Grammar Reference
Prepositions
Prepositions are parts of speech that connect the relationship between a noun, pronoun, adjective and/or phrase to other parts of the sentence. In Ukrainian, each preposition requires the noun, pronoun or an adjective to be used in a particular case.
Common Ukrainian Prepositions (в/у, на, о, з, про)
These are the very common Ukrainian prepositions that one would encounter in everyday language:
в/у “in/at”
в/у “into/to”
в/у “at” [one’s place]
в/у “_” [at one’s possession/one has]
на “on/at”
на “onto/to”
o “at” [time]
з “from”
з “with”
про “about”
Prepositions в/у “in/at” and на “on/at”: Location
в/у “in/at” and на “on/at” are used when expressing the location of things and people such as, places of work or places of study.
Ми вчимося в університеті. “We study at a university.”
Наші друзі тепер в спортзалі. “Our friends are now at the gym.”
Мої сестра і брат тепер у бабусі. “My sister and my brother are currently at my grandma’s/visiting grandma.”
[See more under the Locative case of nouns and pronouns]
Prepositions в/у “in/at” and на “on/at” with Nouns in the Locative Case: Places of Work
| у/в Nominative ⟶ Locative | на Nominative ⟶ Locative |
|---|---|
| журнал ⟶ у журналі компанія ⟶ у компанії лікарня ⟶ у лікарні магазин ⟶ в магазині ресторан ⟶ у ресторані студія ⟶ у студії театр ⟶ у театрі університет ⟶ в університеті школа ⟶ у школі | завод ⟶ на заводі телебачення ⟶ на телебаченні фірма ⟶ на фірмі |
Although the meaning of both в/у and на may be “at,” there is a difference when each preposition is used. The general rule of thumb is:
- в is used with concrete places that have boundaries, walls and some type of limits such as: ресторан, університет, офіс.
- на is used with more abstract nouns, those that do not have clearly defined boundaries, such as events: лекція, екскурсія, заняття, and also other abstract nouns such as: телебачення, радіо.
However, certain “concrete” places are used with the preposition на. These are: на заводі, на фірмі.
Prepositions в/у “in/at” and на “on/at”: Streets and Public Areas in a City
When discussing streets and public areas in a city, prepositions в/у “in/at” and на “on/at” are used with nouns in the Locative case as follows:
на: вулиці, площі, бульварі, проспекті
в/у: сквері, парку, провулку
Note that nouns with the suffix –(о)к– usually take the locative ending -у.
Фонтан знаходиться у парку імені Олеся Гончара. “The fountain is in the Oles Honchar park.”
Preposition на “on”: Wearing Clothes
на “on” is used when talking about clothes, which a person is wearing.
На ньому білі шорти “He is wearing white shorts.”
Prepositions в/у “in/at” and на “on/at”: Directional Movement
в/у “in/at” and на “on/at” are also used when expressing directional movement, from one place to another. In this scenario, the accusative case is used following в/у and на.
Note that the difference between в/у used with concrete objects and на with abstract nouns is the same as discussed above.
[See more under the accusative case of nouns and pronouns]
Prepositions в/у “in/at” and на “on/at” with Nouns in the Accusative Case: Directional Movement
| у/в Nominative ⟶ Accusative | на Nominative ⟶ Accusative |
|---|---|
| університет ⟶ в університет кіно ⟶ у кіно гори ⟶ у гори магазин ⟶ в магазин ресторан ⟶ у ресторан спортзал ⟶ у спортзал театр ⟶ у театр | екскурсія ⟶ на екскурсію дача ⟶ на дачу море ⟶ на море концерт ⟶ на концерт |
Вранці вони поїхали в університет. “In the morning they went to university.”
Prepositions в/у “in/at” and на “on/at”: Time and Dates
в/у “in/on” is also used when expressing time: days of the week, months, and years.
- With days of the week, the preposition в/у is followed by the accusative case: в понеділок “on Monday,” у вівторок “on Tuesday,” у неділю “on Sunday.”
- With months and years, this preposition is followed by the locative case: у травні “in May,” у липні “in July,” у вересні “in September,” у дві тисячі п’ятому році я вчилася у школі “in 2005 I studied in school.”
Preposition о “at”: Asking for and Telling the Time
о “at” is only used when asking for and telling the time:
Я зазвичай прокидаюся о сьомій годині. “I normally get up at seven o’clock.”
Preposition з “from” and “with”
з, when used meaning “from,” is followed by the genitive case. For instance, when saying that you are from a particular city or country:
Вона з Франції. “She is from France.”
Наші друзі з Києва “Our friends are from Kyiv.”
[ See more under the genitive case of nouns and pronouns]
з, when used meaning “with,” is followed by the instrumental case. A common use of з is when discussing foods and drinks, such as:
Олена часто їсть голубці з м’ясом і сметаною. “Olena often eats stuffed cabbage rolls with meat and sour cream.”
Вчора ми їли торт з вишнями. “Yesterday we had a cake with cherries.”
[See more under the instrumental case of nouns and pronouns]
Preposition про “about”
про “about” is followed by the accusative case. Про is commonly used in narrations.
Оксана розповідає про улюблений фільм. “Oksana is talking about her favourite film.”
Він говорить про зимові канікули “He talks about his winter break.”
[See more under the accusative case of nouns and pronouns]
Chapter navigation:
- Prepositions в/у “in/at” and на “on/at”: Location
- Prepositions в/у “in/at” and на “on/at” with Nouns in the Locative Case: Places of Work
- Prepositions в/у “in/at” and на “on/at”: Streets and Public Areas in a City
- Preposition на “on”: Wearing Clothes
- Prepositions в/у “in/at” and на “on/at”: Directional Movement
- Preposition в/у “on/in”: Time and Dates
- Preposition о “at”: Asking for and Telling the Time
- Preposition з “from” and “with”
- Preposition про “about”