Asking the way in Ukrainian
19 words Ukrainian words on the topic “asking the way”: де? — where?, тут — here, там — there, праворуч — to the right.
19 words on the topic
- де?where?A tiny word doing the whole job of "where". Its partner in the other direction — "to where" — is kudy.
- тутhereIts pair is tam, "there" — between them they cover the whole map. Short, common, and easy to keep.
- тамthereTam i tut — "there and here" — one vowel apart, like "here/there" but easier. The pharmacy is always tam, around the corner.
- праворучto the rightLiterally "right-hand-ward" — prava ruka is "right hand". Directions come from body parts, which makes them hard to forget.
- ліворучto the leftThe mirror twin of pravoruch, same build: liva ruka, "left hand". Povernit livoruch — "turn left" — is half of all navigation.
- прямоstraight aheadOne of those rare exact matches with the expected sound. Just remember: "to the right" is pravoruch, not a cousin of pryamo.
- близькоcloseThe soft sign after z is real: blyz-ko. Its opposite daleko is just as easy — the pair covers every distance question.
- далекоfarStress on the first syllable: DA-leko. Tse daleko? — "Is it far?" — is the question asked about every route ever.
- ітиto go (on foot)One syllable, no vowel in front: ytu is wrong, yty is right. Present: ydu, ydesh, yde — the y leads every step.
- як пройтиhow to get thereFollow it with do plus the of-form: yak proity do vokzalu — how to get to the station. This course has no short "to" for directions; do does the work.
- дістатисяto reach (get to)From distaty, to obtain — to reach a place is to "obtain" your way to it. It takes the of-form: distatysia vokzalu, reach the station.
- на тому боціon the other sideLiterally "on that side": bik, side, surfaces as botsi in the at-form. The city splits naturally into this side and that side of the street.
- за два крокиtwo steps awayThe preposition is za, "behind", not "in": za dva kroky. Kroky is the plural of krok, a step — and krokuvaty, to stride, is the verb inside.
- за поворотомjust past the turnZa plus a case form of povorot, "a turn". The za means "beyond": once you pass the bend, there it is.
- ліворуч відto the left ofLivyy is "left", livoruch is "leftward". After vid the next word goes into the "of" form: livoruch vid banku — "to the left of the bank".
- праворуч відto the right ofThe mirror twin of livoruch. Mind the ending -oruch: it marks direction, "rightward", and vid after it again demands the "of" form.
- посерединіin the middleFrom seredyna, "middle", in a frozen location form. No preposition after it: poseredyni kimnaty — "in the middle of the room".
- наступний поворотthe next turnFrom nastupaty, "to step on, to come next" — the turn that steps up next. Nothing to do with a footprint; that is a different word entirely.
- по дорозіon the wayDoroha is "road", so this is literally "along the road" — the English "on the way". Po plus a special ending does the whole job.
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
де? — where?. A tiny word doing the whole job of "where". Its partner in the other direction — "to where" — is kudy.
тут — here. Its pair is tam, "there" — between them they cover the whole map. Short, common, and easy to keep.
там — there. Tam i tut — "there and here" — one vowel apart, like "here/there" but easier. The pharmacy is always tam, around the corner.
праворуч — to the right. Literally "right-hand-ward" — prava ruka is "right hand". Directions come from body parts, which makes them hard to forget.
Test yourself
Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than recognizing a familiar word — and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “where?” in Ukrainian?
A tiny word doing the whole job of "where". Its partner in the other direction — "to where" — is kudy.
- How do you say “far” in Ukrainian?
Stress on the first syllable: DA-leko. Tse daleko? — "Is it far?" — is the question asked about every route ever.
- How do you say “to the left of” in Ukrainian?
Livyy is "left", livoruch is "leftward". After vid the next word goes into the "of" form: livoruch vid banku — "to the left of the bank".
- How do you say “there” in Ukrainian?
Tam i tut — "there and here" — one vowel apart, like "here/there" but easier. The pharmacy is always tam, around the corner.
- How do you say “how to get there” in Ukrainian?
Follow it with do plus the of-form: yak proity do vokzalu — how to get to the station. This course has no short "to" for directions; do does the work.
How to learn the set instead of just reading it
Right, left, straight on, how far. You ask the way rarely — and always at the moment when there is no time to work it out.
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 “where?” in Ukrainian?
«де?» A tiny word doing the whole job of "where". Its partner in the other direction — "to where" — is kudy. It is one of 19 words in the set “asking the way” — the rest are in the table above.
How many direction words do you need to start?
A dozen is enough. The set of 19 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.