A Reference Guide to Cases in the Ukrainian Language/Vocative case
The vocative case is used to address someone in Ukrainian.
Nouns
[edit | edit source]Masculine Nouns
[edit | edit source]| Changes | Examples | |
|---|---|---|
| Masculine names that end in -а | The ending changes to -о | Микола -> Миколо |
| Masculine nouns that end with a consonant or and о | Their endings change to -е | Степан -> Степане Пан Михайло -> Пане Михайле |
| Masculine nouns that end with -ко, -ик | Take the у ending | Марко -> Марку Петрик -> Петрику |
| Male patronymic names | Add у to the add | Ігор Михайлович -> Ігоре Михайловичу |
| Masculine nouns that end with ь or й | Change the ending to ю | Андрій -> Андрію дідусь -> дідусю |
| Masculine nouns that end with -ар | Add ю to the word | кухар -> кухарю |
Feminine nouns
[edit | edit source]| Changes | Examples | |
|---|---|---|
| Feminine nouns that end in -а | The ending changes to -о | мама -> мамо Оксана -> Оксано |
| Feminine nouns that end with a consonant + я | Their ending changes to -ю | Галя -> Галю |
| Female last names | Don’t change | |
| Foreign female first names that don’t end with -а or -я | Don’t change |
Plural Nouns
[edit | edit source]Most plural nouns do not change in vocative case, so “Dear friends” would be «Дорогі друзі». The word пани, does change to панове, and «Пані та панове» is the equivalent of “ladies and gentlemen”.
Exceptions
[edit | edit source]| Word in Nominative | Word in Vocative |
|---|---|
| Бог | Боже |
| дід | діду |
| друг | друже |
| пані | пані |
| син | сину |
| тато | тату |
| хлопець | хлопче |
| чоловік | чоловіче |
| пани | панове |