Lesson 9 - Ukrainian Made Easy
Alright, welcome to UME Lesson 9. Today we'll learn how to talk about the things we want. But first, let's review by asking our friend about what she wants. Ask...
Want coffee?
Хочеш каву?
How would she ask: Is there cappuccino?
Є капучино?
Ask her: Want spaghetti?
Хочеш спагеті?
How will she ask: Is there lasagna?
Є лазанья?
You thought she didn't like Italian food, so ask her: You want lasagna?!
Ти хочеш лазанью?
Now imagine you're at a friend's place. She opens the pantry to show you what the options are for dinner, and asks: What do you want?
Що ти хочеш?
Pointing to the spaghetti you say:
Я хочу спагеті.
Listen again?
Я хочу спагеті.
So, Я хочу translates as "I want."
Let's practice those two pairs. To make it more concrete, try tapping your chest as you say this:
I want.
Я хочу
And now gesture as if your friend were across from you and say:
You want
Ти хочеш
One more time. Tapping your chest: I want.
Я хочу
Now gesture to your friend: You want.
Ти хочеш
Great. Now, as I've mentioned before, there are lots and lots of food cognates in Ukrainian. And one of the most popular in recent years is суші. So, try saying: I want sushi.
Я хочу суші.
Let's add a truly Ukrainian food to our vocabulary. We encountered this word for a moment in Lesson 7, but didn't officially learn it. So try saying: млинці
That's an M-L combination at the start of the word: млинці
In English we call them pancakes, in France they're called crepes, and in Ukrainian they're called...
млинці
But American pancakes are big and fluffy because they add baking soda to the batter. French crepes and Ukrainian млинці are very thin, and they usually roll them or fold them, adding various fillings. Try them with red caviar. Incredible. Anyway, try saying:
I want crepes.
Я хочу млинці.
Ask your friend: Want crepes?
Хочеш млинці?
Now let's add one more very Ukrainian word. Listen and repeat: Чай
So, what is чай? Well, when you pour boiling water over the dried leaves of the tea plant, the resulting drink is called чай.
So, we call the drink "tea" and in Ukrainian it's чай
Given that the drink originated in China, it's clear why Ukrainian calls the drink чай.
right? "Chi-na"...Чай
Anyway, ask your friend: Want tea?
Хочеш чай?
How will she say: No, thanks. I want coffee.
Ні, дякую. Я хочу каву.
Say: I want tea and pancakes.
Я хочу чай і млинці.
Until now, we've only been adding nouns --- mostly foods --- into these, I want, or Do you want constructions. But we can also add verbs. So we can ask:
Want to go?
Want to watch?
Want to eat?
...and so on. So here's a new verb for us. Listen and repeat: їсти
їсти
If you're thirsty...drink! But if you're hungry, then you need to їсти.
So, їсти is the Ukrainian verb meaning, "to eat". In two words, ask your friend: Want to eat?
Хочеш їсти?
Or, knowing she's hungry, ask: What do you want to eat?
Що ти хочеш їсти?
Notice how we included the word "you" in the Ukrainian version:
Що ти хочеш їсти?
After a long day sightseeing in Lviv, pat your stomach: I want to eat.
Я хочу їсти.
Imagine calling out to your roommate Max, while you're in the kitchen. Ask him...
Max, want to eat?
Макс, хочеш їсти?
Some native speakers might've added ти there. Listen...
Макс, ти хочеш їсти?
So Max asks: What is there?
Що є?
Peering in the fridge, tell him: There is soup and there is salad.
Є суп і є салат.
He says: Ok, I'll have the soup.
Добре. Я буду суп.
Do you know what a verb conjugation is? I know, "conjugation" is one of those confusing grammar terms I usually hate, but at least for today's tip, it's good to know. And it's actually pretty simple:
In English we say: I want, you want, they want....but Steve wants.
Or: I go, you go, we go, but she....goes.
Why is it "you go" but "she goes"? Because, in English, there's a different conjugation for he and she. Well, in Ukrainian there are separate conjugations for each "doer" of the action. But hold on!
What are all the "doers"? Well, there are three singular ones:
I, you (when talking to just one person) and he or she or it.
Then there are the plural forms of those:
We, you guys, they
And again, in Ukrainian, each of those six "doers" of the action has its own conjugation. That is, a different ending to the verb. And we've learned two of them so far. The two most common:
The "I" form, as in: I want tea.
Я хочу чай.
And the singular "you" form, as in:
You want pancakes?
Ти хочеш млинці?
So, where's the "tip" in all of this? Well, the worst thing you can do is try to memorize all six conjugations at once. And yet that's what so many native speaking teachers make you do. They email you some chart: "Here. Memorize all six conjugations of this new verb before next week's lesson." I mean, that's not even teaching. It's just an info dump. It's the teacher being totally lazy. Because the fact is, conjugations have to be learned gradually. One at a time. In simple, useful phrases. Just like we're doing here. Do it that way and they're no sweat at all.
Alright, the last new word for today is a tiny one. Listen: не
One more time: не
Listen for it in this short conversation. I'm in my kitchen, and I'm taking some leftover pizza out of the fridge. So, I ask my friend: Хочеш піцу?
Ні, дякую. Я не хочу їсти.
Listen to her answer again:
Ні, дякую. Я не хочу їсти.
She's saying, "No, thanks. I don't want to eat."
She might've phrased it with fewer words. Listen to this version:
Хочеш піцу?
Ні. Не хочу.
There she's simply saying: "No. Don't want."
In English, we can't really leave out the word "I" like that. We have to say, "No, I don't want." In fact, we also need to add "any", as in, "No thanks. I don't want any."
But in Ukrainian, it's normal and grammatical to say:
No. Don't want.
Ні. Не хочу.
This time using the word "I", say: I don't want pizza. I want sushi.
Я не хочу піцу. Я хочу суші.
In three words, ask: Tanya, want tea?
Таня...Хочеш чай?
How will she say: No thanks. I want coffee.
Ні, дякую. Я хочу каву.
How will she ask you: Want pancakes?
Хочеш млинці?
No thanks. I want yogurt.
Ні, дякую. Я хочу йогурт.
Or, if you're not hungry, tell her: No thanks. I don't want to eat.
Ні, дякую. Я не хочу їсти.
Imagine you're with a friend, deciding what to cook for dinner. She holds out a box of pasta. You frown...
No, I don't want spaghetti.
Ні, я не хочу спагеті.
She holds up a can of Chicken Noodle. You shake your head....
No, I don't want soup.
Ні, я не хочу суп.
She holds out a box of rice...
Nah, don't want...
Ні, не хочу.
I want a hamburger.
Я хочу гамбургер.
So she rolls her eyes and pokes fun at how picky you are:
Ти не хочеш спагеті, ти не хочеш суп, ти не хочеш рис... ти тільки хочеш гамбургер!
There was a new word in there, did you catch it? тільки
Could you guess the meaning based on what she was saying? To check, please visit UkrainianMadeEasy.com. You'll find the answer in the transcript of this lesson.
Meanwhile, in the next episode we're going to have you play the role of interpreter. It's great practice and you'll be amazed at how much you've learned and can understand. See you then!
ANSWER to today's mystery word: тільки = only
You don't want spaghetti, you don't want soup, you don't want rice... You only want a hamburger!
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