Ukrainian splits the English ground covered by "like" and "love" across three verbs, and choosing the wrong one is one of the most audible mistakes a learner makes. люби́ти is the broad word — it covers everything from "I love my mother" to "I like coffee." коха́ти is romantic love and almost nothing else. подо́батися means "to be pleasing / to appeal," and it flips the grammar inside out: the thing you like becomes the grammatical subject, and you go into the dative. This page gives a full stressed table for each of the three and then draws the lines between them. Stress is marked on every form.
1. ЛЮБИ́ТИ — general love / like (+ accusative)
люби́ти is a second-conjugation -и- verb and the default verb of affection. It carries the labial mutation б→бл in the 1sg (люблю́) and 3pl (лю́блять) — the same -л- you meet in роби́ти→роблю́ and купи́ти→куплю́. Watch the stress carefully: it lands on the ending in люблю́ but retreats to the root лю́- in every other present form.
| Person | Present | English |
|---|---|---|
| я | люблю́ | I love / like |
| ти | лю́биш | you love (sg.) |
| він / вона́ / воно́ | лю́бить | he / she / it loves |
| ми | лю́бимо | we love |
| ви | лю́бите | you love (pl./formal) |
| вони́ | лю́блять | they love |
| Form | люби́ти |
|---|---|
| past masc / fem / neut / pl | люби́в / люби́ла / люби́ло / люби́ли |
| future (analytic) | бу́ду люби́ти, бу́деш люби́ти… |
| future (synthetic -му) | люби́тиму, люби́тимеш, люби́тиме… |
| imperative | люби́ (2sg) / любі́ть (2pl) / хай лю́бить (3rd) |
| verbal adverb | лю́блячи "(while) loving" |
люби́ти is imperfective only in this sense — there is no everyday perfective "to love." Its object sits in the accusative: люблю́ му́зику "I love music," лю́бить футбо́л "loves football." With an infinitive it means "to like doing": люблю́ чита́ти "I like to read."
Я люблю́ ка́ву без цу́кру, а ти — з молоко́м.
I like my coffee without sugar, and you — with milk. (1sg люблю́ + accusative ка́ву, the everyday 'like'.)
Вони́ лю́блять гуля́ти в па́рку субо́тніми ра́нками.
They love walking in the park on Saturday mornings. (3pl лю́блять + infinitive гуля́ти = 'like doing'.)
Ма́ма лю́бить тебе́ бі́льше за все на сві́ті.
Mum loves you more than anything in the world. (люби́ти covers deep family love, not just casual liking.)
2. КОХА́ТИ — romantic love only (+ accusative)
коха́ти is the first-conjugation -а́ти verb reserved for romantic, passionate love between partners. It is fully regular — no mutation, fixed stress on -а́- — but its meaning is narrow: you коха́єш a sweetheart, spouse, or beloved, and essentially nothing else. Use it for a person (or, by poetic extension, a homeland: коха́ти Украї́ну is elevated/patriotic register). Never for food, hobbies, or pets.
| Person | Present | English |
|---|---|---|
| я | коха́ю | I love (romantically) |
| ти | коха́єш | you love (sg.) |
| він / вона́ / воно́ | коха́є | he / she loves |
| ми | коха́ємо | we love |
| ви | коха́єте | you love (pl./formal) |
| вони́ | коха́ють | they love |
| Form | коха́ти |
|---|---|
| past masc / fem / neut / pl | коха́в / коха́ла / коха́ло / коха́ли |
| future (analytic) | бу́ду коха́ти, бу́деш коха́ти… |
| future (synthetic -му) | коха́тиму, коха́тимеш, коха́тиме… |
| imperative | коха́й (2sg) / коха́йте (2pl) / хай коха́є (3rd) |
The phrase Я тебе́ коха́ю "I love you" is what you say to a romantic partner; Я тебе́ люблю́ is gentler and works for family, friends, even children. The related noun is коха́ння "(romantic) love" and коха́ний / коха́на "beloved, sweetheart."
