Lingoflyчотири
- чотириchotyryfour
“чотири” (chotyry) — four in Ukrainian. Numeral, level A0, topic — numbers and counting. Nothing in the sound hints at "four" — it simply has to be memorized. Nouns after it behave as after dva and try. In a live sentence: “Чотири зупинки і я вдома” (Chotyry zupynky i ya vdoma) — Four stops and I am home. Written with the characters ч, о (o), т, и, р, и. One of 10 words in the set “numbers and counting” in the Ukrainian course.
In short
| Written in Ukrainian | чотири (chotyry) |
| Read in Latin letters | chotyry |
| Translation | four |
| Part of speech | numeral |
| Level | A0 |
Why it looks that way
Nothing in the sound hints at "four" — it simply has to be memorized. Nouns after it behave as after dva and try.
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.
Nearby words: numbers and counting
A price, the change, a house number, the time you agreed on, the floor. Numbers are the first thing you have to catch by ear — and the first thing people say fast.
- одинodynoneAgrees with its noun's gender: odyn chay "one tea", odna kava "one coffee", odne moloko "one milk". Three shapes to keep straight.
- дваdvatwoAfter dva the noun takes a special two-shape: dva braty, "two brothers". Feminine nouns switch the number too: dvi kavy, "two coffees".
- триtrythreeNouns after try take the same shape as after dva: try khvylyny, "three minutes". From five upward the shape changes again.
- пʼятьpiatfiveThe apostrophe marks a small y-glide: p-yat. From five on, nouns take a special plural form: piat khvylyn, "five minutes".
- шістьshistsixSaid "shyst" — that tight i-vowel again. After it the noun form is hryven, exactly as after piat.
- сімsimsevenOne letter away from simya, "family" — the apostrophe decides which word you are hearing. Both are worth knowing cold.
- вісімvisimeightSaid "visim". Ignore any urge to hear vesna, "spring", inside — the words are unrelated neighbors.
- девʼятьdeviatnineThe apostrophe again between v and a: dev-yat. The ordinal "ninth" is devyatiy — same apostrophe, new tail.
- десятьdesiattenReads exactly as spelled, no tricks. A round number — after it you count in tens, and the noun form is the after-five one.
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “numbers and counting”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “four” in Ukrainian?
Nothing in the sound hints at "four" — it simply has to be memorized. Nouns after it behave as after dva and try.
- How do you say “eight” in Ukrainian?
Said "visim". Ignore any urge to hear vesna, "spring", inside — the words are unrelated neighbors.
- How do you say “five” in Ukrainian?
The apostrophe marks a small y-glide: p-yat. From five on, nouns take a special plural form: piat khvylyn, "five minutes".
- How do you say “one” in Ukrainian?
Agrees with its noun's gender: odyn chay "one tea", odna kava "one coffee", odne moloko "one milk". Three shapes to keep straight.
- How do you say “nine” in Ukrainian?
The apostrophe again between v and a: dev-yat. The ordinal "ninth" is devyatiy — same apostrophe, new tail.
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 “four” in Ukrainian?
«чотири» (chotyry), read “chotyry”. In a live sentence: “Чотири зупинки і я вдома” (Chotyry zupynky i ya vdoma) — Four stops and I am home. Numeral, level A0, from the set “numbers and counting”; written with the characters ч, о (o), т, и, р, и.
How is “чотири” (chotyry) written in Latin letters?
chotyry. This is a practical spelling — you need it to read aloud and be understood, not to meet an academic standard.
Why does this word look the way it does?
Nothing in the sound hints at "four" — it simply has to be memorized. Nouns after it behave as after dva and try. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.