без + Genitive

Genitive After Без

Level 2Sounds Like rodovij píslâ bez

Use без + Genitive Case to express the absence or lack of something.

How It Works

The preposition без is used to indicate that something is missing, excluded, or absent. It is one of the most common prepositions in Ukrainian and follows strict grammatical rules:

  • Case Government: It only governs the genitive case. You must decline nouns, adjectives, and pronouns accordingly.
  • Masculine/Neuter Noun Endings: Use -а/-я for concrete, countable, or animate objects (e.g., без брата). Use -у/-ю for abstract concepts, mass nouns, or substances (e.g., без цукру).
  • Feminine Noun Endings: These typically end in -и or -і (e.g., без води).
  • Plurals: Nouns in the plural often take a zero ending (feminine/neuter) or -ів/-їв (masculine).
  • Adjective Agreement: Adjectives must also be in the genitive: -ого for masculine/neuter, -ої for feminine, and -их/-іх for plural.
  • Phonetic Variant: The form безо is used to facilitate pronunciation when the following word starts with a difficult cluster of consonants, especially those starting with вс-, з-, с- (e.g., безо всіх).
  • Verbs: Ukrainian cannot follow без directly with an infinitive. Instead, use a дієприслівник or a clause.

Examples (5)

  1. Студенти прийшли без нових підручників.

    The students came without new textbooks.

    Word by Word: Students came without new textbooks.

    This shows the genitive plural: the adjective 'новий' becomes 'нових' and the masculine noun 'підручник' takes the -ів ending.

  2. Я п'ю каву без цукру та без молока.

    I drink coffee without sugar and without milk.

    Word by Word: I drink coffee without sugar and without milk.

    Note the endings: 'цукор' (mass noun) takes -у, while 'молоко' (neuter) takes -а.

  3. Він зайшов безо всякого попередження.

    He dropped by without any warning.

    Word by Word: He dropped-by without any warning.

    The variant 'безо' is used here to avoid a difficult cluster of consonants before 'всякого'.

  4. Ми не можемо їхати без тебе.

    We cannot go without you.

    Word by Word: We not can go without you.

    The pronoun 'ти' changes to its genitive form 'тебе'.

  5. Вона гуляє без теплої шапки.

    She is walking without a warm hat.

    Word by Word: She walks without warm hat.

    The feminine adjective 'тепла' becomes 'теплої' and the noun 'шапка' becomes 'шапки' in the genitive.

Common Mistakes

  • Using the nominative case after 'без'.

    Кава без молоко.
    Кава без молока.

    Nouns must be declined. 'Молоко' (neuter) must change to 'молока' in the genitive case.

  • Using 'без' with an infinitive verb.

    Він пішов без сказати па-па.
    Він пішов, не сказавши па-па.

    You cannot use 'без' + infinitive. Use a negative adverbial participle (не сказавши) to mean 'without saying'.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

без + GenitiveLevel 2Genitive After Без

Learn This First

To use the preposition 'без' (without), a learner must be familiar with the Genitive case. Since 'без' governs the Genitive, the most direct prerequisite is 'у мене немає', which introduces the Genitive case endings in a common functional context. Additionally, knowledge of noun genders (masculine, feminine, and neuter) is required to select the appropriate case endings.

Words in This Pattern

без