Я тебе́ коха́ю і хо́чу прожи́ти з тобо́ю все життя́.
I love you and want to spend my whole life with you. (коха́ти — romantic love, said to a partner.)
Вона́ й до́сі коха́є того́, кого́ зустрі́ла два́дцять ро́ків тому́.
She still loves the man she met twenty years ago. (3sg коха́є, lasting romantic love.)
3. ПОДО́БАТИСЯ — to appeal, to be pleasing (+ dative experiencer)
This is the verb English speakers get wrong the most, because it reverses the roles. подо́батися does not mean "to like" with you as subject — it means "to be pleasing to." The thing you like is the grammatical subject (nominative), and you — the person doing the liking — go into the dative. So "I like this song" is literally "to-me is-pleasing this song": мені́ подо́бається ця пі́сня. Because the real subject is the liked thing, the verb agrees with it, which is why in practice you almost only ever meet the 3sg подо́бається and 3pl подо́баються.
| Person (the liked thing) | Present | English |
|---|---|---|
| я (rare) | подо́баюся | I appeal / am liked |
| ти (rare) | подо́баєшся | you appeal |
| він / вона́ / воно́ | подо́бається | it is pleasing → "(I/you/he) like it" |
| ми (rare) | подо́баємося | we appeal |
| ви (rare) | подо́баєтеся | you appeal |
| вони́ | подо́баються | they are pleasing → "(I) like them" |
| Form | подо́батися |
|---|---|
| past masc / fem / neut / pl | подо́бався / подо́балася / подо́балося / подо́балися |
| future (analytic) | бу́де подо́батися, бу́дуть подо́батися… |
| future (synthetic -му) | подо́батиметься, подо́батимуться |
| imperative (rare) | хай подо́бається (3rd) "let it please" |
Note the -ся: подо́батися is reflexive and can never drop it. The experiencer-dative pronouns are the everyday set — мені́ "to me," тобі́ "to you," йому́ / їй "to him / her," нам, вам, їм. The perfective сподо́батися marks the moment of taking a liking — "to come to like, to take a fancy to" — and is extremely common in the past: Мені́ сподо́балося "I liked it (and that's a settled fact now)."
Мені́ ду́же подо́бається це мі́сто — особли́во ста́ре мі́сто й на́бережна.
I really like this city — especially the old town and the embankment. (dative мені́ + 3sg подо́бається; the city is the subject.)
Тобі́ подо́баються украї́нські пісні́?
Do you like Ukrainian songs? (dative тобі́ + 3pl подо́баються, because 'songs' is plural and is the subject.)
Нам сподо́бався фільм, хоч кіне́ць був тро́хи дивни́й.
We liked the film, though the ending was a bit strange. (perfective past сподо́бався — agreeing with masc. фільм, not with 'we'.)
Government at a glance
The single most important table on this page is which case each verb governs. Get this and you have the system.
| Verb | You (the liker) | The liked thing | Literal logic |
|---|---|---|---|
| люби́ти | NOMINATIVE (subject) | ACCUSATIVE | "I love X" |
| коха́ти | NOMINATIVE (subject) | ACCUSATIVE | "I love X (romantic)" |
| подо́батися | DATIVE | NOMINATIVE (subject) | "X is pleasing to me" |
люби́ти vs подо́батися — "like" overlaps, but the feel differs
Both люби́ти and подо́батися can translate English "like," and they sometimes overlap, but they are not interchangeable. люби́ти states a stable, enduring affection or taste — я люблю́ джаз "I love/like jazz (it's part of who I am)." подо́батися is more of a reaction or impression, often situational — мені́ подо́бається ця пі́сня "I like this song (it appeals to me right now)." For a one-off impression — a new haircut, a dish you just tried — подо́батися is far more natural than люби́ти.
Я люблю́ кла́сику, але́ сього́дні мені́ бі́льше подо́бається щось спокі́йніше.
I love classical music, but today I'm more in the mood for something calmer. (люблю́ = stable taste; подо́бається = today's reaction — both in one sentence.)
Common Mistakes
❌ Я люби́ ка́ву.
