6.3 - The endings

It is to be hoped that the examples on page 6.2 have shown, yet again, the importance of noun endings in understanding the structure of sentences in Ukrainian. Owing to the variables, i.e. gender, type (hard, soft or mixed), number, etc. which need to be taken into account, the number of endings which you need to be familiar with is considerable. To help you learn these, reference charts are given on the next three pages.

The charts may look daunting at first, but you will find many similarities and points of comparison between the different types of noun, and you will soon learn to recognise the different cases. We present here only nouns belonging to the largest group (declension).

We start with the feminine nouns (only those belonging to the largest, or first, group are presented), as these are the easiest to understand and learn, and best illustrate the symmetry and similarities between different types of noun. Masculine nouns are the most complex, but, again, they bear similarities to feminine nouns, particularly in their plural forms. Neuter nouns are quite similar to masculine ones in many of the cases, and should, therefore, be understood and learnt without too much difficulty.