In this section: Grammar
Reflexive verbs
Verbs ending in -ся, how to conjugate them, when -сь is used, and what -ся means, from washing yourself to meeting each other, things starting by themselves and the house being built.
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On this page
After this page you will be able to conjugate a reflexive verb, a verb ending in -ся, in the present and past tenses. You will know when the short form -сь appears, and you will recognise the main meanings of -ся: doing something to yourself, doing something to each other, something happening by itself, and verbs that simply always have -ся. You will also know why Ukrainians do not apologise with я вибача́юся.
What -ся is
-ся is a small ending that goes at the very end of a verb, after every other ending. The orthography calls it a postfix (постфі́кс) and says it is written together with the verb [src: pravopys-2026, §115, part 4, note 2]. Apart from that, a reflexive verb is conjugated like any other verb [src: ukma-ukrainian-foreign-language].
Compare ми́ти (to wash something) with ми́тися (to wash, to wash yourself). The dictionary defines ми́тися as “to wash oneself” [src: goroh-dictionary].
With and without -ся
Conjugation
Take the ordinary present-tense form and add -ся. There is one change to learn: in the he/she/it form, -ть- appears before -ся, even in first-group verbs that have no т without it [src: pravopys-2026, §115, part 4, note 2]. So вмива́є becomes вмива́ється.
| Person | Without -ся | With -ся |
|---|---|---|
| я | вмива́ю | вмива́юся |
| ти | вмива́єш | вмива́єшся |
| він, вона́, воно́ | вмива́є | вмива́ється |
| ми | вмива́ємо | вмива́ємося |
| ви | вмива́єте | вмива́єтеся |
| вони́ | вмива́ють | вмива́ються |
All the forms come from the Горох dictionary [src: goroh-dictionary]. The present tense page explains the endings themselves.
The dictionary lists this verb as both вмива́тися and умива́тися. Choose the way you choose between в and у anywhere else: в- after a vowel, у- after a consonant [src: pravopys-2026, §23]. So: Я вмива́юся, but Він умива́ється.
The past tense
In the past tense, -ся again goes on the end. The masculine form ends in -вся [src: goroh-dictionary]. The past tense page explains the forms without -ся.
| Subject | Form |
|---|---|
| він (masculine) | вмива́вся |
| вона́ (feminine) | вмива́лася |
| воно́ (neuter) | вмива́лося |
| вони́ (plural) | вмива́лися |
Two verbs with moving stress
Смія́тися (to laugh) and боя́тися (to be afraid) are very common. Смія́тися is in the first group and боя́тися in the second [src: pravopys-2026, §115]. In both, the stress is on the ending in the we and you (ви) forms.
| Person | to laugh | to be afraid |
|---|---|---|
| я | смію́ся | бою́ся |
| ти | сміє́шся | бої́шся |
| він, вона́, воно́ | сміє́ться | бої́ться |
| ми | сміємо́ся | боїмо́ся |
| ви | смієте́ся | боїте́ся |
| вони́ | смію́ться | боя́ться |
-ся or -сь?
You will also see a short form, -сь: вмива́юсь, смія́лась. The orthography says that -ся can change to -сь “in spoken language and in literary style”. It can do this after the infinitive, after past-tense endings, and after the I, we and you (ви) endings of the future, as in візьму́сь [src: pravopys-2026, §115, part 7, note 3]. The dictionary also gives present forms such as вмива́юсь and вмива́ємось [src: goroh-dictionary].
- Feminine, neuter and plural past forms: смія́лась, смія́лось, смія́лись.
- The masculine past form only when it ends in в: вмива́всь [src: pravopys-2026, §115, part 7, note 3].
- The you (ти), he/she/it and they forms do not shorten: always вмива́єшся, вмива́ється, вмива́ються. The dictionary gives no -сь form for them [src: goroh-dictionary].
This site writes -ся everywhere. Learn -сь so that you recognise it, especially in songs, poems and speech.
What -ся means
The name “reflexive” suggests “oneself”, but that is only one of the meanings. Here are the main ones you will meet.
Doing something to yourself
The action goes back to the person who does it: washing, dressing.
To yourself
Doing something to each other
With a plural subject, or with з + the instrumental, some verbs mean “each other”. The dictionary defines цілува́тися as “to kiss one another” [src: goroh-dictionary].
Each other
Something happening by itself
Compare почина́ти (to start something) and почина́тися (to start, to begin). With -ся, the thing that starts is the subject, and nobody is named as starting it [src: goroh-dictionary].
It starts, it ends
Verbs that always have -ся
Some verbs have no form without -ся: the dictionary has no entry for them without it [src: goroh-dictionary]. Here -ся has no meaning of its own. Just learn the verb as it is.
Боя́тися takes the genitive: you are afraid of someone or something [src: goroh-dictionary].
Always with -ся
“I like”: подобатися
Подо́батися means “to be pleasing”. The thing you like is the subject, and the person who likes it is in the dative. The verb agrees with the thing you like [src: goroh-dictionary].
Мені́ подо́бається…
Something being done
With a thing as the subject, -ся can also mean that something is being done, without saying by whom. The dictionary marks this as a passive use of будува́тися, with examples about a castle and a new metro being built [src: goroh-dictionary].
Being done
Treat this as a pattern to recognise. When you know who does the action, an ordinary active sentence is usually the natural choice: Ми буду́ємо буди́нок (We are building a house).
Common mistakes and limits
Common mistake
Apologising with я вибача́юся. Usage guides reject it: -ся means “oneself”, so it sounds as if you are excusing yourself. Say ви́бачте, проба́чте or перепро́шую instead [src: goroh-usage]. Ви́бачте is the ви form; to someone you call ти, say ви́бач.
Common mistake
Leaving out -ть-. The he/she/it form needs -ть- before -ся: вмива́ється, сміє́ться. The т appears even in first-group verbs, which have none without -ся [src: pravopys-2026, §115, part 4, note 2].
Remember
Not every -ся means “oneself”. Уро́к почина́ється does not mean that the lesson starts itself, and смія́тися has no “self” in it at all. Learn each reflexive verb with its meaning, and learn which case it takes: боя́тися + genitive, подо́батися + dative, зустріча́тися з + instrumental.
Note
The same verbs also have future forms: вмива́тимуся (I will be washing). The future tense page explains them. A reflexive verb can be perfective too: зустрі́тися (to meet, once) is the partner of зустріча́тися. See aspect in the glossary.
Practice
Related topics
Audio
The example sentences on this page are read by a computer-generated voice (OpenAI text-to-speech). The recordings are not individually checked by a listener, and a computer voice can occasionally stress or pronounce a word wrongly: the written sentence, with its stress marks, is the reference. It is not a recording of a native speaker. Nothing is downloaded until you press a listen button.
Sources
- Горох — онлайн-бібліотека словників української мови: Словозміна, Тлумачення (goroh.pp.ua)
- Горох: Слововживання (типові помилки, суржик і кальки) (goroh.pp.ua)
- Стандарт державної мови «Український правопис». Офіційне видання (Національна комісія зі стандартів державної мови)
- Ukrainian As a Foreign Language: an online course for beginners (National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy (NaUKMA))
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