Subject: Verbs.  Perfective and Imperfective Verbs. Tenses of Verbs

Іn Ukrainian the future and past tenses (and also infinitives) have two aspects: imperfective and perfective. The present tense is not normally described in terms of aspects, although it is imperfective (i.e. an incomplete or ongoing action) by its very nature.

Aspects are used to show what kind of action is being described.

The system of verb tenses and aspects can be shown as follows, using the verb “to look” in English as an example:

Other parts of the verb, for example imperatives (commands), participles and gerunds, also reflect aspect, so it is important to be accurate in recognising and rendering the impefective and perfective forms of verbs. To practise this please try Exercise 11.1A.

Dictionaries normally list verbs in the infinitive.

Ukrainian dictionaries vary in their approach to presenting imperfective or perfective infinitives. Bilingual dictionaries tend to have separate entries for both aspectual forms, highlighting the specific uses of each aspect in context. Monolingual dictionaries tend to list the imperfective as the basic form and, if you look up the perfective, you are referred to the imperfective entry with the abbreviation див., short for дивись (see).

Finding or checking the correct form of the infinitive in the dictionary is important, as, once you know the form of the imperfective and perfective infinitive, most tenses and other forms can be predicted from these. Here is a simplified chart of how the system works:

The perfective of many verbs in Ukrainian is formed in a fairly straightforward way, by adding a prefix to the imperfective form. The most frequently used prefixes are з‑, по‑, на‑, про‑ and за‑, for example:

Others, used in a smaller number of cases, include ви-, с-, від- and при-:

Once you know what prefix is needed, you can use the verb in most of its forms. The following is given as an example:

To practise recognising aspects of verbs, go to Exercise 11.2A.

Verbs in Ukrainian become perfective through the use of a prefix. This does not apply to all verbs, however. A large number become perfective by means of internal change, that is, a change in their stem. These fall into two groups. This page concerns the first group, which has the endings -ати or -яти as part of their imperfective infinitive. These change to -ити in the perfective. Verbs of this type include:

You can see from the above examples that most verbs of this type already appear to have a prefix (e.g. по-, ви-, до- etc) in the imperfective. This is an integral part of such verbs and reflects the processes by which they developed in the past. For the purposes of acquiring reading skills this should simply be treated as part of their spelling. The aspect is identified, rather, by the vowels а/я or и preceding the infinitive ending -ти.

Once the imperfective and perfective infinitive forms have been identified, the tenses of this type of verb are formed according to the usual rules:

change of stress is also often involved in verbs of this type, but the issue of stress will only be addressed in these materials where it is of relevance to reading skills.

To practise recognising the tense and aspect of this type of verb go to Exercise 11.3A.

In the perfective infinitive these verbs end in -ити or -ати, which changes to -авати, -увати, -ювати or -ивати in the imperfective. Verbs of this type include:

* these verbs drop «ва» in the present tense (to revise see page 10.3, verb type 2).

As in the types of verb mentioned in previous pages of this unit, tenses of these verbs are formed from the imperfective and perfective infinitives in the usual way, for example:

To practise recognising the tense and aspect of this type of verb go to Exercise 11.4A.

For many verbs whose stem ends in a labial consonant (б, в, м, п and ф), the consonant л is present in the imperfective but is dropped in the perfective:

There is a significant number of verbs where the vowel of the stem ending changes to ну in the perfective infinitive:

For some verbs, the only marker of aspect in the infinitive is the change of stress.

For a small number of verbs, the imperfective and perfective infinitives appear completely different, probably owing to the way they developed in the past:

* applies also to compounds of -ймати e.g. займати–зайняти (occupy, take over), наймати–найняти (hire)

** applies also to compounds of -ходити e.g. переходити–перейти (cross, go over).

To practise the above go to Exercise 11.5A and Exercise 11.5B.

 

 

Subject:  Verbs. Tenses of Verbs. Present tense.

 

Introducing the present tense

As its name suggests, the present tense describes actions which happen, or are happening, at the present time, or are repeated regularly, for example:

It isn’t raining at the moment.
But I always carry an umbrella, just in case.
It often rains in this part of the world.

The present tense can also describe states and processes, for example:

I’m feeling very well at the moment.
The website is (in the process of) being updated.

In the present tense Ukrainian verbs have a different ending for each person: I, you (singular), he/she/it, we, you (plural), they. Giving the endings for each person in this order is known as conjugating the verb. You have met this principle before, when the future imperfective was being covered (page 4.7).

For example, the verb «жити» (to live) changes its endings (or is conjugated) as follows:

Compare these endings with the future tense of the verb «бути» (to be) on page 4.7.

As each person has a different ending, the subject of the verb may sometimes be omitted, providing this will not cause ambiguity. For example:

There is no need for «Я» in Natalia’s answer, as the ending -у on the verb makes it clear who the subject is. If you are reading a text and cannot find the subject, look at the verb ending to help you.

