Infinitive: подорожува́ти (imperfective) — "to travel, to journey, to go on trips" Type: a regular first-conjugation -юва- verb, the same productive class as малюва́ти and працюва́ти; largely imperfective (travelling is an open-ended activity)
подорожува́ти is the verb for travel as an activity — touring, journeying, seeing the world — as opposed to ї́хати "to go (by vehicle)," which is about a specific trip in a specific direction. You їдеш to Lviv this weekend (one journey); you подорожуєш Europe (an open-ended way of life). Because of that "activity" meaning, подорожува́ти is overwhelmingly imperfective — there is no everyday perfective partner. Its real challenge for learners is not the conjugation (a textbook -юва- verb: подорожу́ю) but its case government: the means of travel goes in the bare instrumental (по́їздом "by train"), and the territory you travel across goes in either the bare instrumental OR по + locative (Украї́ною / по Украї́ні "around Ukraine"). The related noun is по́дорож "a journey," whose instrumental по́дорожжю shows the famous ж → жж doubling. Stress is marked on every form below.
Present tense — подорожува́ти
The -юва- of the infinitive surfaces as -у- in the personal forms (подорожу́-ю, подорожу́-єш…), with the stress on -жу́- throughout.
| Person | подорожува́ти — PRESENT | English |
|---|---|---|
| я | подорожу́ю | I travel / am travelling |
| ти | подорожу́єш | you travel (sg.) |
| він / вона́ / воно́ | подорожу́є | he / she / it travels |
| ми | подорожу́ємо | we travel |
| ви | подорожу́єте | you travel (pl./formal) |
| вони́ | подорожу́ють | they travel |
Ми з чолові́ком подорожу́ємо щоро́ку, навіть коли́ гро́шей обма́ль.
My husband and I travel every year, even when money's tight. (Habitual подорожу́ємо; ми з чолові́ком = 'my husband and I'.)
Він подорожу́є наодинці́ — ка́же, так бі́льше ба́чиш.
He travels alone — he says you see more that way. (Present подорожу́є for a regular practice.)
Скі́льки краї́н ти вже об’ї́здив, поки подорожу́єш?
How many countries have you been to in your travels so far? (подорожу́єш — an ongoing way of life.)
Past tense — gendered подорожува́в / подорожува́ла…
The past is regular, in -в / -ла / -ло / -ли, with the stress on the stem -ва́- throughout (present подорожу́ю, but past подорожува́в).
| Gender / number | подорожува́ти |
|---|---|
| masculine | подорожува́в |
| feminine | подорожува́ла |
| neuter | подорожува́ло |
| plural | подорожува́ли |
As an imperfective, the past describes travel as a process or a repeated experience: "(used to) travel, was travelling." For a completed trip with an endpoint, Ukrainian switches to a different verb — з’ї́здив "made the trip and came back" or поба́чив + place — rather than reaching for a perfective of подорожува́ти.
Мину́лого ро́ку ми подорожува́ли За́хідною Украї́ною ці́лий мі́сяць.
Last year we travelled around Western Ukraine for a whole month. (Imperfective past подорожува́ли + instrumental territory За́хідною Украї́ною.)
У мо́лодості ба́бця бага́то подорожува́ла по краї́ні.
In her youth Granny travelled a lot around the country. (Repeated past experience — по + locative краї́ні.)
Future tense — both imperfective futures
Because подорожува́ти is imperfective, it forms its future the two regular ways: the analytic future (бу́ду + infinitive) and the synthetic -му future. Both describe travelling as a future activity.
| Person | Analytic (бу́ду + inf.) | Synthetic (-му) |
|---|---|---|
| я | бу́ду подорожува́ти | подорожува́тиму |
| ти | бу́деш подорожува́ти | подорожува́тимеш |
| він / вона́ / воно́ | бу́де подорожува́ти | подорожува́тиме |
| ми | бу́демо подорожува́ти | подорожува́тимемо |
| ви | бу́дете подорожува́ти | подорожува́тимете |
| вони́ | бу́дуть подорожува́ти | подорожува́тимуть |
Коли́ ви́йду на пе́нсію, я подорожува́тиму ці́лий рік.
