Кобзар
Тарас Шевченко · first published 1840
Foundational. Most of what modern Ukrainian sounds like comes through Shevchenko. Poetry, but accessible poetry.
Ukrainian · Українська
Read Ukrainian books with in-context translation.
Open Shevchenko, Zhadan or your own EPUB. Tap any word and get the meaning it has in that sentence - idioms and poetic language included - with a short note on why.
Кобзар · Заповіт
Як умру, то поховайте / Мене на могилі, / Серед степу широкого, / На Вкраїні милій, / Щоб лани широкополі, / І Дніпро, і кручі / Було видно, було чути, / Як реве ревучий. / Як понесе з України / У синєє море / Кров ворожу... отойді я / І лани і гори - / Все покину...
на могиліSave
on a burial mound
A steppe kurhan · not “in the grave”
SentenceWhy?Grammar
Why the original
Why read Ukrainian books in the original
Ukrainian is having its moment internationally. Modern writers like Andrukhovych, Zhadan and Kurkov are translated across Europe; the classic poets - Shevchenko, Lesya Ukrainka, Franko - sit at the foundation of the language.
For Russian speakers, Ukrainian is recognisable but different. Different vowels, different vocabulary in everyday life, different rhythm. For everyone else, it's a Slavic language with a Cyrillic alphabet that takes a few hours to learn and gives you access to one of Europe's most underread literatures.
A lot of important Ukrainian literature was suppressed for most of the 20th century. Reading it in the original is participating in the recovery.
Start here
Six Ukrainian books worth your time
Import any DRM-free EPUB of these, or start with a free classic from the app’s library.
Лісова пісня
Леся Українка · 1911
A play, but reads like a long poem. Folkloric, lyrical, distinctly Ukrainian. One of Lesya Ukrainka's most loved works.
Перверзія
Юрій Андрухович · 1996
Postmodern, full of jokes, set at a mock-academic conference in Venice. Andrukhovych writes a Ukrainian that's playful and modern.
Інтернат
Сергій Жадан · 2017
Set during the war in eastern Ukraine. Zhadan writes prose like a poet (which he is). Direct, urgent, hard to put down.
Польові дослідження з українського сексу
Оксана Забужко · 1996
A landmark of post-Soviet Ukrainian writing. Dense, literary, and one of the books people in Kyiv still argue about.
Чорний ворон
Василь Шкляр · 2009
Historical novel about the Ukrainian insurgency in the 1920s. The Ukrainian here has a lot of regional vocabulary, which is half the pleasure.
What a dictionary misses
Ukrainian you’ll meet in books - explained in place.
могилаburial mound
In Shevchenko it’s the high kurhan on the steppe, which is why the Dnipro can be seen from it.
пекти раківto blush
Literally “to bake crayfish” - going red like a cooked crayfish.
накивати п’ятамиto take to one’s heels
Literally “to wave with the heels” - to run away fast.
By level
How to read Ukrainian at your level.
A2
Short and familiar
Start with short modern prose and poems you may already know by heart. Tap freely, save only the words you meet twice.
B1
Read for the story
Zhadan’s Інтернат and Shkliar’s Чорний ворон pull you forward. Use “Why?” on slang and dialect words, skip what you can guess.
B2+
Go for the classics
Shevchenko’s Кобзар, Lesya Ukrainka, Andrukhovych, Zabuzhko. Ask for grammar on poetic forms and export your deck to Anki.
In the app
How LinguaRead works with Ukrainian
Drop in any Ukrainian EPUB. Tap a word for the meaning, the case (всі сім), the aspect, the regional context if there is one. Tap again to see why this form, what tense, how the word is being used.
Ukrainian has seven cases (one more than Russian) and rich verb morphology. Reading is the way you start to feel them as part of the language rather than memorise them as a table.
Ukrainian FAQ
Before you start.
I know Russian - is Ukrainian easy to read?
Easier, but look-alike words are the trap: “неділя” is Sunday, not a week, and “час” is time, not an hour. Tapping gives you the Ukrainian meaning, not the one you’d guess from Russian.
Do I need to learn the letters і, ї, є, ґ?
Yes, but it’s quick - they’re a handful of letters on top of the Cyrillic alphabet. After a few chapters they read automatically.
Does it handle the vocative and old poetic forms?
Yes. Tap a form like “Вкраїні” or a vocative in dialogue and the grammar note explains it and gives the standard form.
Can I import Ukrainian EPUBs from other stores?
Any DRM-free EPUB works - your own files or stores that sell without DRM. Books locked to another app’s DRM can’t be opened.
Your first Ukrainian book, tonight.
Free to try on iPhone and iPad.