Form of the present tense

Verb endings in the present tense in Ukrainian are of two main types, and on this basis verbs are organised into two groups known as conjugations. The stem and endings of a verb will change according to the conjugation it belongs to. To give you an idea of this, examples of different types of verb are given below.

As you can see, the endings for the different conjugations and types of verbs have a lot in common, so should be easy to recognise when encountered in a text. The conjugations are covered in greater detail on pages 10.3 and 10.4. Before you go to these pages, try doing Exercise 10.2A.

The first conjugation

The formation of the present tense of first conjugation verbs is as follows.

Verb type 1

In this type the ending -ти is dropped from the infinitive to derive the stem.
For example, in the case of мати the stem is ма-:

A very small sub-group, including пити and бити, are conjugated as follows:
п'ю, п'єш, п'є, п'ємо, п'єте, п'ють.

Verb type 2

In this type the ending -вати is dropped from the infinitive to derive the stem.
For example, in the case of купувати the stem is купу-:

There are a number of exceptions where the syllable -ва is retained in the stem.
For example, забувати: забуваю, забуваєш, etc. Other examples include:
вбивати, розвивати, вживати, наливати, вмивати(ся), співати, бувати.

Verb type 3

In this type the ending -ути is dropped from the infinitive to derive the stem.
For example, in the case of гнути the stem is гн-:

Verb type 4

In this type the ending -ти is dropped from the infinitive and the stem changes.
For example, in the case of могти the stem changes to мож-:

If any of the above types of verb is used in the reflexive, ть must be added to
the third person singular ending. For example: «він грає», but «він грається».

The second conjugation

The formation of the present tense of the main types of second conjugation verbs is as follows.

Verb type 1

In this type the ending -ити is dropped from the infinitive to derive the stem.
For example, in the case of спішити the stem is спіш-:

Verb type 2

In this type the endings -ити or  -іти are dropped from the infinitive to derive the stem,
for all persons except the 1^st person singular (the “I” form), for which the stem changes.
For example, in the case of сидіти the stem is сид- (but сидж- for the 1^st person):

Verb type 3

In this type the ending -ити is dropped from the infinitive to derive the stem.
For example, in the case of говорити the stem is говор-:

Verb type 4

The stem of this type of verb ends in a labial consonant i.e. м, б, п, в, or ф.
In this type the endings -ити, -іти are dropped from the infinitive to derive the stem.
In addition, л is added to the stem in the 1^st person singular (я) and 3^rd person
plural (вони). For example, in the case of робити the stems are роб- / робл-:

Verb type 5

In this type the ending -їти is dropped from the infinitive to derive the stem.
For example, in the case of клеїти the stem is кле-:

Note the special form of the verb їсти in the present tense:
їм, їси, їсть, їмо, їсте, їдять.

Whilst the tables above cover the main verb types, they are not exhaustive. Moreover, no attempt has been made to explain the formation processes in depth, as this is not essential for identifying and understanding the present in reading texts. For information on the conjugation of individual words an orthographic dictionary should be consulted (see Further reading).

To practise recognising the present and other tenses go to Exercise 10.4A.

The present in summary

You will be aware by now that learning the present tense requires a little more time and effort than the other tenses. In order to understand the present when it occurs in texts, however, the endings need to be remembered. As can be seen from the chart below, they have much in common and are easy to learn.

To practise recognising verbs in the present go to Exercise 10.5A and Exercise 10.5B.

Tenses in Ukrainian

In Ukrainian there are three basic tenses: past, present and future.

 In this unit the focus is on the past tense, in its imperfective aspect, i.e. expressing:

• what was happening or used to happen
• any action which was not carried out or completed in a defined period of time
• an action which was happening at a given moment
• a repeated action
• a process
• a state in the past.

For those who have learned French, the use is roughly equivalent to the imparfait or imperfect tense.

Given below are examples of verbs in the past imperfective (in English translation), and also, for comparison, sentences where the action is completed:

A rule of thumb is that a verb in the imperfective is open-ended, and is not concluded.

Form of the past imperfective

In Ukrainian this tense is very easy to form, and there are very few exceptions. Here are a few examples of Ukrainian sentences in the past imperfective:

From the above it can be seen that the endings for past imperfective are:

• -в for masculine singular (agreeing with the subject Василь)
• -ла for feminine singular (agreeing with the subject адміністрація)
• -ло for neuter singular (agreeing with the subject місто)
• -ли for plural (agreeing with the subject ви).

