Speakers or learners of either language often find that some words look similar in both languages. However, there are several words that are false friends in Ukrainian for those familiar with Russian. Many of them happen to be because they have multiple meanings in Ukrainian, unlike Russian. Here are ten of them.
1. Â ĐŒŃŃŃĐŸ đșđŠÂ mistaken forÂ ĐŒĐ”ŃŃĐŸ đ·đș
ĐŒŃŃŃĐŸ (city) in Ukrainian is ĐłĐŸŃĐŸĐŽ in Russian.
ĐŒĐ”ŃŃĐŸ (place) in Russian is ĐŒŃŃŃĐ” in Ukrainian.
2. ĐœĐ”ĐŽŃĐ»Ń đșđŠ mistaken forÂ ĐœĐ”ĐŽĐ”Đ»Ń đ·đș
ĐœĐ”ĐŽŃĐ»Ń (Sunday) in Ukrainian is ĐČĐŸŃĐșŃĐ”ŃĐ”ĐœŃĐ” in Russian.
ĐœĐ”ĐŽĐ”Đ»Ń (week) in Russian is ŃĐžĐ¶ĐŽĐ”ĐœŃ in Ukrainian.
3. гаŃбŃĐ· đșđŠ mistaken for аŃбŃĐ· đ·đș
гаŃбŃĐ· (pumpkin) in Ukrainian is ŃŃĐșĐČа in Russian.
аŃбŃĐ· (watermelon) in Russian is ĐșаĐČŃĐœ in Ukrainian.
4. ŃĐ°Ń đșđŠ mistaken for ŃĐ°Ń đ·đș
ŃĐ°Ń (time) in Ukrainian is ĐČŃĐ”ĐŒŃ in Russian.
ŃĐ°Ń (hour) in Russian is ĐłĐŸĐŽĐžĐœĐ° in Ukrainian.
5. ŃĐŸĐ»ĐŸĐČŃĐș đșđŠ mistaken for ŃĐ”Đ»ĐŸĐČĐ”Đș đ·đș
ŃĐŸĐ»ĐŸĐČŃĐș (husband) in Ukrainian is ĐŒŃж in Russian.
ŃĐ”Đ»ĐŸĐČĐ”Đș (man, human) in Russian is лŃĐŽĐžĐœĐ° & ŃĐŸĐ»ĐŸĐČŃĐș in Ukrainian.
6. жŃĐœĐșа đșđŠÂ mistaken forÂ Đ¶Đ”ĐœĐ° đ·đș
жŃĐœĐșа (woman) in Ukrainian is Đ¶Đ”ĐœŃĐžĐœĐ° in Russian.
Đ¶Đ”ĐœĐ° (wife) in Russian is ĐŽŃŃĐ¶ĐžĐœĐ° & жŃĐœĐșа in Ukrainian.
7.Â ĐŸĐœ đșđŠÂ mistaken forÂ ĐŸĐœ đ·đș
ĐŸĐœ (there) in Ukrainian is ĐČĐŸĐœ in Russian.
ĐŸĐœ (he) in Russian is ĐČiĐœ in Ukrainian.
8. ĐșŃŃ đșđŠÂ mistaken for ĐșĐžŃ đ·đș
ĐșŃŃ (cat) in Ukrainian is ĐșĐŸŃ in Russian.
ĐșĐžŃ (whale) in Russian is ĐșĐžŃ in Ukrainian.
9. ŃŃ
đșđŠ mistaken for ĐžŃ
đ·đșÂ (in certain cases)Â
ŃŃ
(them) in Ukrainian is ОŃ
in Russian when referring to the declension of ĐČĐŸĐœĐž.
ĐžŃ
(their) in Russian is ŃŃ
ĐœŃĐč in Ukrainian when referring to possession. There is a Russian word that is colloquial, ĐžŃ
ĐœĐžĐč, that corresponds to this, but you should use ĐžŃ
instead.
10. лОŃŃĐŸĐżĐ°ĐŽ đșđŠÂ mistaken for лОŃŃĐŸĐżĐ°ĐŽ đ·đș
лОŃŃĐŸĐżĐ°ĐŽ (November) in Ukrainian is ĐœĐŸŃбŃŃ in Russian.
лОŃŃĐŸĐżĐ°ĐŽ (defoliation) in Russian is лОŃŃĐŸĐżĐ°ĐŽ in Ukrainian.
There are more false friends, but I wanted to keep this list short. Feel free to add more if you speak both languages :)