Lesson 23: Ukrainian currency. Shopping. Clothes.

Привіт-привіт, my dear students!

Welcome to the 23rd lesson of the course “From Absolute Beginner to a Confident Speaker”. We will learn with you today the Ukrainian currency and Shopping Vocabulary in Ukrainian language. Let`s get it started!

My dear students, we learned with you new information about the Ukrainian currency. Let`s revise it here again. 

Hryvnia (укр. “Гривня”) is a monetary unit and official currency of Ukraine. It was proclaimed 22 years ago by President Leonid Kuchma. Hryvnia hundredth part is kopiyka. The hryvnia sign (₴) is a cursive Ukrainian Cyrillic letter “Г”, or a mirrored letter S, symbolizing stability with a double horizontal stroke. Hryvnia is abbreviated “грн” (hrn) in Ukrainian. The name of Ukrainian currency dates back to Kyivan Rus times (12th century). The old Slavic word “griva” meant “mane” and was used to indicate neck jewelry.

1 hryvnia

Obverse: Volodymyr I of Kyiv, Prince of Novgorod, grand prince of Kyiv, and ruler of Kyivan Rus’ from 980 to 1015.

Reverse: Volodymyr’s Fortress Wall (Kyiv)

2 hryvni

Obverse: Yaroslav the Wise, thrice grand prince of Veliky Novgorod and Kyiv, uniting the two principalities for a time under his rule.

Reverse: Saint Sofia’s Cathedral (Kyiv)

5 hryven’

Obverse: Bohdan Khmelnytskyi, Ukrainian Hetman of the Zaporozhian Host of the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (now part of Ukraine).

Reverse: Subotiv Church

10 hryven’

Obverse: Ivan Mazepa, Ukrainian Hetman. It is claimed that he was awarded the title of Prince of the Holy Roman Empire in 1707 for his efforts for the Holy League.

Reverse: The Kyiv Pechersk Lavra Panorama

20 hryven’

Obverse: Ivan Franko, Ukrainian poet, writer, social and literary critic, journalist, interpreter, economist, political activist, doctor of philosophy, ethnographer, and the author of the first detective novels and modern poetry in the Ukrainian language.

Reverse: The Lviv Theatre of Opera and Ballet

50 hryven’

Obverse: Mikhailo Hrushevskyi, Ukrainian politician and historian. He was a pre-revolution Ukrainian national movement leader, head of the Central Rada (Ukraine’s 1917–1918 revolutionary parliament), and a leading cultural figure in the Ukrainian SSR in the 1920s.

Reverse: The Tsentralna Rada Building (Kyiv)

100 hryven’

Obverse: Taras Shevchenko, Ukrainian poet, writer, artist, public and political figure, as well as folklorist and ethnographer. His literary heritage is regarded to be the foundation of modern Ukrainian literature and, to a large extent, the modern Ukrainian language.

Reverse: Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv

200 hryven’

Obverse: Lesya Ukrainka, Ukrainian literature’s foremost writer, is best known for her poems and plays. She also was an active political, civil, and feminist activist.

Reverse: Tower of Lutsk Castle

500 hryven’

Obverse: Hryhorii Skovoroda, a Ukrainian philosopher of Cossack origin, wrote primarily in the Sloboda Ukraine dialect of the Ukrainian language. He was also a poet, teacher, and composer of liturgical music. His significant influence on his contemporaries and succeeding generations and his way of life were universally regarded as Socratic, and he was often called a “Socrates.”

Reverse: Kyiv Mohyla Academy.

Also, we learned with you in this lesson the Shopping and Clothes Vocabulary. Please download the PDF file with useful vocabulary and learn it by heart.

Useful ‘Shopping’ vocabulary Lesson #23

You can listen to the pronunciation of the useful ‘Shopping’ vocabulary here:

Useful ‘Clothes’ vocabulary Lesson #23

You can listen to the pronunciation of the useful ‘Clothes’ vocabulary here:

The 23rd lesson is finished! Well done! We did a great job – learned the Ukrainian currency and Shopping Vocabulary in the Ukrainian language. Now it is time to do your homework – a quiz. Good luck!

Homework assignment:

1. Check out all learning materials.

2. Learn new vocabulary by heart. 

3. Do the quiz.