Lesson 8 - Ukrainian Made Easy

Welcome to Lesson 8 of Ukrainian Made Easy. Our topic today is in response to an email from Madeline in Richmond. She writes, "Hi Guys, I'm really enjoying your lessons. My question is about the word Ти as in, "Ти хочеш." My Ukrainian friend often leaves it off, but I don't understand why. Any help?"

Thanks for the email, Madeline, and for the kind words about the course. By the end of today's lesson I think it will be very clear why your Ukrainian friend often leaves off the word Ти. So let's start by repeating this word: Хочеш.

Now make it a question: Хочеш?

The written Ukrainian letter X looks like an English "x". But it sounds like an "H"

x....xo....Хочеш?

One more time. First as a statement: Хочеш. Now as a question: Хочеш?

As that sinks in, let's do some review. So, you're in a cafe. How should you greet the waitress?

Добрий день.

She replies with: Добрий день. Я слухаю вас.

...as she pulls out her pad and pen. We're not sure exactly what she said, but it's pretty clear she's ready to take our order. So ask her: Is there spaghetti?

Є спагеті?

How will she say: Yes, there is spaghetti and there is pizza.

Так, є спагеті і ...є піца.

Tell her: I'll have pizza and a salad, please.

Я буду піцу і салат, будь ласка.

She jots that down then looks back up at you: Щось попити?

Gulp! That phrase is new. And she sees that you didn't understand, so she clarifies:

Ну...чай або каву.

Ah, at last a word we understand! She said coffee. So she must be asking if we want something to drink. Ask her if there's cappuccino.

Є капучино?

She replies: Yes, there is.

Так, є.

So say: A cappuccino, please.

Капучино, будь ласка.

And she reads back your order:

Отже ви будете піцу, салат і капучино

Sounds like she got it right. So say: Yes. Thanks.

Так. Дякую.

And she says "You're welcome" as she walks off.

Будь ласка.

So, what was the word we practiced at the start of this lesson? It started with that "xo" sound?

Хочеш

Let's see if we can figure out the meaning of it from the context of a quick dialog. So, imagine you're in your Ukrainian friend's apartment on a hot summer day. He opens his fridge...

(SFX: fridge door opens)

Ей, Марк...Хочеш Спрайт?

Спрайт? Mmm...Ні, дякую.

Пепсі?

Пепсі? Добре. Дякую.

Let's try one more, and then we'll analyze what's going on. So later, you guys are both hungry. He again pops open his fridge and asks...

Хочеш салат?

Салат? Еее...ні, дякую.

Піцу?

O! Є піца? Добре. Дякую.

Do you have a feel for the flow of these conversations? Let's go through them again.

Ей, Марк...Хочеш Спрайт?
Hey Mark, want a Sprite?

Спрайт? Mmm...Ні, дякую.
Sprite? No thanks.

Пепсі?

Пепсі? Добре. Дякую.
Pepsi? Ok. Thanks.

So, in that second dialog, how does he ask: Want a salad?

Хочеш салат?

So, хочеш is the casual form of the word "want." You'd use it when addressing a friend or a family member. I'd like to concentrate on just this casual form for now, although we did encounter the formal form in the previous lesson. Remember when the waitress asked:

Що ви хочете?

She was asking formally, What do you want?

Хочете is the formal, polite version.

Хочеш is the casual, friendly version.

So ask your friend: Want a cappuccino?

Хочеш капучино?

Want yogurt?

Хочеш йогурт?

Want a muffin?

Хочеш маффін?

Want pizza?

Хочеш піцу?

coffee

Хочеш каву?

caviar

Хочеш ікру?

Now...Imagine you have a friend who's also studying Ukrainian, but he's not as advanced as you are. And he says, "Wait a second. The word for caviar ends in an 'a' sound. Ікра. Why did you say Хочеш ікру? Why the 'u' sound?

What would you tell him? Hit pause for a second to ponder...

My answer would be: When you do something to words that end in an "ah" sound --- what we call feminine nouns --- they change their ending to an "uu" sound. And wanting something counts as doing something to the word.

That was a long buildup, but now I can answer Madeline's question. Listen to this word: Ти

That's one of the ways to say "you" when talking to a friend. And Madeline wants to know, when do we add it before the word хочеш?

Well, for starters, you have to add it when making a statement. Until now, we've only been asking our friend questions about what he wants. But imagine you're discussing with him where to go for dinner. You say, "I want sushi, but ...ти хочеш піцу."

See? There I was making a statement. I was declaring: You want pizza.

Ти хочеш піцу.

So we need to add the word ти there.

Я хочу суші, а ти хочеш піцу.

Next, and this is kind of subtle, but...Imagine if I'm surprised that my friend wants whiskey. After all, I thought he didn't drink. I'd say...

You want whiskey?

Ти хочеш віскі?!

Does that make sense? If I left off the "you" part of that, and just said:

Хочеш віскі?

...it sounds like I'm offering him whiskey.

Bottom line: Since we're more likely to offer our friends something, you'll mostly be asking just: Хочеш?

Now here's a question for you. How do you think you'd ask a friend: Want my muffin?

Хочеш мій маффін?

And the real test. Try asking: Want my pizza?

Хочеш мою піцу?

Did you catch that? He said: мою піцу.

Before we analyze that, try asking:

Is this my caviar?

Це моя ікра?

Now ask your friend: Want my caviar?

Хочеш мою ікру?

So, what's going on here? Basically, we have our two main grammar patterns working at the same time. We know that the adjective моя has to rhyme with ікра. That's pattern #1.

And we know that ікра changes to ікру when we do something to it. In this case, we were wanting it. Since ікра changes to ікру, the word моя has to go along for the ride. It also has to rhyme, so it becomes: мою

Хочеш мою ікру?

Ask your friend: Want my soup?

Хочеш мій суп?

Want my pizza?

Хочеш мою піцу?

Want my salad?

Хочеш мій салат?

Want my cola?

Хочеш мою колу?

If you got all these, you should honestly feel really good about your progress. Those are not easy...it's actually pretty advanced stuff. But the underlying idea is kinda simple, isn't it? Remember, grammar is all about patterns. Not rules and charts and intimidating terms.

Finally, you may've noticed we basically learned just one new word today. That's by design. When you first start in a new language, the brain is a sponge and it can absorb a lot of words. But soon the spots fill up, and so we concentrate on mastering what we have. As your current vocabulary becomes second nature, then the brain feels ready for the next wave of new vocabulary. That's simply how language learning works.

Anyway, head on over to UkrainianMadeEasy.com for the transcript and audio exercises, and I'll see you in the next episode where you'll learn to talk about what you want.

Keep up the great work and we'll see you next lesson!