Infinitive (imperfective): гуля́ти — "to stroll, take a walk, hang out, spend time pleasantly" Perfective partner: погуля́ти — "to take a walk / hang out (for a while)" Type: a fully regular first-conjugation -я- verb — no stem changes, no mobile stress
гуля́ти is the verb for spending time outdoors and at leisure: strolling for pleasure, walking the dog, kids playing outside, friends hanging out together. It is not a verb of getting somewhere — that is the job of ходи́ти / іти́. гуля́ти has no destination; the whole point is the unhurried time itself. Its great virtue for a learner is that it is mechanically regular: take the stem гуля-, add the standard -ю/-єш endings, keep the stress on -ля́- in every single form. Once you can conjugate гуля́ти you can conjugate the whole first-conjugation -я- family. The perfective погуля́ти adds the «по-» of "do a bit of," giving "have a walk / hang out for a while."
Present tense — гуля́ю / гуля́єш…
A textbook regular first-conjugation present off the гуля- stem with j-glide endings, stem-stressed on -ля́- throughout.
| Person | гуля́ти — PRESENT | English |
|---|---|---|
| я | гуля́ю | I stroll / am strolling / hang out |
| ти | гуля́єш | you stroll (sg.) |
| він / вона́ / воно́ | гуля́є | he / she / it strolls |
| ми | гуля́ємо | we stroll |
| ви | гуля́єте | you stroll (pl./formal) |
| вони́ | гуля́ють | they stroll |
Щонеді́лі ми гуля́ємо в па́рку й годуємо ка́чок.
Every Sunday we stroll in the park and feed the ducks. — habitual present гуля́ємо + по/в location.
Ді́ти ці́лий день гуля́ють на подві́р’ї.
The kids are out playing in the yard all day. — present гуля́ють, 'be out playing'.
Past tense — гуля́в / гуля́ла…
A regular gendered past in -в / -ла / -ло / -ли, stress fixed on -ля́-.
| Gender / number | гуля́ти — PAST | English |
|---|---|---|
| masculine | гуля́в | (he / I m.) strolled / was out |
| feminine | гуля́ла | (she / I f.) strolled / was out |
| neuter | гуля́ло | (it) strolled |
| plural | гуля́ли | (we / you / they) strolled / hung out |
Учо́ра ми до́вго гуля́ли над рі́чкою й геть забу́ли про час.
Yesterday we strolled along the river for ages and completely lost track of time. — imperfective past гуля́ли.
Future tense
Perfective погуля́ти — the simple future
The perfective погуля́ти ("to walk / hang out for a while") forms its future from its present-shaped set, also stem-stressed on -ля́-. The «по-» bounds the activity: not "stroll on and on" but "go for a walk, have some time out."
| Person | погуля́ти — FUTURE | English |
|---|---|---|
| я | погуля́ю | I'll take a walk |
| ти | погуля́єш | you'll take a walk |
| він / вона́ / воно́ | погуля́є | he / she / it will take a walk |
| ми | погуля́ємо | we'll take a walk |
| ви | погуля́єте | you'll take a walk |
| вони́ | погуля́ють | they'll take a walk |
Пого́да чудо́ва — дава́й погуля́ємо ще пів годи́ни.
The weather's lovely — let's walk for another half hour. — perfective погуля́ємо, a bounded stroll.
Imperfective гуля́ти — both compound futures
For an ongoing or repeated future strolling, the imperfective builds the analytic (бу́ду + infinitive) or synthetic (-му) future.
| Person | Analytic (бу́ду + inf.) | Synthetic (-му) |
|---|---|---|
| я | бу́ду гуля́ти | гуля́тиму |
| ти | бу́деш гуля́ти | гуля́тимеш |
| він / вона́ / воно́ | бу́де гуля́ти | гуля́тиме |
| ми | бу́демо гуля́ти | гуля́тимемо |
| ви | бу́дете гуля́ти | гуля́тимете |
| вони́ | бу́дуть гуля́ти | гуля́тимуть |
На кані́кулах онуки́ ці́лими дня́ми гуля́тимуть надво́рі.
