What Language Do They Speak In Ukraine: Russian Or Ukrainian?

With everything going on in the world, you might be wondering - what language do they speak in Ukraine?

Although travel to Ukraine is restricted and difficult currently, it’s important to appreciate the language spoken there and the rich culture. If you’ve been curious to know exactly what language Ukrainians speak, you’ve come to the right place.

Here’s the truth about the language of Ukraine…

It’s No Surprise - They Speak Ukrainian!

This may not come as a surprise, but in Ukraine, the residents speak Ukrainian. Ukrainian is the official language and is East Slavic.

Although, it’s important to note that around 30 percent of the population speak Russian. This is because both languages are a part of the Slavonic family, making them similar to Bulgarian, Polish and Czech too.
Once upon a time Ukrainian and Russian would have sounded almost totally the same, maybe just a slightly different dialects. But nowadays Ukrainian shares more characteristics with the Polish language.

How Is Ukrainian Different From Russian?

Over a lengthy period of time, the Russian language was formed through several areas coming together to become Russia. When Russia gained control over Ukraine in the 18th century, Russian and Ukrainian were as similar as Dutch and English (sharing basic grammar rules and word sounds). Now, Russian and Ukrainian are more clearly defined as their own languages.

Ultimately the difference comes down to four letters in Ukrainian missing from Russian and vice versa, which are:

Ukrainian missing from Russian (ґ, є, і, ї)
Russian missing from Ukrainian (ё, ъ, ы, э)

However, the two languages do actually share an alphabet called the Cyrillic alphabet. Some letters are different though.

In Russian, letters “Ё” and “Ы” exist, while in Ukrainian “Ё” is replaced by “ЙО” , “ЬО” or the letter “E”, “I”. For example, “клЁн” (the maple) is “клEн” and “сЁмга”(the salmon) in Russian is “сЬОмга” in Ukrainian.

It gets pretty complicated, but when you can speak either language at a native level, the differences are clear and obvious on a daily basis!

Different Letters In Russian & Ukrainian

A simple thing to look out for when comparing the two Slavic languages is letter differences. Here are some of the biggest examples.

1. The Russian letter “Ы” is “И” in Ukrainian. In Ukrainian, there are the letters “I”, “Ї” and “Ґ” that don’t exist in Russian. “I” is equal to the Russian “И” and “Ґ”(g) to “Г”. For example, “їсти” (to eat) in Ukrainian is “есть” in Russian. And “Ґ” is rarely used in Ukrainian, there is a list of the words, as “Ґвинт” (screw) and in Russian, it is “винт”.

2. In Ukrainian there are the letters “E” and “Є” that are the same as Russian’s “Э” and “E”.

3. Instead of the hard sign, as in Russian, in Ukrainian, there is an apostrophe. For example “съесть”(to eat) in Russian is “з’їсти” in Ukrainian. It’s subtle, but it’s definitely noticeable once you know what you’re looking for.

When it comes to Ukraine, you will be better off learning Ukrainian if you want to speak to the locals. But if you have a good level of Russian fluency, you should get by just fine because of the similar roots between the languages.

Are you thinking of learning Russian or Ukrainian? Let us know in the comments!