The genitive case (родови́й відмі́нок) shows relationship, origin or possession. The word “родовий” comes from Ukrainian “рід” (a generation). The question you can ask is: "Whose? From where? Of what?" In English nouns, it is usually created by adding 's to the word or by preceding it with "of".
| Whose? (possession) | Це кни́га студе́нта. - This is the student's book. |
| From where? (origin) | Вони́ з Аме́рики (f). - They are from America. Він ви́тягнув і́грашку з коро́бки. - He pulled a toy out of the box. |
| Of what? (relation) | Він части́на кома́нди (f). - He is part of the team. Сполу́чені Шта́ти Аме́рики. - United States of America? Скля́нка води́. - A glass of water. |
| with prepositions: from / to / before / after / for / without / at / in front of / behind etc. | Ка́ва без молока́. - Coffee without milk. Бі́ля шко́ли. - Near the school. Вона́ вже тут чека́є бли́зько годи́ни. - She is already waiting here for about an hour. Вони́ відмо́вились від у́часті. - They refused to participate (from participation). |
| usually with the negative sentences* | У ме́не нема́є маши́ни. - I don't have a car. |
| after words expressing quantity (how many, several, few, etc.) | У ме́не бага́то дру́зів. - I have many (a lot of) friends. |
| name of the months when talking about dates | Пе́ршого ве́ресня. - The first of September. |
Prepositions used with genitive case
без - without
бі́ля, ко́ло - near, close
бли́зько - near, close, about
в, у - in (possession)
від - from
для - for
до - to, towards, until, before, up to
з / із / зі - from, out of
за́мість - instead of
зара́ди, ра́ди - for the sake of
крім / окрі́м - except for, besides
навко́ло - around
навпро́ти - in front of (opposite)
пі́сля - after
повз - past
по́за - outside
поза́ду - behind
попе́реду - ahead, in front of
посе́ре́д - among
про́ти - against
про́тягом, впродо́вж - during
се́ред - among
уздо́вж - along
че́рез - because of
що́до - as to, concerning
What ending to use?
| Rule | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| feminine / masculine nouns ending in-a | + и | [] |
| feminine nouns ending in -я (-ія) | + і (ї) | [] |
| feminine nouns ending in a consonant | + і | + ей |
| masculine nouns ending in a consonant | + а(я) / у(ю)* | + ів |
| neuter nouns ending in -о | + а | [] |
| neuter nouns ending in -е | + я | + ів |
| neuter nouns ending in -а, -я | + яти | + ят |
Some more examples:
Яки́й тві́й но́мер телефо́ну? (телефо́н) - What is your phone number?
Я з Іта́лії. (Іта́лія) - I am from Italy.
Він друг моє́ї роди́ни. (роди́на) - He is a friend of my family.
Край сві́ту. (світ) - The edge of the world.
Пе́рший день ти́жня. (ти́ждень)- The first day of the week.