Infinitive (imperfective): спа́ти — "to sleep, to be asleep" Type: second-conjugation verb with the labial п→пл insertion in the 1sg and 3pl; a state verb
спа́ти means "to be asleep / to sleep" — the state, not the act of dropping off (that change of state is засну́ти "to fall asleep"). Its conjugation carries the same labial trick you meet in люби́ти and роби́ти: because the stem ends in the labial -п-, an -л- is inserted before the ending in two spots — the 1sg сплю and the 3pl сплять — and nowhere in between (спиш, спить, спимо́, спите́). On top of the conjugation, спа́ти is the verb behind one of Ukrainian's most characteristic constructions: the impersonal experiencer мені́ не спи́ться "I can't (manage to) sleep," where the sleeper sits in the dative and the verb takes -ся with no subject. Stress is marked on every form below.
Present tense — second conjugation, п→пл (л-insertion) in 1sg & 3pl
A second-conjugation verb: stem сп- (→ спл- in the 1sg and 3pl) plus the -ю / -иш / -ить / -имо / -ите / -ять endings. The -л- inserts in сплю and сплять; the four middle forms are plain -п-. The 1sg and 3pl are stem-stressed (these are monosyllables, so no mark), while the 2pl/1pl shift the stress onto the ending (спимо́, спите́).
| Person | спа́ти — PRESENT | English |
|---|---|---|
| я | сплю | I sleep / am asleep |
| ти | спиш | you sleep (sg.) |
| він / вона́ / воно́ | спить | he / she / it sleeps |
| ми | спимо́ | we sleep |
| ви | спите́ | you sleep (pl./formal) |
| вони́ | сплять | they sleep |
Тихі́ше, бу́дь ла́ска, дити́на спить.
Quieter, please, the baby is asleep. (3sg спить — the state of being asleep.)
Я пога́но сплю, коли́ на ву́лиці спе́ка.
I sleep badly when it's hot outside. (1sg сплю — note the -л- insertion.)
Вони́ сплять до обі́ду по вихідни́х.
They sleep till noon on weekends. (3pl сплять — the -л- returns.)
Past tense — gendered (спав…), feminine спала́ end-stressed
A regular gendered past in -в / -ла / -ло / -ли. Note the mobile stress: masculine спав and neuter спа́ло and plural спа́ли are stem-stressed, but the feminine спала́ is end-stressed — a common pattern in short monosyllabic stems (compare була́, жила́). Mark it carefully.
| Gender / number | спа́ти — PAST | English |
|---|---|---|
| masculine | спав | (he / I m.) was asleep / slept |
| feminine | спала́ | (she / I f.) was asleep / slept |
| neuter | спа́ло | (it) was asleep |
| plural | спа́ли | (we / you / they) were asleep |
Я вночі́ зо́всім не спав — за стіно́ю гримі́в ремо́нт.
I didn't sleep a wink last night — there was renovation noise through the wall. (спав — masculine, the state of sleeping negated.)
Вона́ спала́ так мі́цно, що не почу́ла буди́льника.
She was sleeping so soundly that she didn't hear the alarm. (Feminine спала́ — note the END stress, plus the idiom спа́ти мі́цно.)
Future tense
Perfective поспа́ти / засну́ти — two different perfectives
спа́ти has two perfective partners for two different meanings: поспа́ти "to sleep for a while" (the по- 'a bit of' prefix) and засну́ти "to fall asleep" (the change of state — go from awake to asleep). Each forms its simple future from its present-form set.
| Person | поспа́ти (sleep a while) | засну́ти (fall asleep) |
|---|---|---|
| я | посплю́ | засну́ |
| ти | поспи́ш | засне́ш |
| він / вона́ / воно́ | поспи́ть | засне́ |
| ми | поспимо́ | заснемо́ |
| ви | поспите́ | заснете́ |
| вони́ | поспля́ть | засну́ть |
Приля́ж, поспи́ хоч годи́нку пе́ред доро́гою.
Lie down and sleep at least an hour before the journey. (Perfective поспи́ — sleep for a bounded while.)
