Impersonal constructions: -ся verbs:

The last set of impersonal constructions involves the use of reflexive; they are included here as they involve the use of the dative case and are classed as impersonals, rather than as verbs that govern the dative case. These, as with the adverbial forms above, do not agree with the person in question, but appear in their 'neutral' ('it') form, viz. the 3sg. of the non-past, the neuter of the past. Note that they express a wide range of meanings, from how one feels or is able to function, to ability/permissibility.

(Вам) не годиться так говорити. You/one should not talk like that.

Як дочці спалося? How did (your) daughter sleep?

Робітникові не працюється. The worker doesn't feel like working.

Олексі хочеться їсти. Oleksa feels like (having something to) eat.

Олексі хочеться води. Oleksa would like to have (a drink of) water (+ genitive of substance).

Note that the use of the impersonal construction in the last two examples softens the sense of the sentences in comparison with the non-reflexive хотіти in similar contexts: Він хоче їсти 'He wants to eat'. There are other -ся verbs that require the dative, but these are not impersonals and are therefore examined later on.

THE ETHIC DATIVE (PRO THE GENITIVE) The dative can be used where an English speaker might expect a genitive, specifically in constructions involv­ing motion '(in)to/(on)to' part of a person or a person's clothing:

Мама стала засовувати огірки знову Кoстикові в кишені.* (М. Носов)

Mama again started shoving cucumbers into Kostyk's pockets.

*(Although this example was taken from a Ukrainian book - produced in Ukraine - one native reader preferred: Мама стала засувати огірки знову до кишень.)

Ася поклала руку братові на плече.

Asya placed her hand on her brother's shoulder.

The locative case

The locative case (Ukr. місцевий 'locative = pertaining to location') is only used with prepositions: hence the alternative name of this case in English, the 'prepositional'.

The instrumental case

The instrumental is very widely used. As its English name implies, this can be the case of 'instrument', indicating that the object/person in this case is the instrument of a given action. The Ukrainian name expresses much the same sense: орудний, орудник 'instrumental', colloquial оруддя 'tool(s)', 'instrument(s)'. This case includes a wide range of meanings above and beyond that of the 'instrument' of an action, however; let us examine this particular usage first.

'INSTRUMENT', 'BY MEANS OF', 'WITH' When English 'with' means 'by means of, then the Ukrainian instrumental is required, without a preposition (there is a preposition 'with' that requires the instrumental as well, but it refers to 'accompaniment').

писати олівцем to write with a pencil

їхати автобусом to go/travel by bus

працювати руками to work with one's hands

їсти виделкою to eat with a fork

забивати цвях молотком to hammer a nail with a hammer

говорити телефоном to speak by telephone

Зубреня ... стукнуло лісничого лобом. The young bison struck the forester with its forehead/brow. (Я. Зазека)

Close in meaning - and identical in structure - to this pattern is the use of the instrumental with a substance (real or implied) of some kind, rather than with an instrument: for example 'to fill a glass with water' ('with' will again usually be present in the English equivalent). Such constructions are not described as 'verbs requiring the instrumental case' because the verb can often occur without the instrumental complement; in other words, 'to fill a glass' is possible without naming the substance:

Хатинка разом і світлом-огнем освіщається, і димом сповняється.

(Марко Вовчок)

The little cottage all at once is illuminated by a fiery light (lit. 'light-fire'), and is filled with smoke. (Note particularly that modern Ukrainian pre­fers вогонь for огонь 'fire'.)

Ранки покривають усе рясними та холодними росами. (Ю. Збанацький)

The mornings cover all with (a) thick and cold dew (here in the plural).

Кожний її рух наллятий чавунною вагою. (О. Донченко)

Her every movement (was) filled with (lit.) 'the weight of iron' (i.e. she moved with great difficulty/slowness of speed).

Листівки . . . кожна з яких починалася закликом «... ». (В. Соснін)

Leaflets .. . each of which began with the appeal'...'.

'BY' (AGENTIVE INSTRUMENTAL) The agent of an action, crucial for passive constructions, is expressed by means of the instrumental case (X was done by Y):

стаття, написана професором an article written by the professor

закон, затверджений міністром the law, approved by the minister

слова, забуті хлопцем the words, forgotten by the boy

Passive constructions are rare in spoken Ukrainian, but do occur in the liter­ary language. Other ways of expressing the passive, without the use of the instrumental, are described below.

MOVEMENT 'THROUGH/ACROSS' SPACE The instrumental on its own is frequently used with nouns indicating places across, along, or through which motion is taking place:

ходити лісом to walk through a forest

бігати полями to run across (the) fields

іти/їхати дорогою до ... to walk/ride along the road to ...

Ледве помітною стежкою ... ішла дівчинка. A girl walked along a scarcely

(О. Донченко) perceptible forest path.

TIME EXPRESSIONS A number of prepositionless time expressions (function­ing adverbially) involve the instrumental case; while some still feel like instrumental noun forms to Ukrainian speakers, others are distinctly adverbial. Conceptually some of these constructions are close to the expres­sions of motion through space, as they can mean 'during time X' rather than simply 'at time X':

зимою in the winter (of X year, or by itself)

весною in the spring (of X year, or by itself)

літом in the summer (of X year, or by itself)

часом, часами at times, sometimes

давніми часами in the old(en) days

тим часом meanwhile (lit. 'during that time')

ранком in the morning

вечером in the evening

ніччю at night, in the night

ночами nights, for (many) nights

цими днями during those days

Some Ukrainian informants see a number of these forms as having entered the language under the influence of Russian; nevertheless, they are provided as forms that are encountered. There are other variants for many of these adverbialized instrumentals, which are described further.

INSTRUMENTAL OF MANNER A widely used construction is one that we might call the instrumental of 'manner': this is a construction which describes, sometimes comparing or equating a subject X with another noun; it answers such questions as 'how?', 'in what manner?', 'like/as a what?':

говорити ніжним голосом to speak in/with a soft voice

Сонце ... припікало косим промінням. The sun was scorching hot (with its)

slanting rays. (Н-Л)

дивитися вовком to look angrily (at) (lit. 'to look as a wolf)

летіти стрілою to fly as (straight as an) arrow

Он жовтими пушинками вже плавають There, (as/in) little yellow tufts, the wild

на чистім плесі каченята дикі little ducklings already swim on the clear surface of the river. (Л.У.)

Злива звалилася йому на плечі The torrential rain fell on his shoulders

холодною масою води. in/as a cold mass of water. (О. Донченко)

Серце озивається до нього (His) heart answers him with (a) joyful

радісним трепетом. trembling. (О. Донченко)

It is also possible for nouns or noun phrases to appear in a particular case (and this might be any case) with no verb present; in such instances the case may actually be dependent on a verb or preposition in a previous sentence: an author may choose to end a sentence by means of a full stop while carrying over the thought of the previous sentence, as one would do in the spoken language, with the full stop reflecting a speaker's pause or hesitation. Thus, in the following example:

Льоня Ушаков - геологом, Стьопа Кучеренко - моряком, Валя Чайка -

медсестрою ... (Д.Ткач)

Lyonya Ushakov - a geologist, Styopa Kucherenko - a sailor, Valya Chaуka - a nurse . . .

the instrumentals are all dependent on the previous sentence:

... вони згадували й згадували, хто ким став. Льоня Ушаков - геологом,...

. . . they kept on recalling who had become what ('who'). Lyonya Ushakov - a geologist, . . .

The verb стати requires the instrumental; without this pivotal preceding sentence, the instrumental could not occur in the way that it does above, and one might instead expect Льоня Ушаков - геолог 'Lyonya Ushakov is a geologist', and so on.