When I retire, I'll travel for a whole year. (Synthetic future подорожува́тиму — an extended future activity.)
Наступного лі́та ми бу́демо подорожува́ти Карпа́тами.
Next summer we're going to travel around the Carpathians. (Analytic future + instrumental territory Карпа́тами.)
Imperative
The imperative подорожу́й / подорожу́йте is a warm encouragement — "travel! see the world!" Stress sits on -жу́-.
| Addressee | подорожува́ти |
|---|---|
| ти (informal) | подорожу́й |
| ви (formal / plural) | подорожу́йте |
| 3rd person (let…) | хай / неха́й подорожу́є |
Подорожу́й, поки молоди́й — по́тім не бу́де ча́су.
Travel while you're young — later there'll be no time. (Imperative подорожу́й — a piece of life advice.)
Participles and verbal adverbs
| Form | подорожува́ти |
|---|---|
| imperfective verbal adverb | подорожу́ючи "(while) travelling" |
| related noun | по́дорож (fem.) "a journey, trip" — instr. по́дорожжю |
| agent noun | подоро́жній "traveller, wayfarer" (also adj.) |
Because подорожува́ти takes no accusative object, it has no past passive participle. The verbal adverb подорожу́ючи is common — подорожу́ючи Євро́пою, вона́ вела́ щоде́нник "travelling around Europe, she kept a diary."
Government
1. The means of travel — bare instrumental
The vehicle or mode of transport goes in the instrumental with no preposition: подорожува́ти по́їздом / по́тягом "by train," літако́м "by plane," авто́(мобілем) / маши́ною "by car," велосипе́дом "by bike," автосто́пом "by hitchhiking." This is the standard "by means of" instrumental — see instrumental uses. It is the same construction English buries under "by": "by train" = по́їздом.
Ми вирі́шили подорожува́ти по́їздом, а не літако́м — так деше́вше й цікаві́ше.
We decided to travel by train rather than by plane — it's cheaper and more interesting that way. (Instrumental of means: по́їздом, літако́м.)
2. The territory covered — instrumental OR по + locative
To say you travel around / across a region, Ukrainian offers two idiomatic patterns that mean the same thing:
- bare instrumental: подорожува́ти Украї́ною, Євро́пою, сві́том — "travel (across) Ukraine, Europe, the world." This "instrumental of route/space" feels slightly more elevated and is very common in writing.
- по + locative: подорожува́ти по Украї́ні, по Євро́пі, по сві́ті — literally "travel around in Ukraine," with the distributive preposition по. See locative uses and prepositional government.
Both are correct; pick whichever sounds smoother. Note that в Украї́ні (locative, with the preposition в) means "in Ukraine" as a static location, which is a different idea — and is the standard, correct phrasing (never *на Украї́ні).
Цьо́го ро́ку я хо́чу подорожува́ти Украї́ною — від Льво́ва до Хе́рсона.
This year I want to travel around Ukraine — from Lviv to Kherson. (Bare-instrumental territory Украї́ною.)
Сту́дентами ми бага́то подорожува́ли по Євро́пі автосто́пом.
As students we travelled all over Europe by hitchhiking. (по + locative Євро́пі for the territory; instrumental автосто́пом for the means — both slots in one sentence.)
3. A destination — до + genitive (with a sense of purpose)
While подорожува́ти is mostly about roaming a region, you can also name a single destination with до + genitive, just as with any motion verb: подорожува́ти до Япо́нії "to travel to Japan." Here the journey is framed as heading toward one place rather than touring around it. With cities and countries the genitive is the rule — до Льво́ва, до Іспа́нії, до моря — and the preposition is до, never *в/на with a destination after this verb in the bare sense. Compare it with ї́хати до Льво́ва, which is the same до + genitive pattern.
Я мрі́ю подорожува́ти до Ісла́ндії, щоб поба́чити вулка́ни й водоспа́ди.
I dream of travelling to Iceland to see the volcanoes and waterfalls. (до + genitive Ісла́ндії for the destination; щоб + infinitive for purpose.)
