Reading (A2): Calling Mum
A short A2 Ukrainian dialogue: Andriy phones his mum to plan a weekend visit to Poltava. With a word list, grammar notes, an English translation and comprehension questions.
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What you will practise
Read a phone call about plans for the weekend, with the future tense and the vocative, and answer questions about it.
Read the text first. The questions below are about it, and you can scroll back to it at any time. Check each answer, read the explanation, and continue. Hints and “Show answer” are there when you need them. Stress marks are optional when you type.
The text
Read by a computer-generated voice (OpenAI text-to-speech), not individually checked by a listener. It is not a recording of a native speaker, and a computer voice can occasionally stress or pronounce a word wrongly: the text, with its stress marks, is the reference.
Дзвінок мамі
Уве́чері Андрі́й телефону́є ма́мі.
— Приві́т, ма́мо! Як спра́ви?
— Приві́т, си́ну! Усе́ до́бре. А в тебе́?
— Теж до́бре. Ма́мо, у субо́ту я приї́ду до вас у Полта́ву.
— Як чудо́во! А коли́ ти приї́деш?
— Мій по́тяг прибува́є о деся́тій ра́нку. Та́то зустрі́не мене́ на вокза́лі?
— Звича́йно. А що ти хо́чеш на обі́д?
— Борщ і варе́ники, будь ла́ска!
— До́бре, я все приготу́ю. Ми бу́демо чека́ти на тебе́.
— Дя́кую, ма́мо. До субо́ти!
Words to know
- телефону́є
- phones, calls
- Як спра́ви?
- How are you? How are things?
- приї́ду, приї́деш
- I will come, you will come (by transport)
- до вас
- to you, to your place
- прибува́є
- arrives
- о деся́тій ра́нку
- at ten in the morning
- зустрі́не
- will meet
- звича́йно
- of course
- на обі́д
- for lunch
- варе́ники
- varenyky (filled dumplings)
- приготу́ю
- I will make, I will cook
- бу́демо чека́ти на тебе́
- we will wait for you
- До субо́ти!
- See you on Saturday! (literally: until Saturday)
Grammar in this text
Calling someone: the vocative
When you speak to someone, the name or word for them changes: ма́ма → ма́мо, син → си́ну.
- — Приві́т, ма́мо! Як спра́ви? “Hi, Mum! How are you?”
- — Приві́т, си́ну! Усе́ до́бре. “Hi, son! Everything's fine.”
The future: two ways
A perfective verb with present-tense endings talks about the future: приї́ду, приї́деш, зустрі́не, приготу́ю. An imperfective verb uses бу́ду, бу́демо and so on with the infinitive: бу́демо чека́ти.
- Ма́мо, у субо́ту я приї́ду до вас у Полта́ву. Mum, on Saturday I'll come and see you in Poltava.
- Та́то зустрі́не мене́ на вокза́лі? Will Dad meet me at the station?
- Ми бу́демо чека́ти на тебе́. We'll be waiting for you.
Going to a person and to a place
To a person's home, use до + genitive: до вас. To a city, use до + genitive or у/в + accusative: до Полта́ви, у Полта́ву.
- …я приї́ду до вас у Полта́ву. …I'll come and see you in Poltava.
At what time: о + locative
At a time is о (об) with the ordinal in the locative: о деся́тій (годи́ні), at ten.
- Мій по́тяг прибува́є о деся́тій ра́нку. My train arrives at ten in the morning.
English translation
In the evening, Andriy phones his mum.
“Hi, Mum! How are you?”
“Hi, son! Everything's fine. And you?”
“Fine too. Mum, on Saturday I'll come and see you in Poltava.”
“How wonderful! And when will you get here?”
“My train arrives at ten in the morning. Will Dad meet me at the station?”
“Of course. And what would you like for lunch?”
“Borshch and varenyky, please!”
“All right, I'll make everything. We'll be waiting for you.”
“Thank you, Mum. See you on Saturday!”
Question 1 of 6
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The Ukrainian in this set was checked against these references and the site's lessons. It has not been reviewed by a native speaker or teacher.