Infinitive (imperfective): роби́ти — "to do, to make" Perfective partner: зроби́ти — "to do / make (and finish)" Type: second-conjugation verb with labial л-insertion and mobile stress
роби́ти is one of the workhorses of the language — it covers everything English splits between "do" and "make," from Що ти ро́биш? "What are you doing?" to Я зроби́в дома́шнє завда́ння "I did my homework." Its conjugation hides the same Slavic trick you meet in люби́ти: because the stem ends in the labial -б-, an -л- is inserted before the ending in exactly two spots — the 1sg роблю́ and the 3pl ро́блять — and nowhere in between (ро́биш, ро́бить, ро́бимо, ро́бите). The stress is end-fixed only in the 1sg роблю́ and retracts to the ро́- stem everywhere else. роби́ти is also the textbook model of an aspect pair: simply prefix з- and you get the perfective зроби́ти, whose present-tense forms (зроблю́, зро́биш…) are its future. Stress is marked on every form below.
Present tense — second conjugation, л-insertion in 1sg & 3pl
A second-conjugation verb (only the imperfective роби́ти has a present tense): stem роб- plus the -ю / -иш / -ить / -имо / -ите / -ять endings. The 1sg роблю́ takes the end stress and the inserted -л-; the 3pl ро́блять keeps the -л- but with stem stress; the four forms between them are plain stem-stressed -б- forms.
| Person | роби́ти — PRESENT | English |
|---|---|---|
| я | роблю́ | I do / make |
| ти | ро́биш | you do (sg.) |
| він / вона́ / воно́ | ро́бить | he / she / it does |
| ми | ро́бимо | we do |
| ви | ро́бите | you do (pl./formal) |
| вони́ | ро́блять | they do |
Що ти ро́биш у субо́ту вве́чері?
What are you doing on Saturday evening? (2sg ро́биш — the everyday 'what are you up to' question.)
Я роблю́ все́, що мо́жу, але́ ча́су ма́ло.
I'm doing everything I can, but there's little time. (1sg роблю́ — note the -л- and the end stress.)
Ді́ти ро́блять бага́то по́милок, і це норма́льно.
Children make lots of mistakes, and that's normal. (3pl ро́блять — the -л- returns, stem stress.)
Past tense — gendered (роби́в / зроби́в…)
A regular gendered past in -в / -ла / -ло / -ли, with the stress on the -и́- of the stem throughout. No л-insertion in the past. The imperfective роби́в describes an action in progress or a habit ("was doing / used to do"); the perfective зроби́в reports it completed ("did and finished").
| Gender / number | роби́ти (impf) | зроби́ти (pf) |
|---|---|---|
| masculine | роби́в | зроби́в |
| feminine | роби́ла | зроби́ла |
| neuter | роби́ло | зроби́ло |
| plural | роби́ли | зроби́ли |
Що ти роби́в учо́ра, коли́ я телефонува́в?
What were you doing yesterday when I called? (Imperfective роби́в — an action in progress, ongoing background.)
Я наре́шті зроби́ла всі́ спра́ви на сього́дні.
I've finally got all today's tasks done. (Perfective зроби́ла — completed result, a female speaker.)
Future tense
Perfective зроби́ти — the simple future
The perfective has no present tense; its present-form set is its future, "I'll do / I'll get done." It keeps the same л-insertion and stress pattern as the imperfective present (зроблю́ end-stressed, then stem stress).
| Person | зроби́ти — FUTURE | English |
|---|---|---|
| я | зроблю́ | I'll do / get done |
| ти | зро́биш | you'll do |
| він / вона́ / воно́ | зро́бить | he / she / it will do |
| ми | зро́бимо | we'll do |
| ви | зро́бите | you'll do |
| вони́ | зро́блять | they'll do |
Не хвилю́йся, я все́ зроблю́ до п’ятни́ці.
Don't worry, I'll get it all done by Friday. (Perfective future зроблю́ — a single completed result.)
Imperfective роби́ти — both compound futures
The imperfective builds its future analytically (бу́ду + infinitive) or synthetically (the -му ending fused onto the infinitive). Use it for an ongoing or repeated action in the future, not a finished one.
| Person | Analytic (бу́ду + inf.) | Synthetic (-му) |
|---|---|---|
| я | бу́ду роби́ти | роби́тиму |
| ти | бу́деш роби́ти | роби́тимеш |
| він / вона́ / воно́ | бу́де роби́ти | роби́тиме |
| ми | бу́демо роби́ти | роби́тимемо |
| ви | бу́дете роби́ти | роби́тимете |
| вони́ | бу́дуть роби́ти | роби́тимуть |
Що ти бу́деш роби́ти на каніку́лах?
