The pair: дава́ти / да́ти "give" ↔ бра́ти / взя́ти "take" — two verbs that mirror each other Type: a give/take CONTRAST page — key forms plus the directional government, with full paradigms on the two single-verb pages
Giving and taking are the same physical event seen from opposite ends: I give the book to you, you take the book from me. English keeps the two verbs cleanly apart, and so does Ukrainian — but Ukrainian also pins the direction of the transfer onto the case of the people involved, and that is where this page earns its place. With дава́ти / да́ти the thing flows to a recipient, who stands in the dative; with бра́ти / взя́ти the thing is pulled from a source, who stands in у / в + genitive. Learn the two verbs side by side and you also learn the dative-vs-genitive directional contrast that runs through the whole case system.
This page summarises the key forms and the government of each verb. The complete paradigms — every tense, the athematic да́ти set, the suppletive взя́ти set, all the imperatives and participles — live on the two single-verb pages, which you should open alongside this one:
- Давати / Дати (to give) — the athematic perfective да́ти (дам, даси́, дасть…).
- Брати / Взяти (to take) — the suppletive present stem бер- and future stem візьм-.
Key forms at a glance
Both verbs are aspect pairs (an imperfective for the ongoing/habitual act, a perfective for the single completed one), and both perfectives are irregular: да́ти is athematic (it bolts endings straight onto the root), взя́ти is suppletive (its future comes from a different root than the infinitive). Here are the forms you reach for daily — the full tables are on the linked pages.
| дава́ти / да́ти "give" | бра́ти / взя́ти "take" | |
|---|---|---|
| Imperfective infinitive | дава́ти | бра́ти |
| Perfective infinitive | да́ти | взя́ти |
| Present 1sg (impf) | даю́ | беру́ |
| Present 3sg (impf) | дає́ | бере́ |
| Present 3pl (impf) | даю́ть | беру́ть |
| Perfective future 1sg | дам | візьму́ |
| Perfective future 3sg | дасть | ві́зьме |
| Perfective future 3pl | даду́ть | ві́зьмуть |
| Past (m / f) | дав / дала́ | узя́в (взяв) / взяла́ |
| Imperative 2sg (pf) | дай | візьми́ |
| Imperative 2pl (pf) | да́йте | візьмі́ть |
Two warnings the table makes visible. First, the perfective future of да́ти is athematic — дам, даси́, дасть, дамо́, дасте́, даду́ть — note дасть (not "дасе") and даду́ть (with an inserted -д-); the full set is laid out on the give page. Second, the perfective future of взя́ти needs the soft sign: візьму́, ві́зьмеш… — never "визьму". For everything else, see the take page.
Я тобі́ це даю́, а ти бере́ш — усе́ про́сто.
I'm giving you this, and you're taking it — it's all simple. (Present of both verbs side by side: даю́ ↔ бере́ш.)
Дай мені́ кни́жку, а я візьму́ слова́рик.
Give me the book, and I'll take the little dictionary. (Perfective imperatives: дай 'give' ↔ візьми́, here in the future візьму́ 'I'll take'.)
Government — the directional split
This is the heart of the contrast. The thing transferred is in the accusative for both verbs (кни́жку, гро́ші, ключі́). What differs is how each verb marks the person:
- дава́ти / да́ти marks the recipient — the person the thing goes to — in the dative: да́ти кни́жку дру́гові "give the book to a friend." See dative uses.
- бра́ти / взя́ти marks the source — the person the thing comes from — with у / в + genitive: узя́ти кни́жку в дру́га "take the book from a friend." This у/в + genitive is the standard Ukrainian "from a person"; see the genitive. Both verbs take their plain thing in the accusative.
So with the same friend and the same book, the friend changes case depending on which way the book moves:
| Direction | Construction | The friend's case |
|---|---|---|
| I → friend (give) | да́ти кни́жку дру́гові | dative дру́гові |
| friend → I (take) | узя́ти кни́жку в дру́га | у/в + genitive дру́га |
Я дав цю кни́жку дру́гові, а поті́м узя́в її́ наза́д у ньо́го.
