20 Sep 2022

10 Ukrainian Words with No English Equivalent

SpeakUA Team

The Ukrainian language is very rich and diverse, full of unique words and terms. There are also some words which have no direct, single word translations in English. In this post, we will teach you some of these words.

1.Mолодець (masculine, singular, doesn’t have a feminine form) (molodets)/молодці (plural) (molodtsi) – used as a congratulatory phrase for a job well-done or great behavior in general. The root of the word is “молодь”, which means “youth”.

E.g. Чудова робота, ти молодець. –

Wonderful work, well-done!

2. Тішитися (tishytysia) – to be glad of what you did or because of some positive situation; pat yourself on the back.

E.g. a) Мене тішить твоя старанність. –

I am pleased with your diligence.

b) Я тішуся собою, бо я здав усі екзамени. –

I pat myself on the back because I have passed all exams.

3. Смачного (smachnoho) – is translated in English as “enjoy your meal” or “Bon appetite”. Ukrainian word “смачного” comes from the word “смачно”, which means “tasty”.

E.g. – Cьогодні на обід у нас борщ. Today we have borscht for dinner. –

– Смачного! Enjoy your meal!

4. Кохання (kokhannia) – a romantic love.

Коханий (m) /кохана (f) – a sweet-heart.

E.g. Павло кохає свою дружину і любить дітей. –

Pavlo loves his wife and children.

5. Кріпатура (kripatura) – muscle pain and stiffness after physical exercises or any physical work. In English it is called delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS).

E.g. У мене кріпатура після вчорашнього тренування. –

I have muscle pain after training yesterday.

6. Волати (volaty) – to cry and yell hard expressing emotions. The word has got the same root as “віл” (ox, bullock).

E.g. Перестаньте волати, давайте заспокоїмось. –

Stop yelling, let’s calm down.

7. Mаршрутка (marshrutka) – a form of public transportation, mini-bus, which is often not in a good condition and where usually inside there are much more people than seats to sit, so some people call “маршрутка” a “fish tin”.