About Ukraine: Notes
This topic introduces simple sentences (A1 level) about Ukraine, in a slide show with illustrations. Once you have learned how to read words in Ukrainian, you should be able to understand the texts, with the help of the vocabulary list. The slide show is given in two versions. You can use the version with the texts for independent study, while the one with illustrations only may be used in class, with a teacher, to practise listening and speaking. As in the previous section, you need to know the alphabet and sounds of Ukrainian, which can be accessed at Read Ukrainian! - Unit 1.
Using the slide show as an introduction to the singular and plural of nouns
In previous sections you have learned how to read and recognise the meanings of some nouns in Ukrainian. In this slide show, nouns are being used in sentences, and there are a few things you need to know:
- in Ukrainian, nouns have gender, that is, they can be masculine, feminine or neuter; this applies not only to people (obviously, most names for males of the species will have masculine gender, and feminine will be used for females), but it also applies to inanimate objects; if you have learned other languages you will know, for example, that “table” in French – “la table” is feminine, or that in German “der tisch” is masculine; the Ukrainian for “table” – стіл – is masculine;
- you can usually tell that a noun is feminine because it ends in «-а» or «-я»; examples from the slides are Україна, Польща, Румунія, карта, столиця (Білорусь is an exception to this rule);
- masculine nouns, in the main, end in a consonant, and examples from the slides are прапор, герб, тризуб, Крим;
- many neuter nouns end in «-е» or «-о» e.g. море, місто (in the slides you will see the word місто in the plural – міста);
- and, finally, you will see some nouns in the plural, with the ending «-и» e.g. символи, країни, сусіди, центри; nouns in the plural can also have other endings, but, if you are just beginning to learn Ukrainian, it’s already useful to understand when there is more than one of something (i.e. the noun is in the plural)!
Using the slide show to practise listening and speaking
The text for use with the version of the slide show containing illustrations only is given below. It can be adapted by the teacher if the students are more advanced.
Це Україна. |
Це український прапор – жовто-блакитний. |
Це український герб – тризуб. |
Прапор і тризуб – національні символи. |
Це країни-сусіди України: |
Молдова, Румунія, Угорщина, |
Словаччина, Польща, Білорусь, Росія. |
А також Азовське море, Чорне море і Крим. |
Це фізична карта України. |
В центрі столиця – Київ. |
На карті – міста України (адміністративні центри). |
Ласкаво просимо до України! |