Aspect pair: пита́ти (imperfective) — запита́ти / спита́ти (perfective) Meaning: "to ask a question, to inquire, to enquire" Conjugation: first conjugation, fully regular (-а́ти, no consonant mutation).
пита́ти is "to ask a question" — to seek information. It is the mirror image of проси́ти "to ask for (a thing / favour)," and English speakers conflate the two constantly because English uses one word, ask, for both. The good news: пита́ти itself is one of the easiest verbs to conjugate — a textbook regular -а́ти verb with no mutation anywhere. The work is all in the government, especially the lovely fact that "to ask from someone" uses в / у + genitive of the person. Stress is marked on every form.
Present tense — пита́ти (no mutation)
A model regular first-conjugation verb. The whole present is stem-stressed on -пита́-, with the -ю/-єш/-є endings throughout. There is no consonant change anywhere — a relief after проси́ти's прошу́.
| Person | Present (impf) | English |
|---|---|---|
| я | пита́ю | I ask / am asking |
| ти | пита́єш | you ask (sg.) |
| він / вона́ / воно́ | пита́є | he / she / it asks |
| ми | пита́ємо | we ask |
| ви | пита́єте | you ask (pl./formal) |
| вони́ | пита́ють | they ask |
Усі́ пита́ють, коли́ ти наре́шті пове́рнешся додо́му.
Everyone's asking when you'll finally come back home. (пита́ти introducing an indirect question — seeking information.)
Я пита́ю тебе́ оста́нній раз: ти йдеш чи ні?
I'm asking you for the last time: are you coming or not? (пита́ти + accusative person тебе́.)
Past tense — пита́в / пита́ла / пита́ло / пита́ли
Regular gendered past, stress on -та́- throughout.
| Gender / number | Past (impf) |
|---|---|
| masculine | пита́в |
| feminine | пита́ла |
| neuter | пита́ло |
| plural | пита́ли |
Лі́кар пита́в, чи нема́є в ме́не алергі́ї на лі́ки.
The doctor asked whether I had any allergy to medicines. (Past пита́в + indirect question with чи.)
Future — perfective simple vs imperfective both ways
There are two perfectives in common use, with no real difference in meaning: запита́ти (a touch more neutral / written) and спита́ти (a touch more colloquial). Both build the future from their present-shaped forms. The imperfective пита́ти builds its future the two regular ways.
| Person | Pf. future (запита́ти) | Pf. future (спита́ти) | Impf. analytic | Impf. synthetic |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| я | запита́ю | спита́ю | бу́ду пита́ти | пита́тиму |
| ти | запита́єш | спита́єш | бу́деш пита́ти | пита́тимеш |
| він / вона́ / воно́ | запита́є | спита́є | бу́де пита́ти | пита́тиме |
| ми | запита́ємо | спита́ємо | бу́демо пита́ти | пита́тимемо |
| ви | запита́єте | спита́єте | бу́дете пита́ти | пита́тимете |
| вони́ | запита́ють | спита́ють | бу́дуть пита́ти | пита́тимуть |
For choosing aspect in questions, see aspect overview.
Я запита́ю в адміністра́тора, де тут найбли́жча апте́ка.
I'll ask the receptionist where the nearest pharmacy is. (Perfective future запита́ю + в + genitive person адміністра́тора — one specific inquiry.)
Imperative
The 2sg пита́й "ask" is stem-stressed; the perfective запита́й / спита́й for a single question.
| Addressee | Imperfective | Perfective |
|---|---|---|
| ти (informal) | пита́й | запита́й / спита́й |
| ви (formal / plural) | пита́йте | запита́йте / спита́йте |
| 3rd person (let…) | хай пита́є | хай запита́є |
Не соро́мся, запита́й учи́теля, якщо́ щось незрозумі́ло.
Don't be shy, ask the teacher if something is unclear. (Perfective imperative запита́й — a single question.)
Verbal adverb & participle
| Form | Word | Note |
|---|---|---|
| verbal adverb (impf) | пита́ючи | "asking / while asking" |
| verbal adverb (pf) | запита́вши | "having asked" |
Не пита́ючи дозво́лу, він узя́в мою́ маши́ну.
Without asking permission, he took my car. (Verbal adverb пита́ючи + genitive object дозво́лу.)
Government — who you ask, and what about
1. пита́ти + accusative person ("ask sb")
The simplest frame: the person asked goes in the accusative. Я пита́ю тебе́ "I'm asking you."
Діти́на пита́є батькі́в про все́ на сві́ті.
A child asks its parents about everything in the world. (пита́ти + accusative батькі́в + про + accusative все́.)
2. пита́ти + в / у + genitive ("ask from sb")
The very common alternative — especially in speech — frames the person as the source of the information: в / у + genitive. Я запита́в у бра́та "I asked my brother" (literally "I asked from my brother"). Both the accusative pattern and the в + genitive pattern are correct; the в-genitive one feels slightly softer and is the more frequent everyday choice.
Спита́й у ма́ми, чи мо́жна нам піти́ гуля́ти.
Ask Mum whether we're allowed to go out. (Perfective спита́й + в/у + genitive ма́ми — 'ask from Mum'.)
3. про + accusative for the topic
What the question is about is expressed with про + accusative, regardless of which person-frame you used. пита́ти про пого́ду "to ask about the weather."
