Adverbs

After this page you will be able to turn an adjective into an adverb (швидки́й → шви́дко), use the по- forms such as по-сво́єму, and choose the right word for here, there and where when you talk about a place, a direction or a starting point. You will also know the common adverbs of time and manner, and how the spelling standard decides whether an adverb is one word, two words or hyphenated.

What an adverb does

An adverb tells you how, where, when or how much something happens. Unlike an adjective, it does not agree with anything: it has one form, whatever the gender, number or case around it. The dictionary marks such words as not declined (невідмі́нювана) [src: goroh-dictionary].

Adverbs from adjectives: -о and -е

Many adverbs are made from adjectives. Take off the ending -ий and add -о. The dictionary links each such adverb to its adjective: шви́дко is defined as “Присл. до швидки́й”, the adverb of швидки́й [src: goroh-dictionary].

A few adverbs end in -е instead. The most common is до́бре (well), from до́брий. After ж, ч and ш the spelling standard writes -е in some adverbs, such as гаряче (hotly) and воро́же (in a hostile way), but -о in others, such as тво́рчо (creatively) [src: pravopys-2026, §10, note]. Learn these one by one.

Watch the stress. It often stays where it was in the adjective, but not always: швидки́й but шви́дко [src: goroh-dictionary]. Check the adverb in the dictionary rather than guessing.

Adjective or adverb? Use the adjective with a noun, and the adverb with a verb. The same -о form is also used on its own in sentences such as Тут ти́хо. (It’s quiet here.); see Impersonal sentences.

The по- forms: по-новому, по-українськи

Another group is made with по- and the ending -ому or -и. They mean “in the … way” and are always written with a hyphen: по-украї́нському and по-украї́нськи, по-на́шому, по-сво́єму, по-і́ншому, по-лю́дськи [src: pravopys-2026, §41]. The words for firstly, secondly and so on also take a hyphen: по-пе́рше, по-дру́ге, по-тре́тє [src: pravopys-2026, §41].

Не before a по- form is written separately: розмовля́ють не по-на́шому (they speak differently from us) [src: pravopys-2026, §44].

For languages, both по-украї́нськи and the instrumental украї́нською (мо́вою) are standard [src: pravopys-2026, §41], but usage guides prefer the instrumental: я розмовля́ю украї́нською мо́вою, and як це сказа́ти украї́нською? for how do you say this in Ukrainian? [src: goroh-usage].

Place and direction: here, there, where

English where can mean three things, and Ukrainian has a separate word for each: де for a place, куди́ for a direction [src: ukma-ukrainian-foreign-language], and зві́дки for where something comes from. Questions introduced them. The words for here and there follow the same three-way split.

Many of these words begin with у- or в-: угорі́ or вгорі́, унизу́ or внизу́, удо́ма or вдо́ма. The spelling standard lists both forms [src: pravopys-2026, §41], and the choice follows the general у/в rule: у- between consonants, в- after a vowel [src: pravopys-2026, §23].

Two more pairs are useful for directions: ліво́руч (on the left, to the left) and право́руч (on the right, to the right), each written as one word [src: pravopys-2026, §41].

Time

Завжди has no stress mark here because the dictionary accepts two stresses [src: goroh-dictionary].

The parts of the day and the seasons are single words, made historically from a preposition and a noun. The standard writes them together, with у- or в- as above [src: pravopys-2026, §41].

Words for every day, every evening and every year are written as one word with що-: щодня́, щове́чора, щоро́ку [src: pravopys-2026, §41].

Ніко́ли or ні́коли? The spelling is the same, but the stress changes the meaning. Ніко́ли means never. Ні́коли means there is no time: Мені́ ні́коли. (I have no time.) [src: goroh-dictionary; pravopys-2026, §44]. Negation has more words with ні-.

Manner and degree

One word, a hyphen or two words?

Many adverbs grew out of a preposition and another word, so their spelling is a common question. The spelling standard has a long list [src: pravopys-2026, §41]. The main patterns:

The same letters can be an adverb or a preposition with a noun. Ask whether the noun still has its own meaning, or whether you could put an adjective between the two words. The spelling standard gives pairs such as these [src: pravopys-2026, §41, note]:

Comparing with adverbs

Adverbs made from adjectives can be compared: шви́дше (faster), кра́ще (better), ви́ще (higher), до́вше (longer). The consonant changes are the same as in the comparative adjective: висо́кий → ви́щий, ви́ще [src: pravopys-2026, §20]. Comparing things covers comparison of adjectives and adverbs.

For speed, usage guides recommend шви́дше rather than скорі́ше [src: goroh-usage].

Common mistakes and limits