This tense is formed on the basis of the infinitive (the dictionary form of the verb): e.g. думати – to think. The infinitive ending -ти is removed, and the above endings are added to the stem дума- :

 

Past imperfective continued

Points to note

1. There are several exceptions to the rule on formation of the past imperfective. Two of the most frequently used verbs are їсти (to eat) and іти (to go on foot). They have irregular stems to which the normal endings are added:

Other exceptions will not be covered at present

2. The verb "to be" follows the rule in the past tense:

3. In reflexive verbs the -ся/сь particle always stays at the end, so the past endings need to be inserted before this, as in дивитися  (to look, watch):

To practise the past imperfective go to Exercise 8.3A and Exercise 8.3B.

The past perfective

As already mentioned in this course, there are three basic tenses in Ukrainian. In addition, however, the past and future tenses have two aspects, perfective and imperfective (the present tense doesn’t have aspects, as it is imperfective by definition).

The past perfective expresses actions which:

• happened on one occasion and were completed
• were completed within a defined period.

For example: "Yesterday John visited his old school." "We finished reading the book." "I’ve been offered the job!"

In most cases, but not exclusively, the perfective is formed by adding a prefix (usually з-, про-, на-) to the imperfective form (of the infinitive, past and future). For example:

Some imperfective verbs, including verbs of motion, can also have prefixes. However, this topic will not be addressed at present.

Dictionaries usually list verbs in the imperfective infinitive, but normally also give the perfective (as a secondary form).

Once you know what the perfective infinitive is, forming the perfective past is the same as for the imperfective. For example:

As already mentioned, this is a simplified description of the perfective. More detailed rules will not be addressed at present.

To practise recognising aspects in the past, go to Exercise 8.4A and Exercise 8.4B.

 

Perfective future 1

In previous units, most verb tenses and aspects have been covered in detail, enabling you to understand ever more complex Ukrainian texts. Now that you can recognise the present, the time has come to cover the future perfective, whose forms are based closely on the present.

To revise the aspects and how they are used, go to pages 11.1 and 11.2. You can see from the chart on page 11.2 that the future perfective is formed from the perfective infinitive. Given below are some examples of verbs in the perfective future:

perfective formed by adding a prefix

perfective formed through internal change

From the above examples you can see in detail how the perfective future is formed from the perfective infinitive. The verb is then conjugated with the normal present tense endings:

N.B. Some infinitives are not obviously perfective, if you look at their form, but describe single completed actions. The above rules still apply and the future perfective is formed in the usual way, as in, for example:

* Conjugated like їсти (see page 10.4)

Practise forming the future perfective by doing Exercise 13.1A.

Perfective future 2

It should be obvious by now that the present and future perfective forms of verbs in Ukrainian have much in common. Some grammarians, in fact, categorise the two forms under one heading as “non-past”.

Because of the similarity of stems and endings, it is often easy to confuse the present and future perfective when reading a Ukrainian text. The following notes are intended to help learners avoid this confusion.

1. There are a number of frequently used verbs where the prefix is part of the meaning, and is not, therefore, a marker of the perfective. In this type of verb the perfective infinitive will be formed through internal change (see pages 11.3 and 11.4). It is worth taking the time to learn these. Examples of verbs of this type are:

Other frequently used verbs like this (with future perfectives in brackets) are: дозволити (дозволю), стати (стану), відбутися (відбудуся), захопитися (захоплюся), повідомити (повідомлю), почати (почну), пояснити (поясню), продовжити (продовжу), звертатися (звернуся), висловити (висловлю), зникати (зникну).

2. Be aware of those verbs where the only difference between the present and future perfective is the stress (which may not always be marked in a written text), for example:

* also other compounds of «знати»

3. Learn the exceptions:

* also other compounds of these verbs

4. If you cannot easily identify the tense of a verb in a sentence, look at the general context and for specific clues (usually adverbs) which will suggest either an ongoing action in the present or a one-off action in the future, as, for example:

To practise distinguishing between the present tense and the future perfective go to Exercise 13.2A and Exercise 13.2B.

 

 

The Present tense

The Ukrainian Present tense is formed by adding personal Present tense endings to the stem of the verb.

The stem of the verb in the Present tense often coincides with the stem of the infinitive form of the verb, which is the form of the verb without the suffix -ти: замовляти (to order) - “замовля-”, сідати (to sit down) - “сіда-”.

The stem of some verbs in the Present tense must be remembered: хотіти (to want) - “хоч-”, йти (to go) - “йд-”.

We distinguish two conjugation groups of verbs in the Present tense (we

shall indicate the verb’s conjugation group by using the figures (1) or (2) in brackets beside a verb).

The conjugation is the adding of certain endings to the verb to show the person, the number and the tense it refers to.

Here is a table of personal Present tense endings of verbs of the first conjugation group:         

 

Some more examples of the conjugation of verbs of the first conjugation group in the Present tense (the forms in brackets are those in the Imperative mood):

сідати (to sit down) - “сіда-” я сідаю         ми сідаємо (Сідаймо!)

