INSTRUMENTAL CASE IN UKRAINIAN: BORSCHT WITH GRAMMAR, PLEASE!
What is the instrumental case?
If you want to sound like a true Ukrainian when ordering food or describing life, you need to master the instrumental case — орудний відмінок. It’s used when we talk about doing something “with” something or someone.
Think of it as the grammatical seasoning that tells us how or by means of what something happens.
Let’s start with borscht!
Imagine you’re sitting at a cozy Ukrainian kitchen table. The host brings out a steaming bowl of борщ and asks: “З чим борщ?” (What’s the borscht with?)
Now, your mission — answer correctly in Ukrainian!
The logic behind it
In English, we say “borscht with sour cream,” “borscht with garlic,” or “borscht with love.”In Ukrainian, we also use з / із / зі + instrumental case.
Let’s see what happens to the words after “з.”
A quick grammar recipe
The instrumental case answers the question “з ким? з чим?" (with whom? with what?)
Ukrainian endings change like colors in borscht — depending on what’s inside the word. Here’s how to cook your grammar perfectly:
Masculine nouns
If the noun ends in a hard consonant (like стіл, хліб, борщ): add -ом
стіл → столом (table → with the table)
хліб → хлібом (bread → with bread)
If the noun ends in a soft consonant or -й (like кінь, Герой): add -ем/-єм
кінь → конем (horse → with the horse)
герой → героєм (hero → with the hero
Feminine nouns
Most feminine nouns end in -а or -я.
For -а, replace it with -ою
сметана → сметаною (sour cream → with sour cream)
мама → мамою (mom → with mom)
For -я, replace it with -ею (or -єю)
історія → історією (story → with a story)
земля → землею (earth → with earth
Neuter nouns
Usually end in -о or -е.
add -м
молоко → молоком (milk → with milk)
море → морем (sea → with sea)
Plural nouns (all genders)
add -ами (after hard consonants) or -ями (after soft consonants, or hush sounds like ж, ч, ш, щ)
друзі → друзями (friends → with friends)
книжки → книжками (books → with books)
Don’t mix up your prepositions!
Ukrainians use з / із / зі depending on the sound that follows:
з — the basic form
Used before most consonants:
з другом (with a friend), з хлібом (with bread), з мамою (with mom), з любов’ю (with love)
із — used before words that begin with:
- two consonants (clusters) – to make pronunciation easier:
із школою (with a school), із студентом (with a student), із старшим братом (with an older brother)
- a consonant that makes “з” hard to pronounce afterward:
із сіллю (with salt), із землі (from the ground), із друзями (with friends)
зі — used before words that begin with:
с, ш, ж, з, ч, щ or difficult consonant clusters – for smooth, pleasant pronunciation:
зі сметаною (with sour cream), зі школи (from school), зі мною (with me), зі стіни (from the wall), зі Львова (from Lviv)
Quick rule to remember:
If it’s hard to pronounce with “з,” try “із” or “зі.” The one that sounds smoother — is the right one!
Try it yourself:
How would you say “tea with lemon”? “coffee with milk”? “varenyky with cherries?”
Bonus: A real Ukrainian borscht recipe
Because learning grammar without eating borscht is like learning to dance without music!
Ingredients:
- 5 l water
- 400-500 g pork
- 1.5 kg cabbage
- 5-6 potatoes
- 1-2 carrots
- 2 onions
- 2 tbsp sunflower oil
- 150 g tomato paste
- 2 beetroots
- a glass of white beans
- 3-4 bay leaves
- 4-5 garlic cloves
- 100-150 g dill and parsley
- 100 ml sour cream
- salt, pepper, and herbs to taste
Instructions:
1. Cook the meat and beans
Rinse the pork, cut it into large pieces, place it in a pot with 5 liters of water, and bring to a boil. Skim off the foam, lightly salt, and cook on low heat for 40–60 minutes until tender.
- If you’re using dry beans, rinse them and add them to the pot together with the meat — they should cook from the beginning.
- If you’re using canned beans, don’t add them yet — save them for the end.
2. Add the potatoes and cabbage
Peel and dice the potatoes. Add them to the pot once the meat is cooked. Shred the cabbage and add it 5–10 minutes after the potatoes.
3. Prepare the sautéed vegetables
Heat the sunflower oil in a pan. Sauté the chopped onions until soft. Add grated carrots and beets and cook for 5–7 minutes. Mix in the tomato paste and add 1–2 ladles of broth from the pot. Let everything simmer for another 10 minutes — this will make the vegetables sweet, fragrant, and richly colored.
4. Combine everything
Transfer the sautéed vegetables into the pot. Add bay leaves, salt and pepper. If using canned beans, add them now.
5. Finish the borscht
Crush or finely chop the garlic and add it during the last 5 minutes of cooking. Let the borscht simmer for a few more minutes, then turn off the heat. Add chopped dill and parsley.
6. Serve
Serve hot, with a generous spoonful of sour cream — and lots of love
And if you want to see how real Ukrainian borscht is made, you can watch Inna cook it step by step on our YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/an6fv3PMcHE?si=QzSpA1VkxGtdOQrZ
Correct answers to the “Try it yourself” exercise above:
1. Вареники зі сметаною
2. Кава з молоком
3. Пиріг із вишнями