LingoflyHraty, hratysia, katatysia: play words and their cases
Leisure verbs each demand their own company, and guessing wrong is heard at once. For example: “Вона (vona) грає (hraie) на (na) піаніно (pianino) щовечора” (shchovechora) — She plays the piano every evening. A rule from the Ukrainian course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
Leisure verbs each demand their own company, and guessing wrong is heard at once.
Hraty na with the place form for instruments: hraty na pianino, hraty na hitari, hraty na fleiti. Hraty u with the object form for games: hraty u futbol, hraty u karty, hraty u shakhy.
Hratysia, with its -sia, is to play about, to fiddle: dytyna hraietsia z lialkoiu. Nobody says it of a match or an instrument. Katatysia na rides with the place form too: katatysia na velosypedi, na kovzanakh, na lyzhakh.
Rooting for a team is vbolivaty za with the object form: vbolivaty za komandu. Do not reach for bolity — that verb is for teeth and backs. And listening splits in two: slukhaty muzyku is to listen, slukhatysia batkiv is to obey.
Table
| what you do | how to say it | the form after |
|---|---|---|
| play an instrument | hraty na pianino | the place form |
| play a game | hraty u futbol | the object form |
| ride, skate | katatysia na lyzhakh | the place form |
| root for a team | vbolivaty za komandu | the object form |
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
Katatysia na lyzhakh: play and leisure verbs?
Hratysia, with its -sia, is to play about, to fiddle: dytyna hraietsia z lialkoiu. Nobody says it of a match or an instrument. Katatysia na rides with the place form too: katatysia na velosypedi, na kovzanakh, na lyzhakh.
What does it look like in a Ukrainian example sentence?
“Вона (vona) грає (hraie) на (na) піаніно (pianino) щовечора” (shchovechora) (Vona hraie na pianino shchovechora) — She plays the piano every evening. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.