Verb Reference: Могти, Хотіти, Мусити

Three verbs do most of the modal work in everyday Ukrainian: могти́ (to be able / may), хоті́ти (to want), and му́сити (to have to / must). All three are imperfective, all three normally take a bare infinitive, and all three have a peculiarity in their conjugation that trips up English speakers. This page gives you the complete paradigms — present, past, future, imperative — with stress marked on every form, and then shows you exactly when each verb is used and which impersonal construction (тре́ба, мо́жна, хо́четься) competes with it.

A note on what "modal verb" means here. Unlike English can/must/may, these are ordinary verbs that conjugate fully for person, tense, and number. They are not defective. The hard part is not their grammar but knowing which one a Ukrainian would actually choose — and that choice carries real meaning, which the Usage section below unpacks.

Могти́ — to be able, can, may

First-conjugation verb. The whole present tense stresses the root мо́-, and the г of the infinitive surfaces as ж throughout (г → ж alternation). The past tense is irregular and mobile-stressed: masculine міг (no suffix at all), but feminine, neuter, and plural take the ending and the stress.

Imperative. Могти́ has no everyday 2nd-person imperative — you cannot order someone to "be able." The hortative is supplied by the particle хай / неха́й plus the 3rd person: хай мо́же (let him be able). In practice you simply do not command this verb.

Хоті́ти — to want

Also first conjugation, with the irregular stem alternation т → ч: the root is хоч- in the present (хо́чу, хо́чеш…) but хоті- in the past and infinitive. Present stress sits on хо́-; past stress moves to the suffix -ті́-.

Imperative: 2sg хоти́, 1pl хоті́мо (let's…), 2pl хоті́ть. These are rare in real speech — you don't usually command someone to want — but хоті́мо ("let us want / wish") appears in elevated and poetic register.

The impersonal twin — хо́четься. Beside хоті́ти there is an impersonal reflexive form хо́четься (it is wanted to me), which takes a dative experiencer and a bare infinitive. It softens the desire, presenting it as something that comes over you rather than something you assert: Мені́ хо́четься спа́ти feels gentler and more involuntary than Я хо́чу спа́ти. The past is хоті́лося: Мені́ хоті́лося пла́кати (I felt like crying).

Му́сити — to have to, must

Second-conjugation verb. The defining mutation is in the 1st singular: с → ш, giving му́шу (not мусю). Every form stresses the root *му́-. Му́сити expresses unavoidable, often externally imposed necessity, with a stronger and more emotionally charged force than the neutral пови́нен.

Imperative: the direct imperative of му́сити is virtually unused; necessity is commanded with тре́ба, ма́єш, or a plain imperative of the main verb instead.

The competitors: вмі́ти, пови́нен, тре́ба, мо́жна

Three of these are not the modal verbs above but you must learn them together, because Ukrainian distributes "can / must" across several words.

• вмі́ти / умі́ти — to know how to (a learned skill): present вмі́ю, вмі́єш, вмі́є, вмі́ємо, вмі́єте, вмі́ють. Contrast with могти́, which is physical possibility or permission.
• пови́нен — an agreeing predicative adjective (not a verb), meaning ought to / should / is obliged: пови́нен (m), пови́нна (f), пови́нне (n), пови́нні (pl). It agrees with the subject and the tense is shown by the copula: Він пови́нен був…, Вона́ пови́нна бу́де….
• тре́ба — impersonal (it is) necessary, with dative experiencer + infinitive: Мені́ тре́ба йти. No subject in the nominative.
• мо́жна — impersonal (it is) possible / allowed: Тут мо́жна кури́ти? This is how you ask general permission, as opposed to могти́, which makes it personal.

Usage

Могти́ for ability, possibility, and permission. Use it for what is physically or circumstantially possible, and to ask or grant permission for a specific person.

That last example uses the perfective змо́жу (from змогти́), the natural choice for a single, bounded future ability. Use perfective when you mean "manage to (on one occasion)," imperfective могти́му for an ongoing capacity.

Вмі́ти for a learned skill. "Can swim, can drive, can cook" — anything you had to learn — is вмі́ти, not могти́.

Хоті́ти for what you assert that you want; хо́четься for what comes over you.

Му́сити for hard, unavoidable necessity; пови́нен for obligation; тре́ба for impersonal need.

Notice the gradient: му́сити is the most pressured and personal ("I have no choice"), пови́нен is a calm statement of duty, and тре́ба removes the agent entirely. A Ukrainian who says Я му́шу is signalling that an external force is bearing down on them.

Common Mistakes

The last error is the classic суржик slip: Russian можно for Ukrainian мо́жна. The same goes for choosing должен over пови́нен — always reach for the Ukrainian word.

Key Takeaways

• Mutations to memorise: могти́ → мо́жу (г → ж, throughout), хоті́ти → хо́чу (т → ч, present only), му́сити → му́шу (с → ш, 1sg only).
• Irregular past: міг / могла́ / могло́ / могли́ — the masculine has no suffix and shifts stress.
• Can: могти́ = possibility/permission; вмі́ти = learned skill; мо́жна = impersonal permission.
• Must: му́сити = hard necessity (emotional); пови́нен = agreeing "ought to"; тре́ба = impersonal need.
• Want: хоті́ти = asserted desire; хо́четься (+ dative) = softer, involuntary urge.