People and family in Ukrainian
141 words Ukrainian words on the topic “people and family”: сімʼя — family, батько — father, матуся — mom, дитина — child.
141 words on the topic
- сімʼяfamilyWritten with an apostrophe: sim-ya, two sounds, not "si-mya". The everyday word is exactly this one — five people, one simya.
- батькоfatherBatky are parents, both of them — not a plural of one dad. The cozy word for dad is tato, a small child word like "dad".
- матусяmomA warm, affectionate word. Calling her you use the special calling form: mamo! — Ukrainian has a whole case just for addressing people.
- дитинаchildThe plural is completely its own word: dity, "children". Same ancient root as the English "tyke"-sounding dity — you just have to learn the pair together.
- хлопецьguyBoth "a boy" and "a boyfriend" — context decides. Khloptsi, the plural, is what a group of friends calls itself, like "the guys".
- другfriendCalling a friend by name, Ukrainian uses a special addressing form: druzhe! It is the same "calling case" you met with mamo.
- людинаpersonThe big pair of the lesson: liudyna is "a person, a human", cholovik is "a man". Plural: liudy — people.
- чоловікmanBoth "man" and "husband" — and never just "person". On toilet doors this is exactly the word you will read.
- жінкаwomanA wife is a separate word: druzhyna. Zhinka is any woman — the same root, a wider job.
- юнакyoung manBookish and a little solemn; in live speech people say khlopets — the guy from an earlier lesson. Both point to the same lad.
- дівчинаgirlOne letter from divchynka, "a little girl". Moia divchyna — "my girlfriend" — works exactly the way you hope.
- дідold manBoth an old man and a grandfather; in a village it greets any elder. About a stranger, softer is pozhylyi cholovik — "an elderly man".
- незнайомецьstrangerNe plus znaiomyy, "acquainted", from znaty — "to know": the un-acquainted one. A female stranger: neznaiomka, built the same way.
- натовпcrowdFrom tovpytysia, "to crowd in" — the crowd is what crowds. The root is native and sturdy; just learn its shape.
- волоссяhairA collective singular, like English "hair": one strand is a "volos", all of it together is volossia. Always singular in form.
- високийtallWorks for people, buildings and prices alike — one adjective, exactly like English "high/tall".
- низькийlowThe ceiling is low: "stelya nyzka". Note the soft sign marker in the middle: nyzkyi.
- молодийyoungThe younger sibling is "molodshyi" — the same family logic you know. She is young: "vona moloda".
- бородаbeardAlso covers the chin in older usage — one word, two body parts. He has a beard: "u nioho boroda".
- вусаmustacheAlways plural, like English whiskers. A single one is a "vus", but people hardly ever say it.
- худийskinnyThe first meaning is lean, and about a growing tree "khude derevo" is fine and not rude. Thin and tall: "khudyi i vysokyi".
- товстийthickWorks about a person and about a book, like English "thick". A thick sweater: "tovstyi svetr".
- симпатичнийgood-lookingStrictly about looks. "Harnyi" is beautiful in general; sympatychnyi is pleasant to look at — a friendly compliment.
- зовнішністьappearanceBuilt from "zovni", "from outside" — the outside of a person, what you see. Looks are not the main thing, says the example.
- добрийkindThe same adjective powers the greetings: dobryi den, dobroho ranku. Wishing the day well is how this word earns its keep every single morning.
- веселийcheerfulA wedding is "vesillia" — from the same root: the wedding as the big time of cheer. The children are cheerful.
- розумнийsmartFrom "rozum", mind and reason. Rozumnyi is smart, and the boundary with the everyday word sits almost exactly where you expect.
- злийmeanBoth mean by character and cross right now — context separates the two. You are mean today, says the example.
- спокійнийcalmFrom "spokii", the same calm as in "zaspokoisia". A calm person, a calm sea — one word for both.
- ввічливийpoliteLiterally "into-the-eye": the polite person is the one who looks you in the eye. A word built on a gaze.
