Ukrainian verbs carry a heavy grammatical load. A single conjugated form can tell you who is acting (person and number), when (tense), whether the action is viewed as complete or ongoing (aspect), and, in the past tense, the gender of the subject. This density of information is typical of Slavic verbs generally, but Ukrainian has its own particular paradigms and a past-tense system that differs structurally from Russian. If you already know Russian, most of the conceptual machinery will be familiar. The endings, however, are different, and the past tense behaves slightly differently.
Every Ukrainian verb belongs to one of two conjugation classes, traditionally called the first conjugation (I) and the second conjugation (II), named for the thematic vowel that appears in the conjugated forms. Every Ukrainian verb also has an aspect - either imperfective (imperfective - ongoing, repeated, or general action) or perfective (perfective - a single completed event). Most verbs come in aspectual pairs, with the two members of the pair formed from the same root but differing in prefix, suffix, or stem.
This reference covers the two conjugations with complete present-tense tables, the aspect distinction with examples, the formation of past and future tenses, the imperative mood, and the participial/adverbial forms. Throughout, we note where Ukrainian diverges from Russian and flag the mistakes that Russian speakers tend to make when pivoting.
Ukrainian Conjugation Classes
Ukrainian verbs are divided into two conjugation classes based on the thematic vowel that appears in the endings.
First conjugation (-е-): verbs whose endings contain the thematic vowel -е- (or -є- after vowels). Example: читати (chytaty, to read).
Second conjugation (-и-): verbs whose endings contain the thematic vowel -и- (or -ї- after vowels). Example: говорити (hovoryty, to speak).
Table 1: First conjugation - читати (to read, imperfective)
| Person | Ukrainian | Transliteration | Translation |
|---|---|---|---|
| я | читаю | chytaiu | I read |
| ти | читаєш | chytaiesh | you (sg.) read |
| він/вона/воно | читає | chytaie | he/she/it reads |
| ми | читаємо | chytaiemo | we read |
| ви | читаєте | chytaiete | you (pl./polite) read |
| вони | читають | chytaiut | they read |
Table 2: Second conjugation - говорити (to speak, imperfective)
| Person | Ukrainian | Transliteration | Translation |
|---|---|---|---|
| я | говорю | hovoriu | I speak |
| ти | говориш | hovorysh | you (sg.) speak |
| він/вона/воно | говорить | hovoryt | he/she/it speaks |
| ми | говоримо | hovorymo | we speak |
| ви | говорите | hovoryte | you (pl./polite) speak |
| вони | говорять | hovoriat | they speak |
Note the distinguishing pattern: first conjugation has -єш/-єте in the 2nd person; second conjugation has -иш/-ите. First conjugation has -ють/-ять in 3pl; second conjugation has -ять after soft consonants, -ать after hard.
Aspect: Perfective vs Imperfective
Every Ukrainian verb is either perfective or imperfective. Aspect is not tense; it is a separate dimension of meaning that tells you how the action is viewed.
Imperfective describes:
- An ongoing action (right now, at the time)
- A repeated or habitual action
- A general, unspecified action
- A process without implied completion
Perfective describes:
- A single, completed, bounded event
- The result of an action
- A one-time future action (where imperfective would express ongoing/repeated future)
Table 3: Common aspect pairs
| Imperfective | Perfective | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| читати | прочитати | to read |
| писати | написати | to write |
| робити | зробити | to do |
| говорити | сказати | to say/speak |
| брати | взяти | to take |
| давати | дати | to give |
| купувати | купити | to buy |
| ходити | піти | to go (on foot) |
| приходити | прийти | to arrive |
| відкривати | відкрити | to open |
Most pairs are formed in one of three ways: adding a prefix (читати > прочитати), adding a suffix (давати > дати, where the imperfective is derived by suffix from the perfective), or using a different root (говорити / сказати).
