олі́я
olíjafeminine
The English phrase oil is translated into Ukrainian as олі́я (olíja) or ма́сло.
Meaning: liquid fat (noun)
Ways to say it
| Ukrainian | Romanization (Wiktionary) | Note |
|---|---|---|
| олі́я | olíja | feminine |
| ма́сло | máslo | neuter |
The term олі́я refers specifically to liquid fat. In a grocery context, for example, sunflower oil is most commonly referred to as соняшникова олі́я.
Which one should you use?
While олі́я specifically refers to liquid oil, ма́сло is the more common word for butter and is often used more broadly in culinary contexts.
How does it change in a sentence?
When requesting oil (for example, 'I want oil'), the feminine noun олі́я changes its ending to олі́ю in the accusative case. The neuter noun ма́сло changes to ма́сла in the genitive case, such as when saying 'a bottle of oil'.
How do you pronounce it?
The romanization is olíja.
Did you know?
- While олі́я is used for cooking, the word for industrial or motor oil is на́фта or ма́стило, and using олі́я in a garage would sound like you are trying to fry the engine.
- The word ма́сло shares a root with the word ма́зати, meaning 'to smear' or 'to spread', reflecting how butter is used.
- There is a common Ukrainian saying ма́сло ма́сляним, which describes a tautology or saying the same thing twice, similar to saying 'it is what it is'.
Example sentences for Ukrainian are not verified yet.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “oil” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
