це було давно
“це було давно” — that was long ago in Ukrainian. Phrase, level A2, topic — time, days and hours. Davno is about the distant past; dovho is about duration — tse tryvalo dovho, "it lasted long". Mixing them up is the classic learner slip. In a live sentence: “Це було давно, я вже й не памʼятаю” — That was long ago, back in my grandfather's time. One of 129 words in the set “time, days and hours” in the Ukrainian course.
In short
| Written in Ukrainian | це було давно |
| Translation | that was long ago |
| Part of speech | phrase |
| Level | A2 |
Why it looks that way
Davno is about the distant past; dovho is about duration — tse tryvalo dovho, "it lasted long". Mixing them up is the classic learner slip.
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.
- Це було давно, я вже й не памʼятаюThat was long ago, back in my grandfather's time
Nearby words: time, days and hours
Today, tomorrow, in the morning, at six. You cannot arrange to meet without these — let alone understand the answer.
- хвилинаminuteA word all its own — no "minute" inside. After five it shortens: pyat khvylyn, the counting form every number demands.
- годинаhourThe great false friend of the course: hodyna is an HOUR, not a year. A year is rik. Skilky hodyn? — "how many hours?" Keep them apart at all costs.
- сьогодніtodaySaid "siohodni", stress in the middle. A word that appears in every second sentence of daily speech — worth over-learning.
- завтраtomorrowZavtra bude doshch — "tomorrow there will be rain". The little helper bude, "will be", is the future of buty, which you just met.
- деньdayThe vowels jump around as the word bends: den, dnia, dniu. It covers both a day of the month and the daylight part of the day.
- ранокmorning (time of day)A word you just have to own. Z ranku means "in the morning", shchoranku "every morning" — the same root ran- inside all of them.
- вечірeveningSaid "vechyr". Keep it apart from vecherya, "supper": one ending separates the time of day from the meal you eat in it.
- нічnightSaid "nich", with the ch of "church". Vnochi means "at night" — the form looks nothing like the base word, but you will hear it every day.
- вчораyesterdayStarts with a v — do not drop it. The day before yesterday doubles the prefix: pozavchora, exactly like "the day before yesterday".
- рікyearWatch the cousin word: richka is "river", one letter apart. The year itself wobbles as it bends: rik, rokiv — the vowel runs.
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “time, days and hours”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “that was long ago” in Ukrainian?
Davno is about the distant past; dovho is about duration — tse tryvalo dovho, "it lasted long". Mixing them up is the classic learner slip.
- How do you say “evening” in Ukrainian?
Said "vechyr". Keep it apart from vecherya, "supper": one ending separates the time of day from the meal you eat in it.
- How do you say “today” in Ukrainian?
Said "siohodni", stress in the middle. A word that appears in every second sentence of daily speech — worth over-learning.
- How do you say “year” in Ukrainian?
Watch the cousin word: richka is "river", one letter apart. The year itself wobbles as it bends: rik, rokiv — the vowel runs.
- How do you say “morning (time of day)” in Ukrainian?
A word you just have to own. Z ranku means "in the morning", shchoranku "every morning" — the same root ran- inside all of them.
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 “that was long ago” in Ukrainian?
«це було давно». In a live sentence: “Це було давно, я вже й не памʼятаю” — That was long ago, back in my grandfather's time. Phrase, level A2, from the set “time, days and hours”.
Why does this word look the way it does?
Davno is about the distant past; dovho is about duration — tse tryvalo dovho, "it lasted long". Mixing them up is the classic learner slip. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.