Squeezed into one hyphenated word. Priblyzno is about numbers; bilsh-mensh is about degree — work, weather, mood — the shrug of everyday evaluation.
• насилу

  barely

  A single word built on syla, strength — you managed it by strength alone. Its twin is ledve, by a hair.
• варто спробувати

  worth trying

  Varto is "worth" for usefulness, koshtuie for price: two "worth"s that English merges. The try is from probuvaty, and the attempt itself is sproba, from the next unit.
• треба було

  should have

  Reproach after the fact: treba bulo podzvonyty shche vchora — "you should have called yesterday already". Another way: mav bi skazaty, with the verb "to have" built in.
• найкраще

  best (of all)

  An adverb: naikrashche — pochekaty do zavtra, "it is best to wait until tomorrow". The adjective is naikrashchyi — nai- is the "most" prefix you have already parsed.
• найгірше

  worst of all

  The pair to the previous word, also an adverb; the adjective is naihirshyi. The degrees run pohano, hirshe, naihirshe — bad, worse, worst — and all three are irregular.
• якнайшвидше

  as fast as possible

  One prefix, yaknai-, replaces the whole English pile-up of as...as possible. The same mold gives yaknaikrashche and yaknaiblyzhche — better and closer.
• даремно

  in vain

  Literally "for free, for nothing" — done for no result. Next to it zmarna, "to no effect", and shkoda zusyl, "a waste of effort": a small family of regrets.
• впоратися

  to cope

  Followed by z plus the instrumental: vporatysia z robotoiu — "cope with the work". To overcome is podolaty, a word that lifts the spirit rather than just managing.
• спроба

  attempt

  From probuvaty, the verb you know. The same word is an attempt at school and in the lab — persha sproba ne vdalasia — and the proverb says sproba ne katuvannia, "an attempt is not torture".
• тобто

  that is

  Squeezed out of "that is" into one word; its bookish twin is sebto. To restate you say inshymy slovamy — three ways to say it again, one formal, one bookish, one plain.
• виявилося

  it turned out

  From the root of yava, imagination and appearance: the fact showed itself. The sentence needs no doer — the fact simply speaks.
• у результаті

  as a result

  Rezultat is the same international word. Speech prefers tomu, "therefore", or zreshchoiu, "in the end"; u rezultati is the written, essay-flavored connector.
• призводить до

  to lead to

  The "of" form follows do: pryzvodyt do problem — "leads to problems". Do not confuse with pryvodyty, "to lead a person by the hand": the prefix here is about consequence, not walking.
• завдяки

  thanks to

  Grown out of diakuiu, "thank you" — gratitude grammaticalized into a preposition, and it takes the dative: zavdiaky susidam. For the bad side use cherez: cherez doshch, "because of the rain".
• з першого разу

  on the first try

  Literally "from the first time"; from the second is z druhoho razu, and so on down the numbers. The "of" form after z is obligatory: razu, never the bare raz.
• двісті

  two hundred

  Said "dvisti" — the ending is -sti, nothing like "hundred". The noun after it takes the after-five form: dvisti hryven.
• триста

  three hundred

  Try "three" plus sto "hundred" fused into one word. The hundreds row is uneven: dvisti, trysta, chotyrysta — then the ending switches.
• чотириста

  four hundred

  Built straight from chotyry, "four", with the middle worn down to one syllable. An old of-form chotyriokh is hiding in the history of the word.
• пʼятсот

  five hundred

  The apostrophe is compulsory: piatsot, from the familiar piat, "five". From here to nine hundred the ending stays -sot.
• шістсот

  six hundred

  Shist "six" loses its final softness at the seam and three consonants pile up: shistsot. Written as one solid word.
• сімсот

  seven hundred

  Sim "seven" plus sot "hundred", nothing dropped or inserted — the cleanest joint in the row.
• вісімсот

  eight hundred

  From visim, "eight". No soft sign before the m — the sound simply is not written there, so do not add one out of habit.
• девʼятсот

  nine hundred

  The apostrophe again, as in piat and piatsot: dev-yatsot. The last hundred before tysyacha, "thousand", which you already know.
• або

  or (joining statements)