Examples in context:
- Я читаю книгу. (Ya chytaiu knyhu.) = I am reading a book. [Imperfective, ongoing]
- Я прочитав книгу. (Ya prochytav knyhu.) = I read the book (all of it; finished). [Perfective, completed]
- Щодня я читаю годину. (Shchodnia ya chytaiu hodynu.) = Every day I read for an hour. [Imperfective, habitual]
- Вчора я прочитав статтю. (Vchora ya prochytav stattiu.) = Yesterday I read the article. [Perfective, single event]
Past Tense: Gender Agreement
Here Ukrainian diverges from the more familiar European pattern. Ukrainian past tense is not a conjugated form; it is historically a past active participle that agrees with the subject in gender (singular) and number. The endings are: -в / -ла / -ло for masculine/feminine/neuter singular, and -ли for plural.
Table 4: Past tense of читати (to read, imperfective)
| Subject gender/number | Ukrainian | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| Masculine singular | читав | (he / I-male / you-male-sg.) was reading |
| Feminine singular | читала | (she / I-female / you-female-sg.) was reading |
| Neuter singular | читало | (it) was reading |
| All plural | читали | (we / you-pl. / they) were reading |
Table 5: Past tense of писати (to write, imperfective)
| Subject | Ukrainian | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| Masc. sg. | писав | was writing |
| Fem. sg. | писала | was writing |
| Neut. sg. | писало | was writing |
| Plural | писали | were writing |
There is no person marking in the past tense. "I wrote" and "he wrote" are both писав if the speaker/referent is masculine. Context or an explicit pronoun disambiguates. Ukrainian lost person agreement in the past tense long ago; it agrees only in gender (singular) and number.
Examples:
- Я читав книгу. (Ya chytav knyhu.) = I (male) was reading a book.
- Я читала книгу. (Ya chytala knyhu.) = I (female) was reading a book.
- Марія купила хліб. (Mariia kupyla khlib.) = Mariya bought bread.
- Діти гралися. (Dity hralysia.) = The children were playing.
Future Tense: Two Formations
Ukrainian has two ways to form the future, depending on aspect.
Perfective future is a simple conjugated form that looks exactly like a present-tense form but refers to the future because the verb is perfective. Прочитаю = "I will read (to completion)."
Imperfective future has two forms: a compound form with бути (to be) plus the infinitive (буду читати = I will be reading) and a synthetic form that is uniquely Ukrainian and fuses the infinitive with endings derived from the old verb "to have/take": читатиму, читатимеш, читатиме, читатимемо, читатимете, читатимуть.
Table 6: Future tenses of читати (imperfective) and прочитати (perfective)
| Person | Imperfective compound | Imperfective synthetic | Perfective |
|---|---|---|---|
| я | буду читати | читатиму | прочитаю |
| ти | будеш читати | читатимеш | прочитаєш |
| він/вона/воно | буде читати | читатиме | прочитає |
| ми | будемо читати | читатимемо | прочитаємо |
| ви | будете читати | читатимете | прочитаєте |
| вони | будуть читати | читатимуть | прочитають |
The synthetic future (читатиму) is a distinctively Ukrainian feature and does not exist in Russian. Russian has only the compound form (буду читать). Using the synthetic future flags your Ukrainian as authentic rather than Russified.
Imperative Mood
The imperative is formed from the present-tense stem plus the endings: -и / -й (2sg.), -імо / -ймо (1pl.), -іть / -йте (2pl./polite). The -й- variants appear after vowel stems.
Table 7: Imperative of common verbs
| Verb | 2sg. | 1pl. (let's) | 2pl./polite |
|---|---|---|---|
| читати (read) | читай | читаймо | читайте |
| писати (write) | пиши | пишімо | пишіть |
| говорити (speak) | говори | говорімо | говоріть |
| робити (do) | роби | робімо | робіть |
| їсти (eat) | їж | їжмо | їжте |
Examples:
- Читай цю книгу! (Chytai tsiu knyhu!) = Read this book!
- Говорімо українською! (Hovorimo ukrainskoiu!) = Let's speak Ukrainian!
- Будь ласка, пишіть чіткіше. (Bud laska, pyshit chitkishe.) = Please write more clearly.
