Lesson 4 - Ukrainian Made Easy

🎧 Full Episode Audio

🎧 Listening Practice Audio

Welcome to Lesson 4 of Ukrainian Made Easy. If you're just joining us, please know that the episodes are cumulative. Each lesson builds carefully on the material learned in all the previous episodes. Let's start today by trying to say the following:

добрий

This is the first part of one of the most common Ukrainian greetings. Listen again to the native speaker: добрий... до-брий

Let that resonate in your subconscious as we review the material from Lesson #3. So imagine you're introducing yourself and your friend to a new Ukrainian acquaintance. How would a guy say:

I'm an American. He's an Australian.

Я -- американець. Він -- австралієць.

How would a woman say: I'm an American. She's an Australian.

Я -- американка. Вона -- австралійка.

My mom is an Englishwoman.

Моя мама -- англійка.

My dad is a Canadian.

Мій тато -- канадець.

Ask: Your mom is an American, yes?

Твоя мама -- американка, так?

Your dad is an Englishman?

Твій тато -- англієць?

Tell someone: This is my friend. He is an American.

Це мій друг. Він -- американець.

Confirming what you heard, ask him formally: You're an American?

Ви американець?

This is my female friend. She is a Canadian.

Це моя подруга. Вона -- канадка.

You guys are all college aged, so it feels okay speaking informally to her. Ask...

You're Canadian?

Ти канадка?

Good. And what was that word I had you pronounce at the start today?

добрий

Excellent. Now, let's complete the greeting by adding the second word. Listen carefully: день

One more time: день

Then let's piece them together. Добрий день

Again: Добрий день

In Ukrainian, the best way to greet someone formally is by saying:

Добрий день!

Literally, you are wishing someone a "good day!" And again, it's a formal greeting used with strangers, elders, your boss, and so on. Ukrainian also has an informal greeting which we'll learn a bit later.

Now, pretend my name is Steve, and I've just become acquainted with a woman in a cafe. So she asks me: Як Вас звати?

And I answer: Мене звати Стів.

Based on my answer -- Мене звати Стів -- what do you think she was inquiring about? She was, of course, asking my name. Notice that the question has three words in it. Repeat each one after our native speaker: Як / Вас / звати

This fits the pattern we learned last lesson, Namely that all the formal versions of you will start with a "v" sound. Вас / Як Вас звати?

Spoken quickly, the ending of the second word may blend into the third word, so it might sound more like, "yak vah...zvaty." Unfortunately, many courses teach this next part incorrectly. They tell you that "Як Вас звати?" means "What's your name?"

That's not right. Not even close. Because with this...Як....Вас....звати?...what she's literally asking is: How....you....to call? In other words, "How to call you?"

Again in Ukrainian: Як Вас звати?

And our answer was: Мене звати Стів.

Literally: Me....to call....Steve.

Here it is word by word:

мене / звати / Стів

So someone asks...Як Вас звати?

Give your own answer. Мене звати Микола.

You just asked him his name. Now listen to how he asks you the same question. А як Вас звати?

Did you catch how he added that "ah" sound at the start and emphasized "Вас" a bit more? Listen again: А як Вас звати?

In English, the exchange would be like this: "What's your name?"

"My name's Steve. And what's your name?"

When the Ukrainian person responds with "А як Вас звати?" that "а" sound is essentially introducing a contrasting phrase. It's a bit awkward, but it helps to think of "ah" as "Whereas".

So, keeping it as literal as possible for a moment, we have:

Me to call Thomas. Whereas how to call you?

Мене звати Томас. А як Вас звати?

And do you recall our Ukrainian greeting? Literally it was what? Good day!

Добрий день

Excellent!

Imagine you've just arrived in Lviv and your friend meets you at the train station. There's a man with her, and he extends his hand to shake yours. How will he greet you?

Добрий день!

Greet him as well: Добрий день!

Ask him his name: Як Вас звати?

How would he say, "Me, to call Mykola."

Мене звати Микола.

How will he ask: And how to call you?

А як Вас звати?

Now, tell him your name.

Also traveling with you is your friend Robby. How might you introduce him?

This is my friend Robby.

Це мій друг Роббі.

Add: He is a musician.

Він -- музикант.

Is he an American?

Він -- американець?

Say, he is an Englishman.

Він -- англієць.

You're also traveling with a friend named Veronica. Introduce her by saying:

This is my friend Veronica.

Це моя подруга Вероніка.

She is a student.

Вона -- студентка.

She is an American.

Вона -- американка.

Excellent!

TIP OF THE DAY

Today's tip is to start making flashcards. I mean actual, physical cards that you write on. I buy those blank recipe cards and cut them in half. Make a card for each word and each construction you learn. So on one side write the English word, and on the other, the Ukrainian version. Be sure to include the SLT (Super Literal Translation) too.

I know a lot of you would prefer to use a flashcard app. And certainly, there's some value in that. But there is solid, scientific evidence showing that the physical act of writing words down helps you learn a language more deeply. It's what's known as kinesthetic learning. Your brain is basically like, "Oh yeah, I remember learning this word. I remember writing it down."

And when you study your cards---this is important---make a small X in the corner each time you get it wrong. This lets you quickly see which ones need more work. Another tip: If you can't remember the answer, don't immediately read it. Instead, cover the answer and reveal just the first letter. See if that jogs your memory. Because an important rule in developing your memory is that the smaller the hint, the better.

And a final tip: Assuming you continue on and learn to read and write in Cyrillic, be sure to go through all your cards and add the Cyrillic version for every word.

Alright, let's end with a cumulative review of the first four episodes. What's the formal way to greet people in Ukrainian?

добрий день!

Say: This is my mom. She is a programmer.

Це моя мама. Вона -- програміст.

This is my dad. He's a businessman.

Це мій тато. Він -- бізнесмен.

In the next segment, we'll use that "ah" sound we learned earlier, this time to convey the word "whereas." So say... Dad is an American, whereas mom is an Australian.

Тато -- американець, а мама -- австралійка.

Say: This is my friend, Abbott. He is a student.

Це мій друг, Ебботт. Він -- студент.

Is he an Englishman?

Він -- англієць?

He is a Canadian.

Він -- канадець.

This is my friend Katya. She is an engineer.

Це моя подруга Катя. Вона -- інженер.

She is a Canadian.

Вона -- канадка.

This is my friend Tanya. She's a businesswoman.

Це моя подруга Таня. Вона -- бізнеследі.

Ask: Is this my pizza?

Це моя піца?

Yes, this is your pizza.

Так, це твоя піца.

Is this my soup?

Це мій суп?

Yes, this is your borscht.

Так, це твій борщ.

One more time, we greet people with what phrase?

добрий день

Tell someone your name:

Мене звати Джордж.

Ask: And what's your name?

А як Вас звати?

You're Australian?

Ви австралієць?

So, how are you feeling about things so far? Please send us an email and let us know if the pace is right for you. Our email address is: support@UkrainianMadeEasy.com. In the next lesson we'll learn our first question words in Ukrainian, and I'll share the trick that memory experts use to remember tons of new words.

And as always, head over to UkrainianMadeEasy.com to download a transcript of this lesson plus all the exercises from today. I'll see you next time!

Download Lesson 4 PDF Transcript