In this short lesson, you will learn two ways to say I have in Ukrainian and practice the one which is more common.

You can listen to the explanations and get more practice of I have in Ukrainian in Episode 6 of the Ukrainian Lessons Podcast. It is about introducing the family members.

In Ukrainian, there are two ways to express possession, to say ‘I have.’ One of them is more popular in the Western regions as it is similar to the Polish language. It is literal:

  1. Я маю – I have
  2. Ти маєш – You have
  3. Він має – He has
  4. Вона має – She has
  5. Ми маємо – We have
  6. Ви маєте – You (plural) have
  7. Вони мають – They have

However, generally, Ukrainians use the structure you will find in the table below. It is formed by the formula “У + noun/pronoun in the Genitive case + Є.” You can translate it as “With me, there is/are…

Study the table and try to make some sentences with the words on the right:


Are you beginning to learn Ukrainian? Check out our series of the Ukrainian Lessons Podcast and start with our list of 14 most common expressions right now.