Infinitive (imperfective): кошту́вати — "to cost, to be worth (a price)" Type: a defective, 3rd-person-dominant imperfective verb — it almost never appears outside the third person and has no everyday perfective partner
кошту́вати is the verb you reach for to ask and state prices — Скі́льки кошту́є? "How much is it?", Кни́га кошту́є сто гри́вень "The book costs a hundred hryvnias." It is unusual in two ways that matter. First, it is defective: because only things cost money, the subject is almost always a thing, and you essentially only ever use the 3rd-person forms — кошту́є (singular) and кошту́ють (plural). The я / ти / ми / ви forms exist on paper but you will go your whole life rarely needing them. Second, it is imperfective-only in everyday use: there is no common perfective "to cost," so it simply stays imperfective and lets context supply tense. Keep it strictly apart from плати́ти / заплати́ти "to pay": a thing costs, a person pays. Stress is marked on every form below.
Present tense — кошту́є / кошту́ють (3rd person in practice)
кошту́вати is a regular -ува- verb: the -ува- of the infinitive becomes -у- before the endings, giving the stem кошту́- and the regular set. Stress is fixed on -у- throughout. The full paradigm is given for completeness, but the two rows you will actually use — and that carry essentially all real-world frequency — are the 3sg кошту́є and 3pl кошту́ють.
| Person | кошту́вати — PRESENT | Note |
|---|---|---|
| я | кошту́ю | rare — "I cost" (only of a person's services) |
| ти | кошту́єш | rare |
| він / вона́ / воно́ (it) | кошту́є | the everyday form — "(it) costs" |
| ми | кошту́ємо | rare |
| ви | кошту́єте | rare |
| вони́ (they) | кошту́ють | the everyday plural — "(they) cost" |
The 1st/2nd-person forms only make sense in the rare case of a person describing the price of their own services — Я кошту́ю недо́рого "I don't charge much" — which is colloquial and uncommon. For real life, master кошту́є and кошту́ють.
Скі́льки кошту́є квито́к до Льво́ва?
How much does a ticket to Lviv cost? (the everyday price question — 3sg кошту́є, the ticket is the subject.)
Ці кросі́вки кошту́ють як мій мі́сячний бюдже́т на ї́жу.
These trainers cost as much as my monthly food budget. (3pl кошту́ють — plural subject кросі́вки.)
Скі́льки це все ра́зом кошту́є?
How much does all of this cost together? (Скі́льки + 3sg кошту́є — no 'I' in the sentence at all.)
Past tense — кошту́вав / кошту́вало
The past keeps the stem кошту́ва- with the gendered -в / -ла / -ло / -ли endings; stress stays on -у-. Because the subject is usually a thing, you will overwhelmingly meet the neuter кошту́вало (for words like це "this," все "everything") and the plural кошту́вали, alongside masculine/feminine agreeing with the noun (квито́к кошту́вав, су́кня кошту́вала).
| Gender / number (of the thing) | кошту́вати — PAST | English |
|---|---|---|
| masculine | кошту́вав | (it / he) cost |
| feminine | кошту́вала | (it / she) cost |
| neuter | кошту́вало | (it) cost — the common form with це / все |
| plural | кошту́вали | (they) cost |
Рік тому́ той са́мий телефо́н кошту́вав на ти́сячу деше́вше.
A year ago the same phone cost a thousand less. (past masculine кошту́вав — телефо́н is masculine.)
Усе́ свя́то кошту́вало нам ці́лий ста́ток.
The whole celebration cost us a fortune. (neuter past кошту́вало with the figurative 'cost someone' — see below.)
Future tense — both imperfective futures
кошту́вати is imperfective, so its future is built either analytically with бу́де / бу́дуть + infinitive or synthetically with the -ме / -муть form. In practice, again, only the 3rd-person futures occur.
| Subject | Analytic (бу́де + inf.) | Synthetic (-ме) |
|---|---|---|
| it (3sg) | бу́де кошту́вати | кошту́ватиме |
| they (3pl) | бу́дуть кошту́вати | кошту́ватимуть |
З нови́м пода́тком пальне́ кошту́ватиме ще бі́льше.
With the new tax, fuel will cost even more. (synthetic future кошту́ватиме — a price in the future.)
Бою́ся, ремо́нт бу́де кошту́вати нам ду́же до́рого.
I'm afraid the repairs will cost us a great deal. (analytic future бу́де кошту́вати + dative нам.)