Я не мо́жу засну́ти вже́ дру́гу годи́ну.
I haven't been able to fall asleep for two hours now. (Perfective засну́ти — the moment of dropping off, not the state.)
Imperfective спа́ти — both compound futures
For an ongoing or repeated future state, the imperfective builds the analytic (бу́ду + infinitive) or synthetic (-му) future.
| Person | Analytic (бу́ду + inf.) | Synthetic (-му) |
|---|---|---|
| я | бу́ду спа́ти | спа́тиму |
| ти | бу́деш спа́ти | спа́тимеш |
| він / вона́ / воно́ | бу́де спа́ти | спа́тиме |
| ми | бу́демо спа́ти | спа́тимемо |
| ви | бу́дете спа́ти | спа́тимете |
| вони́ | бу́дуть спа́ти | спа́тимуть |
Сього́дні я бу́ду спа́ти як ка́мінь — так наби́галася.
Tonight I'll sleep like a log — I'm so worn out from running around. (Analytic future бу́ду спа́ти; 'спа́ти як ка́мінь' = sleep like a log.)
Imperative
The imperative is stem-based: спи / спіть "sleep." It is everyday and gentle — the standard bedtime instruction to a child.
| Addressee | спа́ти |
|---|---|
| ти (informal) | спи |
| ви (formal / plural) | спіть |
| 3rd person (let…) | хай / неха́й спить |
Спи, мали́й, уже́ пі́зно й завтра до шко́ли.
Go to sleep, little one, it's late and there's school tomorrow. (Imperative спи — the bedtime line.)
Verbal adverbs
| Form | спа́ти |
|---|---|
| past passive participle | (none — спа́ти is intransitive) |
| verbal adverb | (не вжива́ється — not used) |
спа́ти is intransitive and stative, so it forms no productive participle or verbal adverb in normal use. The related adjective is со́нний "sleepy" and the noun is сон "sleep / dream."
Key uses & case government
1. No object — спа́ти is intransitive; "sleep" how/where via adverbs and locatives
спа́ти takes no direct object. You modify it with adverbs (спа́ти до́бре / пога́но / мі́цно "sleep well / badly / soundly") or with a locative for the place (спа́ти в лі́жку, на дива́ні, у наме́ті). The duration goes in the accusative without a preposition (спа́ти ві́сім годи́н "to sleep eight hours").
У по́їзді я ніко́ли не сплю до́бре.
On the train I never sleep well. (Adverb до́бре + locative у по́їзді — no direct object.)
Уночі́ ма́ленька до́нька спить у наме́ті з на́ми.
At night the little daughter sleeps in the tent with us. (Location: у + locative наме́ті.)
2. The impersonal experiencer — мені́ не спи́ться
This is the construction English has no neat equivalent for. Add -ся and drop the subject, and спа́ти becomes the impersonal спи́ться: the would-be sleeper goes into the dative, and the verb is invariant 3sg. Мені́ не спи́ться = "I can't (seem to) sleep / sleep won't come to me" — it frames sleeplessness as something happening to you, not something you fail to do. This is the dative experiencer / impersonal pattern in miniature.
Щось мені́ сього́дні зо́всім не спи́ться.
For some reason I just can't get to sleep tonight. (Impersonal спи́ться + dative experiencer мені́ — no subject.)
3. засну́ти vs спа́ти — change of state vs state
Keep the two apart: спа́ти = to be asleep (state, lasts), засну́ти = to fall asleep (the boundary moment), and лягти́ спа́ти = to go to bed (lie down to sleep). English "go to sleep" hides all three; Ukrainian splits them. See also ляга́ти / лягти́.
Ді́ти вже поляга́ли, але́ ще не засну́ли.
The children have gone to bed but haven't fallen asleep yet. (поляга́ли = lay down; засну́ли = the moment of dropping off — neither is спа́ти 'being asleep'.)
Common Mistakes
❌ Я спю́ пога́но.
Missing the л-insertion — after the labial -п- the 1sg inserts -л-: Я сплю пога́но.
