Most Ukrainian verbs come in pairs. The imperfective describes a process, a repeated action or something unfinished; the perfective describes one completed result. "Я писав лист" is I was writing a letter; "Я написав лист" is I wrote (and finished) it.
By the numbers
The study took every verb the PULS profile grades B1 on the 12,000-word list: 443 verbs (223 imperfective, 218 perfective, 2 both). 378 have a partner listed in Wiktionary; 50 do not.
Pairs you cannot guess
Most pairs differ by a prefix (робити, зробити) or a suffix (повідомляти, повідомити). Some do not share a root at all, and those are worth memorizing first:
| Unfinished (imperfective) | Finished (perfective) |
|---|---|
| бра́ти | взя́ти |
| говори́ти | сказа́ти |
| класти | покла́сти |
| ловити | піймати |
| ловити | спіймати |
| шука́ти | знайти́ |
| сіда́ти | сі́сти |
| лягати | лягти |
| става́ти | ста́ти |
| іти́ | піти́ |
| йти | піти́ |
| ї́хати | пої́хати |
| ба́чити | поба́чити |
| роби́ти | зроби́ти |
How to study them
- Put both on one card. The level of each half is on its word page, and they can differ.
- Learn the perfective's future: perfectives have no present tense, so "зроблю" means I will do (it).
The full pair table is in the B1 aspect study.