Reflexive Verbs
Reflexive verbs end in -ся or -сь. Ukrainian usually uses -ся with -шся / -ться elsewhere; the -сь form is a poetic or rare variant. Reflexives cover many functions: true reflexives (вмиватися = to wash oneself), reciprocals (зустрічатися = to meet each other), middle voice (народжуватися = to be born), and emotional states (радіти is non-reflexive for "to be glad," but багато verbs of emotion are).
Examples:
- Я вмиваюся вранці. (Ya vmyvaiusia vrantsi.) = I wash (myself) in the morning.
- Ми зустрічаємося о шостій. (My zustrichaiemosia o shostiy.) = We meet at six o'clock.
- Вона вчиться в університеті. (Vona vchytsia v universyteti.) = She studies at the university.
Participles and Gerunds
Ukrainian has active and passive participles, though they are used less frequently in speech than in Russian.
Active participle: читаючий (one who is reading). Formed from the 3rd person plural stem plus -чий.
Passive participle: прочитаний (read, having been read). Formed from the past-tense stem plus -ний, -тий, or -єний.
Adverbial participle (gerund) imperfective: читаючи (while reading).
Adverbial participle perfective: прочитавши (having read).
Examples:
- Читаючи газету, я почув новину. (Chytaiuchy hazetu, ya pochuv novynu.) = While reading the newspaper, I heard the news.
- Прочитавши книгу, він заснув. (Prochytavshy knyhu, vin zasnuv.) = Having read the book, he fell asleep.
Common Mistakes (especially for Russian speakers learning Ukrainian)
1. Using Russian-style 3rd-person singular -т. Ukrainian first-conjugation 3sg. ends in -є (читає), not -ет (читает). Second-conjugation 3sg. ends in -ить (говорить), not -ит.
2. Copying Russian compound future only. Russian has only буду читать. Ukrainian has both буду читати and читатиму. The synthetic form is distinctively Ukrainian; using it flags authentic usage.
3. Adding person endings in the past tense. The past tense in Ukrainian has no person marking. "I read" = я читав / читала; "he read" = він читав. Do not add -л- plus person endings.
4. Using infinitives ending in -ть. Russian infinitives end in -ть (читать). Ukrainian infinitives end in -ти (читати). Also -тися for reflexives.
5. Wrong aspect choice. Russian и Ukrainian aspect systems overlap closely, but aspect pairs are not always the same word. Ukrainian казати / сказати corresponds to Russian говорить / сказать, not Russian казать.
6. Using Russian imperative endings. Russian imperative 2pl. is -те (читайте) - same in Ukrainian, but Russian 2sg. is often -й or -и (читай, пиши), while Ukrainian systematically uses -и / -й with slight differences in palatalization.
7. Using unreflexive forms where reflexive is required. Ukrainian вчитися (to study) is reflexive; Russian учиться is also reflexive. But Ukrainian has specific reflexive verbs that differ from Russian: сміятися (to laugh), not unreflexive.
8. Forgetting vowel alternations in conjugation. Some Ukrainian verbs alternate stem vowels across forms: ходити 3sg. ходить (no change), but брати 1sg. беру. Each irregular pattern must be memorized.
9. Confusing є with е in endings. First-conjugation endings contain є after a vowel stem (читає), not е. Russian would use ет or ёт.
10. Misplacing the stress in the past tense. Ukrainian past-tense stress generally falls on the same syllable as the infinitive, but feminine forms sometimes shift: читав / читала (stress on -a- in feminine for some verbs, on the root in others).
Quick Reference
Table 8: Verb system at a glance
| Category | Feature | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Conjugations | I (-е-) and II (-и-) | читати vs говорити |
| Aspects | Imperfective, Perfective | читати vs прочитати |
| Tenses | Past, Present, Future | читав, читаю, буду читати / читатиму |
| Moods | Indicative, Imperative, Conditional | читай, читав би |
| Past tense agreement | Gender + Number (no person) | читав / читала / читало / читали |
| Future (impf.) | Compound OR synthetic | буду читати / читатиму |
| Future (pf.) | Simple (looks like present) | прочитаю |
Table 9: Aspect quick rules
| Context | Use which aspect? |
|---|---|
| Right now, ongoing | Imperfective |
| Every day, habit | Imperfective |
| Completed once | Perfective |
| Will do (once, complete) | Perfective future |
| Will be doing (ongoing) | Imperfective future |
| Infinitive after modals (хочу) | Usually imperfective |
FAQ
How many conjugations does Ukrainian have?