4. The noun по́дорож and its doubled ж
The related noun по́дорож "a journey, trip" is feminine (3rd declension). Its instrumental singular shows the regular soft-consonant doubling: по́дорожжю "(by) a journey" — the ж doubles before the -ю ending, exactly like ні́ч → ні́ччю and сіль → сі́ллю. The idiom щасли́вої по́дорожі! (genitive) is the everyday "have a good trip!"
Перед до́вгою по́дорожжю він за́вжди хвилю́ється.
Before a long journey he always gets nervous. (Instrumental по́дорожжю with the doubled ж, after the preposition перед.)
Common Mistakes
❌ Я подорожую на по́їзді щоро́ку.
Government error — the means of travel is the bare instrumental, not 'на + locative': Я подорожу́ю по́їздом щоро́ку.
✅ Я подорожу́ю по́їздом щоро́ку.
I travel by train every year — instrumental по́їздом.
❌ Ми подорожува́ли на Украї́ну ці́ле лі́то.
Two errors — for travelling AROUND a territory use Украї́ною or по Украї́ні, and 'in Ukraine' is в, never на: Ми подорожува́ли Украї́ною ці́ле лі́то.
✅ Ми подорожува́ли Украї́ною ці́ле лі́то.
We travelled around Ukraine all summer.
❌ За́втра я бу́ду подорожува́тиму.
Future error — pick ONE future: either the analytic бу́ду подорожува́ти OR the synthetic подорожува́тиму, never both: За́втра я подорожува́тиму.
✅ За́втра я подорожува́тиму.
Tomorrow I'll be travelling — synthetic future.
❌ Перед до́вгою по́дорожю він хвилю́ється.
Form error — the feminine 3rd-declension instrumental doubles the ж: по́дорожжю, not *по́дорожю: Перед до́вгою по́дорожжю він хвилю́ється.
✅ Перед до́вгою по́дорожжю він хвилю́ється.
Before a long journey he gets nervous.
❌ Вона́ подорожува́в сама́.
Agreement error — a female subject takes the feminine подорожува́ла: Вона́ подорожува́ла сама́.
✅ Вона́ подорожува́ла сама́.
She travelled alone — feminine подорожува́ла.
Key Takeaways
- Imperfective activity verb: подорожува́ти (present: подорожу́ю, подорожу́єш, подорожу́є, подорожу́ємо, подорожу́єте, подорожу́ють); travel as a way of life, vs ї́хати for one specific trip.
- The -юва- → -у- rule: drop -ва-, conjugate подорожу́- (stress -жу́-).
- Past: stress shifts to the stem — подорожува́в / подорожува́ла / подорожува́ло / подорожува́ли.
- Future: imperfective only — бу́ду подорожува́ти OR подорожува́тиму (never both at once).
- Government — the key facts: the means = bare instrumental (по́їздом, літако́м); the territory = bare instrumental OR по + locative (Украї́ною = по Украї́ні); "in Ukraine" is в Украї́ні, never на.
- The noun: по́дорож (fem.), instrumental по́дорожжю with the doubled ж; щасли́вої по́дорожі! "bon voyage!"
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
- Їхати / Поїхати (to go by vehicle / set off)A2 — Complete conjugation-and-usage reference for ї́хати / поїхати 'to go by vehicle' — the UNIDIRECTIONAL (determinate) verb of wheeled motion. Covers the soft-stem present ї́ду / ї́деш / ї́де / ї́демо / ї́дете / ї́дуть, the gendered past ї́хав / ї́хала, both imperfective futures, the perfective поїхати 'set off', the destination in в / на + accusative, the vehicle in the INSTRUMENTAL (ї́хати по́тягом), the planned-trip present (за́втра ї́ду до Ки́єва), and the contrast with multidirectional ї́здити.
- 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).
- 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.
- Verbs with Fixed PrepositionsB2 — A high-error group of Ukrainian verbs requires a specific preposition plus a fixed case that rarely maps to English: чека́ти НА + acc 'wait for', дивитися НА + acc 'look at', думати ПРО + acc 'think about', одружи́тися З + instr 'marry', готува́тися ДО + gen 'prepare for', зале́жати ВІД + gen 'depend on', вступи́ти ДО + gen 'enter (university)' — so each verb+preposition+case is a fixed chunk you must learn whole.
- 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.