I gave this book to my friend, and then took it back from him. (Same book, both directions: dative дру́гові 'to a friend' ↔ у + genitive у ньо́го 'from him'.)
Да́йте, будь ла́ска, квито́к контроле́рові — він ві́зьме його́ й пове́рне.
Please give the ticket to the inspector — he'll take it and hand it back. (да́ти + dative контроле́рові; взя́ти + accusative його́.)
Я за́вжди беру́ хліб у тіє́ї са́мої жі́нки на ри́нку.
I always buy my bread from the same woman at the market. (бра́ти + accusative хліб + у + genitive жі́нки 'from'; here 'take/buy from'.)
Note the everyday extension: бра́ти у когось often means buy from / get from someone, exactly because taking-a-thing-from-a-source is the core frame — взя́ти молоко́ в сусі́дки "get milk from the neighbour." дава́ти has the matching "hand over / pass" sense — Переда́й сіль uses the same dative logic.
The everyday imperatives: Дай! and Візьми́!
The two most useful forms of the whole pair are the perfective imperatives Дай! "Give (it to me)!" and Візьми́! "Take (it)!" — the verbal handshake of passing things back and forth. Дай asks for a thing to come to you (so the optional pronoun is dative — Дай мені́), Візьми́ offers a thing to the other person.
— Дай ру́чку. — На, візьми́.
— Give me the pen. — Here, take it. (The classic exchange: Дай! 'give' ↔ Візьми́! 'take', with the offering particle На 'here you go'.)
Візьми́ парасо́льку й дай мені́ ключі́ — я зачиню́ две́рі.
Take the umbrella and give me the keys — I'll lock the door. (Both imperatives in one breath: візьми́ 'take' + дай 'give' + dative мені́.)
For the imperfective imperatives дава́й / бери́ and the "let's…" particle дава́й, plus the хай / неха́й third-person forms, see the two single-verb pages.
Aspect: the same to/from logic across tenses
Because both verbs are aspect pairs, every act of giving or taking comes in two flavours — the process (imperfective) and the completed result (perfective) — and the choice is independent of direction. You can be in the middle of giving (даю́) or have given once (дав / дам); in the middle of taking (беру́) or have taken once (узя́в / візьму́). English leans on word choice and context ("I give / I'm giving / I gave / I'll give") where Ukrainian leans on aspect. The directional government (dative for the recipient, у/в + genitive for the source) stays constant no matter which aspect or tense you pick.
Я щомі́сяця дава́в їм гро́ші, а цьо́го ра́зу не дам нічо́го.
I gave them money every month, but this time I won't give anything. (Habitual past дава́в vs single future дам — same dative їм.)
Зазвича́й я беру́ ка́ву з собо́ю, але́ сього́дні візьму́ ще й тісте́чко.
Usually I take coffee to go, but today I'll also grab a pastry. (Habitual present беру́ vs single future візьму́ — same accusative object.)
Common Mistakes
❌ Я взяв кни́жку від дру́га.
Wrong 'from' — taking a thing FROM a person is у/в + genitive, not від: Я взяв кни́жку в дру́га. (від is для напрямів/причин, not the source of a taken object.)
✅ Я взяв кни́жку в дру́га.
I took the book from my friend.
❌ Дай кни́жку дру́га.
Case error — the recipient of дава́ти is the DATIVE, not the genitive: Дай кни́жку дру́гові. (дру́га would mean 'a friend's book'.)
✅ Дай кни́жку дру́гові.
Give the book to a friend.
❌ За́втра я бу́ду взя́ти таксі́ і дам тобі́ да́ти.
Aspect/future error — perfective взя́ти already IS its own future (візьму́), so it can't follow бу́ду: За́втра я візьму́ таксі́. (And да́ти doesn't stack after дам.)
✅ За́втра я візьму́ таксі́.
Tomorrow I'll take a taxi.
❌ Вони́ даю́ть мені́ ві́дповідь за́втра.
Wrong form for a one-off future — да́ти is athematic: the 3pl future is даду́ть, not даю́ть (which is the imperfective present, a habit): Вони́ даду́ть мені́ ві́дповідь за́втра.
