церква
“церква” — church in Ukrainian. Noun, level A1, topic — the city and its places. No soft sign at the end — tserkva, plain and firm. Its forms are predictable: tserkva, u tserkvi, and the word never hides extra letters when it changes. In a live sentence: “Стара церква на пагорбі” — The church is very old. One of 76 words in the set “the city and its places” in the Ukrainian course.
In short
| Written in Ukrainian | церква |
| Translation | church |
| Part of speech | noun |
| Level | A1 |
Why it looks that way
No soft sign at the end — tserkva, plain and firm. Its forms are predictable: tserkva, u tserkvi, and the word never hides extra letters when it changes.
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.
- Стара церква на пагорбіThe church is very old
Nearby words: the city and its places
Street, square, pharmacy, bank. An address is built out of these, and an address is something you have to both say and understand.
- містоcitySaid "misto" with the tight i. The vowels hop around in other cases: u misti "in the city", mista "of the city".
- вулицяstreetStress on the first syllable: VU-lytsya. In addresses the word itself is usually dropped — Khreshchatyk, 22 says it all.
- аптекаpharmacyThe green cross on the sign is the same worldwide. The after-hours one is cherhova apteka — "duty pharmacy", posted on every other door.
- світлофорtraffic lightSvitlo, light, plus for: a light-bearer at the crossing. The red light is chervone svitlo, and the colors are the ones you already know from the clothing wave.
- велосипедbicycleTwo Latin wheels in one word: velo plus ped, foot power. You ride it velosypedom — the instrumental ending, not a preposition, does the riding.
- зупинка автобусаbus stopFrom zupynyty sia, to stop: a zupynka is a stopping place. One word covers buses and trams alike — the vehicle is named by the word next to it.
- проїзний квитокtransit passProiznyi comes from the verb to ride, and kvytok is your ticket from the travel wave. Together: a pass that lets you ride — cheaper than single tickets.
- маршрутrouteThe international word for a route. The route number is nomer marshrutu — and after numbers you get the "of" form, a habit you have already settled into.
- пішохідний перехідcrosswalkPishokhid is a pedestrian, from pishky, on foot — the same root you will meet in the lesson about walking. The striped crossing itself is just zebra, borrowed with the paint.
- затор на дорозіtraffic jamFrom zatoryty, to clog — streets clog like pipes here. The bouncy cork in a bottle is a different word entirely: korok.
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “the city and its places”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “church” in Ukrainian?
No soft sign at the end — tserkva, plain and firm. Its forms are predictable: tserkva, u tserkvi, and the word never hides extra letters when it changes.
- How do you say “transit pass” in Ukrainian?
Proiznyi comes from the verb to ride, and kvytok is your ticket from the travel wave. Together: a pass that lets you ride — cheaper than single tickets.
- How do you say “pharmacy” in Ukrainian?
The green cross on the sign is the same worldwide. The after-hours one is cherhova apteka — "duty pharmacy", posted on every other door.
- How do you say “traffic jam” in Ukrainian?
From zatoryty, to clog — streets clog like pipes here. The bouncy cork in a bottle is a different word entirely: korok.
- How do you say “bus stop” in Ukrainian?
From zupynyty sia, to stop: a zupynka is a stopping place. One word covers buses and trams alike — the vehicle is named by the word next to it.
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 “church” in Ukrainian?
«церква». In a live sentence: “Стара церква на пагорбі” — The church is very old. Noun, level A1, from the set “the city and its places”.
Why does this word look the way it does?
No soft sign at the end — tserkva, plain and firm. Its forms are predictable: tserkva, u tserkvi, and the word never hides extra letters when it changes. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.