ти сідаєш (Сідай!) ви сідаєте (Сідайте!) він сідає        вони сідають

вона сідає воно сідає

 

Note*

Verbs with the infinitive suffix -ва- lose it “дякувати” - “дяку-”:

йти (“to go”) - “йд-” я йду     ми йдемо (Ходімо!)

ти йдеш (Йди!) ви йдете (Йдіть!) він йде вони йдуть

вона йде воно йде

The use of the Present tense

The Present tense denotes an action which is:

1.    not completed and is going on now: Зараз я замовляю чай. (I am ordering tea now.)

2.    repetitive, habitual action in the present: Я завжди замовляю чай. (I always order tea.)

Thus, the Ukrainian Present tense corresponds to the English Present Indefinite and Present Continuous tenses.

Вправа 1

Put the verbs below into the person indicated in brackets, as shown in the example:

сідати (я, ти): я сідаю, ти сідаєш

1. замовляти (я, він, ми, вони), 2. сідати (ти, вона, ми, ви), 3. хотіти (я, він, ми, вони), 4. йти (ти, він, ми, вони)

Вправа 2

Fill in the blanks with the appropriate personal endings of the Present tense:

1. Ти куди йд...? 2. Що вона замовля...? 3. Що вона хоч...? 4. Куди я сіда...? 5. Куди ми йд...? 6. Що ви хоч...? 7. Що вони замовля...?

 Вправа 3

Put the words in brackets into the Genitive case:

1. Я не хочу (кава). 2. Ти не хочеш (чай). 3. Він не хоче (вода). 4. Ми не замовляємо (столик). 5. Ви не замовляєте (сік). 6. Вони не замовляють (горілка). 7. Вона не хоче (тістечко).

 Вправа 4

Make the following sentences negative, as shown in the example:

У Тараса є дівчина. У Тараса немає дівчини.

1. У Соломії є сестра. 2. У мами є подруга. 3. У тата є мама. 4. У Роксоляни є брат. 5. У Тараса є друг.

Вправа 5

Put the pronouns in brackets into the Genitive case, as shown in the example:

Я вдома. (Я) немає вдома. - Мене немає вдома.

1. Ти вдома. (Ти) немає вдома. 2. Він вдома. (Він) немає вдома. 3. Вона вдома. (Вона) немає вдома. 4. Ми вдома. (Ми) немає вдома. 5. Ви вдома. (Ви) немає вдома. 6. Вони вдома. (Вони) немає вдома.

Вправа 6

Put the pronouns in brackets into the Genitive case, as shown in the example:

Де мама? Мама в (я). Мама в мене.

1.   Де тато? Тато в (ти). 2. Де Роксоляна? Роксоляна в (вона). 3. Де Тарас? Тарас у (я). 4. Де її подруга? ЇЇ подруга в (ми). 5. Де ваш

знайомий? Наш знайомий у (вони). 6. Де їхній друг? Їхній друг у (ви). 7. Де твій знайомий? Мій знайомий у (він).

 Вправа 7

Put the pronouns in brackets into the Genitive case, as shown in the example:

Куди я йду? Я йду до (ти). Я йду до тебе.

1. Куди ти йдеш? Ти йдеш до (я)? 2. Куди він йде? Він йде до (вона).

1.  Куди вона йде? Вона йде до (він). 4. Куди ми йдемо? Ми йдемо до (ви). 5. Куди ви йдете? Ви йдете до (вони)? 6. Куди вони йдуть? Вони йдуть до (ми). 7. Куди я йду? Я йду до (вони).

Вправа 8

Put the pronouns in brackets into the Genitive case, as shown in the example:

Звідки я йду? Я йду від (він). Я йду від нього.

1. Звідки ти йдеш? Я йду від (вона). 2. Звідки він йде? Він йде від (я)?

3.  Звідки вона йде? Вона йде від (він). 4. Звідки ми йдемо? Ми йдемо від (вони). 5. Звідки ви йдете? Ви йдете від (ми)? 6. Звідки вони йдуть? Вони йдуть від (ти)?

Вправа 9

Answer the questions, putting the pronouns in brackets into the Genitive case:

У кого він? Він у (я). Він у мене.

1. У кого ти? Ти в (вона). 2. У кого я? Я у (він). 3. У кого він? Він у (ми). 4. У кого вона? Вона в (ви). 5. У кого ми? Ми у (вони). 6. У кого вони? Вони в (ми).

Вправа 10

Put the words in brackets into the appropriate form:

1.  Куди ви йдете? Ми (йти) до (кав’ярня).

2.  Звідки вони йдуть? Вони (йти) з (кав’ярня).

3.  Що ви замовляєте? Я (замовляти) тістечко.