Журналі́ст запита́в президе́нта про пла́ни на насту́пний рік.
The journalist asked the president about plans for the next year. (запита́ти + accusative person + про + accusative topic.)
4. Indirect questions with чи / коли́ / де / чому́
To embed a yes-no question, use чи "whether"; for wh-questions use the question word itself (коли́, де, чому́, як). See indirect questions and the чи particle.
Вона́ запита́ла, чи бу́ду я на за́втрашній зу́стрічі.
She asked whether I'd be at tomorrow's meeting. (Indirect yes-no question introduced by чи.)
Common Mistakes
❌ Я пита́ю тебе́ про допомо́гу.
To ask FOR help is a request — проси́ти, not пита́ти: Я прошу́ тебе́ про допомо́гу.
✅ Я прошу́ тебе́ про допомо́гу.
I'm asking you for help — a request takes проси́ти. (пита́ти is only for questions.)
❌ Я запита́в від бра́та.
The 'ask from' source is в/у + genitive, not 'від': Я запита́в у бра́та.
✅ Я запита́в у бра́та.
I asked my brother — в/у + genitive person.
❌ Я бу́ду запита́ти його́.
Don't put a PERFECTIVE infinitive under бу́ду — запита́ти is already future: Я запита́ю його́.
✅ Я запита́ю його́.
I'll ask him — perfective future запита́ю, no auxiliary.
❌ Він пита́в мене́, коли́ я прийду́ — for a completed single question.
A single, completed question is naturally PERFECTIVE: Він спита́в (or запита́в) мене́, коли́ я прийду́. (Imperfective пита́в suits a repeated/ongoing asking.)
✅ Він спита́в мене́, коли́ я прийду́.
He asked me when I'd arrive — perfective спита́в for one completed inquiry.
❌ Я хо́чу попроси́ти, котра́ годи́на.
Asking the time is information — пита́ти, not проси́ти: Я хо́чу запита́ти, котра́ годи́на.
✅ Я хо́чу запита́ти, котра́ годи́на.
I want to ask what time it is — inquiry takes запита́ти.
Key Takeaways
- пита́ти / запита́ти (спита́ти) = "ask a question / inquire" — seek information, never request a thing. For requests, use проси́ти.
- Present: пита́ю / пита́єш / пита́є / пита́ємо / пита́єте / пита́ють — fully regular, no mutation.
- Two perfectives, interchangeable: запита́ти (neutral/written) and спита́ти (colloquial).
- Government: accusative person OR в / у + genitive ("ask from sb"); the topic is про + accusative.
- Embed questions with чи (yes-no) or a wh-word (коли́, де, чому́, як).
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- Просити / Попросити (to ask / request)B1 — Complete conjugation-and-usage reference for the aspect pair проси́ти (impf) / попроси́ти (pf) 'to ask for, to request'. Present прошу́ (с→ш in the 1sg only) / про́сиш / про́сить / про́симо / про́сите / про́сять, past проси́в / проси́ла, imperative проси́. Government: accusative person + про + accusative thing, OR an infinitive ('ask sb to do'), OR a щоб-clause. Contrasts проси́ти 'request' with пита́ти 'ask a question', and covers the courtesy word Про́шу! 'please / you're welcome / here you are'.
- 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.
- Indirect QuestionsB1 — An indirect (embedded) question is a question tucked inside another clause — 'I don't know WHERE he is', 'Tell me WHEN you'll come'. Ukrainian keeps statement word order in the embedded clause and uses a mandatory comma before it. Wh-questions keep the wh-word (Я не зна́ю, де він; Скажи́, коли́ при́йдеш). Embedded yes/no questions use чи 'whether/if' — NOT якщо́, which is the conditional 'if' (Не зна́ю, чи вона́ вдо́ма). And unlike English reported speech, Ukrainian does NOT backshift the tense: the original tense is kept (Він спита́в, чи я прийду́ 'he asked whether I would come' — future preserved).
- Verb Government: Which Case for the ObjectB1 — Most Ukrainian verbs take an accusative object (читаю книгу), but a large core group governs the dative (дякую тобі, допомагаю мамі), the genitive (боюся темряви, потребую допомоги), or the instrumental (керую фірмою, ціка́влюся історією) — and the governed case is a fixed lexical property of each verb that English speakers must memorise, because none of these behave like English transitives.
- Genitive: Possession and 'of'A2 — How Ukrainian shows possession and the English 'of' relationship — by putting the owner in the genitive AFTER the thing owned (кни́га бра́та 'the brother's book', центр мі́ста 'the centre of the city'), with no apostrophe-s and no separate word for 'of', and with the WHOLE possessor phrase declining (маши́на мого́ дру́га), contrasted with possessive pronouns like мій/твій that agree instead.
- The Question Particle ЧиA2 — Чи is a triple-duty word. (1) It optionally fronts a YES/NO question for clarity or formality (Чи ти гото́вий? 'are you ready?') — a cleaner alternative to intonation-only questions. (2) It means 'or' in alternative questions and lists (Чай чи ка́ва? 'tea or coffee?', Ти пі́деш чи ні? 'will you go or not?'). (3) It renders 'whether/if' in INDIRECT questions (Не зна́ю, чи він при́йде 'I don't know whether he'll come') — and crucially this is чи, NOT якщо́. The English 'do you…?' question-formation, 'or', and 'whether' all map onto чи.