What are you going to do over the holidays? (Analytic imperfective future — an open-ended plan, no single endpoint.)
Imperative
The imperative is built on the роб- stem (no -л-, end-stressed). The perfective imperative зроби́ pushes for the job to be finished; the imperfective роби́ is a more general "do / keep doing."
| Addressee | роби́ти (impf) | зроби́ти (pf) |
|---|---|---|
| ти (informal) | роби́ | зроби́ |
| ви (formal / plural) | робі́ть | зробі́ть |
| 3rd person (let…) | хай / неха́й ро́бить | хай / неха́й зро́бить |
Зроби́ це за́раз, бо пото́му забу́деш.
Do it now, or you'll forget later. (Perfective imperative зроби́ — get it done, single act.)
Робі́ть, що хо́чете, мені́ все́ одно́.
Do whatever you want, I don't care. (Formal/plural imperfective imperative робі́ть.)
Participles and verbal adverbs
| Form | роби́ти / зроби́ти |
|---|---|
| past passive participle (pf) | зро́блений "made, done" |
| imperfective verbal adverb | ро́блячи "(while) doing" |
| perfective verbal adverb | зроби́вши "having done" |
The everyday survivor here is the passive participle зро́блений "made / done" — Усе́ вже зро́блено "Everything's already done" (the impersonal -но form). The verbal adverbs ро́блячи and зроби́вши are (literary / written).
Key uses & case government
1. Accusative object — роби́ти + thing
роби́ти governs a plain accusative with no preposition: роби́ти за́рядку, дома́шнє завда́ння, поми́лку, висно́вки. With an animate object the accusative copies the genitive, the standard animacy rule, but most objects of роби́ти are inanimate.
Щора́нку я роблю́ за́рядку й п’ю ка́ву.
Every morning I do exercises and drink coffee. (Accusative object за́рядку.)
2. The aspect pair роби́ти / зроби́ти — process vs result
This is the model pair every learner meets first. роби́ти = the process, the habit, the attempt ("be doing, do regularly"); зроби́ти = the same action seen as complete with a result ("get done"). Choosing between them is the heart of verbal aspect. Note the trap below: Я бу́ду зроби́ти is impossible — the бу́ду future takes an imperfective infinitive only.
Я ці́лий день роби́в прое́кт, але́ так його́ й не зроби́в.
I worked on the project all day but still didn't finish it. (Process роби́в vs unrealised result не зроби́в — the pair in one sentence.)
3. The prefix family — зароб-, перероб-, дороб-
Beyond з-, роб- carries a productive set of prefixes, each forming its own aspect pair, usually with a secondary imperfective in -роб-ля́-ти: заробля́ти / зароби́ти "to earn," переробля́ти / перероби́ти "to redo, to remake," доробля́ти / дороби́ти "to finish off, to add the rest." These are listed under forming pairs with prefixes.
Він заробля́є на життя́ перекла́дами.
He earns his living by doing translations. (Prefixed secondary imperfective заробля́є — note the -л- survives throughout the -ля́- forms.)
Дове́деться переробля́ти всю́ робо́ту знову́.
We'll have to redo all the work over again. (переробля́ти — the 'do again' prefix пере-.)
Common Mistakes
❌ Я робю́ дома́шнє завда́ння.
Missing л-insertion — after the labial -б- the 1sg inserts -л-: Я роблю́ дома́шнє завда́ння.
✅ Я роблю́ дома́шнє завда́ння.
I'm doing my homework.
❌ Вони́ ро́бять поми́лки.
The 3pl also needs the -л-: ро́блять, not 'ро́бять': Вони́ ро́блять поми́лки.
✅ Вони́ ро́блять поми́лки.
They make mistakes.
❌ За́втра я бу́ду зроби́ти все́.
Aspect error — the бу́ду future takes an IMPERFECTIVE infinitive; the perfective зроби́ти already IS a future on its own: За́втра я все́ зроблю́ (or бу́ду роби́ти).
✅ За́втра я все́ зроблю́.
Tomorrow I'll get it all done.
