Infinitives: дя́кувати (imperfective) / подя́кувати (perfective) — "to thank, to express thanks" Type: a regular first-conjugation -ува- verb; the perfective is formed simply by adding the prefix по- (по + дя́кувати)
дя́кувати / подя́кувати is among the very first verbs you use in Ukrainian, because its 1sg form дя́кую is the everyday word for "thank you." But behind that friendly word sits a grammar point English speakers stumble on constantly: the person you thank goes in the dative, not the accusative. "Thank you" feels like "thank [object] you," so learners produce дя́кую тебе́ — but Ukrainian construes thanking as offering thanks to someone, exactly like "give to" and "help to," so it must be дя́кую тобі́ (dative). The thing you are grateful for is then marked with за + accusative (дя́кую за допомо́гу). The aspect pair is otherwise perfectly regular. Stress is marked on every form below.
Present tense — imperfective дя́кувати only
Only the imperfective has a present. The -ува- of the infinitive surfaces as -у- in the personal forms (дя́ку-ю, дя́ку-єш…), and the whole paradigm is stem-stressed on дя́-.
| Person | дя́кувати — PRESENT | English |
|---|---|---|
| я | дя́кую | I thank |
| ти | дя́куєш | you thank (sg.) |
| він / вона́ / воно́ | дя́кує | he / she / it thanks |
| ми | дя́куємо | we thank |
| ви | дя́куєте | you thank (pl./formal) |
| вони́ | дя́кують | they thank |
The 1sg дя́кую is by far the most common form — it is the standalone "thank you." The plural дя́куємо is the warm "we thank you," common in speeches and on behalf of a group.
Дя́кую вам за те́плий прийо́м — мені́ було́ ду́же приє́мно.
Thank you for the warm welcome — it was very pleasant for me. (дя́кую + dative вам + за + accusative прийо́м.)
Ми щи́ро дя́куємо всім, хто прийшо́в нас підтри́мати.
We sincerely thank everyone who came to support us. (Plural дя́куємо + dative всім.)
Він ніко́ли не дя́кує офіція́нтам — мене́ це дратує́.
He never thanks the waiters — it annoys me. (Habitual present + dative офіція́нтам; note ніко́ли, the standard Ukrainian word.)
Past tense — gendered дя́кував / подя́кував…
Both aspects build a regular gendered past in -в / -ла / -ло / -ли, stem-stressed throughout. There is no person marking — only gender (singular) and plurality.
| Gender / number | дя́кувати (impf) | подя́кувати (pf) |
|---|---|---|
| masculine | дя́кував | подя́кував |
| feminine | дя́кувала | подя́кувала |
| neuter | дя́кувало | подя́кувало |
| plural | дя́кували | подя́кували |
The imperfective past describes repeated or ongoing thanking (він раз у раз дя́кував "he kept thanking"); the perfective reports a single completed act of thanks (він подя́кував і пішо́в "he said thank you and left").
Вона́ подя́кувала лі́кареві й ти́хо ви́йшла з кабіне́ту.
She thanked the doctor and quietly left the office. (Single completed act — perfective подя́кувала + dative лі́кареві.)
Він так і не подя́кував мені́ за допомо́гу.
He never did thank me for the help. (Perfective with не — the thanking never happened.)
Усі́ го́сті дя́кували госпо́дарям за чудо́вий ве́чір.
All the guests were thanking the hosts for a wonderful evening. (Repeated/ongoing — imperfective дя́кували + dative госпо́дарям.)
Future tense
The two aspects build the future in completely different ways.
Perfective подя́кувати — the simple (synthetic) future
The perfective has no present; its present-looking forms ARE its future. It is regular — just дя́кую with the prefix по-, stem-stressed on дя́.
| Person | подя́кувати — FUTURE | English |
|---|---|---|
| я | подя́кую | I'll thank |
| ти | подя́куєш | you'll thank (sg.) |
| він / вона́ / воно́ | подя́кує | he / she / it will thank |
| ми | подя́куємо | we'll thank |
| ви | подя́куєте | you'll thank (pl./formal) |
| вони́ | подя́кують | they'll thank |
Я обов’язко́во подя́кую їй особи́сто, коли́ поба́чу.
I'll be sure to thank her in person when I see her. (Perfective simple future подя́кую + dative їй.)
Зго́дом ти ще подя́куєш мені́ за цю пора́ду.
One day you'll thank me for this advice. (Perfective future подя́куєш + dative мені́ + за + accusative.)
Imperfective дя́кувати — both compound futures
The imperfective forms its future two ways, identical in meaning: the analytic future (бу́ду + infinitive) and the synthetic -му future. Both describe thanking as a repeated or ongoing future activity (less common than the perfective with this verb, but fully grammatical).
| Person | Analytic (бу́ду + inf.) | Synthetic (-му) |
|---|---|---|
| я | бу́ду дя́кувати | дя́куватиму |
| ти | бу́деш дя́кувати | дя́куватимеш |
| він / вона́ / воно́ | бу́де дя́кувати | дя́куватиме |
| ми | бу́демо дя́кувати | дя́куватимемо |
| ви | бу́дете дя́кувати | дя́куватимете |
| вони́ | бу́дуть дя́кувати | дя́куватимуть |
Я все життя́ бу́ду дя́кувати до́лі за цю зу́стріч.
I'll be thankful to fate for this meeting all my life. (Imperfective future — an enduring, ongoing gratitude.)
