Thread: How does conjugation work in Ukrainian?

Hello, I am interested in learning at least a small amount of Ukrainian and I have already learned some basic words and phrases. I would also like to start making basic sentences, but I have no clue what the rules of conjugation are in Ukrainian. If someone could post the rules of conjugation (possibly for other learners too) I would appreciate it.

Вот первое, что нагуглилось в Яндексе: http://www.franklang.ru/315/

По-моему, хороший материал.

Do you know any Russian?

Verbs are divided into two types (let's keep it simple). The verb stem can often be predicted simple by looking at the infinitive. Very simply put, you remove the -ти suffix from the infinitive and then add the endings. But many many verbs are irregular and their stems have to be learnt:

Regular Type I verbs conjugate with the endings:

я STEM-ю - I
ти STEM-єш - You singular
він / вона / воно STEM-є - He/she/it
ми STEM-ємо - We
ви STEM-єте - You plural
вони STEM-ють - They

These endings are use for verbs whose stem ending in a consonant.

Most verbs that end in -ати are of this type, e.g.
знати - to know
[Stem = зна- ]

я знаю - I know
ти знаєш - you (sig.) know
він / вона / воно знає - he / she / it knows
ми знаємо - we know
ви знаєте - you (plu.) know
вони знають - they know

Other regular verbs of this type that have the same endings:
мати - to have [я маю, ти маєш, він має, ми маємо, ви маєте, вони мають]
читати - to read [я читаю, ти читаєш, він читає, ми читаємо, ви читаєте, вони читають]
думати - to think [я думаю, ти думаєш, він думає, ми думаємо, ви думаєте, вони думають]
вивчати - to study / learn [я вивчаю, ти вивчаєш, він вивчає, ми вивчаємо, ви вивчаєте, вони вивчають]

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жити is Type I but it have an irregular stem (жив-).
Type I endings for consonant stems are:

я STEM-у
ти STEM-еш
він STEM-е
ми STEM-емо
ви STEM-ете
вони STEM-уть

e.g.

жити (stem = жив-) - to live

я живу - I live
ти живеш - you (sig.) live
він живе - he lives
ми живемо - we live
ви живете - you (plural) live
вони живуть - they live

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There is a large group of verbs that has the infinitive ending -нути
These belong to the Type I group with a consonant stem.
For example повернути - to return (something)
я поверну
ти повернеш
він поверне
ми повернемо
ви повернете
вони повернуть

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Refexlive verbs describe when the thing or person doing the action is doing it to themselves, as opposed to something or something else.

The verb вернути means "to return" something. Like "I am returning a book to the library."

If you want to say "I am returning home", i.e. "returning yourself", you have to use the reflexive form.

Reflexive verbs of all type end in -ся. The -ся suffix is simply added to the end of the verb in all forms:

e.g. вернутися - to return (reflexive)
я вернуся
ти вернешся
він вернеться *
ми вернемося
ви вернетеся
вони вернуться

* the third person singular form inserts -ть- between the verb ending and the ся suffix.

Я верну книжку Іванові. - I am returning the book to Ivan.
Я вернуся додому. - I am returning home.

залишатися - to remain / leave (behind)

Іван залишає свою книжку тут. - Ivan is leaving his book here.
Одна книжка залишається. - One book is remaining.

Thank you both very much! Unfortunately I don't know enough Russian to get a lot out of the first link, but I am sure it will help someone who does because like you said, it is good material and it is pretty comprehensive.

I do know the basics of Russian an I am relieved to see that Ukrainian conjugation system is so similar to that of Russian. I am also relieved to see how similar a lot of the words are to the Russian ones I already know. Thank you TATY for posting that! Hopefully I will be able to make at least some sense when I try to make sentences now.

By the way, would it make sense to say дуже дякую in Ukrainian?

Originally Posted by Comedy_Watcher

Thank you both very much! Unfortunately I don't know enough Russian to get a lot out of the first link, but I am sure it will help someone who does because like you said, it is good material and it is pretty comprehensive.

I do know the basics of Russian an I am relieved to see that Ukrainian conjugation system is so similar to that of Russian. I am also relieved to see how similar a lot of the words are to the Russian ones I already know. Thank you TATY for posting that! Hopefully I will be able to make at least some sense when I try to make sentences now.

By the way, would it make sense to say дуже дякую in Ukrainian?

Так,

Дуже дякую = Thank you very much.

Type II Verbs:

These most commonly end in -ити in the infinitive:

The endings are:

(я) -ю
(ти) -иш
(він) -ить
(ми) -имо
(ви) -ите
(вони) -ять

The stem of Type II verbs is generally Infinitive - ити:

говорити - to speak

я говорю
ти говориш
він говорить
ми говоримо
ви говорите
вони говорять

Дуже дякую! Зараз я говорю трохи по укаїнскі.

Originally Posted by Comedy_Watcher

Дуже дякую! Зараз я говорю трохи українською.

Originally Posted by Comedy_Watcher

Дуже дякую! Зараз я говорю трохи по укаїнскі.

по-українськи exists but when talking about the language you say:
українською (мовою) [the instrumental case] - in Ukrainian.

Other languages:
російською мовою - in Russian
англійською мовою - in English
німецькою мовою - in German
французькою мовою - in French
польською мовою - in Polish

Чи ви говорите українською мовою?
Do you speak Ukrainian?

Notice that the famous Slavic ending -ski in Ukrainian is -ський (with a soft sign after the s)

Thank you for the corrections. So that means Ukrainian and Polish actually resemble each other in how their languages are talked about (in Polish, i changes to a u at the end of a language such as "polski" when you say "I speak, he speaks, she speaks, etc. Polish"). Also, the Polish word used for "to speak" is "m

[quote=Comedy_Watcher]Thank you for the corrections. So that means Ukrainian and Polish actually resemble each other in how their languages are talked about (in Polish, i changes to a u at the end of a language such as "polski" when you say "I speak, he speaks, she speaks, etc. Polish"). Also, the Polish word used for "to speak" is "m