Grammar Reference
Verbs
Verbs are parts of speech that denote:
- an action працювати “to work”
- a state of being бути “to be”
- an emotion любити “to love”
- possession мати “to have”
- a sense смакувати “to taste”
This action, in Ukrainian, could be viewed as a process or habitual action but, it could also denote the result. That is why most Ukrainian verbs come in pairs of imperfective and perfective forms, respectively: читати-прочитати, писати-написати, слухати-послухати.
Imperfective verbs are used to describe processes, ongoing events, and habitual actions or events and could be used in all three tenses: past, present, and future.
Perfective verbs are used to describe a single event in its entirety, stressing the result of a verbal action. These perfective verbs could be used only in the past or in the future.
All Ukrainian verbs agree with the subject of a sentence. In the sentence: Моя мама працює в лікарні. “My mother works in the hospital,” the verb працює “works” is in the present tense and it agrees in person and number with the subject of this sentence, which is моя мама “my mother=she.”
When deciding which verbal form to use in a sentence, in the present tense (imperfective) or future tense (perfective), the following personal pronouns need to be considered for grammatical agreement:
| Person | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| First | я | ми |
| Second | ти | ви |
| Third | він, вона, воно (=студент, сестра, кошеня, сім’я) | вони (=студенти, лікарі, професори) |
Verbs: Conjugations
Verbs: First Conjugation
The first conjugation: These are verbs that take the ending -уть/-ють in the third person plural present (imperfective) tense and future (perfective) tense (вони form) and have –e/є- as part of the ending in other forms (except the я “I” form, which is -у/ю): жити: живу-живеш-живуть, грати: граю-граєш-грають, займатися: займаюся-займаєшся-займаються.
First Conjugation of Verbs
| Personal Pronouns | Verb | Personal Pronouns | Verb |
|---|---|---|---|
| я | живу граю займаюся* | ми | живемо граємо займаємося |
| ти | живеш граєш займаєшся | ви | живете граєте займаєтеся |
| він вона воно | живе грає займається | вони | живуть грають займаються |
* In Ukrainian, verbs that end in -ся are considered intransitive verbs, or reflexive verbs. These verbs denote an action that is usually directed onto the “self” and no object is usually required. The patterns for the verbal endings are the same as for the non -ся verbs (add -ся after you decide which verbal ending is needed in a particular sentence).
Verbs: Second Conjugation
The second conjugation: These are verbs that take the ending –ать/ять in the third person plural present (imperfective) tense and future (perfective) tense (вони form) and have –и/ї- as part of the ending in other forms (except the я form, which is –у/–ю): бачити: бачу-бачиш-бачать, стояти: стою-стоїш-стоять.
Second Conjugation of Verbs
| Personal Pronouns | Verb | Personal Pronouns | Verb |
|---|---|---|---|
| я | бачу стою | ми | бачимо стоїмо |
| ти | бачиш стоїш | ви | бачите стоїте |
| він вона воно | бачить стоїть | вони | бачать стоять |
Verbs: Irregular
There are only a few irregular verbs in Ukrainian. They do not follow either the first or the second conjugational patterns in the present (imperfective) or future (perfective) tense. Ex: їсти, відповісти.
Irregular Verbs
| Personal Pronouns | Verb | Personal Pronouns | Verb |
|---|---|---|---|
| я | їм з’їм | ми | їмо з’їмо |
| ти | їси з’їси | ви | їсте з’їсте |
| він вона воно | їсть з’їсть | вони | їдять з’їдять |
Verbs: Tenses
In Ukrainian, there are three main verbal tenses: past, present, and future.
- Imperfective verbs may be used in all three tenses.
- Perfective verbs can only be used in the past or future tenses. This is due to their nature to express a completed action; a result. In the present tense, the action is still happening and is thus not complete.
| Past | Present | Future | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Imperfective | читав, читала, читали | читаю, читаєш, читає, читаємо, читаєте, читають | буду, будеш, буде, будемо, будeте, будуть + infinitive |
| Perfective | прочитав, прочитала, прочитали | No present tense form | *прочитаю, прочитаєш, прочитає, прочитаємо, прочитаєте, прочитають |
* For perfective verbs, the endings in the future tense are the same as for the present tense of imperfective verbs.
Verbs: Present Tense
The present tense describes actions which happen, or are happening, at the present time, or are repeated regularly.
Наша сестра часто танцює. “Our sister often dances.”
