Ukrainian, like every language, leans hard on a small set of words. Ranked by how often they appear in UberText 2.0, a corpus of 1,495,772,089 running words of modern Ukrainian, the first 100 words on the list account for 33.12% of the corpus's running words. The first 1,000 cover 60.81%.
That is why a frequency list is the fastest start. The table below is the hundred most frequent words that also carry a validated learner level and a dictionary meaning, in rank order. Most are short grammar words: prepositions, pronouns, conjunctions, the verb "to be". They are not exciting, and they are in every sentence.
| # | Word | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | в | in, at [with locative] | A1 |
| 2 | на | onto | A1 |
| 3 | у | in, at [with locative] | A1 |
| 4 | і | and, also, even | A1 |
| 5 | з | from | A1 |
| 6 | бу́ти | to be | A1 |
| 7 | не | not | A1 |
| 8 | що | that | A2 |
| 9 | до | to, toward | A1 |
| 10 | за | behind, beyond; during, in; for | A1 |
| 11 | та | and, also, even | A2 |
| 12 | яки́й | what, which, what kind of | A1 |
| 13 | рік | year | A1 |
| 14 | про | about, concerning | A1 |
| 15 | він | he | A1 |
| 16 | це | this, it | A1 |
| 17 | а | and, and yet, but | A1 |
| 18 | цей | this | A1 |
| 19 | як | as, like | A2 |
| 20 | для | for (2) | A1 |
| 21 | від | from | A1 |
| 22 | я | I | A1 |
| 23 | вони́ | they | A1 |
| 24 | свій | one's, my, his | B1 |
| 25 | ми | we | A1 |
| 26 | те | that (neuter form of той) | A1 |
| 27 | та́кож | also, too, as well | A1 |
| 28 | вона́ | she | A1 |
| 29 | час | time | A1 |
| 30 | але́ | but | A1 |
| 31 | таки́й | such, suchlike | A1 |
| 32 | ма́ти | to have | A1 |
| 33 | могти́ | to be able; can | A1 |
| 34 | той | that | A1 |
| 35 | із | from, out of (variant of з used before consonant clusters) | A1 |
| 36 | під | under | A2 |
| 37 | його́ | his, him, its (genitive/accusative of він) | A1 |
| 38 | весь | all, the whole | A2 |
| 39 | люди́на | man, person, human being | A1 |
| 40 | оди́н | one (1) | A1 |
| 41 | й | and (euphonic variant of і/та used after a vowel) | A1 |
| 42 | по | along, over, via; per, by (indicating distribution) | A2 |
| 43 | і́нший | other, another, the other | A2 |
| 44 | пі́сля | after | A2 |
| 45 | президе́нт | president | A2 |
| 46 | нови́й | new | A1 |
| 47 | пе́рший | first | A1 |
| 48 | краї́на | country, land | A1 |
| 49 | сказа́ти | to say, to tell | A1 |
| 50 | так | so, thus | A1 |
| 51 | ще | yet, more | A1 |
| 52 | вже | already | A1 |
| 53 | ста́ти | to become | A1 |
| 54 | осо́ба | person, human being, personage | A2 |
| 55 | че́рез | across, over | A1 |
| 56 | о́бласть | province, region, territory | A1 |
| 57 | заяви́ти | to state, to declare, to announce | C1 |
| 58 | або́ | or | A1 |
| 59 | щоб | so that, in order that; in order to | A2 |
| 60 | голова́ | head | A1 |
| 61 | наш | our, ours | A1 |
| 62 | два | two (2) | A1 |
| 63 | мі́сто | city | A1 |
| 64 | повідо́мити | to inform, to notify, to advise | B1 |
| 65 | сло́во | a word | A1 |
| 66 | день | day | A1 |
| 67 | ра́да | council | B2 |
| 68 | спра́ва | affair, business, matter | A2 |
| 69 | ж | stresses the topic; is, really, right | B1 |
| 70 | держа́вний | state | A2 |
| 71 | коли́ | when | A1 |
| 72 | при | at, by, near | B1 |
| 73 | мі́сце | place, spot | A1 |
| 74 | робо́та | work | A1 |
| 75 | повідомля́ти | to inform, to notify, to advise | B1 |
| 76 | ви | you | A1 |
| 77 | себе́ | myself | A2 |
| 78 | якщо́ | if, in case | A1 |
| 79 | пита́ння | question | A1 |
| 80 | вели́кий | big, large | A1 |
| 81 | що́до | concerning, as regards, regarding | B1 |
| 82 | рі́шення | decision | B1 |
| 83 | де | where | A1 |
| 84 | суд | court | B1 |
| 85 | ті́льки | only, but | A1 |
| 86 | компа́нія | company, firm | A1 |
| 87 | тому́ | therefore, because of that, consequently | A1 |
| 88 | рок | rock music | A2 |
| 89 | чи | or | A1 |
| 90 | райо́н | district | A1 |
| 91 | вла́да | political dominion, political power, right to rule | B1 |
| 92 | зі | from, out of, with (variant of з used before consonant clusters) | A1 |
| 93 | націона́льний | national | A1 |
| 94 | рані́ше | earlier | A2 |
| 95 | отри́мати | to receive | A1 |
| 96 | лише́ | only, merely, just | A2 |
| 97 | нагада́ти | to remind | B1 |
| 98 | її́ | her, its | A1 |
| 99 | міні́стр | minister | B1 |
| 100 | части́на | part | A1 |
How to use this list
- Learn the stress with the word. Ukrainian stress is free and moves, and the wrong stress can change the word. Every word page marks it.
- Learn function words in phrases, not alone: в means little until it is "в Києві", in Kyiv.
- Put them in spaced repetition: the First 100 Anki deck has every word here, or start Learn Ukrainian, whose first lessons teach exactly these.
- When this list feels easy, move to the A1 list, then A2.
The ranks come from the open frequency study; the meanings and levels are explained on About the data.