Ukrainian phrases expats actually use
Phrase lists are usually written for tourists on a five-day trip. If you live here, your list looks different: less where is the museum, more pharmacies, delivery couriers, landlords and government offices. What follows is the set our students reach for in their first months, with a simple guide to saying each one aloud.
The first ten
These carry more weight than any others, because they open and close almost every exchange you will have.
| Ukrainian | Say it as | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Добрий день | DOH-bry den | hello, during the day |
| Дякую | DYAH-ku-yu | thank you |
| Будь ласка | bood LAS-ka | please, and you're welcome |
| Вибачте | VY-bach-te | sorry, and excuse me |
| Так / Ні | tak / nee | yes / no |
| Я не розумію | ya ne ro-zu-MEE-yu | I don't understand |
| Повторіть, будь ласка | pov-to-REET bood LAS-ka | could you repeat that |
| Скільки коштує? | SKEEL-ky KOSH-tu-ye | how much is it |
| Де тут…? | de toot | where is the… around here |
| До побачення | do po-BA-chen-nya | goodbye |
Two notes on the stress marks in that middle column. Ukrainian stress is not fixed, and putting it in the wrong place is what makes a correct phrase hard to catch. And the rolled r is worth attempting even badly: an approximate roll reads as an accent, while an English r reads as a different word.
Shops, cafés and deliveries
This is where you will use Ukrainian most often and where a wrong word costs least, which makes it the best place to practise.
- Я візьму це — ya VIZ-mu tse, I'll take this. Point, say it, done.
- Пакет не потрібен — pa-KET ne po-TRIB-en, I don't need a bag. You will be asked every single time.
- Карткою — KART-ko-yu, by card. The answer to a question you will hear at every till.
- З собою — z so-BO-yu, takeaway. The opposite is тут, here.
- Залиште біля дверей — za-LYSH-te BEE-lya dve-REY, leave it by the door. The one courier phrase worth memorising.
Getting around
Transport vocabulary is small and repetitive, which means it sticks fast. Зупиніть тут, будь ласка stops a taxi or a minibus. Як доїхати до…? asks how to get somewhere. Наступна зупинка is the next stop, and you will hear it announced long before you need to say it.
Offices, paperwork and the doctor
These are the situations where being misunderstood has consequences, so this is the one group worth over-preparing. Мені потрібна довідка means I need a certificate, the word that opens most administrative conversations. Які документи потрібні? asks which documents are required. Мені боляче тут means it hurts here, and is usually said while pointing.
Be honest about the limit of a phrase list here, though. It gets your question out; it does nothing for the answer, which arrives at speed and in words you have not met. For anything that matters, take someone who speaks Ukrainian, or reach the level where you can hold the reply.
What thirty phrases will and will not do
They will make daily life smoother almost immediately, and they change how people treat you: an attempt in Ukrainian is read as respect, not as a performance. What they cannot do is get you to a conversation, because a real exchange is unscripted and a list is not.
The move from phrases to conversation is a different skill, and it is where a structured programme starts to matter. Roughly, it means grammar you can use rather than recite, a few hundred words of your own vocabulary, and enough practice at listening that other people's speed stops being a wall.
Questions expats ask early
Learn these on your own; there is no need to pay anyone for a list. When the phrases stop being enough, and that usually happens within a couple of months, our Ukrainian lessons online pick up from there, one-to-one and built around the situations you actually meet.