Wrong 1sg — люби́ти has the labial mutation б→бл in the first person: it must be люблю́, not *люби́. (люби́ is the imperative 'love!')
✅ Я люблю́ ка́ву.
I like coffee.
❌ Я коха́ю ка́ву.
Wrong verb — коха́ти is romantic love between people only. For liking coffee use люби́ти: Я люблю́ ка́ву. (Я коха́ю ка́ву sounds absurd to a native.)
✅ Я люблю́ ка́ву.
I like coffee.
❌ Я подо́баюся це мі́сто.
Role error — with подо́батися you are not the subject. The city is the subject and you go into the DATIVE: Мені́ подо́бається це мі́сто.
✅ Мені́ подо́бається це мі́сто.
I like this city.
❌ Мені́ подо́баюся ці кни́жки.
Agreement error — the verb agrees with the liked thing (plural кни́жки), so it must be 3pl подо́баються, not подо́баюся: Мені́ подо́баються ці кни́жки.
✅ Мені́ подо́баються ці кни́жки.
I like these books.
❌ Ти подо́баєш мені́.
Missing -ся — подо́батися is reflexive and cannot drop it: Ти подо́баєшся мені́. (And note: here YOU are the subject — 'you are pleasing to me' = 'I like you'.)
✅ Ти подо́баєшся мені́.
I like you. (lit. you are pleasing to me)
Key Takeaways
- люби́ти (+ accusative) = the broad "love/like" — people, food, hobbies, ideas. 1sg люблю́ with б→бл, then root-stress лю́биш / лю́бить / лю́бимо / лю́бите / лю́блять.
- коха́ти (+ accusative) = romantic love only, between partners. Regular: коха́ю / коха́єш / коха́є…; Я тебе́ коха́ю.
- подо́батися = "to be pleasing": the liked thing is the nominative subject, you are in the dative — мені́ подо́бається / подо́баються. Almost always 3sg/3pl; never drops -ся.
- The perfective сподо́батися marks "to take a liking to," common in the past: мені́ сподо́балося.
- Decision rule: deep/general love → люби́ти; romantic → коха́ти; an impression that appeals to you → подо́батися (flip to dative).
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- Любити (to love / like)A1 — Complete conjugation-and-usage reference for люби́ти 'to love / to like' — a second-conjugation verb with the labial л-insertion in BOTH the 1sg люблю́ and the 3pl лю́блять (but лю́биш, лю́бить, лю́бимо, лю́бите between them), and the stress retracting to the stem after люблю́. Covers the gendered past, both imperfective futures, the imperative люби́, the accusative object (люблю́ ка́ву, люблю́ тебе́) and the + infinitive pattern (люблю́ чита́ти), the perfective полюби́ти 'come to love', and the contrast with подо́батися for a milder 'like'.
- Подобатися (to be pleasing / to like)A2 — Complete conjugation-and-usage reference for подо́батися 'to be pleasing / to like' — the model EXPERIENCER-DATIVE verb where the liker goes in the dative (Мені́ подо́бається…) and the thing liked is the nominative subject that controls agreement (подо́бається ця кни́га, подо́баються ці кни́ги). Covers the imperfective present, the gendered past, both imperfective futures, the imperative, the perfective сподо́батися, and the contrast with люби́ти (accusative).
- 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.
- 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).
- Present Tense: Second ConjugationA1 — The second conjugation (друга дієвідміна) takes the present endings -у/-ю, -иш/-їш, -ить/-їть, -имо/-їмо, -ите/-їте, -ать/-ять, built on the theme vowel -и-/-ї- with a 3pl in -ать/-ять. Drill three models: regular говори́ти (говорю́, гово́риш, гово́рить… гово́рять), labial+л in the 1sg люби́ти (люблю́, лю́биш… лю́блять), and dental mutation in the 1sg ходи́ти (ходжу́, хо́диш… хо́дять) and ба́чити (ба́чу, ба́чиш… ба́чать — -ать, not -ять, after the hushing ч). The key insight: the mutation is confined to the я-form.