Infinitive (imperfective): переко́нувати — "to convince, to persuade, to try to convince" Perfective partner: перекона́ти — "to convince (successfully), to talk round" Type: an aspect pair with a stress shift between aspects — root-stressed imperfective, suffix-stressed perfective
переко́нувати / перекона́ти is the verb you reach for when one mind works on another: arguing someone into a position, talking a friend out of a bad idea, getting a board to approve a plan. The aspectual contrast is unusually clean here because "convince" is a near-textbook achievement verb in English too. Imperfective переко́нувати = try to convince, work on persuading, argue the case — with no promise the other person budged. Perfective перекона́ти = succeed, win them over — the mind actually changed. "I argued with him all evening but couldn't convince him" puts the long imperfective process against the failed perfective result.
The verb has three competing governments — + accusative + у + locative ("convince of something"), + щоб/що-clause ("convince that / convince to"), and + infinitive ("convince to do") — and the choice between them is where English speakers stumble, because English uses "convince" for all three. Stress is marked on every form.
Present tense — переко́ную / переко́нуєш (imperfective only)
Imperfective переко́нувати is a -ува- verb: the infinitive's -ува- collapses to -у- in the present, giving first-conjugation j-glide endings on the stem переко́ну-. Stress stays glued to the root -ко́- throughout — this is the form to fix in your ear, because the perfective will pull the stress away.
| Person | переко́нувати — PRESENT | English |
|---|---|---|
| я | переко́ную | I'm convincing / try to convince |
| ти | переко́нуєш | you convince (sg.) |
| він / вона́ / воно́ | переко́нує | he / she / it convinces |
| ми | переко́нуємо | we convince |
| ви | переко́нуєте | you convince (pl./formal) |
| вони́ | переко́нують | they convince |
The imperfective present describes the ongoing effort — the arguing, the case being made — with the outcome left open.
Я вже пів години його́ переко́ную, а він і слу́хати не хо́че.
I've been trying to convince him for half an hour now, and he won't even listen. (Imperfective переко́ную — the effort is in progress, success is not implied.)
Ці ци́фри переко́нують краще за будь-яку́ обіця́нку.
These figures are more convincing than any promise. (Habitual / general truth — переко́нують.)
Past tense — переко́нував (impf) vs перекона́в (pf)
The two pasts differ in stress as well as meaning. Imperfective переко́нував keeps the root stress and means "was trying to convince / kept arguing"; perfective перекона́в carries the -на́- stress and means "convinced (and it worked)."
| Gender / number | переко́нувати (impf) | перекона́ти (pf) |
|---|---|---|
| masculine | переко́нував | перекона́в |
| feminine | переко́нувала | перекона́ла |
| neuter | переко́нувало | перекона́ло |
| plural | переко́нували | перекона́ли |
The contrast is exactly "tried to convince" vs "managed to convince." This is one of those verbs where the aspect carries the whole story: with переко́нував the listener may well have stayed unmoved; with перекона́в the mind changed.
Ба́тько до́вго переко́нував мене́ не ки́дати навча́ння, і врешті́-решт перекона́в.
My father spent a long time trying to talk me out of dropping my studies, and in the end he succeeded. (переко́нував = the long effort; перекона́в = the result landed.)
Адвока́т перекона́в при́сяжних у невинува́тості клі́єнта.
The lawyer convinced the jury of the client's innocence. (Perfective перекона́в — the jury was won over.)
Future tense
Perfective перекона́ти — the simple future
The perfective's present-form is its future. It conjugates like a first-conjugation -а- stem, suffix-stressed on -на́- in every person. It promises a result: you will be convinced.
| Person | перекона́ти — FUTURE | English |
|---|---|---|
| я | перекона́ю | I'll convince |
| ти | перекона́єш | you'll convince |
| він / вона́ / воно́ | перекона́є | he / she / it will convince |
| ми | перекона́ємо | we'll convince |
| ви | перекона́єте | you'll convince |
| вони́ | перекона́ють | they'll convince |
Не хвилю́йся, я перекона́ю його́ змі́нити рі́шення — дай мені́ пого́ворити з ним сам на сам.
Don't worry, I'll convince him to change his decision — let me talk to him one-on-one. (Perfective future перекона́ю — a single, expected success.)
Imperfective переко́нувати — both compound futures
The imperfective builds its future analytically (бу́ду + infinitive) or synthetically (the -му form). Both frame a stretch of persuading with no guaranteed payoff.
| Person | Analytic (бу́ду + inf.) | Synthetic (-му) |
|---|---|---|
| я | бу́ду переко́нувати | переко́нуватиму |
| ти | бу́деш переко́нувати | переко́нуватимеш |
| він / вона́ / воно́ | бу́де переко́нувати | переко́нуватиме |
| ми | бу́демо переко́нувати | переко́нуватимемо |
| ви | бу́дете переко́нувати | переко́нуватимете |
| вони́ | бу́дуть переко́нувати | переко́нуватимуть |
Скі́льки б ти мене́ не переко́нував, я все одно́ не пого́джуся.
No matter how much you try to convince me, I still won't agree. (Imperfective future — repeated, open-ended attempts.)