4.  Де ви? Ми в (вони) вдома.

5.  Де вона? Вона в (ми).

6.  Де Тарас? Тарас у (вона).

7.  У нього є дівчина? Ні, в нього немає (дівчина).

8.  Вона вдома? Ні, (вона) немає вдома.

9.  Він замовляє чай? Ні, він не замовляє (чай).

 

The Present tense

The Present tense of verbs of the second conjugation group

The Present tense of verbs of the second conjugation is formed by adding personal Present tense endings to the stem of the verb.

The stem of verbs of the second conjugation is formed by leaving out the infinitive suffix “-ти” and dropping the preceding stem vowel: “робити” (to do) - “роб-”, мусити (must) - “муш-”.

Here is a table of personal Present tense endings

of verbs of the second conjugation group:

the verb’s stem ends in a consonant “мусити” (must) - “мус-”		the verb’s stem ends in a vowel “стояти” (“to stand”) - “сто-”
я муш-у	ми мус-имо	я сто-ю	ми сто-їмо
ти мус-иш	ви мус-ите	ти сто-їш	ви сто-їте
він мус-ить	вони мусять/-ать	Він сто-їть	вони сто-ять
вона мус-ить		вона сто-їть
воно мус-ить		воно сто-їть

 

Note 1

The stem of verbs of the second conjugation quite often undergoes sound changes in the 1^st person singular “я”: мусити (“мус-”) - я мушу.

Note 2

A number of verbs of the second conjugation have mixed endings, i.e., soft and hard endings in one verb, depending on the stem’s final consonant: я мушу - вони мусять.

Note 3

Verbs of the second conjugation whose stem ends in -б, -п, -в (роб-, люб-) get an intermediary -л before the personal endings in the 1^st person singular and the 3d person plural, moreover, it softens the personal endings into -ю and -ять respectively:

побити (to do) - роб-(и)-ти  любити (to love) - люб-(и)-ти

я роблю                               я люблю

ти робиш (Роби!)                 ти любиш (Люби!)

він, вона, воно робить         він/вона/воно любить

ми робимо (Робімо!)          ми любимо (Любімо!)

ви робите (Робіть!)             ви любите (Любіть!)

вони роблять                               вони люблять

Conjugation of the irregular verb *їсти (to eat) in

the Present tense: я їм ми їмо

ти їси                  ви їсте

він/вона/воно їсть вони їдять

Some more examples of the conjugation of verbs of the first conjugation in the present tense:

могти (can) - “ мож -” писати (to write) - “пиш-”

я можу            ми можемо я пишу       ми  пишемо (Пишімо!)

ти можеш        ви можете    ти пишеш (Пиши!) ви пишете (Пишіть!)

він/вона/воно може вони можуть  він/вона/воно пише вони пишуть

пити (to drink) - “п’-”          мати (to have) - “ма -”

я п’ю               ми п’ємо (Пиймо!)                  я маю   ми маємо

ти п’єш (Пий!)                    ви п’єте (Пийте!) ти маєш         ви маєте

він/вона/воно п’є                вони п’ють         він/вона/воно має   вони мають

The Date

1.  To say the date, the neuter ordinal in the Nominative case is used, while for the name of the month the Genitive case is used:

Котре сьогодні число? (What is the date today?). Сьогодні перше квітня, друге липня, шосте серпня... (Today is the first of April, the second of July, the sixth of August)

2.  To say on what date something happens, the neuter ordinal in the Genitive case (ending in -ого) is used, with the name of the month in the Genitive case too:

Коли/Котрого числа ти народився? (When/On what date were you born?)

-     Шостого травня. (On the 6^th of May.)

першого (другого, третього, четвертого, п’ятого, шостого, сьомого, восьмого, дев’ятого, десятого) квітня - (on the 1^st/3d/4^th/5^th/6^th/7^th/8^th/9^th/ 10^th of April)

 

 Вправа 1

Fill in the blanks with the appropriate personal endings of the Present tense:

A.   1. Що ти роб...? 2. Кого вона люб...? 3.Що він роб...? 4. Кого він люб...? 5. Що ми люб...? 6. Що ви роб...? 7. Кого вони любл...? 8. Що я муш... робити? 9. Що ти мус... писати? 10. Що вона мус... їсти? 11. Що ми мус... пити? 12. Що ви мус... робити? 13. Кого вони мус... запросити до театру?

Б. 1. Я купу... квиток. 2. Що ти купу...? 3. Вона купу...чай. 4. Що ми куп...? 5. Ми нічого не купу... . 6. Що ви купу...? 7. Чи вони щось купу...? 8. Я п’... сік. 9. Що ти п’...? 10. Він п’... чай. 11. Що ми п’...? 12. Що ви п’...? 13 Вони нічого не п’... .

