Прибира́ти (imperfective) and прибра́ти (perfective) are the standard pair for "to clean, to tidy up" — cleaning a room, clearing the table, putting the apartment in order. Прибира́ти describes the activity as it unfolds or as a routine ("I'm tidying up," "I clean every Saturday"); прибра́ти marks the job done — the room is now clean. The two halves share a meaning but, as this page's central difficulty, they do not share a conjugation pattern: the perfective drops the -бира- suffix and conjugates on the bare root -бра-, exactly like the verb бра́ти ("to take"). Learning прибра́ти is therefore mostly a matter of already knowing бра́ти.
The aspectual contrast
Прибира́ти runs in the present, because tidying is something you can be doing right now. Прибра́ти has no present — a completed cleanup is past or future. The perfective's present-shaped forms therefore mean the future: приберу́ = "I will tidy up (and finish)."
Я прибира́ю в кварти́рі ко́жної суббо́ти.
I clean the apartment every Saturday.
Дай мені́ п’ять хвили́н, я приберу́ зі сто́лу й ся́демо вече́ряти.
Give me five minutes, I'll clear the table and we'll sit down to dinner.
The first is a habit (imperfective, present). The second is one bounded act you intend to finish (perfective, future). The contrast is exactly the activity-versus-result split that defines Ukrainian aspect.
Imperfective: прибира́ти
A regular class-1 -а́ти verb. The stress sits on -ра́- throughout the present.
| Form | Present | Future (analytic) | Future (synthetic) |
|---|---|---|---|
| я | прибира́ю | бу́ду прибира́ти | прибира́тиму |
| ти | прибира́єш | бу́деш прибира́ти | прибира́тимеш |
| він / вона / воно | прибира́є | бу́де прибира́ти | прибира́тиме |
| ми | прибира́ємо | бу́демо прибира́ти | прибира́тимемо |
| ви | прибира́єте | бу́дете прибира́ти | прибира́тимете |
| вони | прибира́ють | бу́дуть прибира́ти | прибира́тимуть |
| Past | Imperative | Verbal adverb |
|---|---|---|
| прибира́в (m) | прибира́й (2sg) | прибира́ючи |
| прибира́ла (f) | прибира́йте (2pl) | (while tidying) |
| прибира́ло (n) | хай / неха́й прибира́є (3rd) | |
| прибира́ли (pl) | прибира́ймо (1pl) |
The two futures are interchangeable: бу́ду прибира́ти (analytic) and прибира́тиму (synthetic) both mean "will be tidying / will tidy repeatedly."
Поки́ ти прибира́тимеш на ку́хні, я ви́несу сміття́.
While you tidy the kitchen, I'll take out the rubbish.
Perfective: прибра́ти
Here is the page's main lesson. The perfective прибра́ти conjugates like бра́ти: the infinitive shows -бра-, but the future stem inserts an -е- and shifts to прибер- with end stress on the personal endings. The first-person singular is приберу́, not приберю́. The past tense returns to the *-бра- stem.
| Form | Future (= simple/perfective future) |
|---|---|
| я | приберу́ |
| ти | прибере́ш |
| він / вона / воно | прибере́ |
| ми | приберемо́ |
| ви | приберете́ |
| вони | приберу́ть |
| Past | Imperative |
|---|---|
| прибра́в (m) | прибери́ (2sg) |
| прибрала́ (f) | прибері́ть (2pl) |
| прибра́ло (n) | хай / неха́й прибере́ (3rd) |
| прибра́ли (pl) | прибері́мо (1pl) |
Вона́ за годи́ну прибрала́ всю кварти́ру до прихо́ду госте́й.
In an hour she had tidied the whole apartment before the guests arrived.
Usage and case government
1. Tidying a place — в/на + locative. To say where you are cleaning, Ukrainian uses в (or у) + the locative for enclosed spaces and на + the locative for open or surface-like ones. There need not be a direct object at all — прибира́ти в кімна́ті ("to clean in the room") stands on its own.
У вихідні́ ми за́вжди прибира́ємо в буди́нку всі́єю сім’є́ю.
At the weekend we always clean the house as a whole family.
Прибери́ на столі́, будь ла́ска — там по́вний безла́д.
Tidy up on the desk, please — it's a complete mess.
2. Tidying a thing — accusative object. With a direct object (the room, the apartment, the dishes away), the object is plain accusative.
Хто прибере́ кімна́ту, той пе́рший ся́де за комп’ю́тер.
Whoever tidies the room gets to use the computer first.
3. Clearing/removing — прибра́ти as "put away, take off the table." Прибра́ти also means to clear things away: dishes off a table, papers off a desk. The thing removed is the accusative object; "from where" takes з / зі + the genitive.
Прибері́ть зі сто́лу тарілки́, я принесу́ десе́рт.
Clear the plates off the table, I'll bring dessert.
4. Aspect in the imperative. A one-off request to finish a specific tidy-up takes the perfective (Прибери́!); a general or repeated instruction takes the imperfective (Прибира́й за собо́ю — "tidy up after yourself," as an ongoing habit).
Прибира́й за собо́ю по́суд — не лиша́й його́ в ра́ковині.
Tidy your dishes away — don't leave them in the sink.
Прибира́ти versus бра́ти
The two verbs share the -бра-/-бер- root and conjugate identically in the perfective, but their meanings have drifted apart: бра́ти / взя́ти = "to take," while прибира́ти / прибра́ти = "to clean." Mechanically, though, if you can conjugate взя́ти's imperfective бра́ти (беру́, бере́ш, бра́в, брала́), you already know приберу́, прибере́ш, прибра́в, прибрала́ — just add the prefix при-.
Я беру́ ганчі́рку й приберу́ всю пилю́ку за п’ять хвили́н.
I'll grab a cloth and clear all the dust away in five minutes.
Common Mistakes
1. Conjugating прибра́ти like an -а- verb. Learners expect *прибра́ю from the infinitive прибра́ти. The perfective follows бра́ти: приберу́, прибере́ш.
❌ За́втра я прибра́ю всю кварти́ру.
Incorrect form — should be приберу́, conjugated like бра́ти.
✅ За́втра я приберу́ всю кварти́ру.
Tomorrow I'll tidy the whole apartment.
2. Regularizing the feminine past. The feminine is end-stressed прибрала́, not *прибра́ла.
❌ Вона́ вже прибра́ла на ку́хні.
Incorrect stress — feminine past is прибрала́, with stress on the final syllable.
✅ Вона́ вже прибрала́ на ку́хні.
She's already tidied the kitchen.
3. Wrong case for "from where" in the clearing sense. When прибра́ти means "clear away," the source ("off the table," "from the desk") is з / зі + genitive, not з + accusative or a bare locative.
❌ Приберу́ ча́шки зі стіл, поки́ ча́йник закипа́є.
Wrong case — 'off the table' needs the genitive зі сто́лу, not зі стіл.
✅ Приберу́ ча́шки зі сто́лу, поки́ ча́йник закипа́є.
I'll clear the cups off the table while the kettle boils.
4. Perfective for an action in progress. "I'm tidying up right now" is a process — imperfective.
❌ Я приберу́ зара́з у віта́льні.
Incorrect for an action in progress — приберу́ is future/completed, not 'right now'.
✅ Я прибира́ю зара́з у віта́льні.
I'm tidying up in the living room right now.
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