- лінивийlazyLaziness itself is "lin" — short, like the feeling. The cat is lazy, naturally.
- сміливийbraveFrom "smilivist", courage, kin to the word for bold. Not transparent at first, but it sticks fast once learned.
- чеснийhonestThe soft sign sits in the middle here: chesnyi. He is honest — a plain word for a plain virtue.
- характерcharacterThe same international word, identical in use. He has a kind character, "dobryi kharakter".
- кучерявийcurly-hairedFrom "kucheru", curls. The hair on the head keeps its own word, "volossia", which you already know from earlier waves.
- лисийbaldThe ear trap: "lys", with a soft ending, is a fox; "lysyi", with a hard one, is bald. One letter decides who is standing in front of you. The bald spot is "lysuna", same family.
- сивийgrey-hairedSyvyi paints the grey of an old horse coat onto human hair: grey-haired, dignified. The greyness itself is syvyna.
- зрістheight (of a person)Not just people: trees also have zrist. On forms and ID papers the height line is labeled with this word, so it is worth knowing before any office visit.
- стрункийslimFrom struna, a string: slim the way a taut string is. The body-word paints a stretched wire, not a column of soldiers.
- середнього зростуof medium heightThe phrase from police descriptions and matchmaking ads: serednii is "middle", and zrostu slides into the "of" form. The same pattern builds "of middle age" — serednoho viku.
- щедрийgenerousGenerous with words, a generous soul — the collocations match English ones almost one to one. Generosity itself is shchedrist, a nice regular noun.
- терплячийpatient (adjective)Not the "-livy" form you might guess: from terpity, "to endure", comes terpliachyi — the one who can endure. A teacher needs it, the saying goes.
- працьовитийhardworkingFrom pratsia, work — same root as pratsiuvaty, to work. English glues two words together for this one; here a single adjective with a doer-suffix does it.
- надійнийreliableFrom nadiia, "hope": a reliable person is one you can hope on. Nadiia itself is close to the English idea of hope, so the family is easy to hold together.
- скромнийmodestWorks for people and for dinners: a "modest supper" is a simple one. Modesty as a quality is skromnist — a regular -ist noun like so many abstract ideas.
- товариськийsociableFrom tovarysh, comrade: sociable is the one who finds companions easily. The -skyi ending matches the one in ukrainskyi — same suffix, new job.
- турботливийcaringFrom turbota, "care": the suffix -lyv is the same "prone to" marker as in many English "-ful" adjectives. Caring people are full of care, literally.
- серйознийseriousOne "r" and a "yo" sound: serioznyi. Seriousness is serioznist, and though the word runs long, every syllable is spelled exactly as it sounds.
- вихованийwell-manneredFrom vykhovuvaty, "to bring up": a well-mannered person is one who has been "brought-up-ed". "Well brought up" is dobre vykhovany — the booster word says the rest.
- почуття гуморуsense of humorPochuttia, "feeling", comes from chuty, "to feel/sense" — a feeling is what the heart hears. And humor here is humor with a voiced h: humOr.
- жадібнийgreedyThe -ib suffix marks the tendency. If someone is stingy specifically with money, the sharper word is skupyi — greedy is about wanting more, stingy about giving less.
- упертийstubbornFrom a verb meaning "to push through": a stubborn person has dug in and will not move. Stubbornness is upertest — pushiness frozen into a noun.
- грубийrudeGruff for people, coarse for fabric — one adjective. To answer rudely is hrubo vidpovisty, and the adverb is just the adjective minus its tail.
- нахабнийinsolentInsolence as a noun is nakhabstvo, and the adjective is cut from it. Picture someone pushing to the front of the line without a blush — that is the whole word.
- хитрийcunningSly as a fox — and the comparison is built into the culture: "khytryi, jak lis", because lis is the fox. Same word for clever-crafty animals and people.
- балакучийtalkativeFrom balakaty, "to chatter": the suffix -uch means "given to". A talkative neighbor is a chatter-given neighbor — the word admits no judgment, just volume.