B.   1. Я нічого не пиш... . 2. Що ти пиш...? 3. Куди він пиш...? 4. Що ви робите? Ми пиш... . 5. Чи ви щось пиш...? 6. Вони пиш... щось.

 Вправа 2

Put the verb “їсти” into the appropriate personal form:

1. Я (їсти) багато. 2. Що ти (їсти)? 3. Він не (їсти). 4. Ми не (їсти) печива. 5. Ви нічого не (їсти). 6. Вони (щось) їсти.

Вправа 3

Put the nouns in brackets into the Accusative case:

1. Я маю (кава). 2. Він має (кав’ярня). 3. Вона має (машина). 4. Ми маємо (робота). 5. Вони мають (час).

Вправа 4

Put the nouns in brackets into the Accusative case:

1. Я люблю (мама). 2. Ти дуже любиш (тато). 3. Він любить (Соломія).

4.    Ми любимо (Тарас). 5. Ви любите (Остап). 6. Вони люблять (Роксоляна). 7. Він п’є (кава). 8. Вона їсть (печиво). 9. Я пишу (стаття).

8.    Ми замовляємо (сік). 11. Чи ви любите (чай)? 12. Він купує (квиток). 13. Вони люблять цю (вистава).

Вправа 5

Make the following sentences negative, using the nouns in the Genitive case, as shown in the example:

Ми п ’ємо чай. Ми не п’ємо чаю.

1.    Ми любимо Тараса 2. Ти любиш Соломію. 3. Він купує квиток (the -

o  is dropped). 4. Ми замовляємо каву. 5. Ви п’єте молоко. 6. Вони роблять чай.

Вправа 6

Put the pronouns in brackets into the Accusative case:

1. Я люблю (ти). 2. Чи ти любиш (я)? 3. Він любить (вона). 4. Вона любить (він). 5. Ми любимо (ви). 6. Ви любите (вони). 7. Вони люблять (ми).

Вправа 7

Put the pronoun in brackets into the Accusative case, then make the sen­tence negative, as shown in the example (pay attention to the fact that pronouns in the Accusative and Genitive case have the same form):

Я люблю (він). Я люблю його. Я не люблю його.

1. Я люблю (вона). 2. Ти любиш (він). 3. Він любить (ми). 4. Вона любить (ви). 5. Ми любимо (вони). 6. Вони люблять (воно).

Вправа 8

Put the names of the days of the week into the Accusative case:

1. У (понеділок) я йду на роботу. 2. Що ти робиш у (вівторок)? 3. У (середа) я не йду на роботу. 4. У (четвер) він вдома. 5. У (п’ятниця) ми йдемо до кав’ярні. 6. У (субота) я нічого не роблю. 7. У (неділя) я йду до театру.

 Вправа 9

Answer the following questions, using the dates in brackets either in the Nominative case or in the Genitive case, as shown in the example:

Котре сьогодні число? Сьогодні п’яте квітня.

Котрого числа ти йдеш у гості? Третього лютого.

1. Котре сьогодні число? Сьогодні (4 листопад). 2. Котрого числа вона йде до театру? Вона йде до театру (1 травень). 3. Котре число завтра? Завтра (5 лютий). 4. Котре число післязавтра? Післязавтра (12 липень).

5.  Котрого числа вона йде на роботу? (8 травень). 6. Котрого числа твої уродини? (1 вересень).

Вправа 10

Choose the correct answer according to the dialogue:

1.  Куди Остап хоче запросити Ярину?

А. до театру; Б. на каву.

2.  Що Ярина робить, коли телефонує Остап?

А. їсть; Б. Нічого.

3.  Що Ярина робить у п’ятницю?

А. пише статтю; Б. йде до подруги.

4.  Що Ярина робить у суботу?

А. йде до кав’ярн;і Б. йде на уродини.

5.  На коли Остап купує квиток до театру?

А.      на суботу; Б. на неділю.

Вправа 1

Fill in the blanks with the appropriate personal endings of the verb in the Present tense:

1. Куди він пропону... піти? 2. Що ти пропону... робити? 3. Вона пропону.... піти на каву. 4. Що вони пропону...? 5. Ви нічого не пропону... . 6. Ми пропону... піти до театру. 7. Що ти ма... робити на сьогодні? 8. Я нічого не ма... робити на завтра. 9. А що він ма... робити на завтра? 10. Завтра ми ма... піти до лікаря. 11. Сьогодні вони зовсім (at all) не ма... часу.

 Вправа 2

Put the nouns in brackets into the Ablative case, as shown in the example: Якою мовою ти говориш? (What language do you speak?) Я говорю (українська). Я говорю українською.(I speak Ukrainian.)