Imperative
The imperfective переко́нуй / переко́нуйте invites the ongoing arguing ("keep at it, make your case"); the perfective перекона́й / перекона́йте demands the result ("get them to agree"). Note the stress split carries into the imperative too.
| Addressee | переко́нувати (impf) | перекона́ти (pf) |
|---|---|---|
| ти (informal) | переко́нуй | перекона́й |
| ви (formal / plural) | переко́нуйте | перекона́йте |
| 3rd person (let…) | хай / неха́й переко́нує | хай / неха́й перекона́є |
Перекона́й її́, що це безпе́чно, — тебе́ вона́ послу́хає.
Convince her that it's safe — she'll listen to you. (Perfective перекона́й — produce the result.)
Participles and verbal adverbs
| Form | переко́нувати / перекона́ти |
|---|---|
| passive past participle (pf) | перекона́ний "convinced, persuaded" |
| impersonal -но/-то form | перекона́но "(one was) convinced" |
| imperfective verbal adverb | переко́нуючи "(while) convincing" |
| perfective verbal adverb | перекона́вши "having convinced" |
The adjective перекона́ний has its own life as "convinced, sure": Я перекона́ний, що ми ма́ємо ра́цію "I'm convinced we're right." A related adverb, переко́нливо "convincingly," and adjective переко́нливий "convincing, persuasive," keep the root stress.
Government
1. + accusative person + у + LOCATIVE — "convince someone of something"
When you convince someone of a thing — a fact, a stance, an innocence — the person is accusative and the thing goes in у/в + locative: перекона́ти когось у чо́мусь. English "of" maps to у + locative here, not to the genitive. See the locative.
Він намага́вся перекона́ти нас у сво́їй пра́воті, але́ до́кази були́ непереко́нливі.
He tried to convince us of his rightness, but the evidence was unconvincing. (у пра́воті — у + locative for what you're convinced of.)
Жи́ття не раз переко́нувало мене́ в то́му, що тре́ба дові́ряти інтуї́ції.
Life has convinced me more than once that you should trust your intuition. (в то́му, що — 'of the fact that', у + locative pointing to a clause.)
2. + accusative person + щоб / infinitive — "convince someone to do something"
To convince someone to do something, Ukrainian most often uses перекона́ти + accusative + infinitive or a щоб-clause. The bare infinitive is the everyday choice when both verbs share a subject of action; щоб is used when you want a fuller clause.
Ма́мі наре́шті вдало́ся перекона́ти ді́да поста́вити кардіостимуля́тор.
Mum finally managed to convince Grandpa to get a pacemaker fitted. (перекона́ти + accusative ді́да + infinitive поста́вити.)
Перекона́йте їх, щоб вони́ перене́сли зу́стріч на за́втра.
Convince them to move the meeting to tomorrow. (щоб-clause — note the verb after щоб is past-form перене́сли, the Ukrainian 'subjunctive'.)
3. Reflexive переконатися — "to become convinced, to see for oneself"
Adding -ся turns the verb inward: переко́нуватися / перекона́тися "to become convinced, to satisfy oneself." Here you are the one whose mind changes, and the thing you become convinced of takes у + locative or a що-clause. See the reflexive -ся.
Переві́р сам — і переко́наєшся, що я не вига́дую.
Check for yourself — and you'll be convinced I'm not making it up. (Reflexive перекона́єшся + що-clause.)
Common Mistakes
❌ Я переко́наю тебе́, що це пра́вда.
Wrong stress on the perfective — the future of перекона́ти is suffix-stressed: Я перекона́ю тебе́, що це пра́вда.
✅ Я перекона́ю тебе́, що це пра́вда.
I'll convince you that it's true.
❌ Він перекона́в мене́ в свою́ пра́воту.
'Convince of' takes у + LOCATIVE, not the accusative: у свої́й пра́воті.
✅ Він перекона́в мене́ у свої́й пра́воті.
He convinced me of his rightness.
❌ Я ці́лий ве́чір сперечався, але́ перекона́в його́ — він так і не пого́дився.
Aspect clash: if the result FAILED, you can't use the perfective. Use the imperfective переко́нував for the unsuccessful effort.
✅ Я ці́лий ве́чір переко́нував його́ — він так і не пого́дився.
I argued with him all evening — he never agreed.
❌ Перекона́й мене́ зробити це.
With a goal-action that has its own subject, Ukrainian prefers an infinitive WITHOUT що or a щоб-clause; here the infinitive is fine but learners often insert що + infinitive (*що зробити), which is ungrammatical.
✅ Перекона́й мене́ зробити це.
Convince me to do it.
❌ Переві́р сам — і перекона́єш, що я ма́ю ра́цію.
To 'become convinced' (yourself), you need the reflexive -ся: перекона́єшся.
✅ Переві́р сам — і перекона́єшся, що я ма́ю ра́цію.
Check for yourself — and you'll be convinced I'm right.
Key Takeaways
- переко́нувати / перекона́ти = to convince — imperfective = try to convince, perfective = succeed.
- Stress shifts between aspects: root-stressed переко́ную / переко́нував, suffix-stressed перекона́ю / перекона́в. Never *переко́наю.
- Three governments:
- acc + у + locative
- acc + infinitive / щоб-clause
- Adjective: перекона́ний "convinced"; adverb переко́нливо "convincingly."
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