Cheatsheet A0
Foundations
The Cyrillic Alphabet
| Point | Rule | Example | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| 33 letters | 10 vowel letters: а, е, є, и, і, ї, о, у, ю, я | о́зеро / мо́ре | lake / sea |
| Я, ю, є, ї | two sounds at the start of a word: /ja/ · /ju/ · /jɛ/ · /ji/ | я́блуко / ї́жа | apple / food |
| Щ | one letter, two sounds: /ʃt͡ʃ/ | ща́стя | happiness |
| Ь | has no sound: it softens the consonant before it | сіль / день | salt / day |
| Г and ґ | г is /ɦ/, ґ is /ɡ/ | гора́ / ґу́дзик | mountain / button |
| И and і | и is /ɪ/, і is /i/: two different sounds | ри́ба / лі́то | fish / summer |
| Capital letter | names, cities, countries and the start of a sentence | Оле́на живе́ в Ки́єві. | Olena lives in Kyiv. |
| Small letter | languages and nationalities | Я украї́нець, я говорю́ украї́нською. | I'm Ukrainian, I speak Ukrainian. |
| Handwriting | handwritten т looks like Latin m; д has a loop below | — | |
| Trap | the Ukrainian alphabet has no ы, э, ъ or ё | ми / йо́гурт | we / yogurt |
Vowels and Consonants
| Point | Rule | Example | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vowel sounds | six: /a/ · /ɔ/ · /u/ · /ɛ/ · /ɪ/ · /i/ | о́зеро / лі́то | lake / summer |
| И and і | и is /ɪ/, і is /i/ | ми / мі́сто | we / city |
Soft Sign and Apostrophe
| Point | Rule | Example | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ь | has no sound: it makes the consonant before it soft | сіль / день | salt / day |
| Apostrophe | я after an apostrophe sounds /ja/ | м’яч | ball |
Stress
| Point | Rule | Example | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| One stress | each word has one stressed syllable | ма́ма / вода́ | mum / water |
| Free stress | it can fall on any syllable | мо́ре / доро́га / молоко́ | sea / road / milk |
| Stress mark | learning texts and dictionaries mark it; ordinary texts do not | кни́жка | book |
Numbers
| Point | Rule | Example | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0–10 | words of their own | оди́н / чоти́ри / де́сять | one / four / ten |
| 11–19 | the number plus -на́дцять | двана́дцять / п’ятна́дцять | twelve / fifteen |
| Tens | -дцять in 20 and 30, -деся́т in 50–80; со́рок and дев’яно́сто stand apart | два́дцять / со́рок / п’ятдеся́т | twenty / forty / fifty |
| Compound numbers | separate words, largest first | два́дцять оди́н | twenty-one |
| Hundreds | сто, дві́сті, три́ста, чоти́риста, then -со́т | дві́сті / п’ятсо́т | two hundred / five hundred |
| Thousand and million | ти́сяча, мільйо́н | ти́сяча / мільйо́н | one thousand / one million |
| Trap | 11–19, 20 and 30 are written with -дцять, with я | сімна́дцять | seventeen |
| Trap | no ь inside the hundreds and tens | п’ятсо́т / шістдеся́т | five hundred / sixty |
Days, Months and Dates
| Point | Rule | Example | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| Days of the week | seven days, with a small letter | понеді́лок / субо́та | Monday / Saturday |
| Which day? | Яки́й сього́дні день? is answered with the day | Сього́дні п’я́тниця. | It's Friday today. |
| Months | twelve months, with a small letter | сі́чень / тра́вень | January / May |
| Seasons | four seasons | весна́ / лі́то / о́сінь / зима́ | spring / summer / autumn / winter |
Telling the Time
| Point | Rule | Example | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| What time is it? | the answer is a feminine ordinal number | Котра́ годи́на? — Дру́га | What time is it? — Two o'clock. |
| Hours | годи́на (hour) can be left out | Зара́з сьо́ма (годи́на). | It's seven o'clock now. |
| Trap | to ask the time, say котра́ годи́на | Котра́ за́раз годи́на? | What time is it now? |