1. Якою мовою він говорить? Він говорить (польська). 2. Якою мовою вона говорить? Вона говорить (французька). 3. Якою мовою ви говорите? Ми говоримо (англійська). 4. Якою мовою вони говорять? Вони говорять (іспанська). 5. Якою мовою ти говориш? Я говорю (російська).

Вправа 3

Put the nouns in brackets into the Ablative case, as shown in the example:

Ким він працює?(What does he do?) Він працює (вчитель). Він працює вчителем. (He works as a teacher.)

1. Ким ти працюєш? Я працюю (службовець, the -e is dropped). 2. Ким вона працює? Вона працює (медсестра). 3. Ким ви працюєте? Я працюю (перекладач). 4. Ким він працює? Він працює (продавець, the -e is dropped). 5. Я працюю (секретарка).

 Вправа 4

Answer the following questions using the nouns in brackets in the Ablative case, as in the example:

З ким ти йдеш до театру?(Володимир) - (Who are you going to the theater with?) - З Володимиром. - (With Volodymyr.)

1. З ким ти хочеш йти до театру? (Тарас). 2. З ким вона йде на каву? (подруга). 3. З ким ти говориш? (мама). 4. З ким ви говорите? (друг).

1.  З ким вони говорять? (перекладач).

 Вправа 5

Put the pronouns in brackets into the Ablative case: 1. Я йду з (вона) до театру. 2. Куди ти йдеш з (він)? 3. Куди він йде з (вона)? 4. Він говорить з (ми). 5. Ми не говоримо з (ви), ми говоримо з (вони).

 Вправа 6

Put the words used with the prepositions “про” та “за” into the Accusative: 1. Про кого ти думаєш? Я думаю про (подруга). 2. Про кого він думає? Він думає про (ти). 3. Чи ти думаєш про (ми)? Ні, я думаю про (вони).

2.   Про що ви думаєте? Ми думаємо про (вистава). 5. За що він дякує? Він дякує за (порада). 6. Соломія дякує за (кава).

 Вправа 7

Fill in the blanks with the appropriate endings, using “такий, а, е” with the adjectives:

1. Він так... зайнятий. 2. Кава так... смачна .3. Вона так... гарна., а він так... негарний. 4. Він так... добрий, а вона так... недобра. 5. Соломія так... рада, а Тарас так... нерадий.

 Вправа 8

Form the adverbs for the following adjectives: гарний, смачний, добрий, прекрасний, радий, вартий

 

Perfective future 1

In previous units, most verb tenses and aspects have been covered in detail, enabling you to understand ever more complex Ukrainian texts. Now that you can recognise the present, the time has come to cover the future perfective, whose forms are based closely on the present.

To revise the aspects and how they are used, go to pages 11.1 and 11.2. You can see from the chart on page 11.2 that the future perfective is formed from the perfective infinitive. Given below are some examples of verbs in the perfective future:

perfective formed by adding a prefix

perfective formed through internal change

From the above examples you can see in detail how the perfective future is formed from the perfective infinitive. The verb is then conjugated with the normal present tense endings:

N.B. Some infinitives are not obviously perfective, if you look at their form, but describe single completed actions. The above rules still apply and the future perfective is formed in the usual way, as in, for example:

 

Perfective future 2

It should be obvious by now that the present and future perfective forms of verbs in Ukrainian have much in common. Some grammarians, in fact, categorise the two forms under one heading as “non-past”.

Because of the similarity of stems and endings, it is often easy to confuse the present and future perfective when reading a Ukrainian text. The following notes are intended to help learners avoid this confusion.

1. There are a number of frequently used verbs where the prefix is part of the meaning, and is not, therefore, a marker of the perfective. In this type of verb the perfective infinitive will be formed through internal change (see pages 11.3 and 11.4). It is worth taking the time to learn these. Examples of verbs of this type are:

Other frequently used verbs like this (with future perfectives in brackets) are: дозволити (дозволю), стати (стану), відбутися (відбудуся), захопитися (захоплюся), повідомити (повідомлю), почати (почну), пояснити (поясню), продовжити (продовжу), звертатися (звернуся), висловити (висловлю), зникати (зникну).

2. Be aware of those verbs where the only difference between the present and future perfective is the stress (which may not always be marked in a written text), for example:

* also other compounds of «знати»

3. Learn the exceptions:

* also other compounds of these verbs

4. If you cannot easily identify the tense of a verb in a sentence, look at the general context and for specific clues (usually adverbs) which will suggest either an ongoing action in the present or a one-off action in the future, as, for example:

 

Revisiting the past

Compared to the future perfective and present, the past imperfective and perfective are fairly straightforward and have been covered in some detail in Unit 8. There are few true exceptions (see page 8.2), but there are a small number of verbs, with stems ending in consonants, which do not follow the pattern in the masculine, and which may therefore be difficult to recognise in a text. We will not go into the reasons for this, but suggest you learn the most frequently occurring verbs like this, given below:

The past gerund

The function of the present (imperfective) gerund was explained on pages 12.2 and 12.3. The past (perfective) gerund is just as useful to describe one action happening before another, as in:

It can also be used to describe one action being the consequence of another:

Вимкнувши світло в квартирі на одну годину, ви заощадите половину кіловата.

