"Вони в ресторані зараз."

Translation: They are in a restaurant now.

[Pete357534]

Why use в if ресторані starts with a consonant? Why not у? Or is it this way because the rules are so lax?

[deactivated user]

Because вони ends in a vowel.

After vowels, you normally use в (except when the next word starts with в, ф, or some consonant clusters like льв).

[Konrad-Michal]

Why not They will be in a restaurant in a moment? Is this a Polish false friend?

[deactivated user]

«За́раз» can mean 'in a moment' too, but then you'd need to use the future tense of the verb: «Вони́ за́раз бу́дуть у рестора́ні» 'They will be in a/the restaurant in a moment'.

«Вони в ресторані зараз» is in the present tense, so «за́раз» means 'now, right now'.

Unlike Polish, Ukrainian drops the verb 'to be' in the present tense. If a sentence doesn't have the main verb and the previous context doesn't make the verb obvious, then the verb is 'to be'.

[Konrad-Michal]

Дякую!

[va-diim]

Oni będą teraz w restauracji/Вони зараз будуть у ресторані

[Konrad-Michal]

Thanks!

[va-diim]

This is a funny false friend with Russian. If sounds like They are a contagion at a restaurant hahahaha

[deactivated user]

Note that Ukrainian also has the word «зара́за» 'contagion, virus; something bad (swearword)', but the form is distinguished by stress:

• «Вони́ в рестора́ні за́раз» 'They are in the resaurant now.'
• «Вони́ в рестора́ні зара́з» 'They are in the bad people's resaurant.'

[gpriddy]

I used "vony u restorani zaraz" because I couldn't hear anything after "vony". Is there an audible sound between "vony" and "restorani"?

[deactivated user]

Yes, I can hear it. Its a [w]-like sound. For English speakers, it might be hard to distinguish В after И, because English doesn't have a diphtong [ɪw].