- неуважнийabsent-mindedFrom uvaha, attention: absent-minded is just not-attentive, nothing about respect involved. The word judges where your focus went, not your manners.
- запальнийquick-temperedFrom palyty, to burn: the quick-tempered one catches fire fast. Same root as opalennia, central heating — the house and the temper both get lit.
- байдужийindifferentFrom baiduzhe, "it is all the same": an indifferent person is one to whom everything is baiduzhe. The everyday phrase "meni baiduzhe" — "I could not care less" — is its home.
- звичкаhabitFrom zvychai, "custom": a habit is a little custom, something your day does on autopilot. Good habits and bad ones both — the word takes no sides.
- подругаfemale friendA girlfriend or female buddy specifically — the -ka marks the gender. Best friend is naikrashcha podruha, with the superlative prefix nai- you know.
- знайомийacquaintance (a person)An adjective turned noun, exactly like "acquaintance" — someone known, not yet a friend. People spell it out aloud: "he is not a friend, only an acquaintance".
- талантtalentTalented is talanovytyi — long but regular. Next to it lives zdiBnyi, "capable", the word people actually use about gifted children. He has a real talent for languages.
- народитисяto be bornThe reflexive tail is mandatory: narodyvsia, narodylasia. Without it, narodyty means to give birth to someone — the two sides of the event, two verbs. A birth certificate is a svidottstvo pro narodzhennia.
- дитинствоchildhoodFrom dytyna, "child": the -stvo suffix turns a person into a state or time — same as tovarystvo, "society", from tovarysh. Childhood was merry: dytynstvo bulo vesele.
- юністьyouthFrom iunyi, "young" — the same nest as iunak, "a young man". The of-form iunosti keeps the stem whole while the tail changes.
- доросле життяadult lifeDoroslyi, "adult", plus zhyttia, "life", from zhyty, "to live". To grow up is vyrosty — the vy- prefix of reaching upward. Adult life began with the first job.
- поколінняgenerationA double n in the middle and an i in the root. "From generation to generation" — z pokolinnia v pokolinnia — the phrase for recipes, songs and grudges alike.
- рідне містоhome townRidnyi again — the word of belonging: ridne misto, home town; ridna mova, native tongue; ridna zemlia, homeland. One adjective holds the whole address of the heart.
- прожити в країні пʼять роківto live in the country for five yearsKraina, "country", is born from "edge" — the land at the rim. After the word for five, the years bend into their counting form: of-years, not years.
- спогадmemory (recollection)From the verb spohaduvaty, "to recollect". A pleasant memory is pryiemnyi spohad; memory as a faculty is a separate word, pam-i-at — do not mix them.
- стара світлинаold photographThe native photo-word, born from svitlo, "light" — a picture as a little piece of light. In speech everyone says foto; this one is the poetic pick.
- доляfateThe word means "the lot that fell to you" — the portion dealt by chance, like the ancient "lot in life". Nedolia is misfortune; the pair works like fortune and its loss.
- почати нове життяto start a new lifeAlso said shorter: pochaty zanovo, "to start anew". The noun pochatok, "beginning", which you know, points straight at the verb pochaty.
- завести сімʼюto start a familyThe family-word breaks with an apostrophe after m — the syllables snap apart in writing. An alternative verb says "to create a family".
- багатийrichFrom bahato, "much" — rich is "having much", plain arithmetic. The root is about quantity, so anchor it in numbers, not in anything else.
- біднийpoorWith the long i in the middle — do not rush it. Said with feeling, Bidn yi! alone means "poor thing!" — pity in one word, heard in every family.
- сусід по кімнатіroommateA student word: the one you share a dorm with. Susi d is "neighbor", kimn ata is "room", and the preposition joining them is po.
- друг дитинстваchildhood friendBoth halves known: druh, "friend", and dytynstvo, "childhood", from the biography unit. The female version is podruha dytynstva — and it is even more common.
- відомийfamousFrom vido mo, "it is known". A stress trap hides inside: stress toward the middle makes "famous"; stressed differently the word means "known to someone" — the accent alone decides.
