Irregular verbs

After this page you will be able to use the few Ukrainian verbs that do not follow the two groups of endings: бу́ти (to be), да́ти (to give), ї́сти (to eat) and verbs like розпові́м (I’ll tell). You will also recognise the common verbs that change a consonant in the I form, such as ходжу́ (I walk, I go), and the verbs whose stem looks different from the infinitive, such as беру́ (I take) from бра́ти.

The present tense introduced the two groups of endings, the first and second conjugation. Almost every Ukrainian verb belongs to one of them. This page covers the exceptions and the changes you have to learn verb by verb.

Only four verbs are truly irregular

The official orthography lists a separate group of just four verbs, with their derivatives: да́ти, ї́сти, the verbs in -вісти such as відпові́м (I’ll answer) and розпові́м (I’ll tell), and бу́ти [src: pravopys-2026, §115]. Their endings belong to neither group. Every other verb on this page is regular in its endings and only changes its stem.

Бути: є for every person

In the present tense, бу́ти has one form, є, for every person [src: pravopys-2026, §115].

In a sentence like Я студе́нт (I’m a student), the verb is normally left out, as Sentence structure explains. You will hear є most often in the sense “there is” or “there are”, and in “I have”: У ме́не є сестра́. (I have a sister.) Its opposite is нема́є, which takes the genitive; see Negation.

The other tenses of бу́ти are regular and change for person, number or gender: був, була́, було́, були́ in the past and бу́ду, бу́деш, бу́де, бу́демо, бу́дете, бу́дуть in the future.

Дати and давати: to give

Да́ти is perfective: it describes one complete act of giving. Perfective verbs have no present tense, so its personal forms have a future meaning: я дам means “I will give” [src: goroh-dictionary]. The future tense page explains how this works.

These forms come from the orthography’s table [src: pravopys-2026, §115], with the stress from the dictionary [src: goroh-dictionary]. Notice the endings: -м for I, -си for you and -сть for he/she/it. No other kind of verb has them.

For “I give” or “I am giving”, use the imperfective дава́ти. It is a regular first-group verb, but it drops -ва- in the present tense, and the stress falls on the ending:

Встава́ти (to get up) works the same way: встаю́, встає́ш, встаю́ть [src: goroh-dictionary].

Їсти: to eat

Ї́сти is imperfective, so these forms are a real present tense [src: pravopys-2026, §115; goroh-dictionary].

The they form has a д that appears nowhere else in the present: їдя́ть. The past tense is short: він їв, вона́ ї́ла, вони́ ї́ли.

The perfective з’ї́сти (to eat up) has the same endings with a future meaning: з’їм, з’їси́, з’їсть, з’їмо́, з’їсте́, з’їдя́ть [src: goroh-dictionary].

Verbs in -вісти: to answer, to tell

Відповісти (to answer) and розповісти (to tell, to recount) are perfective, so again the forms have a future meaning. They take the same endings as да́ти and ї́сти.

The dictionary accepts two stresses in the infinitives, so they are shown unmarked on this page: відповісти, розповісти [src: goroh-dictionary]. It gives the they forms without a stress mark, so they are unmarked in the table. In the orthography’s own table, the they form of відповісти is replaced with the phrase даду́ть ві́дповідь (they will give an answer) [src: pravopys-2026, §115]. Use that phrase when you need it.

The past tense is regular: він відпові́в, вона́ відповіла́; він розпові́в, вона́ розповіла́ [src: goroh-dictionary]. For “I answer” or “I am telling”, use the imperfective partners, which are regular first-group verbs: відповіда́ти (відповіда́ю, відповіда́єш) and розповіда́ти (розповіда́ю, розповіда́єш).

A changed consonant in the I form

Many second-group verbs change the last consonant of the stem in the I form only. The other five forms keep the consonant of the infinitive. The orthography lists these changes: д → дж, т → ч, з → ж, с → ш, and зд → ждж, ст → щ [src: pravopys-2026, §15–17, §115].

All the forms in the table are from the dictionary [src: goroh-dictionary]. Here is one of them in full:

An added л after б, п, в, м, ф

When the stem ends in б, п, в, м or ф, an л is added in two forms: I and they [src: pravopys-2026, §18].

A different stem in every form

Some first-group verbs look quite different in the present tense from their infinitive. The change runs through all six forms, so once you know the I and you forms you can build the rest. The orthography notes that in first-group verbs a consonant change in the I form is kept in every present form, as in могти́ → мо́жу, мо́жеш [src: pravopys-2026, §115].

All the forms are from the dictionary [src: goroh-dictionary]. A few notes:

• Хоті́ти is a first-group verb, although it ends in -іти: хо́чу, хо́чеш, хо́че, хо́чемо, хо́чете, хо́чуть. The dictionary and the orthography both put it in the first conjugation [src: goroh-dictionary; pravopys-2026, §115].
• Бра́ти gains an е: беру́, бере́ш, бере́, беремо́, берете́, беру́ть. The stress stays on the ending.
• Жи́ти gains a в: живу́, живе́ш, живе́, живемо́, живете́, живу́ть.
• Могти́ has an unusual past tense: він міг, вона́ могла́, вони́ могли́.

Іти or йти

Іти́ and йти are the same verb, and so are іду́ and йду. The choice follows the same sound rule as the word for “and”: і- after a consonant, й- after a vowel [src: pravopys-2026, §24]. The orthography’s own examples are Він іде́ and Вона́ йде.

All twelve forms are in the dictionary [src: goroh-dictionary]. Since the pronouns я, ти, ми, ви and вони́ end in a vowel, the rule gives the й- forms after them: я йду, ми йдемо́.

The past tense has the same two versions: він ішо́в, вона́ йшла, вони́ йшли [src: goroh-dictionary].

These verbs in sentences

Common mistakes and limits