Lingoflyмогти
- могтиmohtycan (to be able)
“могти” (mohty) — can (to be able) in Ukrainian. Verb, level A1, topic — shopping and money. The infinitive ends in a bare h-plus-t, but the present rewrites itself: mozhu, mozhesh, mozhe. The handy little word mozhna, "it is allowed", grew from the same root. In a live sentence: “Я не можу зараз говорити” (Ya ne mozhu zaraz hovoryty) — I cannot talk right now. Written with the characters м, о (o), г, т, и. One of 85 words in the set “shopping and money” in the Ukrainian course.
In short
| Written in Ukrainian | могти (mohty) |
| Read in Latin letters | mohty |
| Translation | can (to be able) |
| Part of speech | verb |
| Level | A1 |
Why it looks that way
The infinitive ends in a bare h-plus-t, but the present rewrites itself: mozhu, mozhesh, mozhe. The handy little word mozhna, "it is allowed", grew from the same root.
A word with a story stays in memory longer than one learned as a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.
In a live sentence
A single word almost never appears alone in conversation. A sentence shows where it fits and what stands next to it.
Nearby words: shopping and money
How much it costs, whether there is a smaller one, whether cards are accepted. A shop forgives mistakes: miss a word and they will show you the thing with their hands anyway.
- гривняhryvniahryvniaThe Ukrainian currency. After numbers from five up it becomes hryven: desyat hryven, "ten hryvnias" — the ending melts.
- скільки коштує?skilky koshtuie?how much is it?Skilky is "how much", koshtuye is "it costs". About several items the verb grows an ending: skilky koshtuyut?
- крамницяkramnytsiashopUkrainian's own word for a shop, from kram, "goods". The borrowed mahazyn is equally common — two doors, same shop.
- прилавокprylavokcounterThe market table where goods lie. A separate stall at the bazaar is a stiyka or just a mistse — but the shop counter is always this word.
- продавецьprodavetsvendorThe -ets ending marks the male person. A woman is prodavchynia — and at the market it is more often her you will be talking to.
- покупецьpokupetsbuyerFrom kupuvaty, "to buy" — the same ancient root as English "cheap" and "shop" cousins. Buyer and vendor are one family with two endings.
- вагиvahyscalesFrom vaha, "weight" — a distant cousin of the word inside "wagon". Always plural, like the English scales: the pans come in twos.
- кілограмkilohramkilogramAn h where English has a g, and at the market almost always clipped to kilo anyway. Ask for "kilo pomidoriv" and the scales start moving.
- свіжийsvizhyifreshFresh bread and fresh news take the same word: svizhi novyny. The i letters give it the "ee" ring — svy-zhyy.
- стиглийstyhlyiripeFrom styhnuty, "to ripen" — a far cousin of English "stand" and "stay": fruit that has stood long enough. The meaning traveled, the root stayed.
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “shopping and money”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “can (to be able)” in Ukrainian?
The infinitive ends in a bare h-plus-t, but the present rewrites itself: mozhu, mozhesh, mozhe. The handy little word mozhna, "it is allowed", grew from the same root.
- How do you say “scales” in Ukrainian?
From vaha, "weight" — a distant cousin of the word inside "wagon". Always plural, like the English scales: the pans come in twos.
- How do you say “shop” in Ukrainian?
Ukrainian's own word for a shop, from kram, "goods". The borrowed mahazyn is equally common — two doors, same shop.
- How do you say “ripe” in Ukrainian?
From styhnuty, "to ripen" — a far cousin of English "stand" and "stay": fruit that has stood long enough. The meaning traveled, the root stayed.
- How do you say “buyer” in Ukrainian?
From kupuvaty, "to buy" — the same ancient root as English "cheap" and "shop" cousins. Buyer and vendor are one family with two endings.
How not to forget this word
Reading a word and remembering it are different jobs. A day later, little survives of a single reading — and that is not bad memory, that is how memory works.
- This has been tested on foreign words too. The difference shows up most when you test yourself a few days later rather than straight away.checked many timesKim & Webb, 2022, Language Learning 72(2) · 48 experiments, 3,411 participants, 98 comparisons.
- Recalling beats re-reading. Covering the translation and trying to remember it does more than reading it ten more times.checked many timesAdesope, Trevisan & Sundararajan, 2017, Review of Educational Research 87(3) · 188 experiments, 272 comparisons. g = 0.61; against plain re-reading 0.51, against passive review 0.93.
- An answer you worked out yourself sticks better than one handed to you.checked many timesBertsch et al., 2007, Memory & Cognition 35(2) · 86 studies, 445 comparisons, d = 0.40.
Frequently asked
How do you say “can (to be able)” in Ukrainian?
«могти» (mohty), read “mohty”. In a live sentence: “Я не можу зараз говорити” (Ya ne mozhu zaraz hovoryty) — I cannot talk right now. Verb, level A1, from the set “shopping and money”; written with the characters м, о (o), г, т, и.
How is “могти” (mohty) written in Latin letters?
mohty. This is a practical spelling — you need it to read aloud and be understood, not to meet an academic standard.
Why does this word look the way it does?
The infinitive ends in a bare h-plus-t, but the present rewrites itself: mozhu, mozhesh, mozhe. The handy little word mozhna, "it is allowed", grew from the same root. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.