On the "missing" perfective and the imperative
Because кошту́вати describes a state (a price is true or it isn't), it has no everyday perfective and essentially no imperative — you cannot command a thing to cost something. (You may rarely see a derived prefixed perfective like закошту́вати in marginal or dialectal use, but it is not part of standard everyday Ukrainian — do not produce it.) This is normal for "static" verbs of value and measurement. Treat кошту́вати as a verb that simply is imperfective, full stop.
| Form | кошту́вати |
|---|---|
| everyday perfective | — (none; verb is imperfective-only) |
| imperative | — (none in normal use) |
| verbal adverb | кошту́ючи "(while) costing" (rare, literary) |
Key uses & case government
1. The price in the accusative — кошту́вати + accusative amount
The subject is the thing; the price is its direct object in the accusative: кошту́є сто гри́вень, кошту́є бага́то гро́шей. With cardinal numbers, the noun after them follows the usual numeral-agreement rules (кошту́є дві гри́вні, кошту́є п’ять гри́вень). See accusative uses.
Ча́шка ка́ви тут кошту́є со́рок п’ять гри́вень.
A cup of coffee here costs forty-five hryvnias. (3sg кошту́є + accusative price.)
2. The question Скі́льки кошту́є? — "how much does it cost?"
The set question is Скі́льки кошту́є + [thing]? for one item and Скі́льки кошту́ють + [things]? for several. See wh-questions. This is one of the most useful sentences for a traveller.
Скі́льки кошту́ють оці́ помідо́ри за кіло́?
How much are these tomatoes per kilo? (Скі́льки + 3pl кошту́ють, plural subject.)
3. Figurative — кошту́вати + dative person + accusative cost
кошту́вати also means "to cost (someone) dearly" in a non-monetary sense: the person affected goes in the dative, the cost (effort, health, a mistake) in the accusative. Це кошту́вало їй здоро́в’я "It cost her her health." This sense is common and idiomatic.
Та необере́жність кошту́вала йому́ робо́ти.
That carelessness cost him his job. (figurative: dative йому́ + accusative робо́ти 'his job'.)
4. кошту́вати vs плати́ти — cost vs pay
The pairing to lock in: a thing кошту́є (costs), a person пла́тить (pays). They take different subjects and answer different questions — Скі́льки кошту́є? "How much does it cost?" vs Скі́льки ти заплати́в? "How much did you pay?" See плати́ти / заплати́ти.
Квито́к кошту́є двісті, але́ я заплати́в сто п’ятдеся́т зі зни́жкою.
The ticket costs two hundred, but I paid a hundred and fifty with the discount. (кошту́є — the ticket; заплати́в — I.)
5. кошту́вати vs ва́рто — "cost" vs "be worth it"
Don't confuse кошту́вати with the impersonal ва́рто "(it's) worth (doing)." кошту́вати states a price; ва́рто states worthwhileness and is followed by an infinitive: Ва́рто спро́бувати "It's worth a try." The two meet in the everyday phrase about value for money — Воно́ ва́рте свої́х гро́шей "It's worth its money / worth the price," where the short adjective ва́рте (agreeing with the thing) does the work, not кошту́вати. To say something is too expensive, you reach for до́рого / заба́гато кошту́є; to say it's cheap, деше́во / недо́рого кошту́є.
Маши́на кошту́є чима́ло, але́ вона́ ва́рта ко́жної копі́йки.
The car costs a fair bit, but it's worth every penny. (кошту́є = the price; ва́рта = worth it — two different ideas in one sentence.)
Скі́льки б це не кошту́вало, ва́рто це зроби́ти.
However much it costs, it's worth doing. (кошту́вало = the price; ва́рто + infinitive = worthwhile.)
Common Mistakes
❌ Я кошту́ю двісті гри́вень за цю кни́гу.
Wrong subject — a person doesn't 'cost'; the THING costs and you have no place as subject: Кни́га кошту́є двісті гри́вень. (To say what you paid, use плати́ти: Я заплати́в двісті за кни́гу.)
✅ Кни́га кошту́є двісті гри́вень.
The book costs two hundred hryvnias.
❌ Скі́льки ти кошту́єш за квито́к?
Wrong verb and subject — you ask the price of the THING, not the person: Скі́льки кошту́є квито́к? (Скі́льки ти заплати́в за квито́к? asks what you paid.)
✅ Скі́льки кошту́є квито́к?
How much does the ticket cost?
❌ Ці кросі́вки кошту́є ти́сячу.