In the present tense, Ukrainian verbs agree in person and number with the subject of the sentence.
| First Conjugation | Second Conjugation | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| жити “to live” | святкувати “to celebrate” | любити “to love” | вчитися “to study” | |
| я ти він, вона, воно ми ви вони | живу живеш живе живемо живете живуть | святкую святкуєш святкує святкуємо святкуєте святкують | люблю любиш любить любимо любите люблять | вчуся вчишся вчиться вчимося вчитеся вчаться |
Verbs: Past Tense
The past tense describes actions which happened, or were happening, in the past, or were repeated regularly in the past.
Наша сестра часто танцювала. “Our sister often danced.”
На вихідних мій друг Маркіян прочитав дві книги. “My friend Markian read two books on the weekend.”
In the past tense, Ukrainian verbs agree in gender and number with the subject of the sentence. In order to form the past tense of verbs, take the infinitive or the base verbal form.
Ex: Читати “to read”
- 1. Remove the infinitival ending -ти: читати > чита-
- 2. Add the past tense suffixes and endings as follows:
- For masculine, add -в: (Тарас) чита-в, співа-в, люби-в
- (for some verbs, usually those with the stem ending in the consonant, the ending would be zero: нести > ніс)
- For feminine, add -ла: (Оксана) чита-л–а, співа-л–а, люби-л–а
- For neuter, add -ло: (кошеня) чита-л–о, співа-л–о, люби-л–о
- For plural, add -ли: (мої друзі) чита-л–и, співа-л–и, люби-л–и
Here are more examples of verbs in the past tense for both the imperfective and perfective forms, that are formed in exactly the same manner:
| слухати / послухати “to listen” | готувати / приготувати “to prepare” | співати / заспівати “to sing” | |
| він вона воно вони | слухав / послухав слухала / послухала слухало / послухало слухали / послухали | готував / приготував готувала / приготувала готувало / приготувало готували / приготували | співав / заспівав співала / заспівала співало / заспівало співали / заспівали |
| вчитися / навчитися “to learn” [how to do smth] | дивитися / подивитися “to watch” | залишатися / залишитися “to stay/remain” | |
| він вона воно вони | вчився / навчився* вчилася / навчилася вчилося / навчилося вчилися / навчилися | дивився / подивився дивилася / подивилася дивилося / подивилося дивилися / подивилися | залишався / залишився залишалася / залишилася залишалося / залишилося залишалися / залишилися |
* For the –ся verbs, the patterns for the verbal endings are the same as for the non –ся verbs. Simply add –ся after you decide which ending is needed in a particular sentence.
For the past tense, here are the steps to follow:
Ex: Вчитися “to study”
- 1. Take the infinitive: вчи-ти-ся
- 2. Cut –ти
- 3. Add the past tense suffixes and endings for: masculine, feminine, neuter, or plural
- 4. Last, add –ся
Ex: вчи-в-ся, вчи-ва-ся, вчи-ло-ся, вчи-ли-ся.
Verbs: Future Tense
The future tense describes actions which will happen or will be happening in the future.
With imperfective verbs, the future tense will denote future actions that will be happening or will be repeated regularly in the future. For example: На вихідних мій друг Маркіян буде читати дві книги. “Over the weekend, my friend Markian will be reading two books.” [=he will be involved in the process of reading these books].
With perfective verbs, the future tense will denote future actions that will be completed in the future. For example: На вихідних мій друг Маркіян прочитає дві книги “Over the weekend, my friend Markian will read two books” [=he will finish reading these books].
Verbs: Future Tense of Imperfective Verbs
The future tense from imperfective verbs is formed by combining the present tense form of the verb бути “to be” plus the infinitive, or the base form of a verb (Ex: читати, писати, ходити).
Ex: Я буду читати “I will be reading.” The verb бути “to be” in this compound future tense must agree with the subject of the sentence. Here, я “I” is the subject; therefore, the verb бути “to be” is in the first person singular (я “I”) form буду.
Future Tense of Imperfective Verbs
| Personal pronouns | бути “to be” in the present tense | infinitive | |
|---|---|---|---|
| я | буду | + | читати писати малювати грати ходити плавати співати |
| ти | будеш | ||
| він/вона/воно | буде | ||
| ми | будемо | ||
| ви | будете | ||
| вони | будуть |
На вихідних моя сім’я буде грати у футбол. “On the weekend my family will play football.”
У понеділок ми будемо писати листи на занятті. “On Monday we will be writing letters in class.”
У суботу мої батьки будуть дивитися українські фільми. “On Saturday my parents will be watching Ukrainian movies.”
Verbs: Future Tense of Perfective Verbs
The future tense from perfective verbs is formed in the same way as the present tense. Take the perfective form of the verb and apply proper endings, as illustrated in the table below. The verbal ending will have to agree with the subject of the sentence in person and in number.
