100 Ukrainian: A Comprehensive Grammar пам'ятник Франкові слава нардду\ Слава Богу І Богові] Спасибі батькові за ... monument to (Ivan) Franko glory/praise to the peoplel Thank God\ (lit. 'glory to God') Thanks to father for ... (or the verb дякую 'I thank' + dative) приклад іншим хлопцям (as an) example to other boys Що хлопцеві робити? What can the boy do? (What is there for the boy to do?) Note particularly that nouns can require the use of the dative case if they are deverbal, i.e. formed from verbs that require the dative. EXPRESSION OF AGE One's age is expressed using the dative; in other words 'to him is/are X years': Іванкові (буде/було) шість років. Дитині (буде/було) два роки. Лині (буде/був) один рік. Ivanko is (will be/was) six years old. The child is (will be/was) two years old. Anna is (will be/was) one year old. IMPERSONAL CONSTRUCTIONS Extremely common in the Slavonic languages, including Ukrainian, is the impersonal construction. In general these might be described as conditions (physical, mental, emotional) that are seen as imposed on one (hence the person is in the dative case) from the outside: implicit in this is the idea of one's lack of control over the situation. Physical: Синові холодно. Сестрі тепло, жарко. Ользі добре/недббре/погано. Батькові незручно. Mental, Emotional: Борисові байдуже,... шкода, що ... приємно, що ... неприємно, що ... сумно, що ... тяжко досить було страшно (My) son is cold. (My) sister is warm, hot. Ol'ha is fine, unwell, feeling badly. Father is (feeling) uncomfortable (this can be physical or mental). It's all the same to Borys ... Borys is sorry that... Borys (finds it) pleasant that... Borys (finds it) unpleasant that... Borys is sad that... Borys is very unhappy (= It weighs heavily on ...) Borys (has had) enough. Borys was afraid. Notice that most of the words in question are derived from adjectives, but they appear in the neutral form, as adverbs: 7/ is hot to/for someone'. Were
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