Imperative
The imperative is built from each aspect's present/future stem. The imperfective form дя́куй / дя́куйте is the common one — a gentle "say thank you," often to a child; the perfective adds the sense of a single, prompt act of thanks.
| Addressee | дя́кувати (impf) | подя́кувати (pf) |
|---|---|---|
| ти (informal) | дя́куй | подя́куй |
| ви (formal / plural) | дя́куйте | подя́куйте |
| 3rd person (let…) | хай / неха́й дя́кує | хай / неха́й подя́кує |
Подя́куй ба́бусі за подару́нок, синку́.
Say thank you to Granny for the present, son. (Perfective imperative подя́куй + dative ба́бусі — prompt one-off.)
Не дя́куй, це дрібни́ця.
Don't mention it, it's nothing. (Imperfective imperative + не — the standard 'you're welcome' brush-off.)
Participles and verbal adverbs
| Form | дя́кувати / подя́кувати |
|---|---|
| imperfective verbal adverb | дя́куючи "(while) thanking" |
| perfective verbal adverb | подя́кувавши "having thanked" |
Because the verb governs the dative (no accusative object), it has no past passive participle. The verbal adverbs дя́куючи / подя́кувавши are (literary / written) — Подя́кувавши всім, він сів на мі́сце "Having thanked everyone, he sat down."
Key uses & case government
1. The person thanked is DATIVE — never accusative
This is the defining fact of the verb: the one you thank is in the dative, the same construction as дава́ти "give to" and допомага́ти "help to." So дя́кую тобі́ (dat.), дя́кую вам (dat. polite/plural), дя́кую дру́зям (dat. pl.) — and never the accusative тебе́, вас, дру́зів. English speakers' instinct to mirror "thank you" with an accusative is the single most common error here. This is a headline entry in the case government of verbs; the pronoun forms live at dative uses.
Дя́кую тобі́ від усьо́го се́рця — без те́бе я б не впо́рався.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart — I couldn't have managed without you. (дя́кую + dative тобі́; note the genitive те́бе after 'без'.)
2. What you thank for → за + accusative
The reason for the thanks — the favour, gift, or help — is marked with за + accusative: дя́кую *за допомо́гу, за по́раду, за все. You can combine both: дя́кую тобі́ (dat.) за кві́ти (за + acc.)* "thank you for the flowers." See accusative uses for the за-construction.
Дя́куємо вам за терпі́ння й за те, що залиша́єтеся з на́ми.
Thank you for your patience and for staying with us. (за + accusative терпі́ння; за те, що… for a clause.)
3. The bare Дя́кую! and its strengtheners
On its own, Дя́кую! is the everyday "thank you." Common intensifiers: Дя́кую ду́же! / Ду́же дя́кую! "thank you very much," Щи́ро дя́кую "I sincerely thank you," and the warm noun phrase вели́ке дя́кую / щи́ре дя́кую (here дя́кую is felt as a neuter noun, so the adjective is neuter). For a more formal register, Ukrainian also uses the noun подя́ка "gratitude/thanks" — висло́влюю вам подя́ку "I express my thanks to you."
Ду́же дя́кую, ви мене́ ду́же ви́ручили!
Thank you so much, you've really saved me! (Intensified Ду́же дя́кую with no named recipient.)
Common Mistakes
❌ Дя́кую тебе́ за все.
Government error — the person thanked is DATIVE, not accusative: Дя́кую тобі́ за все.
✅ Дя́кую тобі́ за все.
Thank you for everything — dative тобі́.
❌ Дя́кую вас за допомо́гу.
Same error with the polite pronoun — it must be the dative вам, not the accusative вас: Дя́кую вам за допомо́гу.
✅ Дя́кую вам за допомо́гу.
Thank you for your help — dative вам + за + accusative.
❌ Дя́кую тобі́ для допомо́ги.
Wrong preposition/case for the reason — it's за + accusative, not 'для + genitive': Дя́кую тобі́ за допомо́гу.
✅ Дя́кую тобі́ за допомо́гу.
Thank you for the help — за + accusative.
❌ За́втра я бу́ду подя́кувати їй.
Aspect/future error — perfective подя́кувати already IS the future; never after бу́ду: За́втра я подя́кую їй.
✅ За́втра я подя́кую їй.
Tomorrow I'll thank her — perfective simple future подя́кую.
❌ Вона́ подя́кував лі́кареві.
Agreement error — a female subject takes the feminine подя́кувала: Вона́ подя́кувала лі́кареві.
✅ Вона́ подя́кувала лі́кареві.
She thanked the doctor — feminine подя́кувала.
Key Takeaways
- Prefix pair: imperfective дя́кувати (present: дя́кую, дя́куєш, дя́кує, дя́куємо, дя́куєте, дя́кують) vs perfective подя́кувати (future: подя́кую, подя́куєш, подя́кує, подя́куємо, подя́куєте, подя́кують) — just add по-.
- Past: дя́кував… (impf) and подя́кував / подя́кувала / подя́кувало / подя́кували (pf) — gendered, stem-stressed.
- Government — the key fact: the person thanked is DATIVE (дя́кую тобі́, вам, дру́зям), never the accusative.
- The reason: за + accusative (дя́кую за допомо́гу); the two combine as дя́кую тобі́ за кві́ти.
- The word: the bare Дя́кую! is everyday "thank you"; strengthen it as Ду́же дя́кую / Щи́ро дя́кую; imperative дя́куй / дя́куйте (impf), подя́куй / подя́куйте (pf).
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