Two: first conjugation (thematic -е-) and second conjugation (thematic -и-). Every verb is assigned to one of these classes, determined by the thematic vowel that appears in the present-tense endings.
What is the difference between the compound and synthetic future?
Both express imperfective future. Буду читати is the compound form, structurally parallel to English "will be reading." Читатиму is the synthetic form, unique to Ukrainian, formed by fusing the infinitive with endings derived from an old verb meaning "to have." Both are grammatically correct; the synthetic form is stylistically Ukrainian and is not available in Russian.
Why does the past tense not mark person?
Historically, the Ukrainian past tense is not a conjugated verb form but a past active participle (l-participle) that agreed with the subject in gender and number. Ukrainian (and Russian) lost the auxiliary бути that originally conjugated for person. The participle remains, agreeing in gender and number only.
How do I know which verb in an aspect pair is which?
Generally, the perfective has a prefix (prefix + imperfective root) or a short suffix: читати > прочитати, писати > написати, давати > дати, купувати > купити. If in doubt, consult a dictionary, which lists pairs together.
Are there verbs that are only perfective or only imperfective?
Yes. Some verbs are aspectually unpaired: бути (to be) is imperfective only; опинитися (to end up somewhere) is perfective only. These are called одновидові (single-aspect) verbs. Some verbs are bi-aspectual: атакувати (to attack) can be either.
Do all verbs have gerunds/participles?
Active participles and adverbial participles can be formed for most verbs, but their usage is relatively formal or literary. In conversational Ukrainian, clauses are preferred: "I read and then fell asleep" rather than "having read, I fell asleep."
Is Ukrainian verb aspect the same as Russian?
Conceptually yes, and most pairs align. But individual verbs may have different aspect partners, different prefix choices, or different stem alternations. Do not assume a Russian pair maps directly to Ukrainian. Example: Russian говорить / сказать = Ukrainian казати / сказати (with different imperfective root).
See Also
- Ukrainian Alphabet: Differences from Russian
- Ukrainian Seven Cases Declension Reference
- Ukrainian Verbs of Motion
- Ukrainian Pronouns Reference
- Russian Verb Aspects Explained
- Russian Verb Aspects Guide
- Verb Tense Systems Compared Across Languages
- Grammatical Cases Comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
How many conjugations does Ukrainian have?
Two: first conjugation (thematic -е-) and second conjugation (thematic -и-). Every verb is assigned to one of these classes, determined by the thematic vowel in the present-tense endings.
What is the difference between the compound and synthetic future?
Both express imperfective future. Буду читати is the compound form, parallel to English 'will be reading.' Читатиму is the synthetic form, unique to Ukrainian, formed by fusing the infinitive with endings. Both are correct; the synthetic form is distinctively Ukrainian.
Why does the Ukrainian past tense not mark person?
Historically, the past tense is a past active participle (l-participle) that agreed with the subject in gender and number. Ukrainian lost the auxiliary that conjugated for person; the participle remains, agreeing in gender and number only.
How do I know which verb in an aspect pair is which?
Generally, the perfective has a prefix or a short suffix: читати > прочитати, писати > написати, купувати > купити. If in doubt, consult a dictionary, which lists pairs together.
Are there verbs that are only perfective or only imperfective?
Yes. Some verbs are unpaired: бути (to be) is imperfective only; опинитися (to end up) is perfective only. These are called одновидові (single-aspect) verbs. Some are bi-aspectual.
Is Ukrainian verb aspect the same as Russian?
Conceptually yes, and most pairs align. But individual verbs may have different aspect partners, different prefixes, or different stem alternations. Russian говорить/сказать = Ukrainian казати/сказати with different imperfective root.
Do all verbs have gerunds and participles?
Active participles and adverbial participles can be formed for most verbs, but their usage is relatively formal or literary. In conversational Ukrainian, clauses are preferred over participial phrases.