  Two words share this job: abo links things in a plain statement (chai abo kava), while chy, which you know from questions, links them when asking (chai chy kava?).
• також

  also

  Built from tak, "so", plus a little tail: takozh. In conversation you will often hear a shortened tezh — the same word, one vowel lighter.
• лише

  only

  Has a twin, tilky, and the two swap freely. Do not let lyshytysia, "to be left over", mislead you — same root, the meaning drifted apart.
• вже

  already

  Said "vzhe", soft at the end. In a negative it flips meaning: vzhe ne — "no longer", like French "ne... plus".
• ще

  still

  An ear trap: shche is "still, more", while shcho is "what" — one vowel separates them. Shche odyn is "one more".
• занадто

  too

  Nothing like "too" — it has to be memorized whole. Its cousin nadto is the same "too", a touch more conversational.
• трохи

  a little

  A standalone word meaning "a bit, a crumb". A warmer, cozier version is trishky — the same idea with a diminutive tail.
• разом

  in total

  Literally "together": at the till it means the total, everywhere else it means "together" — pratsiuiemo razom, "we work together". Same word, two worlds.
• не можна

  not allowed

  Built from mozna, "it is possible, one may" — mozna by itself is how you ask permission. Ne- in front closes the door.
• потрібно

  need to

  The bookish partner of treba, grown from the noun for "need". The person who needs it stands in the to-form: meni potribno — "I need".
• щоб

  so that

  Written solid from shcho plus a tiny b, "would". The clause after it leans on a past-like form: shchob ty znav — so that you would know.
• якщо

  if

  Fused from yak, "how", and shcho, "what". For the unreal kind of if there is a separate word, yakby, and mixing the two changes the meaning.
• поки

  while

  Spelled with an i: poky. Do not reach for it when parting — goodbye is buvai, a different word entirely; poky only ties two things happening at once.
• раз уже

  since (now that)

  Takes the full uzhe, "already", never a clipped form. It hands over a reason both speakers already know and accept: since you are here anyway...
• аби тільки

  if only (as long as)

  Aby alone already means "if only, just so". Tilky piles on emphasis: aby tilky ne doshch — anything, as long as it does not rain.
• так що

  so (as a result)

  Written as two words: tak shcho. A fused one-word cousin, tozh, draws the same conclusion — both point back at what was just said.
• між

  between

  One syllable shorter than your ear may expect, with an i in the middle. After it comes the with-form: mizh namy, mizh domamy — between us, between the houses.
• біля

  near (beside)

  From bik, "side": to be near is literally to stand at its side. It pulls the of-form after it, for places and for rough numbers: bilia soti, around a hundred.
• замість

  in place of

  Grew out of misto in its old sense of "place": za-misto, standing where it stood. The of-form follows: zamist mene — in place of me.
• проти

  against

  Ends in ty and takes the of-form: proty vitru, against the wind. Nishcho proty — "nothing against" — is the casual way to agree to a plan.
• без

  without

  Looks and works much as you hope. It demands the of-form: bez tsukru, bez noho — without sugar, without him. Stress tends to jump onto bez itself.
• для

  for

  Short and unchanging, with the of-form after it: dlia tebe — for you. Do not confuse it with do, which points at a destination, not a beneficiary.
• про

  about

  The everyday way to say "about something": rozpovid pro viinu, a story about the war. A bookish alternative exists, but pro is what people actually say.
• після

  after

  With an i in the middle, and the of-form after it: pislia obidu, pislia roboty — after lunch, after work. One of the highest-frequency words of the language.
• під час

  during

  Two words, and the first one is pid, "under", not its fuller cousin. The of-form follows: pid chas zustri — during the meeting. Handy for timetables and rules.
• через

  because of

  The same word that means "across" does double duty for cause: cherez doshch — because of the rain. After it comes the object form, not the of-form.
• навколо

  around

  From kolo, "circle": navkolo is what stands around the circle. The same root gave okolytsia, the outskirts of a town. The of-form follows.
• через