✅ Вони́ даду́ть мені́ ві́дповідь за́втра.
They'll give me an answer tomorrow.
❌ Я визьму ключі́.
Missing soft sign — the perfective future of взя́ти is візьму́, ві́зьмеш… with ь: Я візьму́ ключі́.
✅ Я візьму́ ключі́.
I'll take the keys.
Key Takeaways
- Two mirror verbs: дава́ти / да́ти "give" (thing flows to someone) ↔ бра́ти / взя́ти "take" (thing pulled from someone).
- The directional government is the lesson: дава́ти + dative recipient (да́ти кни́жку дру́гові) vs бра́ти + у/в + genitive source (взя́ти кни́жку в дру́га); the thing is accusative for both.
- Key forms: present даю́ ↔ беру́; perfective future дам (athematic) ↔ візьму́ (suppletive, soft sign); past дав/дала́ ↔ узя́в (взяв)/взяла́.
- Everyday imperatives: Дай! "give (me)" ↔ Візьми́! "take" — the handshake of passing things.
- бра́ти у когось also means "buy / get from someone"; дава́ти is "hand over / pass" — both fall out of the to/from logic.
- For the full paradigms (athematic да́ти, suppletive взя́ти, all imperatives and participles), see the give and take pages.
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- Давати / Дати (to give)A1 — Complete conjugation-and-usage reference for the aspect pair дава́ти (imperfective) / да́ти (perfective) 'to give'. The imperfective дава́ти is a regular -ва- present (даю́, дає́ш, дає́…); the perfective да́ти is one of the four ATHEMATIC verbs of Ukrainian, with the irregular set дам, даси́, дасть, дамо́, дасте́, даду́ть that means the FUTURE, not the present. Recipient in the DATIVE (дай мені́), thing given in the ACCUSATIVE (да́ти кни́жку), plus the everyday дай / дава́й imperatives.
- Брати / Взяти (to take)A2 — Complete conjugation-and-usage reference for the suppletive aspect pair бра́ти / взя́ти 'to take'. The imperfective бра́ти builds its present on a hidden бер- stem (беру́, бере́ш, бере́…), while the perfective взя́ти supplies a completely different future (візьму́, ві́зьмеш…). Covers the gendered past (брав / брала́ … узя́в / взяла́), both imperfective futures, the imperative (бери́ / візьми́), case government (accusative object), and the high-frequency idioms бра́ти у́часть 'take part' and взя́ти себе́ в ру́ки 'pull oneself together'.
- Dative: Core UsesA2 — Beyond the indirect object (дати книгу братові), the dative carries Ukrainian's whole experiencer system: the person who feels, needs, owns an age, or likes something becomes a dative while the verb goes impersonal — мені холодно 'I'm cold', мені двадцять років 'I'm twenty', мені треба йти 'I need to go', мені подобається кава 'I like coffee'.
- Accusative: Uses Beyond the Direct ObjectB1 — The accusative does more than mark the object — with в/у, на, за, під, через it marks motion TOWARD a target (іду в школу), it expresses bare-preposition duration (чекав годину 'waited an hour'), and it stands in a pivotal contrast with the locative: the same prepositions в/у and на take the accusative for direction (куди? в школу) but the locative for static location (де? в школі).
- Genitive: Possession and 'of'A2 — How Ukrainian shows possession and the English 'of' relationship — by putting the owner in the genitive AFTER the thing owned (кни́га бра́та 'the brother's book', центр мі́ста 'the centre of the city'), with no apostrophe-s and no separate word for 'of', and with the WHOLE possessor phrase declining (маши́на мого́ дру́га), contrasted with possessive pronouns like мій/твій that agree instead.
- Verb Government: Which Case for the ObjectB1 — Most Ukrainian verbs take an accusative object (читаю книгу), but a large core group governs the dative (дякую тобі, допомагаю мамі), the genitive (боюся темряви, потребую допомоги), or the instrumental (керую фірмою, ціка́влюся історією) — and the governed case is a fixed lexical property of each verb that English speakers must memorise, because none of these behave like English transitives.