Numbers and Time in Ukrainian

Overview

Numbers in Ukrainian are essential vocabulary at the CEFR A1 level, but they come with a grammatical twist: the case and number of the noun following a numeral depends on the numeral itself. This number-noun agreement system is one of the trickiest aspects of Ukrainian grammar for English speakers, since English simply puts any number before a plural noun.

Ukrainian uses a three-way split: after 1, the noun is nominative singular; after 2-4, it is nominative plural; after 5-20 (and compounds ending in 5-9), it is genitive plural. This pattern is fundamental and extends to prices, quantities, ages, and time expressions.

Telling time in Ukrainian uses ordinal numbers (feminine, agreeing with "година") and involves its own set of conventions that differ from English clock-reading patterns.

How It Works

Cardinal Numbers 1-20

Number	Ukrainian	Number	Ukrainian
1	один/одна/одне	11	одинадцять
2	два/дві	12	дванадцять
3	три	13	тринадцять
4	чотири	14	чотирнадцять
5	п'ять	15	п'ятнадцять
6	шість	16	шістнадцять
7	сім	17	сімнадцять
8	вісім	18	вісімнадцять
9	дев'ять	19	дев'ятнадцять
10	десять	20	двадцять

Number-Noun Agreement

Number	Noun Case	Example
1	nominative singular	одна книга (one book)
2, 3, 4	nominative plural	дві книги (two books)
5-20	genitive plural	п'ять книг (five books)
21	nominative singular	двадцять одна книга
22-24	nominative plural	двадцять дві книги
25+	genitive plural	двадцять п'ять книг

Telling Time

Time uses the question "Котра година?" (What time is it?):

Time	Ukrainian
1:00	Перша година.
2:00	Друга година.
3:00	Третя година.
5:00	П'ята година.
3:30	Пів на четверту. (Half past three)

Examples in Context

Ukrainian	English	Note
Третя година.	It's three o'clock.	Ordinal + година
два дні	two days	2 + nom plural
п'ять днів	five days	5 + gen plural
двадцять одна гривня	twenty-one hryvnia	21: last digit = 1, nom sg
сто книг	a hundred books	100 + gen plural
одна жінка	one woman	1 + nom singular
три брати	three brothers	3 + nom plural
скільки коштує?	how much does it cost?	Asking price
десять хвилин	ten minutes	10 + gen plural
о восьмій годині	at eight o'clock	Locative for "at" time

Common Mistakes

Using the wrong noun case after numbers

• Wrong: п'ять книги (nominative plural after 5)
• Right: п'ять книг (genitive plural)
• Why: Numbers 5 and above require genitive plural.

Forgetting gender of один/два

• Wrong: два жінки
• Right: дві жінки
• Why: "Два" is masculine/neuter; "дві" is feminine.

Using cardinal instead of ordinal for time

• Wrong: Три година.
• Right: Третя година.
• Why: Time is expressed with ordinal numbers (перша, друга, третя...).

Usage Notes

The number-noun agreement pattern applies everywhere: shopping, telling age, expressing duration, and giving quantities. The pattern cycles with compound numbers: 21 uses singular (like 1), 22-24 use nominative plural (like 2-4), 25-30 use genitive plural (like 5-20).

For prices, Ukrainian uses the currency "гривня" (hryvnia): одна гривня, дві гривні, п'ять гривень.

Practice Tips

1. Number + noun drills: Practice combining numbers 1-30 with common nouns (день, книга, місто), checking the correct case each time.

2. Clock practice: Set random times and express them in Ukrainian using the ordinal system.

3. Shopping role-play: Practice asking prices and expressing quantities at a market.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Case System Introduction -- numbers interact with the case system
• Next steps: Ordinal Numbers and Dates -- ordinal numbers for dates and sequencing
• Next steps: Numeral Categories -- collective, multiplicative, and fractional numerals