  across

  The same preposition you met for causes, but here it is about path and time: cherez mist, cherez hodynu — across the bridge, in an hour.
• зсередини

  from the inside

  Starts with a plain z that stands for "from", stacked on seredyna, the middle. Its partner for the other direction is zovni, from the outside.
• поблизу

  nearby

  One solid word from blyzko, "close". It can still pull the of-form after it: poblyzu vokzalu — near the station. The pharmacy answer to "where?".
• четвертий

  fourth

  Agrees like an adjective: chetvertyi den "fourth day", chetverta hodyna, chetverte mistse. Nearly the expected spelling — check the e.
• пʼятий

  fifth

  Straight from piat, "five", with an ordinal ending. The apostrophe after p is not decoration — it marks a brief y-glide catch between the sounds.
• шостий

  sixth

  From shist, but the soft sign vanishes at the seam: shostiy. Recognizable — only the vowel switched to o.
• сьомий

  seventh

  From sim, "seven", but the vowel switches to o on the way: somyi. Nothing about it rhymes with English "seven" — learn it as its own shape.
• восьмий

  eighth

  The soft sign before m stays put: vosmiy. The ordinal turns out longer than the visim it comes from — a small surprise.
• девʼятий

  ninth

  From deviat, "nine", with the apostrophe after the v marking a small catch of air between the sounds. The ordinal keeps the full stem of the number.
• десятий

  tenth

  From the familiar desyat, soft sign in place. The whole row keeps building the same way: odynadtsyatiy, dvadtsyatiy, sotiy.
• сотий

  hundredth

  From sto. Sto answers "how many", sotiy answers "which one in order" — and sotiy declines like an adjective, sto never does.
• слово

  a word

  The plural is straightforward: slova. A small single word is a slivtse — the affectionate tail again, this time on vocabulary.
• число

  number

  The date is also chyslo: yake siohodni chyslo? — "what is today's date?", literally "what number is it today?".
• справа

  a matter (business)

  This course prefers sprava for a matter or an affair; the shorter rival dilo is nearly retired from speech. Watch out: the same letters also mean "on the right".
• спосіб

  way of doing

  A cousin of "way, means": yakym sposobom? — "by what method?". Upper-level word, first-thousand frequency.
• частина

  part

  Persha chastyna filmu — "the first part of the film". A noun built from "part", doing exactly the work you expect.
• середина

  middle

  Seredyna tyzhnya, "midweek" — and Wednesday is sereda, one letter away from the middle. The family resemblance is the mnemonic.
• сторона

  side

  An exact match with the expected word. Keep three apart: sprava "matter", sprava "to the right", storona "side" — context is the judge.
• шлях

  path

  A word with its own history — shlyakh do dodku, "the way home". It names the path itself, not the paved road.
• дорога

  road

  The same letters also mean "dear" (my doroha!) — the road and the endearment are one word, and only context separates a highway from a sweetheart.
• сон

  a dream

  In the forms the o slips away: son, snu, snom — the vowel only survives in the bare naming form. The verb "to sleep" is spaty, a different word.
• бачити

  to see

  Present: bachu, bachysh, bachyt. Old proverbs still say "the eye sees" with it — the seeing word of everyday speech.
• чути

  to hear

  One short verb for sound and smell alike: Chuesh? is "do you hear?" and "do you smell?" — context picks the sense.
• спати

  to sleep

  Present: spliu, spysh, spyt. Ya khochu spaty — "I want to sleep" — a sentence you will use on day one.
• нести

  to carry

  Present: nesu, nesesh, nese. Carrying in your hands, on foot — the carrying word for things you hold while walking.
• ставити

  to put

  Putting repeatedly is stavyty; putting once is postavyty — the completed single act. Aspect pairs like this run through the whole language.
• ламати

  to break

  Bread breaks and bones break with the same verb: zlamaty nohu — "to break a leg". One word, both worlds.
• будувати

  to build

  Do not trip on the family: budu means "I will", buduvaty means "to build" — and budynok is a building. One root, several jobs.
• гріти