Agreement error — the verb agrees with the plural subject кросі́вки, so it must be 3pl кошту́ють: Ці кросі́вки кошту́ють ти́сячу.
✅ Ці кросі́вки кошту́ють ти́сячу.
These trainers cost a thousand.
❌ Скі́льки це закошту́вало?
Invented perfective — кошту́вати has no everyday perfective. Use the plain imperfective past: Скі́льки це кошту́вало?
✅ Скі́льки це кошту́вало?
How much did this cost?
❌ Кни́га кошту́є за двісті гри́вень.
Extra preposition — the price after кошту́вати is a bare accusative, with no за: Кни́га кошту́є двісті гри́вень. (за + accusative belongs with плати́ти / купи́ти, not кошту́вати.)
✅ Кни́га кошту́є двісті гри́вень.
The book costs two hundred hryvnias.
Key Takeaways
- кошту́вати = "to cost" — a defective, 3rd-person-dominant verb; in real use you need only кошту́є (sg.) and кошту́ють (pl.), present, and кошту́вав / кошту́вало / кошту́вали in the past.
- No everyday perfective, no imperative — it is imperfective-only; don't invent *закошту́вати.
- Government: the thing is the subject, the price is a bare accusative (Кни́га кошту́є сто гри́вень) — no за. Figuratively, "cost someone (effort/health)" = dative person + accusative cost.
- The traveller's sentence: Скі́льки це кошту́є? / Скі́льки кошту́ють…? — agree the verb with the thing.
- Cost vs pay: a thing кошту́є, a person пла́тить — different subjects, different questions.
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- Verb Reference: Платити / Заплатити (to pay)A2 — Complete conjugation-and-usage reference for the aspect pair плати́ти (imperfective) / заплати́ти (perfective) 'to pay'. The imperfective плати́ти is a second-conjugation -и- verb with the dental mutation т→ч in the 1sg плачу́ (then пла́тиш, пла́тить…); the perfective заплати́ти adds the prefix за-. Core government: за + ACCUSATIVE for the thing paid for (заплати́ти за ка́ву), DATIVE for the recipient (заплати́ти продавце́ві), and a clean contrast with кошту́вати 'to cost'.
- Купувати / Купити (to buy)A2 — Complete conjugation-and-usage reference for the aspect pair купува́ти (imperfective) / купи́ти (perfective) 'to buy'. The imperfective купува́ти is a textbook -ува-/-у- verb (купу́ю, купу́єш, купу́є…); the perfective купи́ти is a second-conjugation -и- verb with the labial mutation п→пл in the 1sg куплю́ and 3pl ку́плять (but plain ку́пиш, ку́пить). Object in the ACCUSATIVE (купи́ти хліб), recipient in the DATIVE (купи́ти пода́рунок ма́мі), and the GENITIVE PARTITIVE for 'some' (купи́ти цу́кру).
- What the Imperfective MeansA2 — The imperfective (недоко́наний вид) is the aspect of process, habit, simultaneity, and — crucially — of simply naming an activity without caring whether it finished: чита́ти, чита́ю, чита́в. It is the ONLY aspect with a real present, the default for repeated and backgrounded action, and the form Ukrainian uses to ask whether something was ever done at all (Ти диви́вся цей фільм? 'have you seen this film?').
- 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).
- Money, Age, and Everyday CountingA2 — The numeral-agreement rule made practical: counting money (одна́ гри́вня, дві гри́вні, п’ять гри́вень), asking and stating prices (Скі́льки ко́штує? — ко́штує п’ять гри́вень), and the dative-experiencer age construction (Мені́ два́дцять ро́ків) where 'year' is suppletive — рік (1), ро́ки (2–4), ро́ків (5+) — so 'I am five' literally says 'to-me five years' with no verb 'to be'.
- Wh-Questions (Хто, Що, Де, Коли, Чому, Як)A1 — Ukrainian wh-questions put the question word FIRST and keep the rest in statement order — no do-support, no inversion: Де ти живе́ш? 'where do you live?', Що ти ро́биш? 'what are you doing?', Чому́ ти пла́чеш? 'why are you crying?'. Pronominal question words DECLINE for their role in the clause, so the case is a grammatical signal English lacks: Кому́ ти телефону́єш? 'who(m) are you calling?' (dative, because телефонува́ти governs dative), З ким ти був? 'who were you with?' (instrumental). Prepositions front with the question word (Зві́дки?, Про що?, З ким?), and the intonation falls rather than rises.