✅ Я сплю пога́но.
I sleep badly.
❌ Вони́ спля́ть до обі́ду.
The 3pl needs the -л- and is stem-stressed: сплять, not 'спля́ть': Вони́ сплять до обі́ду.
✅ Вони́ сплять до обі́ду.
They sleep till noon.
❌ Вона́ спав мі́цно.
Agreement error — the past agrees with gender; a female subject takes the END-stressed спала́: Вона́ спала́ мі́цно.
✅ Вона́ спала́ мі́цно.
She was sleeping soundly.
❌ Я не мо́жу спа́ти вже годи́ну.
Aspect error — for the inability to DROP OFF use the change-of-state засну́ти, not the stative спа́ти: Я не мо́жу засну́ти вже годи́ну.
✅ Я не мо́жу засну́ти вже годи́ну.
I haven't been able to fall asleep for an hour.
❌ Я не спи́ться.
The impersonal experiencer puts the sleeper in the DATIVE, not the nominative: Мені́ не спи́ться. (no nominative subject with -ся here.)
✅ Мені́ не спи́ться.
I can't get to sleep.
Key Takeaways
- л-insertion at the edges: 1sg сплю and 3pl сплять insert -л-; the middle four (спиш, спить, спимо́, спите́) do not.
- Stress: plural endings carry the stress (спимо́, спите́); in the past the feminine спала́ is end-stressed while спав / спа́ло / спа́ли are stem-stressed.
- State vs change of state: спа́ти = be asleep; засну́ти = fall asleep; лягти́ спа́ти = go to bed.
- Future: поспа́ти "sleep a while" or засну́ти "fall asleep" for the perfective; бу́ду спа́ти / спа́тиму for an ongoing state.
- Government: intransitive — adverbs (до́бре, мі́цно) and locatives (в лі́жку) modify it; no direct object.
- Impersonal: мені́ не спи́ться "I can't get to sleep" — dative experiencer, invariant -ся verb, no subject.
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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.
- Impersonal Verb ConstructionsB1 — Безособо́ві ре́чення — sentences with NO grammatical subject, which Ukrainian uses constantly. Six types: weather/nature (Світа́є, Похолода́ло, Сніжи́ть); states with a DATIVE experiencer (Мені́ хо́лодно, Йому́ пога́но, Хо́четься спа́ти); modal predicatives (Тре́ба йти, Мо́жна?, Не мо́жна, Слід поду́мати); the -но/-то passive (Зро́блено); existence/absence with нема́є + genitive (Гро́шей нема́є); and the agentless 3rd-plural 'they/people' (Ка́жуть, що...). The key insight: where English inserts a dummy 'it' or 'one/you', Ukrainian drops the subject entirely and makes the experiencer DATIVE — 'I'm cold' is Мені́ хо́лодно (literally 'to-me cold'), 'I feel like sleeping' is Мені́ хо́четься спа́ти.
- The Dative in Impersonal ConstructionsB1 — A whole family of meanings makes the experiencer DATIVE and the sentence subjectless: feelings (Мені́ су́мно), physical states (Мені́ пога́но), needs (Мені́ тре́ба), age (Мені́ два́дцять ро́ків), luck (Мені́ щасти́ть), managing (Мені́ вдало́ся піти́), and seeming (Мені́ здає́ться) — so 'I' becomes мені́ and there's no 'am/was'.
- Лягати / Лягти (to lie down)B1 — Complete conjugation-and-usage reference for ляга́ти / лягти́ 'to lie down' — the verb of taking up a horizontal position. Covers the imperfective present ляга́ю / ляга́єш / ляга́є / ляга́ємо / ляга́єте / ляга́ють, the irregular perfective future ля́жу / ля́жеш / ля́же / ля́жемо / ля́жете / ля́жуть (г→ж), the bare-consonant past ліг / лягла́ / лягло́ / лягли́, both imperfective futures, the contrast with лежа́ти 'be lying', the idiom лягти́ спа́ти 'go to bed', and the imperatives Ляга́й! and Ляж!