Lingoflyце було давно
- це було давноtse bulo davnothat was long ago
“це було давно” (tse bulo davno) — 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” (Tse bulo davno, ya vzhe y ne pamiataiu) — That was long ago, back in my grandfather's time.
In short
| Written in Ukrainian | це було давно (tse bulo davno) |
| Read in Latin letters | tse bulo davno |
| 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.
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.
- хвилинаkhvylynaminuteA word all its own — no "minute" inside. After five it shortens: pyat khvylyn, the counting form every number demands.
- годинаhodynahourThe 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.
- сьогодніsohodnitodaySaid "siohodni", stress in the middle. A word that appears in every second sentence of daily speech — worth over-learning.
- завтраzavtratomorrowZavtra bude doshch — "tomorrow there will be rain". The little helper bude, "will be", is the future of buty, which you just met.
- деньdendayThe 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.
- ранокranokmorning (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.
- вечірvechireveningSaid "vechyr". Keep it apart from vecherya, "supper": one ending separates the time of day from the meal you eat in it.
- нічnichnightSaid "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.
- вчораvchorayesterdayStarts with a v — do not drop it. The day before yesterday doubles the prefix: pozavchora, exactly like "the day before yesterday".
- рікrikyearWatch 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» (tse bulo davno), read “tse bulo davno”. In a live sentence: “Це було давно, я вже й не памʼятаю” (Tse bulo davno, ya vzhe y ne pamiataiu) — That was long ago, back in my grandfather's time. Phrase, level A2, from the set “time, days and hours”; written with the characters ц, е, б (b), у (U), л, о (o), д, а (a), в (v), н, о (o).
How is “це було давно” (tse bulo davno) written in Latin letters?
tse bulo davno. 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?
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.