During the holidays the grandkids will be out playing all day long. — synthetic future гуля́тимуть, an ongoing future.
Imperative
The imperfective гуля́й / гуля́йте is the everyday "go have a walk, enjoy yourself." Note that Гуля́й! on its own can also mean a breezy "off you go / have fun!"
| Addressee | гуля́ти |
|---|---|
| ти (informal) | гуля́й |
| ви (formal / plural) | гуля́йте |
| 3rd person (let…) | хай / неха́й гуля́є |
Іди́ гуля́й з друзя́ми, уро́ки вже зро́блено.
Go and hang out with your friends, your homework's done. — imperative гуля́й + з + instrumental.
Verbal adverbs
| Form | гуля́ти |
|---|---|
| imperfective verbal adverb | гуля́ючи "(while) strolling" |
| related noun | прогу́лянка "a walk, an outing" |
The everyday noun for "a walk / an outing" is прогу́лянка — піти́ на прогу́лянку "to go for a walk." The verbal adverb гуля́ючи is light and common in speech: Гуля́ючи мі́стом, ми наткну́лися на стари́й книга́рню "Strolling through the city, we stumbled on an old bookshop."
Key uses & case government
1. Where you stroll — по + locative or в/на + locative
The place you stroll around takes по + locative ("around, through": по па́рку, по мі́сту, по бе́резі) or simply в/на + locative for being in a place (в па́рку, на пля́жі, на свіжому пові́трі). гуля́ти has no direct object and no destination — it is intransitive.
Ми лю́бимо гуля́ти по старо́му мі́сту вве́чері, коли́ ме́нше люде́й.
We love strolling around the old town in the evening, when there are fewer people. — по + locative мі́сту.
Вона́ годи́ну гуля́ла на на́бережній, щоб провітри́ти го́лову.
She walked along the embankment for an hour to clear her head. — на + locative на́бережній.
2. Who you're with — з + instrumental
The company takes з + instrumental: з друзя́ми "with friends," з соба́кою "with the dog," з дити́ною "with the child."
Ти не хо́чеш погуля́ти з на́ми пі́сля па́ри?
Do you want to hang out with us after class? — з + instrumental на́ми.
Ра́нком я завжди́ гуля́ю з соба́кою хвили́н два́дцять.
In the morning I always walk the dog for about twenty minutes. — з + instrumental соба́кою.
3. гуля́ти vs ходи́ти / іти́ — leisure vs getting there
This is the line English speakers blur. гуля́ти = spend leisure time on foot, no goal. ходи́ти = go (on foot), habitually, to places. іти́ = be going/walking in one direction now. "I'm walking to the shop" is я йду до магази́ну (іти́), not я гуля́ю до магази́ну. The moment a destination appears, drop гуля́ти.
Я не йду ніку́ди конкре́тно — про́сто гуля́ю.
I'm not going anywhere in particular — just strolling. — гуля́ти (no goal) vs іти́ (going somewhere).
4. The festive / 'hang out' sense
гуля́ти also means "to make merry, celebrate, party": гуля́ти весі́лля "to celebrate a wedding," усе́ село́ гуля́ло "the whole village was celebrating." In casual youth speech it overlaps with "hang out, mess around."
Уве́сь дві́р гуля́в на тому весі́ллі до сві́танку.
The whole courtyard partied at that wedding until dawn. — festive sense of гуля́ти.
Common Mistakes
❌ Я гуля́ю до робо́ти пі́шки.
Wrong verb — гуля́ти is leisure with no goal; 'I walk to work' is the destination verb ходи́ти: Я ходжу́ на робо́ту пі́шки.
✅ Я ходжу́ на робо́ту пі́шки.
I walk to work.
❌ Ми гуля́ли парк.
Missing preposition/case — the place strolled takes по + locative (or в + locative), never a bare accusative: Ми гуля́ли по па́рку / в па́рку.
✅ Ми гуля́ли по па́рку.
We strolled around the park.
❌ Я гуля́ю з друзі́в.
