Using the site
High frequency words
This section contains approximately 2,000 mainly high-frequency words (content words include over 1,000 nouns, 250 adjectives, 300 verbs and 170 adverbs).
To find the English equivalent of a Ukrainian word in this section, click on 'High frequency words' in the sidebar on the right, and then on the initial letter of the word. Click on the Ukrainian word to show its English rendering. In some cases a link to the relevant individual word page, containing more detailed information, will also be displayed. You may use this show/hide function to test your understanding of each word.
To find the Ukrainian equivalent of an English word (assuming it's included in the list of approximately 2,000), type the English word in the Search box and click on 'Search' or press the 'Enter' key.
As stressed in the Introduction, this is a resource supporting vocabulary acquisition, not a dictionary. For this reason the high frequency word list has the following features:
- the renderings given after each Ukrainian word are the ones most frequently needed by learners; not all meanings are given; for these, a dictionary should be consulted;
- both imperfective and perfective infinitive forms are given for most verbs e.g. замовляти, замовити; in a few cases, only one infinitive (either perfective or imperfective) is given, when the other aspect is rarely used (even by native speakers);
- forms of a word which differ from the headword are given in brackets; this particularly applies to pronouns e.g. він (його, йому, ним) and words with vowel alternations e.g. річ (речі); this is to help learners link the different forms to the same word;
- with just a few exceptions (where stress changes meaning, e.g. прóшу/прошý) the high frequency word list does not contain markers for stress (this may be found in the themed and individual word pages, or in a dictionary);
- the high frequency word list does not contain grammatical information e.g. part of speech, as this is reflected in the English rendering (to help learners focus attention on the words and their meanings);
- words in which the intial letters в/у alternate (e.g. вже, уже) have been listed under both letters (with the alternative form in brackets), for ease of identification and comprehension;
- masculine and feminine versions of nouns (e.g. українець, українка) are given as separate entries;
- past participles which function as adjectives are listed as separate entries;
- frequently-used synonyms of a limited number of words (e.g. заснути, заспати) are given in brackets;
- different meanings of a word are separated by a semi-colon (e.g. ручка - ballpoint pen; handle, doorknob);
- a few frequently-used and useful collocations (e.g. зубна паста) are included in this section (more collocations can be found in the individual word pages).
Themed lists
The themed lists, accessible from the sidebar on the right, are intended to provide beginners with a limited number of basic words (with stress marked) on everyday topics, to enable them to understand and produce simple language. Given at the end of most of the themed lists are a small number of simple grammatical constructions in which the words in the list may be used. This is aimed at encouraging learners to use the language actively and to learn the new words in context.
Clicking on a word in the themed lists will take you to the individual page for that list, where more detailed information is given.
Individual word pages
This section contains a list of words for which detailed information is given on individual pages, with links to these pages.
The individual word pages may be used both by beginners and advanced learners. Beginners are advised to keep to the light-coloured fields in the first section (Parts of speech), whilst more advanced learners may also want to look at the words in the darker fields.
Each individual word page consists of:
- the headword (the part of speech learners are most likely to meet initially);
- parts of speech derived from the headword (nouns and their diminutive and augmentative forms, adjectives, verbs and adverbs), with stress marks and some grammatical information, e.g. genitive case;
- compounds of the words, as well as useful collocations featuring the words;
- additional information on the words, including, where relevant, etymology, usage and the cultural context in which the word occurs and has occurred;
- words which are etymologically related.
The aim of these pages is to enable learners to widen their vocabulary, and, at the same time, to gain a better idea of the feel of the language and the background within which modern Ukrainian has developed. Most learners are unlikely to have the time or possibility to access such information in monolingual, orthographic or etymological dictionaries. These pages aim to do some of the work for learners, and to introduce them to the richness and diversity of the Ukrainian language.