LingoflyAsking the way in Ukrainian
19 words in Ukrainian on the topic “asking the way”: де? (de) — where?, тут (tut) — here, там (tam) — there, праворуч (pravoruch) — to the right.
19 words on the topic
- де?de?where?A tiny word doing the whole job of "where". Its partner in the other direction — "to where" — is kudy.
- тутtuthereIts pair is tam, "there" — between them they cover the whole map. Short, common, and easy to keep.
- тамtamthereTam i tut — "there and here" — one vowel apart, like "here/there" but easier. The pharmacy is always tam, around the corner.
- праворучpravoruchto the rightLiterally "right-hand-ward" — prava ruka is "right hand". Directions come from body parts, which makes them hard to forget.
- ліворучlivoruchto the leftThe mirror twin of pravoruch, same build: liva ruka, "left hand". Povernit livoruch — "turn left" — is half of all navigation.
- прямоpriamostraight aheadOne of those rare exact matches with the expected sound. Just remember: "to the right" is pravoruch, not a cousin of pryamo.
- близькоblyzkocloseThe soft sign after z is real: blyz-ko. Its opposite daleko is just as easy — the pair covers every distance question.
- далекоdalekofarStress on the middle syllable: da-LE-ko. Tse daleko? — "Is it far?" — is the question asked about every route ever.
- ітиityto go (on foot)Two syllables, i-TY; after a vowel it shrinks to yty: treba yty. Present: idu, idesh, ide — the i leads every step.
- як пройтиyak proityhow to get thereFollow it with do plus the of-form: yak proity do vokzalu — how to get to the station. There is no short "to" for directions in Ukrainian; do does the work.
- дістатисяdistatysiato reach (get to)From distaty, to obtain — to reach a place is to "obtain" your way to it. It takes the of-form: distatysia vokzalu, reach the station.
- на тому боціna tomu botsion the other sideLiterally "on that side": bik, side, surfaces as botsi in the at-form. The city splits naturally into this side and that side of the street.
- за два крокиza dva krokytwo steps awayThe preposition is za, "behind", not "in": za dva kroky. Kroky is the plural of krok, a step — and krokuvaty, to stride, is the verb inside.
- за поворотомza povorotomjust past the turnZa plus a case form of povorot, "a turn". The za means "beyond": once you pass the bend, there it is.
- ліворуч відlivoruch vidto the left ofLivyy is "left", livoruch is "leftward". After vid the next word goes into the "of" form: livoruch vid banku — "to the left of the bank".
- праворуч відpravoruch vidto the right ofThe mirror twin of livoruch. Mind the ending -oruch: it marks direction, "rightward", and vid after it again demands the "of" form.
- посерединіposeredyniin the middleFrom seredyna, "middle", in a frozen location form. No preposition after it: poseredyni kimnaty — "in the middle of the room".
- наступний поворотnastupnyi povorotthe next turnFrom nastupaty, "to step on, to come next" — the turn that steps up next. Nothing to do with a footprint; that is a different word entirely.
- по дорозіpo dorozion the wayDoroha is "road", so this is literally "along the road" — the English "on the way". Po plus a special ending does the whole job.
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How it sounds in a sentence
A word list is a blank. Conversation is made of sentences, and these are the ones the words fit into most often.
What is worth knowing about these words
де? (de?) — where? A tiny word doing the whole job of "where". Its partner in the other direction — "to where" — is kudy.
тут (tut) — here. Its pair is tam, "there" — between them they cover the whole map. Short, common, and easy to keep.
там (tam) — there. Tam i tut — "there and here" — one vowel apart, like "here/there" but easier. The pharmacy is always tam, around the corner.
праворуч (pravoruch) — to the right. Literally "right-hand-ward" — prava ruka is "right hand". Directions come from body parts, which makes them hard to forget.
Test yourself
Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than recognizing a familiar word — and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “where?” in Ukrainian?
A tiny word doing the whole job of "where". Its partner in the other direction — "to where" — is kudy.
- How do you say “far” in Ukrainian?
Stress on the middle syllable: da-LE-ko. Tse daleko? — "Is it far?" — is the question asked about every route ever.
- How do you say “to the left of” in Ukrainian?
Livyy is "left", livoruch is "leftward". After vid the next word goes into the "of" form: livoruch vid banku — "to the left of the bank".
- How do you say “there” in Ukrainian?
Tam i tut — "there and here" — one vowel apart, like "here/there" but easier. The pharmacy is always tam, around the corner.
- How do you say “how to get there” in Ukrainian?
Follow it with do plus the of-form: yak proity do vokzalu — how to get to the station. There is no short "to" for directions in Ukrainian; do does the work.
How to learn the set instead of just reading it
Right, left, straight on, how far. You ask the way rarely — and always at the moment when there is no time to work it out.
A list is read in a minute and forgotten in a day. What works: hide the translation, try to recall, get it wrong — and come back to the same words tomorrow.
- 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.
- Study spread over days wins not only in experiments but in ordinary classrooms, with real students.checked many timesMawson & Kang, 2025, Behavioral Sciences 15(6):771 · 22 studies, d = 0.54 (confidence interval 0.31–0.77). The authors warn that individual studies disagree widely.
Frequently asked
How do you say “where?” in Ukrainian?
«де?» (de), read “de?” A tiny word doing the whole job of "where". Its partner in the other direction — "to where" — is kudy. It is one of 19 words in the set “asking the way” — the rest are in the table above.
How many direction words do you need to start?
The whole set on this page is 19 words, but there is no need to start with all of it: the words you will need in the next few days are enough. Take them a few at a time — five to seven new ones per session.