This is the Ukrainian "easy come, easy go." In four words it shows off three things B1 learners are wrestling with at once: the perfective past (a single finished event, here twice over), the як…так correlative ('as… so…'), and a sentence with no stated subject at all — both verbs are neuter, agreeing with an unspoken "it." It is the saying you reach for when money, luck, or anything won effortlessly slips away just as effortlessly.
«Як прийшло́, так і пішло́».
'As it came, so it went.' (Easy come, easy go.)
Ukrainians say this with a shrug about money that arrived and vanished — a lottery win blown in a week, a windfall spent on nothing — or about anything that came without effort and left without trace. The implication is gentle fatalism: what you didn't earn, you don't really hold onto.
Word by word
| Word | Lemma | Form | Function |
|---|---|---|---|
| Як | як | correlative adverb/conjunction | 'as, how' — sets up the comparison |
| прийшло́ | прийти́ (perfective) | past tense, neuter singular | '(it) came / arrived' |
| так | так | correlative adverb | 'so, that way' — answers як |
| і | і | emphatic particle | '(and) likewise' — drives home the parallel |
| пішло́ | піти́ (perfective) | past tense, neuter singular | '(it) went / left' |
There is no noun for the verbs to agree with — both are neuter singular, the default "it" form. The thing that came and went (the money, the luck) is left unnamed; the neuter ending stands in for it.
The grammar
The perfective past: прийшло́ / пішло́
Both verbs are in the past tense and both are perfective — and that pairing is the engine of the proverb. The perfective views each event as a single completed whole: it came (once, fully) and it went (once, fully). The Ukrainian past tense is built not from person endings but from a former participle in -в / -ла / -ло / -ли, agreeing with the subject's gender and number, not its person. Neuter singular takes -ло: прийшл-о́, пішл-о́.
Як прийшло́, так і пішло́.
'As it came, so it went.'
The same neuter-perfective past turns up whenever an "it" completes an action:
Лі́то промайну́ло так шви́дко — і вже похолода́ло.
'Summer flew by so fast — and it's already turned cold.'
Усе́ скінчи́лося до́бре, на ща́стя.
'Everything ended well, fortunately.'
For how the past is formed across verb types, see past tense formation; for the aspect choice, see aspect in the past.
The suppletive root: where did -йшов come from?
Here is the honest, slightly maddening part. The verbs are прийти́ ('to come') and піти́ ('to leave, set off') — but their past tenses are прийшо́в / пішо́в, not the прийтив you might expect from the infinitive. This is suppletion: the verb "to go" pieces together its forms from two ancient roots. The infinitive and future use one root (-йти, -йду), but the past tense reaches for the old root -ш-, giving the buried -йшов / -йшла / -йшло chain. There is no rule that derives прийшло́ from прийти́ — you simply learn this verb's past as a unit. Every prefixed motion verb built on -йти inherits the same -йшов past.
Він пішо́в, на́віть не попроща́вшись.
'He left without even saying goodbye.'
Вони́ прийшли́ пі́зно, бо запізни́вся по́їзд.
'They came late because the train was delayed.'
Вона́ ви́йшла на хвили́нку й до́сі не поверну́лася.
'She stepped out for a minute and still hasn't come back.'
The pattern in full: піти́ → пішо́в, пішла́, пішло́, пішли́; прийти́ → прийшо́в, прийшла́, прийшло́, прийшли́; ви́йти → ви́йшов; зайти́ → зайшо́в. See the past of irregular verbs and prefixed motion verbs.
The як…так correlative
The proverb's two halves are stitched together by як… так… — 'as… so / the way it… so likewise…'. Як opens the comparison ("the manner in which it came"), так delivers the matching half ("in that same manner it went"), and the little і ('also, likewise') seals the parallel: it went the very same way. This frame is the standard Ukrainian way to say "X happened, and Y happened to match."
Як прийшло́, так і пішло́.
'As it came, so it went.'
It is fully productive beyond the proverb:
Як домо́вилися, так і зро́бимо.
'As we agreed, so we'll do it.'
Як ти до люде́й, так і лю́ди до те́бе.
'As you treat people, so people will treat you.'
Як посі́єш, так і пожне́ш.
'As you sow, so you'll reap.'
The particle і after так is what makes these feel like sayings — it emphasises the exactness of the match ("so too"). See correlative conjunctions.
The zero subject: an "it" with no name
Notice there is no noun anywhere in the proverb. The verbs are neuter not because they refer to a specific neuter word, but because neuter singular is the default "subjectless" form in Ukrainian. The thing that came and went is whatever the situation supplies — money, fortune, an opportunity. Ukrainian is comfortable leaving the subject completely unexpressed and letting the neuter verb stand alone, a flexibility English lacks (English must say "it came").
Гро́ші ле́гко прийшли́ — і ле́гко зни́кли.
'The money came easily — and disappeared easily.'
When you do name the subject, the verbs of course agree with it (гро́ші are plural → прийшли́). But the bare proverb leaves the slot empty on purpose. See impersonal and subjectless sentences.
Glossary
- прийти́ (perfective; imperfective прихо́дити) — 'to come, arrive (on foot).' Past: прийшо́в / прийшла́ / прийшло́ / прийшли́.