  to warm

  With i in the stem: hrity, hriiu, hriie. To warm yourself up, the reflexive version with a prefix does it: zihritysia — warmed through at last.
• багато

  much, many

  After it the noun goes into the "of" form: bahato kavy, bahato khvylyn — much of coffee, many of minutes. Same rule as after five.
• мало

  little, few

  Like bahato, it pulls the "of" form after it: malo chasu. Said twice — malo malo — it shrinks to "just a tiny bit".
• губити

  to lose

  A word of its own, grown on zghuba, ruin and loss. The reflexive zghubyvsia you already know — "got lost" — comes from this same family.
• віднаходити

  to find again

  The prefix vid- adds the sense of "back": znakhodyty finds, vidnakhodyty finds again — lost things returning from attics and old drawers.
• залишати

  to leave (something behind)

  Without the -sia you leave a thing; with it — zalyshytysia — you yourself stay. Umbrella in a bar: no -sia. You missing the train: -sia.
• забирати

  to pick up

  The same verb that picks children up from school picks up a parcel. Posylka is the package word — its own shape, nothing borrowed.
• повертати

  to return (something)

  The shirt goes back to the shop; you yourself go back with povertatysia. In stores: poverty tovaru — "return of goods".
• лічити

  to count

  A one-vowel trap: lichyty counts, likuvaty heals — muddle them and the doctor becomes a calculator. Tiny minutes measured out are licheni khvylyny.
• записувати

  to write down

  The infix is -uva- where English habits expect -yva-. The little note you leave is a zapyska — same root, same paper.
• підписувати

  to sign

  The prefix is pid-, "under", from the same family that gives English "subscribe". A signature is pidpys — the verb with its tail trimmed.
• викреслювати

  to cross out

  From kreslyty, to draw and rule lines, with the removing prefix vy- in front: to draw a line through. English pictures the same stroke, just in reverse order.
• виправляти

  to correct (habitually)

  Built with the vy- prefix on pravyi, "right": correcting is making right. The noun for a correction is vypravlennia — the whole family sticks together.

How it sounds in a sentence

A word list is a blank. Conversation is made of sentences, and these are the ones the words fit into most often.

• Так, це я

  Yes, it is me
• Ні, дякую, не треба

  No, thanks, I do not need it
• Добре, дякую. А ти?

  Fine, thanks. And you?
• Сьогодні почуваюся погано

  I feel bad today
• Чудово! До зустрічі!

  Excellent! See you soon!
• Треба працювати

  One must work

What is worth knowing about these words

так — yes. Looks like it should mean "so" or "thus", but it is simply "yes". A small freebie once you know it.

ні — no. A short, firm "no". To negate a verb, put ne in front of it: ne rozumiyu — "I do not understand", no helper verb.

добре — fine. The standard answer: dobre, diakuyu — "fine, thank you". The adjective dobyi is "good" — same family, different job.

погано — badly. The plain opposite of dobre — how you feel or how things went. Pohano sounds a touch like "poorly", which fits the meaning.

Test yourself

Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than recognizing a familiar word — and therefore more useful.

How to learn the set instead of just reading it

Yes, no, good, bad, very. The small change of a language — and no sentence assembles without it.

A list is read in a minute and forgotten in a day. What works: hide the translation, try to recall, get it wrong — and come back to the same words tomorrow.

• Recalling beats re-reading. Covering the translation and trying to remember it does more than reading it ten more times.checked many times
  Adesope, Trevisan & Sundararajan, 2017, Review of Educational Research 87(3) · 188 experiments, 272 comparisons. g = 0.61; against plain re-reading 0.51, against passive review 0.93.
• This holds not only in experiments but in ordinary classrooms, with real students.checked many times
  Mawson & Kang, 2025, Behavioral Sciences 15(6):771 · 22 studies, d = 0.54 (confidence interval 0.31–0.77). The authors warn that individual studies disagree widely.

Next

• All topics of the Ukrainian language3964 words by topic and letter
• Greetings and goodbyes9 words
• Numbers and counting10 words
• Food and drink175 words
• Shopping and money85 words
• Asking the way19 words
• Why a word list doesn't sticka note