The World of Languages · Indo-European
Ukrainian · українська мова
An East Slavic language with its own melodic sound, the letters ї, і, є and ґ, and a long history of being banned and reborn.
- 32.1 million native speakers
- 39 million speakers in total
- Cyrillic script
- FSI Category III · 44 weeks
- Official in 1 country
Where Ukrainian is spoken
Tap or hover over a country. Colours show the language's status, based on Unicode CLDR territory data (population estimates mix sources and years).
Top countries by speakers
- Ukraine · УкраїнаOfficial language · 23M (65%)
- Moldova · МолдоваWidely spoken · 504k (14%)
- Serbia · СербіяOfficial regionally · 0
Key numbers
- Native (L1) speakers
- 32.1 million
- Second-language (L2) speakers
- 6.9 million
- Total speakers
- 39 million
- Source
- Ethnologue (28th ed.), via Wikipedia · 2023–2024
Ukrainian at a glance
Ukrainian (українська мова, ukrainska mova, IPA: [ʊkrɐˈjinʲsʲkɐ ˈmɔwɐ]) is an East Slavic language, spoken primarily in Ukraine. It is the first (native) language of a large majority of Ukrainians.
Written Ukrainian uses the Ukrainian alphabet, a variant of the Cyrillic script. The standard language is studied by the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine and Potebnia Institute of Linguistics. Comparisons are often made between Ukrainian and Russian, another East Slavic language, yet there is more mutual intelligibility with Belarusian, and a closer lexical distance to West Slavic Polish and South Slavic Bulgarian.
From the Wikipedia article Ukrainian language (CC BY-SA 4.0).
- Name in Ukrainian
- українська мова
- Family
- Indo-EuropeanClassical Indo-EuropeanBalto-SlavicSlavicEast SlavicUkrainian-Rusyn
- Writing system
- Cyrillic alphabet (33 letters)
- Direction
- Left to right
- Official in
- Ukraine
- Codes
- ISO 639-3
ukr· Glottologukra1253· Q8798 - Writing sample
Всі люди народжуються вільними і рівними у своїй гідності та правах. Вони наділені розумом і совістю і повинні діяти у відношенні один до одного в дусі братерства.
Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights…”
Linguistic profile
How hard is Ukrainian for English speakers?
The US Foreign Service Institute puts Ukrainian in Category III: about 44 weeks (1100 class hours) of full-time study to reach professional working proficiency.
Source: FSI language learning timelines. See all languages ranked: hardest · easiest.
Feature values from the World Atlas of Language Structures (WALS Online, CC BY 4.0).
The Ukrainian script
Cyrillic alphabet (33 letters). Tap a character to hear it (your device reads the letter name or sound).
Standard letters from Unicode CLDR exemplar characters.
Useful Ukrainian phrases with pronunciation
Numbers 1–10
- оди́н odýn
- два dva
- три try
- чоти́ри čotýry
- п'ять pʺjatʹ
- шість šistʹ
- сім sim
- ві́сім vísim
- де́в'ять dévʺjatʹ
- де́сять désjatʹ
Days of the week
- Mon понеділок
- Tue вівторок
- Wed середа
- Thu четвер
- Fri пʼятниця
- Sat субота
- Sun неділя
Everyday words
- water вода́ vodá
- cat кіт kit
- dog соба́ка sobáka
- coffee ка́ва káva
- beer пи́во pývo
- bread хліб xlib
- book кни́жка knýžka
Phrases and words checked against Wiktionary; days and months from Unicode CLDR. Audio uses your browser's built-in Ukrainian voice when available.
Dialects and varieties
Standard Ukrainian
Ukraine
Based mainly on the dialects of the Poltava and Kyiv region.
South-western dialects (Galician, Hutsul)
Lviv and the Carpathians
Polish and German loans: “файно” (faino, fine/nice) instead of standard “гарно”.
Northern dialects (Polissian)
Northern Ukraine, by Belarus
Keep old diphthongs where standard Ukrainian has і.
Surzhyk
Central and eastern Ukraine
Not a dialect but a mixed Ukrainian–Russian vernacular.
Hear the dialects
Fun words, untranslatables and false friends
смачного
smachnoho
“Enjoy your meal”, said before anyone eats.
кохання
kokhannia
Romantic love. Ukrainian distinguishes it from любов (liubov), love in general.
файно
faino
Western Ukrainian for “great, nice”.
False friends for English speakers
| Ukrainian | Looks like | Actually means |
|---|---|---|
| магазин mahazyn | magazine | shop |
| кабінет kabinet | cabinet | office, study |
Curious facts
- Ukrainian has a vocative case for addressing people: Ольга (Olha) becomes “Ольго!” (Olho!).
- The letter ґ (hard g) was removed from the official alphabet in 1933 and restored in 1990.
- Ukraine's national poet Taras Shevchenko (1814–1861) is considered the founder of modern Ukrainian literature.
- The tune of the Christmas favourite “Carol of the Bells” comes from Mykola Leontovych's Ukrainian song “Shchedryk”.
Famous Ukrainian-speaking voices
Singers & musicians
Writers & poets
Film & TV
Other famous figures
Descriptions from Wikidata; photos from Wikimedia Commons under the licences shown.
Ukrainian culture now
Shchedryk (song)
1916 Ukrainian song by Mykola Leontovych
Stefania (song)
2022 song by Kalush Orchestra
20 Days in Mariupol
2023 Ukrainian documentary film by Mstyslav Chernov
Servant of the People
Political party in Ukraine
Kalush Orchestra
Ukrainian band
Vyshyvanka
Ukrainian and Belarusian folk costume
Learn Ukrainian on YouTube
Free lessons from teachers and channels with Ukrainian courses. Videos load only when you press play.
The story of the language
Quick quiz: how well do you know Ukrainian?
Where to learn Ukrainian
The Endless Book
Read text you can understand, in the style of your favourite author and genre. About 30 languages.
LangMagicLangMagic Speak
Speaking lessons built around your topics, from materials you choose.
LangMagicLangMagic Meet
A virtual meeting platform built for language lessons, with follow-up exercises.
FreeWikivoyage Ukrainian phrasebook
Free travel phrasebook with pronunciation guide
FreeWikibooks: Ukrainian
Free, open textbook
FreeOmniglot: Ukrainian
Script, pronunciation and useful phrases
FreeWiktionary: Ukrainian dictionary
Free multilingual dictionary
Sources
- Speaker numbers: Ethnologue (28th ed.), via Wikipedia, 2023–2024.
- Countries, populations, alphabets, days and months: Unicode CLDR 46.
- Classification: Glottolog 5.3. Grammar features: WALS Online.
- Introduction: Wikipedia, Ukrainian language (CC BY-SA 4.0). People and culture: Wikipedia and Wikidata. Images: Wikimedia Commons.
- Writing sample: Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 1, from the Unicode UDHR collection. Phrases and words: Wiktionary. Difficulty: US Foreign Service Institute.
- Map: Natural Earth via world-atlas (public domain).