- піти́ (perfective; imperfective for the process is іти́ / ходи́ти) — 'to go off, set out, leave.' Past: пішо́в / пішла́ / пішло́ / пішли́.
- Variant: the proverb also circulates as «Ле́гко прийшло́ — ле́гко й пішло́» ('it came easily — and went easily too'), spelling out the "easy" that «Як… так…» only implies. Both are standard; the як…так form is the tighter, more proverbial one.
Common Mistakes
❌ Як прийшла́, так і пішла́.
Wrong gender — with no named subject the verbs default to neuter: прийшло́ / пішло́.
✅ Як прийшло́, так і пішло́.
'As it came, so it went.'
The subjectless proverb uses the neuter -ло form. Feminine -ла would require a named feminine subject (and would change the meaning to "she came… she left").
❌ Як прийти́ло, так і піти́ло.
Wrong — the past of these motion verbs is suppletive: прийшло́ / пішло́, never *прийтило / пітило*.
✅ Як прийшло́, так і пішло́.
'As it came, so it went.'
You cannot build the past from the infinitive here; піти́ → пішло́ and прийти́ → прийшло́ are irregular forms to be learned whole.
❌ Як прихо́дило, так і відхо́дило.
Wrong aspect — the proverb describes single completed events, so it needs the perfective.
✅ Як прийшло́, так і пішло́.
'As it came, so it went.'
The imperfective прихо́дило / відхо́дило would mean "it kept coming and going" (a process or habit). The point is one arrival, one departure — hence the perfective.
❌ Як прийшло́, тоді́ й пішло́.
Stilted — the fixed frame is як…так, not як…тоді.
✅ Як прийшло́, так і пішло́.
'As it came, so it went.'
The saying lives in the як…так correlative; тоді́ ('then') breaks the parallel structure.
Now practice Ukrainian
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Start learning Ukrainian→Related Topics
- The Past Tense: FormationA1 — The Ukrainian past tense is GENDERED, not person-marked. From the infinitive stem you add -в (masculine), -ла (feminine), -ло (neuter), -ли (plural): чита́в / чита́ла / чита́ло / чита́ли. The same form serves 1st, 2nd and 3rd person of one gender, so я чита́в, ти чита́в, він чита́в are identical — and a female speaker says я чита́ла. The masculine -в comes from a historical -л and is pronounced /w/. The verb 'to be' has був / була́ / було́ / були́, which also serves as the past auxiliary.
- Past Tense of Irregular and Consonant-Stem VerbsB1 — A consolidated reference for the masculine pasts that look irregular. Consonant-stem verbs form a BARE masculine with no -в (нести́ → ніс, везти́ → віз, могти́ → міг, пекти́ → пік, берегти́ → беріг, лягти́ → ліг, бі́гти → біг), often with an о/і or е/і shift in the closed syllable, while the feminine restores the stem (несла́, везла́, могла́, пекла́, берегла́, лягла́, бі́гла). Plus the suppletive ішо́в/йшов 'went' and the -ну- droppers (зме́рзнути → зме́рз). Cross-links the л→в page.
- Correlative and Paired ConjunctionsB1 — Paired conjunctions that bracket two elements and require BOTH halves: і…і 'both…and', ні…ні 'neither…nor' (with obligatory verb negation — double negation!), або́…або́ / чи…чи 'either…or', не ті́льки…а й / не лише́…але́ й 'not only…but also' (fixed frame, а й not 'але́ тако́ж'), то…то 'now…now', як…так і 'both…and / as…so', and чим…тим 'the…the' (Чим бі́льше, тим кра́ще). Comma falls between the halves; ні…ні carries the mandatory не on the verb.
- Aspect in the Past TenseA2 — The past tense is where you make the aspect choice most often. The imperfective past (чита́в) names a process, a habit, or background activity — 'was reading / used to read / read at it'; the perfective past (прочита́в) reports a single completed result — 'read it through'. Master eight minimal pairs (писа́в/написа́в, вчи́в/ви́вчив, роби́в/зроби́в, розв’я́зував/розв’яза́в) and the narrative engine: a chain of perfectives drives a sequence of events while an imperfective paints the background scene they happen against.
- Impersonal and Subjectless SentencesB1 — The syntax of sentences with NO nominative subject — where English supplies a dummy 'it/they/you/one', Ukrainian drops the subject entirely and the logical argument (if any) surfaces as a dative or accusative: Темні́є, Ка́жуть, Тре́ба йти, Мені́ хо́лодно, Що роби́ти?
- Prefixed Verbs of Motion: OverviewB1 — A directional prefix transforms a motion verb on two levels at once. On the UNIDIRECTIONAL stem it makes a PERFECTIVE (прийти́ 'arrive', ви́йти 'go out'); the SAME prefix on the MULTIDIRECTIONAL stem makes the matching IMPERFECTIVE (прихо́дити, вихо́дити). Each prefix has a consistent meaning across all motion verbs — при- arrive/toward, ви- out, за- drop by/behind, пере- across/relocate, до- reach, від- away, про- through/past, об- around, в-/у- in, з-/ді- down/off — so learning ~10 prefixes once unlocks all prefixed motion.