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- Topic: Ukrainian >
- "А я?"
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Is there a difference between 'i', 'та', and 'а'? I asked this before, but didn't realise that there was a third word!
1)Mom and Dad. 2) I speak English and you speak English. 3) And who are you? 4) I speak English and you speak Ukrainian. The first two sentences have "and" as a copulative conjunction. Sentences 3 and 4 - "and" as an adversative conjunction. Use і/та for 1) 2) and а for 3) 4)
Important note: i works for connecting nouns and adjectives as well while a is only for sentences! (see more detailed comment below)
It's fun, when English is taught in Ukraine, they have to explain when "а" should be translated as "and" and when as "but" :)
Punjabi too has two words for "and", "te" and ate". But they both are interchangeable.
Moreover, Russian also have two versions of the "first" and, just like Ukranian: Ukr. "i" = Rus. "и" (pronunced the same), and Ukr. "та" [ta] = Rus. "да" [da]. But in Russian the difference in usage is totally stylistic ("да" sounds obsolete, or poetical, or emphasized etc.), while in Ukranian the difference is more phonetical, orphoepical
Yes. In some cases one is preferred over the other to make pronunciation easier or to avoid confusion, as "та" can also mean "but", even though it is mostly not the word of choice for the case.
First most important thing, i works for connecting nouns and adjectives as well while a is only for sentences!
Basically, when you want to connect two similar sentences use i, and when they are contrasting or opposing each other use a
Examples:
Я тут, і ти тут (I am here and you are here)
Я тут, а ти там (I am here and you are there -- has a flavour of "I am here while you are there")
Hm, that is interesting! We have the i/a distinction in Serbian as well, but I can think of some cases where you could use "a" between words and not sentences, like, e.g., "She is pretty, yet smart". :D
Yes, this is exactly how it works in Ukrainian, as I said! "a" is only for connecting sentences. I can think of only one case where it's (seemingly) connecting word: Вона не американка, а українка (She is not American but Ukrainian). But in this case one could argue that it's still connecting sentences, not words, there's a hidden "to be" there :) Вона любить не картоплю, а суп (She likes not potatoes but soup).
Huh, these example sentences mean "a" is not used completely as in Serbian as I though. xD Дякую! :)
No. It can be translated as "but" in some cases in English. It means "and" for things that are contrasting or different.
Check the top post again. In English you can say both "I am here and you are there" and "I am here but you are there", but in Ukrainian you can only say "Я тут, а ти там", you can't do "Я тут, і ти там", that sounds very weird because і only connects similar things
Ukrainian alphabet in cursive:
Maybe I shouldn't put Ukrainian words in cursive here since it's so confusing :)
THANK YOU! It is okay if we know what is going on. We will have to learn that also. Thank you for opening that up for us. We would not have had the opportunity to learn the cursive if you had not done that, so I am glad that you did. So the cursive Ukrainian 'm' is going to look like 'u', at least there is a difference so the cursive Ukrainian 't' can look like 'm' and I will know it is not our 'm'. Wait, the last letter in italics м does not look like the cursive. там Сould you also send me a list of your italics? I guess I just have to look for the curved m in your italics meaning 't' versus the angular м.
In Ukrainian and Russian, "a" is sometimes translated as "but" or "rather" into English. It's one of those words where it depends on context. In most cases, it means "and".
Please Upvote So Others Can See
Which form of and do I use?
In Ukrainian, there are four words that mean and; і, та, а and й. Three of them; і, та and й are all used to link similar things, the only reason we have so many is so we can switch them around to make the language flow and sound more melodic.
- Мама і тато - Mom and dad
- Та я! - And me!
- Мова й алфавіт - Language and alphabet
It's really up to you when you want to use them :)
But on the other hand, а is used to contrast between two different things. It roughly corresponds to the English whereas.
- Мама там, а тато тут - Mom is there, and/whereas dad is here
- Я працюю а ти танюєш - I work and/whereas you work
- Мене звати Віктор а вас звати Вєра - My name is Victor and/whereas your name is Viera
No, it should not. If it were a phrase, it probably should, but this is a complete sentence (a question, actually). I don't even think "And I" is a good translation. In real life, such a question is used in a sense "And [what about] me?"
Depends on the context. But usually you ask this question in a context like "I was invited to the party!" - "And what about me?" - "You too!" You too = Ти теж.
And what about me? Its quite short in Ukrainian than I English. COOL!
Switch to a ukrainian keyboard. If you're on a mobile device, go to settings and make the keyboard available. Then when you need it, hold the space button.
Я нет. Я пришла учить украинский потому что моя мама украинка но разговаривает со мной на русском.
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