- сильнийstrongThe doubled n is compulsory: siln yi. The noun is sila, "strength" — and Ukrainian "has strength": maty si lu.
- розсудливийprudent (sensible)From sudyty, "to judge": the sensible one deliberates before deciding. The clever-word, rozumnyi, is a different relative — do not swap them.
- добротаkindnessIn the plural dobroty means something else entirely: the heft of fabric — dobrota tkanyny, fabric density. Singular for the virtue, plural for the physics.
- витримкаself-controlLiterally "a holding-out", and also a camera's exposure — one word for nerves and photography. Physical endurance is vytryvalist, from the sports unit; this one is about the spirit.
- терпінняpatienceFrom terpity, to endure, with an i and a doubled n: terpinia. The patient one is terpliachyi, the one who endures.
- егоїзмselfishnessA borrowing with its full family: ehoist, ehoistychnyi. Meaning matches the international one exactly; only the vowel after the g is local spelling.
- ліньlazinessFeminine: lin zavazh aie, laziness gets in the way. The same word scolds a lazybones: otse lin! A lazy person is ledachyi; lin yvyi is the bookish option.
- упертістьstubbornnessFrom upertyi, "dug in": stubbornness as the picture of someone planted in the ground. Dyt iacha upertist, a child's stubbornness. The adjective is no compliment.
- цікавістьcuriosityFrom tsikav yi, "interesting": one word covers both curiosity and eagerness to know — no judgment attached. Feminine in -ist, like the other trait words here.
- порядністьdecencyFrom poriadnyi, "decent": one word doing the jobs of both "honesty" and "decency". The adverb poriadno also means "decently": poriad no zarobli aty, to earn decently.
- винахідливістьresourcefulnessFrom vynakhid, an invention: the resourceful person is the inventive one. The same nest gives vynakhidnyk, an inventor.
- безтурботністьcarefreenessBuilt of bez, "without", plus turbot a, "a care": without-cares. Warmer than scolding: bezturbotne dytinstvo, a carefree childhood.
- рішучийdecisiveFrom vy rishyty, "to decide". Rishucha liudyna, a decisive person; rishuche ni, a firm no. The noun is rishuchist, decisiveness — the -ist pattern again.
- соромʼязливийshyFrom sorom, shame, glued to iazlyvyi with an apostrophe sitting after the m. To feel awkward is soromytysia — to shame oneself a little.
- уразливийeasily hurtA trap in plain sight: obrazlyvyi describes words that wound. The person who takes things to heart is urazlyvyi, from urazyty, to strike.
- згідливийeasygoingFrom zhoda, agreement: this is the one who agrees without a fight. The treasure-word poklazha has nothing to do with it.
- доскіпливийmeticulousFrom skipka, a splinter: the word pictures someone splitting everything down to splinters. To pick at details is doskipuvatysia.
- самолюбнийvainBuilt solid from sam, self, and liubyty, to love — a syllable shorter than the English feel of it. The noun is samoliubstvo, self-regard.
- чуйнийwarmheartedFrom chuty, to hear and to feel: the word pictures someone who hears you. It is listening, not replying, that makes a person like this.
- замкнутийwithdrawnThe same root as zamok, "a lock": locked inside oneself. It also describes doors — zamknutyi budynok, a locked building — the subject decides which sense.
- прямолінійнийstraightforwardLiterally "straight-lined", the image matching the English "straight" perfectly. Priamoliniina vidpovid, a straight answer. Blunt straightness gets called rizkyi.
- непередбачуванийunpredictableThe negative of the "predictable" family from the storytelling lesson. Both people and weather: neperedbachuvana po hoda, unpredictable weather.
- слухатисяto obey"Whom" form, no preposition: slukhaisia m amu, obey your mother. Listening with your ears is slukhaty — a different verb; that little -sia changes the meaning entirely.
