Приходити / Прийти (to arrive/come on foot) | Ukrainian Grammar

Imperfective: прихо́дити — "to come, arrive (on foot); to come habitually" Perfective: прийти́ — "to come, arrive (once, completed)" Type: prefixed motion pair, prefix при- 'arrival / approach' on the іти́ / ходи́ти base

прихо́дити / прийти́ is the everyday verb for coming and arriving on foot — and it is the cleanest example of how Ukrainian builds an aspect pair out of a motion verb by prefixing. Take the base pair іти́ / ходи́ти, add the prefix при- ("toward, up to, arrival"), and the multidirectional/unidirectional split collapses into an ordinary imperfective/perfective pair: imperfective прихо́дити (a habit or a process — "comes regularly / is on the way"), perfective прийти́ (a single completed arrival — "came, has arrived"). The catch every learner trips over is the perfective past: it is suppletive — not прийтив but прийшо́в / прийшла́ / прийшло́ / прийшли́, built on the old -шед- root. Stress is marked on every form below.

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Two stems, one verb: the imperfective keeps the -ход- stem of ходи́ти (прихо́джу, прихо́див), while the perfective is built on -йд-/-йш- from іти́ (прийду́, прийшо́в). The perfective past прийшо́в looks nothing like its infinitive прийти́ — memorize it as a unit, because it is one of the highest-frequency past forms in the language.

Present tense — imperfective прихо́дити only (д→дж in the 1sg)

Only the imperfective has a present tense (the perfective's present-form is its future, below). прихо́дити inherits the second-conjugation ходи́ти endings, with the д → дж mutation appearing in the 1sg прихо́джу alone; every other form keeps plain -д-. Stress stays on the -хо́- stem throughout.

Person	прихо́дити — PRESENT	English
я	прихо́джу	I come / arrive (habitually)
ти	прихо́диш	you come (sg.)
він / вона́ / воно́	прихо́дить	he / she / it comes
ми	прихо́димо	we come
ви	прихо́дите	you come (pl./formal)
вони́	прихо́дять	they come

Він зазвича́й прихо́дить на робо́ту о дев’я́тій.

He usually comes to work at nine. (Imperfective прихо́дить — a habit, hence not прийде́.)

Чому́ ти за́вжди прихо́диш оста́ннім?

Why do you always come last? (2sg прихо́диш — a recurring pattern.)

До нас ча́сто прихо́дять го́сті по вихідни́х.

Guests often come to our place on weekends. (3pl прихо́дять — repeated arrivals.)

Past tense — imperfective прихо́див vs suppletive perfective прийшо́в

Here the two aspects part ways. The imperfective past прихо́див is fully regular (-в / -ла / -ло / -ли on the -ход- stem) and means a repeated coming or a single round trip "came (and went again)." The perfective past is the suppletive set прийшо́в / прийшла́ / прийшло́ / прийшли́ — a single completed arrival, "came / has arrived (and is here)."

Gender / number	прихо́дити (impf.)	прийти́ (pf.) — suppletive
masculine	прихо́див	прийшо́в
feminine	прихо́дила	прийшла́
neuter	прихо́дило	прийшло́
plural	прихо́дили	прийшли́

Лист прийшо́в учо́ра вра́нці, я ще не встиг його́ прочита́ти.

The letter arrived yesterday morning, I haven't had time to read it yet. (Perfective прийшо́в — a single completed arrival; note it's also used of mail.)

Вона́ прийшла́ додо́му пі́зно і відра́зу ля́гла спа́ти.

She came home late and went straight to bed. (прийшла́ — feminine, one completed arrival.)

Ра́ніше до ба́бусі щоти́жня прихо́дила медсестра́.

A nurse used to come to grandma's every week. (Imperfective прихо́дила — a repeated past habit.)

Future tense — perfective simple future + two imperfective futures

The perfective прийти́ has a simple future built on the -йд- stem (прийду́, при́йдеш…), with the stress falling on the ending in the 1sg and retracting to the prefix при́- in the other persons. The imperfective прихо́дити builds the usual two futures for a future habit.

Person	прийти́ (pf.) — FUTURE	Analytic impf.	Synthetic impf.
я	прийду́	бу́ду прихо́дити	прихо́дитиму
ти	при́йдеш	бу́деш прихо́дити	прихо́дитимеш
він / вона́ / воно́	при́йде	бу́де прихо́дити	прихо́дитиме
ми	при́йдемо	бу́демо прихо́дити	прихо́дитимемо
ви	при́йдете	бу́дете прихо́дити	прихо́дитимете
вони́	при́йдуть	бу́дуть прихо́дити	прихо́дитимуть

The default for "I'll come" is the perfective прийду́ — a single planned arrival. Reach for the imperfective future only when you mean a recurring future coming ("I'll be coming every Tuesday").

Я прийду́ о сьо́мій, не запізню́ся.

I'll come at seven, I won't be late. (Perfective future прийду́ — one planned arrival, the default for 'I'll come'.)

З насту́пного мі́сяця я прихо́дитиму до вас щосере́ди на ма́саж.

From next month I'll be coming to you every Wednesday for a massage. (Synthetic imperfective future — a future habit.)