Wrong case — company takes з + INSTRUMENTAL, not the genitive: з друзя́ми.
✅ Я гуля́ю з друзя́ми.
I hang out with friends.
❌ Я бу́ду погуля́ти ввечері.
бу́ду takes an IMPERFECTIVE infinitive; the perfective погуля́ти forms its own future: Я погуля́ю вве́чері (a bounded walk) or Я бу́ду гуля́ти вве́чері (ongoing).
✅ Я погуля́ю вве́чері.
I'll go for a walk in the evening.
Now practice Ukrainian
Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.
Start learning Ukrainian→Related Topics
- Present Tense: First ConjugationA1 — The first conjugation (пе́рша дієвідмі́на) takes the present endings -у/-ю, -еш/-єш, -е/-є, -емо/-ємо, -ете/-єте, -уть/-ють, built on the theme vowel -е-/-є- with a 3pl in -уть/-ють. Drill three models: vowel-stem чита́ти (чита́ю, чита́єш…), consonant-stem нести́ (несу́, несе́ш…), mutating писа́ти (пишу́, пи́шеш…), могти́ (можу́…), and the huge -увати/-ювати class (працюва́ти → працю́ю).
- Verbal Aspect: The Big PictureA2 — Aspect is the central, pervasive feature of the Ukrainian verb: nearly every verb belongs to an aspect PAIR — imperfective (недоко́наний вид), which views an action as a process, ongoing, repeated, or general (чита́ти), and perfective (доко́наний вид), which views it as a single completed whole with a result or boundary (прочита́ти). The consequences are sharp: imperfectives have a present, a past, and BOTH futures (бу́ду чита́ти / чита́тиму); perfectives have NO present — their present-shaped form is future (прочита́ю = 'I will read it through') — only a past (прочита́в) and a simple future (прочита́ю). Aspect is chosen for EVERY verb in EVERY clause; it is not optional, and it has no English equivalent.
- Іти vs Ходити (Go on Foot)A2 — The foot-motion pair. ІТИ́ (іду́, іде́ш; past ішо́в/йшов, ішла́) = ONE trip in one direction, now or planned: Я йду́ в шко́лу. ХОДИ́ТИ (хо́джу, хо́диш; past ходи́в, ходи́ла) = habitual/repeated, round-trip, or 'be able to walk': Я хо́джу до шко́ли щодня́; Дити́на вже хо́дить. Past subtlety: ходи́в = went and came back; ішо́в/йшов = was on the way.
- Locative: Uses (Location, Time, Topic)A2 — What the locative does — static location with у/в and на (у шко́лі, на столі́, у Ки́єві), the crucial case-not-preposition contrast with the accusative (я в шко́лі 'at school' vs іду́ в шко́лу 'to school'), calendar time with у/в (у сі́чні, у 1991 ро́ці), clock time with о + locative (о тре́тій годи́ні), 'around/along' with по (по мі́сту), and 'at/with' with при.
- Instrumental: Core UsesA2 — What the instrumental does — the bare 'by means of' (писа́ти ру́чкою, ї́хати авто́бусом, говори́ти украї́нською) with no preposition, the predicate noun after past/future/infinitive of бу́ти and after ста́ти/працюва́ти (він був учи́телем, хо́чу ста́ти лі́карем), companionship with з (з дру́гом, чай з цу́кром), route (іти́ лі́сом), and time adverbials (вра́нці, весно́ю).
- Ходити (to go / walk — multidirectional)A2 — Complete conjugation-and-usage reference for ходи́ти 'to go on foot, to walk' — the MULTIDIRECTIONAL member of the іти́ / ходи́ти motion pair. Covers the present (ходжу́ with д→дж only in the 1sg, then хо́диш / хо́дить / хо́димо / хо́дите / хо́дять), the gendered past where ходи́в means a completed round trip, both imperfective futures, the imperative ході́ть and the hortative ході́мо 'let's go', the habit / round-trip / ability meanings (ходжу́ до шко́ли щодня́; дити́на вже хо́дить), and the prefixed imperfectives прихо́дити, вихо́дити.