накрити на стіл
“накрити на стіл” — to set the table in Ukrainian. Phrase, level A2. Literally "to cover the table". The tablecloth is skatertyna and clearing the table is pryibraty zi stolu. On Christmas Eve the table is set for twelve meatless dishes. In a live sentence: “Треба накрити на стіл до сьомої” — Help me set the table for the guests. A word from the everyday Ukrainian course, level A2.
In short
| Written in Ukrainian | накрити на стіл |
| Translation | to set the table |
| Part of speech | phrase |
| Level | A2 |
Why it looks that way
Literally "to cover the table". The tablecloth is skatertyna and clearing the table is pryibraty zi stolu. On Christmas Eve the table is set for twelve meatless dishes.
A word with a story stays in memory longer than one learned as a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.
In a live sentence
A single word almost never appears alone in conversation. A sentence shows where it fits and what stands next to it.
- Треба накрити на стіл до сьомоїHelp me set the table for the guests
How not to forget this word
Reading a word and remembering it are different jobs. A day later, little survives of a single reading — and that is not bad memory, that is how memory works.
- This has been tested on foreign words too. The difference shows up most when you test yourself a few days later rather than straight away.checked many timesKim & Webb, 2022, Language Learning 72(2) · 48 experiments, 3,411 participants, 98 comparisons.
- 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.
- An answer you worked out yourself sticks better than one handed to you.checked many timesBertsch et al., 2007, Memory & Cognition 35(2) · 86 studies, 445 comparisons, d = 0.40.
Frequently asked
How do you say “to set the table” in Ukrainian?
«накрити на стіл». In a live sentence: “Треба накрити на стіл до сьомої” — Help me set the table for the guests. Phrase, level A2.
Why does this word look the way it does?
Literally "to cover the table". The tablecloth is skatertyna and clearing the table is pryibraty zi stolu. On Christmas Eve the table is set for twelve meatless dishes. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.