Ex: Завтра ми напишемо тест “Tomorrow we will write a test,” the perfective verb напишемо “will write” agrees with the subject ми “we.”
Future Tense of Perfective Verbs
| Personal Pronouns | Verb | Personal Pronouns | Verb |
|---|---|---|---|
| я | видрукую піду поїду спакую спланую замовлю куплю | ми | видрукуємо підемо поїдемо спакуємо сплануємо замовимо купимо |
| ти | видрукуєш підеш поїдеш спакуєш сплануєш замовиш купиш | ви | видрукуєте підете поїдете спакуєте сплануєте замовите купите |
| він вона воно | видрукує піде поїде спакує спланує замовить купить | вони | видрукують підуть поїдуть спакують спланують замовлять куплять |
На вихідних моя сім’я поїде на море. “On the weekend my family will go to the seaside.”
У понеділок ми напишемо листи на занятті. “On Monday we will write letters in class.”
У суботу мої батьки спакують валізу і поїдуть в Україну. “On Saturday my parents will pack a suitcase and go to Ukraine.”
Verbs: Aspect
Most Ukrainian verbs come in pairs of imperfective and perfective forms, respectively: готувати-приготувати “to prepare,” писати-написати “to write,” купувати-купити “to buy,” планувати-спланувати “to plan,” дивитися-подивитися “to watch.”
Imperfective verbs are used to describe processes, ongoing events, and habitual actions or events. The imperfective aspect, or form, of a verb can be used in all three tenses: past, present and future).
Past actions:
Тарас завжди купував фрукти і овочі на базарі, бо вони там свіжіші. “Taras always bought fruits and vegetables at the market because they are fresher there.”
Present actions:
Він часто купує помідори і капусту в супермаркеті, бо він живе недалеко. “He often buys tomatoes and cabbage at the supermarket because he lives nearby.”
Future actions:
Щодня Тарас буде купувати картоплю і виноград в магазині, бо вони там дешевші. “Every day Taras will buy potatoes and grapes in the store because they are cheaper there.”
Perfective verbs are used to describe a single event in its entirety, stressing the result of a verbal action. The Perfective aspect, or form, of a verb can be used only to denote past or future actions.
Past actions:
Future actions:
When using aspectual forms, keep in mind that the meaning of each verb in an aspectual pair or aspectual group may differ in some instances.
imperfective бути “to be” vs. perfective стати “to become.”
Verbs of Motion
Ukrainian has a very interesting, but slightly complex, category of verbs: verbs of motion.
These are various forms of “to go.” There are many variants for how “to go by foot” (іти, ходити “to walk,” бігти, бігати “to run”) and how “to go by vehicle” (їхати, їздити “to go in a car,” летіти, літати “to fly, to go by plane”). Verbs of motion, unlike other verbs, are divided into the so-called uni- or multidirectional subsets.
Unidirectional verbs are used in very restricted contexts and therefore, are used less often than the multidirectional verbs:
- mostly to indicate one trip in one direction in progress at the time of speech (in the past, present or future tense). Here, we focus on the present tense, as in the following phone conversation:
- Алло, привіт, Оксано! Ти де?
- Я зараз іду в університет. А ти?
- А я зараз їду автобусом на базар.
- Hello, Oksana! Where are you?
- I am going to the university now. And you?
- I am going to the market by bus now.
Multidirectional verbs are used much more frequently for:
- a single round trip:
Вчора ми ходили в театр. “Yesterday we went to the theater.” - repeated round trips, also, repeated “attendance”:
Нам подобається ходити в театр. “We like to go to the theater.”
Mи завжди ходимо в оперу. “We always go to opera.”
Моя сестра щодня ходить в спортзал. “My sister goes to the gym every day.” - a single trip in multiple directions or without an indication of a specific direction (walking, running around, etc.):
Щоранку я бігаю в парку. “I jog in the park every morning.” - to indicate movement itself:
Минулого тижня ми цілий день плавали в морі і бігали на пляжі. “Last week we were swimming in the sea and running on the beach the whole day.”
Verbs of Motion: Unidirectional Verbs (іти, їхати)
“Іти/йти” and їхати in the Present Tense
In the present tense, the unidirectional, imperfective verbs of motion іти, їхати are used to express constructions similar to: I am going/walking/driving/flying now to […]
Here, we focus on the present tense of these verbs. For example: Я зараз їду в гори, а мої друзі летять в Україну. “I am going (=on my way) to the mountains now, and my friends are now going (=on their way) to Ukraine.” Often, these verbs are used in phone conversations to express “I am on my way to”:
- Привіт, де ти?
- Я зараз іду в ресторан, а ти?
- А я іду в кіно.
