LingoflyButy (to be): now it is "ye", later it will be "bude"
In the present tense, "to be" usually just drops out. English says "I am a student"; Ukrainian says Ya student, with no "am". "She is in the city" is Vona v misti. For example: “Вона (vona) в (v) місті” (misti) — She is in the city (no "is" needed). A rule from the Ukrainian course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
In the present tense, "to be" usually just drops out. English says "I am a student"; Ukrainian says Ya student, with no "am". "She is in the city" is Vona v misti.
The one present form you will hear is ye, and it means "there is": V Kyievi ye metro, there is a metro in Kyiv.
In the future, "to be" comes back with a full set of forms: budu, budesh, bude. Learn this column whole. Other verbs build their future with it too: budu pratsiuvaty means "I will work".
Table
| Person | now | later |
|---|---|---|
| ya | (ye) | budu |
| ty | (ye) | budesh |
| vin / vona | (ye) | bude |
| my | (ye) | budemo |
| vy | (ye) | budete |
| vony | (ye) | budut |
By example
How the rule settles in your head
A rule is not memorized from an explanation. It is memorized from an attempt to use it and a mistake — that is why the app delivers it mixed in with words, not as a separate lesson: it resurfaces exactly where you forgot it.
Frequently asked
How to say I am in Ukrainian?
In the present tense, "to be" usually just drops out. English says "I am a student"; Ukrainian says Ya student, with no "am". "She is in the city" is Vona v misti.
What does it look like in a Ukrainian example sentence?
“Вона (vona) в (v) місті” (misti) (Vona v misti) — She is in the city (no "is" needed). A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.