Politeness

After this page you will be able to say please, thank you and sorry, choose between ти and ви in the phrases you use most, ask for something politely, and keep a conversation going when you don’t understand.

Please: будь ласка

Будь ла́ска is literally “be [so] kind”: будь is a command form of бу́ти (to be), and ла́ска means kindness. It has three everyday uses:

• please, with a request;
• you’re welcome, as a reply to thanks;
• here you are, when you hand something to someone.

In a request, it can go at the start, at the end, or after the first word, set off by commas.

Thank you: дякую + to whom

Дя́кую is the I form of дя́кувати (to thank), so it literally means “I thank”. To say whom you thank, use the dative case, the case for “to someone”: дя́кую вам, дя́кую тобі́. To say what for, add за + the accusative.

Sorry and excuse me

Ukrainian uses the same words to apologise and to get someone’s attention, as English does with excuse me.

• Ви́бачте and Проба́чте are command forms meaning “forgive [me]”. They are the ви forms; to someone you say ти to, say Ви́бач or Проба́ч.
• Перепро́шую is the I form of перепро́шувати (to apologise): “I apologise”. It does not show ти or ви, so you can say it to anyone.

Ти or ви in practice

Many polite phrases show ти or ви, either in a pronoun or in the verb ending. The ви form of a command usually ends in -іть or -те, and the ти form usually ends in -и or -й, or has no ending at all. If you are not sure which to use with someone, use ви. Pronouns explains who gets which.

Notice that будь ла́ска stays the same in both columns.

Polite requests

Command + будь ласка

The most direct request is a command form with будь ла́ска, as in the table above. The command form on its own can sound abrupt in English, but with будь ла́ска it is an ordinary polite request.

Чи можна + infinitive: may I…?

Мо́жна means “it is allowed, it is possible”. Put the infinitive (the dictionary form of a verb) after it, and start with чи to make a yes/no question. Questions explains чи. The sentence does not say who will do the action, so it does not show ти or ви.

To say that something is not allowed, use не мо́жна: Тут не мо́жна фотографува́ти. (You can’t take photos here.) Negation explains не.

Чи не могли б ви + infinitive: could you…?

For a request to someone you say ви to, use Чи не могли́ б ви + infinitive. Могли́ is a past form of могти́ (can, to be able), and б turns it into would: “Could you not…?” As in English Couldn’t you…?, the не does not make the request negative.

When you don’t understand

These sentences are worth learning by heart. Most of them use patterns from earlier in this page.

Украї́нською and англі́йською are short for украї́нською мо́вою, англі́йською мо́вою: the instrumental case, “by means of the Ukrainian language”.

Dialogue

A visitor in a café points at a word on the menu. The visitor and the waiter say ви to each other.

Common mistakes and limits