Imperative

The perfective imperative прийди́ / прийді́ть is the normal "come!" (a single requested arrival); the imperfective прихо́дь / прихо́дьте invites repeated visits ("come round / keep coming"). Note the warm idiom прихо́дьте до нас "do come and see us (any time)."

Addressee	прийти́ (pf.)	прихо́дити (impf.)
ти (informal)	прийди́	прихо́дь
ви (formal / plural)	прийді́ть	прихо́дьте
3rd person (let…)	хай / неха́й при́йде	хай / неха́й прихо́дить

Прийди́ вча́сно, бу́дь ла́ска, — нас че́катимуть.

Please come on time — they'll be waiting for us. (Perfective прийди́ — one specific arrival.)

Прихо́дьте до нас у го́сті, коли́ заба́жаєте!

Come and visit us whenever you like! (Imperfective прихо́дьте — an open, repeated invitation.)

Verbal adverbs

Form	Verb
imperfective verbal adverb	прихо́дячи "(while) coming / arriving"
perfective verbal adverb	прийшо́вши "having come / arrived"

прийшо́вши is the useful one — Прийшо́вши додо́му, він одра́зу заси́нув "Having arrived home, he fell asleep at once" (literary / written).

Key uses & case government

1. Destination — до + genitive (people, institutions)

Where you arrive to takes a directional preposition. Arriving at someone or at a named institution uses до + genitive (прийти́ до дру́га "come to a friend's," прийти́ до шко́ли "come to school"); enclosed places take в / у + accusative; open or event places take на + accusative. This is the same system as the base ходи́ти, and it contrasts with location (where you are) on the motion vs location page.

Прийди́ до ме́не пі́сля робо́ти, погово́римо.

Come to my place after work, we'll talk. (Destination до + genitive ме́не — 'to me / my place'.)

Уже́ деся́та, а він так і не прийшо́в на зу́стріч.

It's already ten, and he never showed up to the meeting. (на + accusative зу́стріч — an event-type destination.)

2. прийти́ + abstract idioms — "come to / arrive at"

прийти́ extends into set phrases for reaching a mental or social state: прийти́ до висно́вку "come to a conclusion," прийти́ до тя́ми / до се́бе "come to one's senses, regain consciousness," прийти́ на допомо́гу "come to the rescue." All keep до + genitive.

Пі́сля до́вгої супере́чки ми наре́шті прийшли́ до висно́вку, що оби́два ма́ли ра́цію.

After a long argument we finally came to the conclusion that both of us were right. (Idiom прийти́ до висно́вку — до + genitive.)

A note for English and Russian speakers

In English "come" covers both a single arrival and a habit, and it does not distinguish on foot from by vehicle. Ukrainian splits these: прихо́дити / прийти́ is strictly on foot; for arriving by vehicle you need приїжджа́ти / приї́хати. And the aspect choice is obligatory — single arrival = perfective прийти́, recurring = imperfective прихо́дити. For Russian speakers, the cognates приходи́ть / прийти́ map closely, but the past is the standard Ukrainian прийшо́в / прийшла́ (not пришёл), and "I'll come" defaults to прийду́ with the Ukrainian -й- vowel.

Common Mistakes

❌ Я прихо́ду за́втра.

Two errors: missing the 1sg д→дж mutation, and the wrong aspect for a single planned arrival — use the perfective future: Я прийду́ за́втра.

✅ Я прийду́ за́втра.

I'll come tomorrow.

❌ Він прийти́в учо́ра.

The perfective past is suppletive — not 'прийтив' but прийшо́в: Він прийшо́в учо́ра.

✅ Він прийшо́в учо́ра.

He came yesterday.

❌ Я прихо́жу до шко́ли.

Wrong 1sg — the mutation gives прихо́джу (with -дж-), not 'прихо́жу': Я прихо́джу до шко́ли.

✅ Я прихо́джу до шко́ли.

I come to school (every day).

❌ Прийшо́в до висно́вок.

Government error — прийти́ до takes the GENITIVE: до висно́вку, not the nominative висно́вок: Прийшо́в до висно́вку.

✅ Я прийшо́в до висно́вку.

I came to a conclusion.

❌ За́втра я прихо́дитиму на твій день наро́дження.

Aspect error — a single planned arrival is perfective: За́втра я прийду́ на твій день наро́дження. (The -му future means a recurring habit.)

✅ За́втра я прийду́ на твій день наро́дження.

Tomorrow I'll come to your birthday.

Key Takeaways

Aspect pair from a motion verb: imperfective прихо́дити (habit / process) vs perfective прийти́ (single completed arrival).
Two stems: -ход- in the imperfective (прихо́джу, прихо́див), -йд-/-йш- in the perfective (прийду́, прийшо́в).
Suppletive past: прийшо́в / прийшла́ / прийшло́ / прийшли́ — memorize as a unit; it's one of the most frequent forms in Ukrainian.
1sg mutation: прихо́джу (д→дж), plain -д- everywhere else.
Government: до + genitive (до дру́га, до висно́вку), в/у + accusative, на + accusative — strictly on foot (by vehicle = приї́хати).
Default "I'll come" = perfective прийду́; the -му future is for a recurring future coming.

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