MASTERING THE INSTRUMENTAL CASE IN UKRAINIAN WITH MUSIC 🎶

If there was a top list of the most challenging topics in Ukrainian, no doubt, our cases would be the leaders. First of all, there is no such thing in English at all. Second, there are so many things you should consider when forming each case — gender, stem, various drills…

But no worries — there’s always an easier and more enjoyable way to learn! So, today, we will focus on the instrumental case, and amazing Ukrainian songs will brighten up this tricky topic for us.

🌿 First, a quick intro

The Instrumental Case (Орудний відмінок) answers the question: ➡️ "ким?" (by/with whom?), ➡️ "чим?" (by/with what?).

It’s used:

✔️ To describe means of action: писати ручкою (writing with a pen)

✔️ After certain prepositions like з (with), над (above), між (between), під (under): йти з другом (walking with a friend)

✔️ After certain verbs like бути (to be), ставати (to become), працювати (to work), займатися (to be engaged in): працювати лікарем (working as a doctor).

🌿 The formation of the instrumental case

Now that you know the basics, let's explore the formation of the instrumental case using popular Ukrainian songs! To keep it simple, today we’ll focus only on nouns with hard stems. (*Nouns with soft and mixed stems will follow different endings.)

🎵 Мотор’ролла – Восьмий колір 

⏳ 0:57 - 1:05

Хочеш, я твоїм кольором буду,

Do you want me to be your color,

Восьмим кольором, восьмим чудом.

The eighth color, the eighth wonder?

💡 Key Instrumental Case Words:

1) кольором (by/with color)

✅ Rule: Masculine nouns with hard stems → take -ОМ: колір → кольором.

✅ Masculine nouns with hard stems are those ending in one of the following consonants: б, в, г, ґ, д, з, к, л, м, н, п, с, т, ф, х.

✅ Spelling Drill: If the last syllable of the word contains і, it sometimes changes to о in the instrumental case: колір → кольором, рік → роком.

📝 Try changing these words into the instrumental case:

кіт (cat) → ?

стіл (table) → ?

чоловік (man/husband, no drill!) → ?

2) чудом (as a miracle)

✅ Rule: Neuter nouns with hard stems → take -ОМ: чудо → чудом.

✅ Neuter nouns with hard stems are those ending in -о preceded by one of the consonants: б, в, г, ґ, д, з, к, л, м, н, п, р, с, т, ф, х.

📝 Try changing these neuter nouns into the instrumental case:

вікно (window) → ?

місто (city) → ?

слово (word) → ?

🎵 KOLA – Тебе-собі 

⏳ 0:00 - 0:08

Кілометрами і дорогами стану я,

I will become kilometers and roads,

Літаком, машиною станеш ти.

You will become a plane and a car.

💡 Key Instrumental Case Words:

1) літаком (as an airplane) → Masculine, follows the hard stem pattern.

2) машиною (as a car) → Feminine, follows the hard stem pattern.

✅ Rule: Feminine nouns with hard stems → take -ОЮ: машина → машиною.

✅ Feminine nouns with hard stems are those ending in -А, where the last consonant before -А is one of the following: : б, в, г, ґ, д, з, к, л, м, н, п, с, т, ф, х.

📝 Convert these feminine nouns into the instrumental case:

Україна → ?

вода (water) → ?

родина (family) → ?

3) кілометрами, дорогами (by kilometers, by roads) → Plural hard stem pattern.

✅ Rule: Plural nouns with hard stems → take -АМИ: дороги → дорогами.

📝 Convert these plural nouns into the instrumental case:

країни (countries) → ?

гори (mountains) → ?

машини (cars) → ?

🎯 Congratulations!

Now you know how to form the instrumental case of nouns with hard stems! And the best news? The majority of Ukrainian nouns actually have hard stems — so this pattern will help you with most nouns!

To practice what you’ve learned, here’s a fun creative task — and it comes with music!

1) Listen to this song (not just for the grammar, but also to enjoy it!):

🎵 Тіна Кароль & Бумбокс – Безодня (The Abyss)

2) Focus on these parts: ⏳ 0:23–0:33 and ⏳ 0:57–1:08.

3) You should hear lots of examples of the instrumental case in these lyrics! Break down the logic of how the instrumental case was formed in these lines:

✅ руками (with hands) – hard stem, plural → nominative: руки

Good luck — we know you’ll do great! And remember, instead of memorizing dry rules, music lets you hear grammar in action! So… Do you have a favorite Ukrainian artist or band yet? 🎶

✅ Answers to Practice Exercises:

Masculine: кіт → котом, стіл → столом, чоловік → чоловіком

Feminine: Україна → Україною, вода → водою, родина → родиною

Neuter: вікно → вікном, місто → містом, слово → словом

Plural: країни → країнами, гори → горами, машини → машинами