❌ Вона́ роби́в помилку.
Agreement error — the past agrees with gender; a female subject takes роби́ла: Вона́ роби́ла поми́лку.
✅ Вона́ зроби́ла поми́лку.
She made a mistake.
❌ Я люблю́ роблю́ спорт.
After a conjugated verb you need the INFINITIVE роби́ти, not a second finite form; and 'do sport' is занима́тися спо́ртом / займа́тися спо́ртом: Я люблю́ займа́тися спо́ртом. (роби́ти does not collocate with спорт here.)
✅ Я люблю́ займа́тися спо́ртом.
I like doing sport.
Key Takeaways
- л-insertion at the edges: 1sg роблю́ and 3pl ро́блять insert -л-; the middle four (ро́биш, ро́бить, ро́бимо, ро́бите) do not.
- Stress: end-stressed only in 1sg роблю́, then stem-stressed (ро́-) everywhere else; the perfective зроблю́ / зро́биш mirrors it.
- Past: роби́в / роби́ла / роби́ло / роби́ли (impf) vs зроби́в… (pf) — gendered, stress on -и́-.
- Future: perfective зроблю́ "I'll get done"; imperfective бу́ду роби́ти / роби́тиму for an ongoing or repeated action.
- Aspect: роби́ти = process/habit/attempt; зроби́ти = completed result. Never put a perfective infinitive after бу́ду.
- Government: plain accusative (роблю́ за́рядку). Rich prefix family: заробля́ти, переробля́ти, доробля́ти — each its own pair with a -ля́- imperfective.
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- Present Tense: Second ConjugationA1 — The second conjugation (друга дієвідміна) takes the present endings -у/-ю, -иш/-їш, -ить/-їть, -имо/-їмо, -ите/-їте, -ать/-ять, built on the theme vowel -и-/-ї- with a 3pl in -ать/-ять. Drill three models: regular говори́ти (говорю́, гово́риш, гово́рить… гово́рять), labial+л in the 1sg люби́ти (люблю́, лю́биш… лю́блять), and dental mutation in the 1sg ходи́ти (ходжу́, хо́диш… хо́дять) and ба́чити (ба́чу, ба́чиш… ба́чать — -ать, not -ять, after the hushing ч). The key insight: the mutation is confined to the я-form.
- Present-Stem Consonant ChangesA2 — When you form the present stem, a stem-final consonant often mutates: д→дж, т→ч, з→ж, с→ш, ст→щ, and any labial (б п в м ф) inserts an epenthetic -л-. In the second conjugation this happens only in the 1sg (ходи́ти→ходжу́, but хо́диш); in the first conjugation it runs through the whole present (писа́ти→пишу́, пи́шеш…). The mutations are regular, so you can derive the tricky я-form instead of memorising it.
- 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.
- Forming Aspect Pairs: PrefixesB1 — The most common way to build a perfective is to add a 'pure' perfectivizing prefix to the imperfective: чита́ти→прочита́ти, писа́ти→написа́ти, роби́ти→зроби́ти, ї́сти→з’ї́сти, пи́ти→ви́пити. The frequent perfectivizing prefixes are про-, на-, з-/с-/зі-, по-, ви-, при-. The catch: the SAME prefixes can instead add lexical meaning and make a NEW verb (писа́ти→переписа́ти 'rewrite'), so you must learn to tell aspect-only prefixation from meaning-changing prefixation.
- Accusative: Uses Beyond the Direct ObjectB1 — The accusative does more than mark the object — with в/у, на, за, під, через it marks motion TOWARD a target (іду в школу), it expresses bare-preposition duration (чекав годину 'waited an hour'), and it stands in a pivotal contrast with the locative: the same prepositions в/у and на take the accusative for direction (куди? в школу) but the locative for static location (де? в школі).
- Любити (to love / like)A1 — Complete conjugation-and-usage reference for люби́ти 'to love / to like' — a second-conjugation verb with the labial л-insertion in BOTH the 1sg люблю́ and the 3pl лю́блять (but лю́биш, лю́бить, лю́бимо, лю́бите between them), and the stress retracting to the stem after люблю́. Covers the gendered past, both imperfective futures, the imperative люби́, the accusative object (люблю́ ка́ву, люблю́ тебе́) and the + infinitive pattern (люблю́ чита́ти), the perfective полюби́ти 'come to love', and the contrast with подо́батися for a milder 'like'.