- хвалитисяto show offFrom khvalyty, "to praise", with -sia — praising yourself. Takes the instrumental: khvalytsia novoiu mashynoiu. A show-off is khvalko.
- пліткуватиto gossipFrom plitky, "gossip". Mind the neighbors: plit is a raft, plotyka is a tile — one letter apart. To gossip over the fence: plit kuvaty za parkanom.
- удаватиto feignFrom daty, to give: literally to give yourself out as. Whom you pretend to be stands in the whom-form: udavaty durnyka, the fool.
- стриматисяto hold backFrom trymaty, to hold, with a rare s- prefix in front: strymatysia. The same root holds up vytrymka, composure, steadiness.
- пожартуватиto play a jokeFrom zhart, "a joke". To joke at someone's expense is pozhartuvaty z k ohoso — literally "from someone". To prank someone is obi hraty.
- набрехатиto spin liesFrom brekhaty, to speak falsely — and about people here, with brekhnia as the noun for nonsense-talk. Pile on the prefix and the lies stack high.
- підслухатиto eavesdropThe under-prefix pid- does the sneaking. Its partner in crime is pidhlianuty, to peek — under the lid and under the keyhole alike.
- навʼязуватисяto imposeFrom viazaty, to tie: the verb pictures tying yourself onto someone. The pushy one is naviazlyvyi — the one knotted on too tight.
- тримати словоto keep one's wordWord for word like English. Trymaty obitsianku is to keep a promise; trymatysia, "to hold on", you know from the how-it-goes unit.
- заслужитиto deserveFrom sluzhyty, to serve — the merit words here all grew out of service. What is merited stands in the whom-form after the verb.
- докоритиto reproachFrom dokir, "a reproach", built on koryty, "to blame". The noun carries its stress on the second syllable — a small trap in an otherwise tidy word.
- похвалитиto praise (once)Khvalyty you know; po- marks doing it once, to completion. The noun pokhval a, "praise", is from the same nest — the whole family in one breath.
- засудитиto pass judgment onBoth in court — zasudyly na dva roky, sentenced to two years — and in conversation: ne zasud zhui yoho pospikhom, do not rush to judge. A verdict is vyrok.
- підвестиto let downThe figurative use matches English word for word: pidvesty dr uha, to let a friend down. The literal sense — to run a wire up to something — is the same verb; the object decides.
- навмиснеdeliberatelyFrom namir, "an intention", through a v: deliberately, with intent. Spetsi alno, "specially", you know; this one is livelier and often annoyed: ty tse zrob yv navmysne!
- з дурного розумуout of stupidityLiterally out of a foolish mind: the from-word z with the of-form does the work, not any small word English reaches for.
- з найкращих намірівwith the best intentionsLiterally "from the best intentions": namir is an intention, from the plans unit. The softer twin is z dobrykh namiriv, "from good intentions".
- це негарноthat is not niceThe most common family verdict: tse neharno z tvoho boku, that is not nice of you. Literally "not-pretty" — the same word judges an act and an object.
- він не зі злаhe meant no harmLiterally "he is not from malice". Before z plus a z-sound an i slides in: zi zla, zi mnoiu — the euphony rule you know. Of a woman: vona ne zi zla.
- довіраtrustFrom doviriaty, "to trust", with the dative: doviriai u tobi. Vtrat yty doviru, to lose trust. A power of attorney is dovire nist — same nest, legal paperwork.
- заздрістьenvyFrom zazdryty, "to envy". Feminine ending in a consonant: bez zazdrost i, without envy. The adjective is zazdrisnyi, "envious".
- жалістьpityFrom zhality, to feel for someone. Short zhal means regret, and na zhal is the set phrase for unfortunately.
- впливinfluenceFrom vplyvaty, "to influence", with na plus the "whom" form: vplyva ie na noho. Pid vplyvom is "under the influence" — of people, or of alcohol, as in English.
- авторитетauthorityGood name, weight among people: korystuietsia velykym avtorytetom. The adjective avtory tetnyi is "respected". The criminal-world sense exists too — carried entirely by tone of voice.
