Object
The accusative case is one of the most commonly used cases in Ukrainian. Its foremost use is to indicate when a word is the object of an action. It answers the question words Кого? (whom?) or Що? (what?). For example:Студент читає книгу. The student is reading a book.
In this sentence, книгу (book; nominative: книга) is in the accusative case to show that it is the object of the verb читає (read). Що cтудент читає? книгу What is the student reading? the book. Here are some other examples:
Я люблю каву. I love coffee.
Що я люблю? каву What do I love? coffee
Я кохаю тебе! I love you.
Кого я кохаю? тебе Whom do I love? you
The accusative case typically follows verbs that take a direct object, such as: знати (to know), казати (to say), робити (to do), читати (to read), писати (to write), бачити (to see), чути (to hear), слухати (to listen to), їсти (to eat), пити (to drink), любити (to love, to like), брати (to take), мати (to have), купувати (to buy), розуміти (to understand), пам'ятати (to remember), and давати (to give).
About
The preposition про (about) requires the accusative case. It answers the question words Про кого? (about whom?) and Про що? (about what?). For example:Я чула про цього чоловіка. I heard about this man.
In this sentence, чоловіка (man; nominative: чоловік) is in the accusative case to show that I heard about him. Про кого я чула? цього чоловіка About whom did I hear? - This man. Here are some other examples:
Вона думає про новини. She thinks about the news.
Вона запитує про меню. She is asking about the menu.
Він розповідає про свій суп. He is narrating about his soup.
In colloquial speech, the preposition за (about) is used with the same meaning. For example:
Ти вже казав за суп. You already told (me) about the soup.
Motion
The accusative case is also used with prepositions в (into) and на (on to) to express motion to somewhere. It answers the question word Куди? (Where to?). For example:Вона йде в Україну. She is traveling to Ukraine.
In this sentence, Україну (Ukraine; nominative: Україна) is in the accusative case after в to show that there is a motion to Ukraine. Куди вона йде? - в Україну To where is she traveling? To Ukraine
Вона йде на вечірку. She goes to a party.
Куди вона йде? — на вечірку To where is she going? to a party
Days of the Week
The accusative case with the preposition у is also used for the days of the week when answering the question Коли? (When?). For reference, in order:
понеділок → у понеділок
вівторок → у вівторок
середа → у середу
четвер → у четвер
п’ятниця → у п’ятницю
субота → у суботу
неділя → у неділю
Я працюю у вівторок, середу і четвер. I work on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.
У середу було дуже холодно. It was very cold on Wednesday.
With Preposition На
There are 3 common uses where the accusative case is used with the preposition на:
1. for. As in на понеділок for (by) Monday. на наступний тиждень for next week
2. at. As in дивитися на кого? / на що? to look at somebody / something
3. on. As in ставити на що? to put (something) on something; Він поставив вазу на стіл. He put the vase on a table.
Singular Accusative Form
This section outlines how to form the accusative singular form out of the nominative (dictionary) form of a noun. The masculine accusative form depends on whether a noun is animate (something that's alive and can move: people and animals) or inanimate (non-living objects).
Masculine Nouns:
| Inanimate noun | no change in ending | Це стіл. This is a table. (Nom.) Я бачу стіл. I see a table. (Acc.) |
|---|---|---|
| Animate noun - consonant | add +а | Це друг. This is a friend. (Nom.) Я бачу друга. I see a friend. (Acc.) |
| Animate noun -o | change "-o" to "-а" | Це Петро. This is Petro. (Nom.) Я бачу Петра. I see Petro. (Acc.) |
Feminine Nouns:
| -a | replace -a → -у | Це газета. This is a newspaper. (Nom.) Я бачу газету. I see a newspaper. (Acc.) |
|---|---|---|
| -я | replace -я → -ю | Це вулиця. This is a street. (Nom.) Я бачу статтю. I see a street. (Acc.) |
Neuter nouns
Inanimate neuter nouns do not change, and almost all neuter nouns are inanimate. In other words: вікно (nom.) → вікно (acc.).
Sound Changes
There are some common sound changes in the accusative singular form:
Dropping of ~o~ (~e~)
~o~ and ~e~ in the last syllable of 2nd declension animate masculine nouns are dropped in the singular accusative,
парубок a bachelor → про парубка about a bachelor
українець a Ukrainian → про українця about a Ukrainian
учень a pupil → за учня about a pupil
Change of ~i~ to ~o~ (~e~)
~i~ often changes to ~o~ (~e~) in the final syllable of 2nd declension animate masculine nouns,
кіт a cat → про кота about a cat
кінь a horse → про коня about a horse
but!!! дід a grandfather → про діда about a grandfather
Plural Accusative Form
An easy rule of thumb for forming the accusative plural is as follows:
- Inanimate nouns → same as nominative plural for all 3 genders
- Animate nouns → same as genitive plural for all 3 genders
Masculine Nouns:
| Inanimate noun | consonant → -и/i | Це столи. These are tables. (Nom.) Я бачу столи. I see tables. (Acc.) |
|---|---|---|
| Animate noun - consonant | replace -и/і → -ів | Це друзі. These are friends. (Nom.) Я бачу друзів. I see friends. (Acc.) |
| Animate noun -o | remove the ending | Це тати. These are fathers. (Nom.) Я бачу тат. I see fathers. (Acc.) |
Feminine Nouns:
| Inanimate nouns | -a/я → -и/i | Це газети. These are newspapers. (Nom.) Я бачу газети. I see newspapers. (Acc.) |
|---|---|---|
| Animate nouns | -a/я → -0/ь | Це подруги. These are friends. (Nom.) Я бачу подруг. I see friends. (Acc.) |
Neuter Nouns:
| Inanimate nouns | -o/e → -a/я | Це вікна. These are windows. (Nom.) Я бачу вікна. I see windows. (Acc.) |
|---|---|---|
| Animate nouns | remove the ending | Це дитята. These are kids. (Nom.) Я бачу дитят. I see kids. (Acc.) |