In this section: Grammar
Personal pronouns in all cases
Every case form of я, ти, він, вона, воно, ми, ви and вони; the н- forms after prepositions; the stress shift in до мене; the reflexive себе; and хто and що.
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On this page
After this page you will know every case form of the Ukrainian personal pronouns: me, to you, with him, about her, for them and so on. You will know when його́ becomes ньо́го and її́ becomes не́ї, and why мене́ is stressed differently in до ме́не. You will also be able to use себе́ (oneself) and the case forms of хто and що.
Pronouns introduced the nominative forms and a few others, such as тебе́ in Як тебе́ зва́ти? This page gives the full set. The case overview explains what each case is for.
The full tables
The forms below come from the spelling standard and the Горох dictionary. The locative is used only after a preposition, so it is shown with на (on).
| Case | I | you (informal) | he, it | she |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | я | ти | він, воно́ | вона́ |
| Genitive | мене́ | тебе́ | його́ | її́ |
| Dative | мені́ | тобі́ | йому́ | їй |
| Accusative | мене́ | тебе́ | його́ | її́ |
| Instrumental | мно́ю | тобо́ю | ним | не́ю |
| Locative | на мені́ | на тобі́ | на ньо́му | на ній |
| Case | we | you (formal or plural) | they |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | ми | ви | вони́ |
| Genitive | нас | вас | їх |
| Dative | нам | вам | їм |
| Accusative | нас | вас | їх |
| Instrumental | на́ми | ва́ми | ни́ми |
| Locative | на нас | на вас | на них |
Three things make these tables easier than they look:
- The genitive and the accusative are the same for every personal pronoun: мене́, тебе́, його́, її́, нас, вас, їх.
- Він and воно́ share all their other forms. Only the nominative is different.
- Ми and ви are very regular: нас, нам, на́ми and вас, вам, ва́ми.
Ви keeps the same forms whether it means one person politely or several people: вас, вам, ва́ми.
The cases in use
Genitive
The genitive follows prepositions such as у (at), до (to), для (for) and без (without). Common prepositions lists more. The phrase у ме́не є (I have) uses it too.
Genitive
Dative
The dative is the person something is given or said to. It is also the person who feels or experiences something, in sentences where English uses I: Мені́ хо́лодно is “I’m cold”, literally “to me it is cold”.
Dative
Accusative
The accusative is the direct object. It also follows some prepositions, such as про (about) and на in чека́ти на (to wait for).
Accusative
Instrumental
The instrumental is used with з (with, together with), and after some verbs. The form мно́ю usually takes зі: зі мно́ю (with me).
Instrumental
Locative
The locative is used only after a preposition, such as на (on) or у, в (in). With на it is a common way to describe what someone is wearing.
Locative
The н- forms after a preposition
After a preposition, the forms of він, вона́, воно́ and вони́ begin with н-. The spelling standard calls it an “added н” (приставне́ н).
| Without a preposition | After a preposition | English |
|---|---|---|
| його́ | до ньо́го, для ньо́го | him, it |
| її́ | до не́ї, на не́ї | her |
| їх | до них, для них | them |
Without and with a preposition
The instrumental always has н-, with or without a preposition: ним, не́ю, ни́ми. The locative always comes after a preposition, so it always has н- too: на ньо́му, на ній, на них.
The dative has no н- form: йому́, їй, їм.
His, her and their do not take н-
Його́, її́ and їх are also the words for his, her and their (see Pronouns). The spelling rule about н- is for the personal pronouns only, so the possessives never take it, even after a preposition.
Him or his?
Stress after a preposition: до мене
Мене́, тебе́ and себе́ are stressed on the ending. After a preposition, the stress moves to the first syllable: до ме́не, у ме́не, для те́бе, на те́бе, до се́бе. The spelling is the same. The spelling standard shows both stresses in its tables.
Stress with and without a preposition
The reflexive pronoun себе
Себе́ means myself, yourself, himself, herself, ourselves, themselves: it always refers back to the subject of the sentence, whoever that is. It has no nominative, because it is never the subject.
| Case | Form |
|---|---|
| Nominative | — |
| Genitive | себе́ (до се́бе) |
| Dative | собі́ |
| Accusative | себе́ (на се́бе) |
| Instrumental | собо́ю |
| Locative | на собі́ |
The forms are like those of ти: тебе́, тобі́, тобо́ю and себе́, собі́, собо́ю.
себе refers back to the subject
хто and що in all cases
Questions showed four cases of хто (who) and що (what). Here are all of them.
| Case | хто | що |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | хто | що |
| Genitive | кого́ | чого́ |
| Dative | кому́ | чому́ |
| Accusative | кого́ | що |
| Instrumental | ким | чим |
| Locative | на ко́му | на чім |
As with the personal pronouns, the genitive and accusative of хто are the same. For що the accusative is the same as the nominative.
хто and що
Common mistakes and limits
Common mistake
Forgetting н- after a preposition. Say для ньо́го, до не́ї, з ни́ми, not для його́ or до її́. Only his, her and their stay without н-: до його́ бра́та.
Common mistake
Using йому́ or його́ instead of себе́. Він купи́в собі́ ку́ртку means he bought it for himself. Він купи́в йому́ ку́ртку means he bought it for someone else.
Common mistake
Using the nominative after a preposition. After a preposition, a pronoun is never in the nominative: зі мно́ю, not з я; для нас, not для ми.
Remember
Learn pronouns in short phrases: у ме́не є, мені́ хо́лодно, зі мно́ю, до ньо́го, для них. The н- forms and the stress shift come naturally that way.
Note
Some pronouns have a second, less common form that this page leaves out. For example, the locative of він can also be нім, and the locative of хто can also be кім. For the locative of що, the table shows чім, the form that the spelling standard and Горох both give; they mark the stress of its other form differently.
Practice
Related topics
Audio
The example sentences on this page are read by a computer-generated voice (OpenAI text-to-speech). The recordings are not individually checked by a listener, and a computer voice can occasionally stress or pronounce a word wrongly: the written sentence, with its stress marks, is the reference. It is not a recording of a native speaker. Nothing is downloaded until you press a listen button.
Sources
- Горох — онлайн-бібліотека словників української мови: Словозміна, Тлумачення (goroh.pp.ua)
- Стандарт державної мови «Український правопис». Офіційне видання (Національна комісія зі стандартів державної мови)
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