- взаємноmutuallyFrom vzaientyi, "mutual", apostrophe and all. In reply to a thank-you you can say vzaiemno, "likewise"; vzaie mna dopomoha is mutual aid.
- на рівнихas equalsLiterally "on equal terms", "where" form plural. Rivnopravnist, "equal rights", is the bookish legal word; this phrase is about how people treat each other.
- порозумітисяto get alongFrom rozum, the mind: the verb pictures two people arriving at one shared mind. English builds on fitting together; this one builds on thinking together.
- триматися остороньto keep one's distanceThe adverb oston, "aside", ends in a soft -on. Also: staty oston, to step aside; trymatysia podal i, to keep farther away — gradations of standing back.
- грошіmoneyAlways plural, with no singular in everyday use: hroshi, hroshei. It goes back to hrish, a small old coin — the pocket change of its century.
- чоловікhusbandOne word covers "man" and "husband", and only the neighbor word decides: mii cholovik is my husband, a stranger is just a man.
- дружинаwifeLooks like a word for a prince's retinue of knights, but means "wife" — the resemblance is a complete accident. The plain word zhinka covers "woman" and "wife".
- прізвищеsurnameCousin to "praise" words, but it means family name. A nickname — the thing you call someone behind their back — is prizvysko, a different word.
- місцеplaceSaid "mistse" — the s before ts sounds soft. Same word for a train seat and a theater seat: sydyachi miststa, "seating places".
- країнаcountryKrai inside means "edge, land" — a country is what its edge outlines. Ukraina itself is built the same way: "the land at the edge".
- людиpeopleThe singular is lyudyna, "a human being" — people are counted as many humans. English does the same with person and people.
- життяlifeNeuter, with a double t in the middle: zhyttia. Built on zhyty, "to live" — the verb is sitting right inside the noun.
- наступнийnextFrom nastupaty, to step forward and follow: the next thing steps up after this one. A different picture than English "next", but the job is the same.
- минулийpreviousFrom mynuty, to pass by: the previous thing has already walked past. Last year has a one-word shortcut of its own, torik.
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.
What is worth knowing about these words
сімʼя — family. Written with an apostrophe: sim-ya, two sounds, not "si-mya". The everyday word is exactly this one — five people, one simya.
батько — father. Batky are parents, both of them — not a plural of one dad. The cozy word for dad is tato, a small child word like "dad".
матуся — mom. A warm, affectionate word. Calling her you use the special calling form: mamo! — Ukrainian has a whole case just for addressing people.
дитина — child. The plural is completely its own word: dity, "children". Same ancient root as the English "tyke"-sounding dity — you just have to learn the pair together.
Test yourself
Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than recognizing a familiar word — and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “family” in Ukrainian?
Written with an apostrophe: sim-ya, two sounds, not "si-mya". The everyday word is exactly this one — five people, one simya.
- How do you say “man” in Ukrainian?
Both "man" and "husband" — and never just "person". On toilet doors this is exactly the word you will read.
- How do you say “hair” in Ukrainian?
A collective singular, like English "hair": one strand is a "volos", all of it together is volossia. Always singular in form.
- How do you say “thick” in Ukrainian?
Works about a person and about a book, like English "thick". A thick sweater: "tovstyi svetr".
- How do you say “calm” in Ukrainian?
From "spokii", the same calm as in "zaspokoisia". A calm person, a calm sea — one word for both.
How to learn the set instead of just reading it
Mum, friend, child, neighbour. The first thing people ask you about, and the first thing you tell about yourself.
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 timesAdesope, 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 timesMawson & 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.
Frequently asked
How do you say “family” in Ukrainian?
«сімʼя». Written with an apostrophe: sim-ya, two sounds, not "si-mya". The everyday word is exactly this one — five people, one simya. It is one of 141 words in the set “people and family” — the rest are in the table above.
How many family words do you need to start?
A dozen is enough. The set of 141 words on this page covers nearly every everyday case on the topic — but it is best taken a few at a time, not all at once.