By turning off the light in your apartment for half an hour, you will save half a kilowatt.

As you can see from the above examples, the past gerund is formed by adding the ending -ши to the masculine form of the past perfective, as in:

Introducing sentences

Now that you're familiar with how Ukrainian works at the level of letters and words, it's time to start reading full sentences.

Look at the map of Ukraine and the neighbouring countries and read the text below the map. If there are words you don't know or can't guess, look them up in the mini-dictionary.

If you come across a word whose ending appears to have changed, move your mouse over the word and a screentip showing its dictionary form or some other hint will appear.

On page 1.8 the Ukrainian verb “to be” was mentioned. This is very easy to learn in the present tense, as there is only one form є for “am”, “is” and “are”. However, when the verb is not emphasised, є is normally omitted altogether (and is frequently replaced by a dash).

УКРАЇНА

Це – карта України.
Тут також сусідні країни – Молдова, Румунія, Угорщина, Словаччина, Польща, Білорусь та Росія.
На карті також – Чорне море, Азовське море і Крим.

Словаччина, Польща та Угорщина – країни на захід від України.
Румунія та Молдова – країни на південь від України.
Білорусь – країна на північ від України.
Росія – країна на північ та схід від України.

На півдні України – Чорне море, Азовське море і Крим.

More reading practice

On this page you can read about the administrative regions into which Ukraine is divided. Look at the map and then read the text below it.

 

In the following text, if you come across a word whose ending appears to have changed, move your mouse over the word and a screentip showing its dictionary form or some other hint will appear.

 

Simple sentences

 "To be" or not "to be"

The simplest sentences in Ukrainian are very short. You have already met some in Unit 3:

You will see that the Ukrainian sentences above don’t have a word for “is” or “are”. Sometimes a pause is used to replace these words.

It is normal to omit “is”, “am” or “are” (that is, the present tense of the verb “to be”) unless you want to emphasise the fact that something is present or exists, e.g.:

 

Who? What?

The verb "to be" can also be omitted when you indicate or ask about a person or object.

Occupations

When talking about people, for example when mentioning their occupation or other details, the verb "to be" need not be used. It is implicit, unless you wish to emphasise it. For example:

N.B. Most occupations have a masculine and feminine version:

For some occupations there is a single (masculine) form for both genders, for example:

When talking about someone, we generally avoid repeating their name after it’s been mentioned once, and use personal pronouns instead:

Given below are the personal pronouns you will need to use when mentioning who someone is or what their occupation is:

Verbs

You’ve already met a number of verbs, in previous units, but they’ve not yet been presented systematically.

The form you normally find in a dictionary is known as the infinitive. In English this often has “to" before the actual verb. In Ukrainian it ends in -ти, for example:

Some verbs (and therefore their infinitives) have the letters -ся after the -ти ending. This is the mark of a reflexive verb (where the action is done to oneself, on one’s own, or mutually by people to each other), for example:

Using the dictionary, find the meanings of (and then memorise!) the following verbs:

 

Infinitely useful infinitives

As you saw on page 4.5, the infinitive form of the verb is important not just because it's listed in the dictionary. It’s used widely, both on its own and with other verbs, to express a wide range of concepts. And a reminder – it doesn’t change its form (it’s the “to” form of the verb).

Listed below are some of the ways the infinitive is used in phrases and sentences (most examples have been taken from various internet sites):

Commands and regulations

Requests

Advice

Rhetorical questions

Permission or possibility

Necessity

Purpose

Wishing

Using verbs as nouns (the "-ing" form, or gerund, in English)

Choice or conditionality

Preference or liking

Future imperfective

 

 

REFERENCES:

1. Бахтіярова Х. Ш., Лукашевич С. С., Майданюк І. З. Українська мова. Практичний курс для іноземців: Посібник для слухачів підготовчих відділень і факультетів. – Тернопіль: Укрмедкнига, 1999. – 319 c.

2. Джура М. Вивчаємо українську мову (Let's learn Ukrainian). – Львів, 2007. – 209 c.

3. Olena Bekh, James Dingley. Teach yourself Ukrainian. – London, 2003. – 310 p.

         INTERNET SITES:

www.ukma.kiev.ua/pub/courses/UFL/

http://www.ukrainianlanguage.org.uk/read/unit04/page4-7.htm

 

Prepared by H.Ya.Pavlyshyn

Adopted at the Chair Sitting

 June 10, 2013. Minutes № 11