7.7 - The vocative case
Principal uses of the vocative
Calling to someone, for example:
| Романе! | Roman! |
Greetings, for example:
| Доброго ранку, Павле! | Good morning, Paul. |
| Привіт, Галино! | Hello, Halyna. |
Addressing people in a formal situation, for example:
| Шановні колеги! | Dear (esteemed) colleagues. |
Writing letters or messages, for example:
| Дорога тітко Марино! | Dear Aunt Maryna |
| Шановний пане! | Dear Sir |
Retaining the addressee's attention during a conversation, for example:
| Ти, мабуть, Андрію, цього не пам'ятаєш. | Andriy, you probably won't remember this. |
Form of the vocative
For an overview of the vocative of masculine, feminine and neuter nouns see the charts in Unit 6.
Singular
Most hard masculine nouns in the vocative end in -е, e.g. Максиме!, Петре! A smaller number of nouns, however, mainly kinship terms and names (mostly ending in -ко,-к) have a vocative ending in -у, e.g. дядьку!, Влодку!, сину!, тату!.
In some masculine nouns the consonant before the ending changes, e.g. козак – козаче!, хлопець – хлопче!, друг – друже!
Most soft feminine nouns end in -е, e.g. столиця – столице.
Soft feminine nouns which are forenames ending in a consonant + -я, e.g. Оля, Наталя, Катруся, end in -ю in the vocative, e.g. Олю!, Наталю!, Катрусю!.
Neuter singular nouns do not have a separate ending in the vocative (the nominative form is used).
Plural
Plural nouns do not have a separate ending in the vocative. The nominative is used, e.g. Дорогі студенти! – Dear students!
To practise the vocative go to Exercise 7.7A.