10 Uses of the Genitive Case in Ukrainian

We continue a series of articles about cases in Ukrainian. First, you were introduced to the concept of Ukrainian cases. Then we talked about one of the most common cases in Ukrainian – the accusative case. The following article presents detailed information about the usage of the genitive case in Ukrainian.

1. In situations when we use ‘of’ in English.

Ukrainian genitive case is the equivalent of the preposition ‘of’ in English.

The role of the genitive is to show where the person or thing belongs to or what it relates to.

• Конституція України – The Constitution of Ukraine
• карта міста – a map of the city
• cтолиця України – the capital of Ukraine

2. To say ‘A Packet / A Bottle of Something’

The genitive case in Ukrainian is used after nouns denoting a certain amount or quantity of something.

Containers: 

• пакет молока – a packet of milk
• пачка масла – a stick (a pack) of butter
• пляшка пива – a bottle of beer
• склянка води – a glass of water
• чашка чаю – a cup of tea
• банка огірків – a can of cucumbers
• коробка цукерок – a box of candies

Measures:

• літр води – a liter of water
• кілограм бананів – a kilogram of bananas

Part of the whole:

• шматок торта – a piece of cake
• половина яблука – a half of an apple

3. To say a Few / a Lot of Something

After the words, denoting quantity, the genitive case of nouns is used.

Words of quantity in Ukrainian: багато (a lot; many; much), мало (little), декілька (several, few), скільки (how much; how many).

• Скільки гривень? – How many hryvnias?
• багато запитань – a lot of questions
• мало часу – little time
• декілька днів – a few days

4. To show possession, ownership

In English, possession is indicated with an apostrophe (‘s), or the word ‘of’.

One of the ways to indicate possession in Ukrainian is to use the genitive case form.

In the picture above the inscription is in Polish – zabawki Janka. Similarly, in Ukrainian, it would sound like іграшки Іванка.

In Ukrainian (and other Slavic languages) the possessor follows the object it possesses. This is the reverse of normal English ‘s.

For example in the phrase ‘іграшки Іванка‘, the word ‘Іванка‘ is in the genitive case. You should think of it as ‘the toys of Ivanko’s’, placing the possessor after the object. The ‘possessor’ is the noun that is used in the Genitive case.

• день народження мами – mother’s birthday (lit: the birthday of mother’s)
• кімната сестри – sister’s room (lit: the room of sister’s)
• промова президента – president’s speech (lit: the speech of President’s)
• телефон Михайла – Mykhailo’s telephone. (lit: the telephone of Mykhailo’s)

5. With the negative verbs

In general, in Ukrainian, negative verbs take the genitive:

• Я маю час (Accusative). But Я не маю часу (genitive).
• Ти знаєш Оксану (Accusative)? – Ні, я не знаю Оксани (genitive).
• Я бачу поле (Accusative). – Я не бачу поля (genitive).

6. To indicate the absence

The Genitive is used to say ‘there is no’ – нема (=немає) in Ukrainian.

• Нема різниці. – There is no difference.
• Нема цукру. Треба купити. – There is no sugar. We need to buy it.
• У мене нема настрою. – I am in no mood (not in the mood).

7. After numbers ending with 5-9 and 0

With numbers ending with 5-9 and 0, we use a Genitive plural form of a noun.

• сто гривень – 100 hryvnias
• десять доларів – 10 dollars
• дев’ять студентів – 9 students
• п’ять машин – 5 cars

8. To say the Date

The names of months in dates are used in genitive case:

• січень – (перше) січня (first of January)
• лютий – лютого
• березень – березня
• квітень – квітня
• травень – травня
• червень – червня
• липень – липня
• серпень – серпня
• вересень – вересня
• жовтень – жовтня
• листопад – листопада
• грудень – грудня

Get to know why Ukrainian months are called that way and how to learn them easily!

9. After the certain verbs, like боятися, досягати, бажати, чекати etc.

The nouns after some verbs are used in the genitive case:

• боятися – to fear; to be afraid of

боятися холоду – to be afraid of cold

• досягати/досягнути – to achieve; to reach

досягнути мети – to reach the goal

• бажати/побажати – to wish

Я бажаю тобі щастя, радості, добра… – I wish you happiness, joy, goodness…

• чекати – to wait for

чекати зустрічі – to wait for the meeting (but if you use preposition на after the verb, you have to put ‘зустріч’ in Accusative – чекати на зустріч)

10. In many prepositional constructions

The genitive case is also used in many prepositional constructions:

To indicate the period of time:

1. до (before);
2. під час (during);
3. після (after);
4. з… до… (from…to…)

• Зараз у мене багато роботи, буду працювати з понеділка до суботи. — Now I have a lot of work, I will work from Monday to Saturday.
• Я сподіваюсь закінчити проект до січня. — I hope to finish the project before January. 
• Після Нового року у мене з’явиться більше часу. — After New Year I will have more time.
• Можу розповісти більше про свої плани завтра під час обіду. — I can tell you more about my plans tomorrow during lunch.

To indicate the origin:

• з (from)

• Я з України. А звідки ви? – Я з Америки, а моя подруга з Японії. — I’m from Ukraine. And where are you from? – I’m from America, and my friend is from Japan.

To indicate the placement: 

1. біля (near);
2. (не)далеко від ( (not) far from);
3. позадy (behind);
4. навпроти (opposite);
5. посеред (in the middle of).

• Я живу біля парку. Це недалеко від університету, де ти навчаєшся. Можемо зустрітися навпроти головного входу в твій університет. — I live near the park. It is not far from the university where you are studying. We can meet in front of the main entrance to your university.

To say without: 

1. без

• Я п’ю каву без цукру. – I drink coffee without sugar.

Conclusion

The nouns in the genitive answer the following questions: Кого? Чoго? (Of whom? Of what?).

You should use the genitive in most cases where you would use the word ‘of’ in English: possession, part of the whole, measure, container,  relation.

• The genitive case is used after certain numbers and words of quantity.
• The genitive is commonly used after the negation and to indicate absence.
• Talking about the dates, the names of months are used in the genitive case.
• Many prepositions and some verbs must be used with the genitive.

Now you should have a good understanding of when to use genitive in Ukrainian. You may find that there are more occasions to use the genitive case, but so far we have listed the most important ones.

If you have any questions feel free to ask them in the comments!

Practice!

Learn how to form and use the genitive case in Ukrainian in context with these free Ukrainian Lessons Podcast episodes:

ULP 2-46 | У продуктовому магазині + Родовий відмінок | At the grocery store + Genitive case

ULP 2-47 | Гастрономічні фестивалі + Родовий відмінок | Food festivals + Genitive case

ULP 2-48 | Харчові звички + Родовий відмінок | Eating habits + Genitive case

ULP 2-49 | Рецепт сирників + Родовий відмінок | Syrnyky recipe + Genitive case

Learning Ukrainian and looking for great resources? Check out our 1000 most common words in Ukrainian with interactive flashcards. Also, you can learn Ukrainian step by step wherever you are with our free Ukrainian Lessons Podcast.