- Hello, where are you?
- I am on my way to a restaurant now, and you?
- And I am going to the cinema.
Unidirectional Imperfective Verbs “іти/йти” (to go by foot) and “їхати” (to go by vehicle) in the Present Tense
| Personal Pronouns | Verb | Personal Pronouns | Verb |
|---|---|---|---|
| я | іду / йду* їду | ми | ідемо / йдемо їдемо |
| ти | ідеш / йдеш їдеш | ви | ідете / йдете їдете |
| він вона воно | іде / йде їде | вони | ідуть / йдуть їдуть |
* “іти” is spelt “йти” when following a vowel, e.g., Я йду в кіно. “I am going to the cinema.” Ти йдеш на концерт. “You are going to the concert.”
“Піти” and “поїхати” in the Past and Future Tenses
The unidirectional, perfective (result) verbs of motion іти “to go by foot,” їхати “to go by vehicle,” have perfective (result) variants. These are: піти “to go by foot,” поїхати “to go by vehicle.” Just like any other perfective verb, they are used for past or future completed actions.
Past actions
Наші друзі пішли в театр. “Our friends went to the theater (and they are not back/not home yet, or this is not the focus).”
Future actions:
Тарас і Остап підуть сьогодні на концерт української музики. “Taras and Ostap will go to the concert of Ukrainian music today.”
In the constructions denoting future actions, the focus is on “the happening of the trip”: “my friend will actually go to Kyiv” and “Taras and Ostap will actually go to the concert.” In these constructions, whether they will return or not is not the focus.
Unidirectional Perfective Verbs “піти” and “поїхати” in the Future Tense
| Personal Pronouns | Verb | Personal Pronouns | Verb |
|---|---|---|---|
| я | піду поїду | ми | підемо поїдемо |
| ти | підеш поїдеш | ви | підете поїдете |
| він вона воно | піде поїде | вони | підуть поїдуть |
Unidirectional Perfective Verbs “піти” (to go by foot) and “поїхати” (to go by vehicle) in the Past Tense
| Form | Example | |
|---|---|---|
| to go by foot | to go by vehicle | |
| Feminine | Вона пішла | Вона поїхала |
| Masculine | Він пішов | Він поїхав |
| Neuter | Воно пішло | Воно поїхало |
| Plural | Вони/ми/ви пішли | Вони/ми/ви поїхали |
Verbs of Motion: Multidirectional Verbs (ходити, їздити)
The multidirectional verbs of motion are used to denote:
- a single round trip
- repeated round trips
- walking or driving/riding with no specific direction
- to indicate movement itself
“Ходити” and “їздити” in the Present Tense
In the present tense, the multidirectional, imperfective verbs of motion ходити “to go by foot,” їздити “to go by vehicle,” which are also imperfectives, are used to express constructions similar to:
Щодня студенти їздять в університет. “Every day, students go (by transport) to the university.”
Multidirectional Verbs “ходити” and “їздити” (to go to and back) in the Present Tense
| Personal Pronouns | Verb | Personal Pronouns | Verb |
|---|---|---|---|
| я | ходжу їжджу | ми | ходимо їздимо |
| ти | ходиш їздиш | ви | ходите їздите |
| він вона воно | ходить їздить | вони | ходять їздять |
“Ходити” and “їздити” in the Future Tense
In the future tense, the multidirectional, imperfective verbs of motion ходити, їздити are used to express constructions similar to:
На вихідних туристи будуть їздити на концерти і на екскурсії. “On the weekend, tourists will be going to concerts and excursions.”
Multidirectional Imperfective Verbs “ходити” and “їздити” (to go to and back) in the Future Tense
| Personal pronouns | the form of бути “to be” in the present tense | Infinitive of the verb of motion | |
|---|---|---|---|
| я | буду | + | ходити їздити плавати літати |
| ти | будеш | ||
| він/вона/воно | буде | ||
| ми | будемо | ||
| ви | будете | ||
| вони | будуть |
“Ходити” and “їздити” in the Past Tense
In the past tense, the multidirectional, imperfective verbs of motion ходити, їздити are used to express constructions similar to:
Мої батьки раніше щодня їздили на роботу на метро. “My parents used to go to their work by subway every day.”
Multidirectional Imperfective Verbs “ходити” and “їздити” (to go to and back) in the Past Tense
| Form | Example | |
|---|---|---|
| to go by vehicle | to go by foot | |
| Feminine | Вона їздила | Вона ходила |
| Masculine | Він їздив | Він ходив |
| Neuter | Воно їздило | Воно ходило |
| Plural | Вони/ми/ви їздили | Вони/ми/ви ходили |