вони

Third-person Plural Pronoun

Level 1Sounds Like voni

Вони (vony) is the Ukrainian word for 'they'. It is used for any group of people, animals, or things, regardless of their gender.

How It Works

In Ukrainian, вони functions as the subject of a sentence and triggers specific verb endings.

1. Universal Plurality
Whether you are talking about a group of men, women, mixed genders, or even a pile of books, you always use вони. Ukrainian does not have different plural pronouns for different genders.

2. The 'n-prefix' Rule
Personal pronouns add an н- (n) at the start when they follow a preposition in the Genitive, Accusative, and Locative cases.

  • Plain: їх (them)
  • After preposition: у них (at their place / they have)
  • Exception: The Dative form їм does not take the 'н-' prefix (e.g., завдяки їм).
  • Note: The Instrumental form ними always starts with 'н', even without a preposition.

3. Pronoun Usage and Tense
Ukrainian often omits the pronoun in the present tense because the verb ending is unique to 'they'. However, in the past tense, the pronoun вони is usually included for clarity because the verb ending '-ли' is identical for all plural subjects (we, you, they).

4. Case Forms
While вони is the nominative (subject) form, it changes in other roles:

  • їх / них: Accusative (them) or Genitive (of them)
  • їм: Dative (to them)
  • ними: Instrumental (with them)
  • них: Locative (about/on them) - used only with prepositions.

Examples (4)

  1. Вони зараз у школі.

    They are at school now.

    Word by Word: They now in school.

    Here 'вони' is the subject. Note that there is no word for 'are' because Ukrainian uses a zero copula in the present tense.

  2. Де мої ключі? Вони на столі.

    Where are my keys? They are on the table.

    Word by Word: Where my keys? They on table.

    This shows that 'вони' is used for inanimate objects (keys), not just people.

  3. Я часто думаю про них.

    I often think about them.

    Word by Word: I often think about them.

    The pronoun changes from 'їх' to 'них' because it follows the preposition 'про' (about).

  4. Вони читають книгу.

    They are reading a book.

    Word by Word: They read book.

    The pronoun 'вони' matches the third-person plural verb ending -ють.

Common Mistakes

  • Forgetting the 'n-prefix' in Genitive, Accusative, or Locative cases after a preposition.

    Я йду до їх.
    Я йду до них.

    When the pronoun follows a preposition in the Genitive, Accusative, or Locative cases, it must start with 'н-'. Note that this does not apply to the Dative case (e.g., 'завдяки їм').

  • Adding an 'n-prefix' to the possessive adjective 'їхній'.

    Я йду до нихнього дому.
    Я йду до їхнього дому.

    Unlike the pronoun 'них', the possessive adjective 'їхній' (their) never takes the 'н-' prefix, even after prepositions.

  • Dropping the pronoun when the subject is not clear from context.

    Different MeaningВчора гуляли в парку.
    Вони вчора гуляли в парку.

    In the past tense, the plural ending '-ли' is the same for 'ми' (we), 'ви' (you), and 'вони' (they). 'Вчора гуляли в парку' is correct Ukrainian, but without context it may be heard as any of these, or as an unnamed 'they'. Add the pronoun when the subject would otherwise be unclear.

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вониLevel 1Third-person Plural Pronoun

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