Buty (to be): now it is "ye", later it will be "bude"
In the present tense, "to be" all but disappears. English says "I am a student"; Ukrainian just says Ya student — no "am" at all. The same for "she is in the city": Vona v misti. For example: “Вона в місті” — 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" all but disappears. English says "I am a student"; Ukrainian just says Ya student — no "am" at all. The same for "she is in the city": Vona v misti.
The one living present form is ye, and it means "there is": U Kyyevi ye metro — there is a metro in Kyiv.
In the future, though, "to be" wakes up and takes a full set of endings. Learn the column whole: the same endings build the future of every other verb — budu pratsyuvaty, budemo zhyty.
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
- Вона в містіShe is in the city (no "is" needed)
- В Києві є метроThere is a metro in Kyiv
- Завтра буду вдомаTomorrow I will be home
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" all but disappears. English says "I am a student"; Ukrainian just says Ya student — no "am" at all. The same for "she is in the city": Vona v misti.
What does it look like in an example sentence Ukrainian?
“Вона в місті” — 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.