Infinitive (imperfective): встава́ти — "to get up, to rise, to stand up" Perfective partner: вста́ти — "to get up, to rise, to stand up (once, completely)" Type: an aspect pair with a present-stem change (встава- → встан-)
встава́ти / вста́ти is the everyday verb for rising — getting out of bed in the morning, standing up from a chair, the sun coming up. It is intransitive: you do not "get up something," you simply rise, so the verb governs no direct object. The pair sits at the heart of the daily-routine vocabulary every learner needs early, right next to прокида́тися / прокину́тися "to wake up" — and the two are constantly confused, because English "I wake up and get up" blurs the line that Ukrainian keeps. The perfective hides a stem you would never guess from the infinitive: the future is вста́ну, вста́неш with an inserted -н-, while the past masculine is the short встав. Stress is marked on every form below.
Present tense — встаю́ / встає́ш…
The imperfective present is built on the встаю- stem with the j-glide first-conjugation endings, and the stress falls on the ending throughout (встаю́, встає́ш…). This end-stress is the single most-missed feature of the verb — learners instinctively want вста́ю by analogy with the perfective вста́ну, but the imperfective is end-stressed.
| Person | встава́ти — PRESENT | English |
|---|---|---|
| я | встаю́ | I get up / am getting up |
| ти | встає́ш | you get up (sg.) |
| він / вона́ / воно́ | встає́ | he / she / it gets up |
| ми | встаємо́ | we get up |
| ви | встає́те | you get up (pl./formal) |
| вони́ | встаю́ть | they get up |
Imperfective встава́ти describes a habit or a repeated rising — what time you get up every day, who gets up first in the house.
Я встаю́ о шо́стій ра́нку, бо живу́ дале́ко від робо́ти.
I get up at six in the morning because I live far from work. (Habitual present встаю́ — end-stressed.)
Узи́мку так ва́жко встава́ти, коли́ на ву́лиці ще те́мно.
In winter it's so hard to get up when it's still dark outside. (Imperfective infinitive — the recurring difficulty.)
Past tense — встава́в (impf) vs встав / вста́ла (pf)
The imperfective past is regular: встава́в / встава́ла, end-stressed. The perfective past is the short встав / вста́ла / вста́ло / вста́ли — the masculine -в swallows the stem vowel, so there is no встанув.
| Gender / number | встава́ти (impf) | вста́ти (pf) |
|---|---|---|
| masculine | встава́в | встав |
| feminine | встава́ла | вста́ла |
| neuter | встава́ло | вста́ло |
| plural | встава́ли | вста́ли |
Imperfective встава́в = "used to get up / was getting up" (repeated or in progress); perfective встав = "got up" — the single completed act, the moment you were on your feet.
Він мо́вчки встав із-за́ столу́ й ви́йшов, не попроща́вшись.
He silently got up from the table and walked out without saying goodbye. (Perfective встав — one completed movement.)
У ві́йськовому таборі́ ми встава́ли о п’я́тій щодня́.
At the military camp we got up at five every day. (Imperfective встава́ли — a repeated past routine.)
Future tense
Perfective вста́ти — the simple future (the -н- stem)
The perfective's present-form is its future, and it carries the surprise of this verb: the inserted -н- gives вста́ну, вста́неш…, stem-stressed throughout. Neither the infinitive вста́ти nor the past встав prepares you for the -н-; it has to be learned as a fact.
| Person | вста́ти — FUTURE | English |
|---|---|---|
| я | вста́ну | I'll get up |
| ти | вста́неш | you'll get up |
| він / вона́ / воно́ | вста́не | he / she / it will get up |
| ми | вста́немо | we'll get up |
| ви | вста́нете | you'll get up |
| вони́ | вста́нуть | they'll get up |
За́втра я вста́ну ра́но, бо в ме́не по́їзд о сьо́мій.
Tomorrow I'll get up early because my train is at seven. (Perfective future вста́ну — one specific rising.)
Imperfective встава́ти — both compound futures
The imperfective forms its future analytically (бу́ду + infinitive) or synthetically (the -му form). It frames a repeated or habitual future getting-up. See the synthetic future.
| Person | Analytic (бу́ду + inf.) | Synthetic (-му) |
|---|---|---|
| я | бу́ду встава́ти | встава́тиму |
| ти | бу́деш встава́ти | встава́тимеш |
| він / вона́ / воно́ | бу́де встава́ти | встава́тиме |
| ми | бу́демо встава́ти | встава́тимемо |
| ви | бу́дете встава́ти | встава́тимете |
| вони́ | бу́дуть встава́ти | встава́тимуть |
Із поне́ділка я бу́ду встава́ти ра́ніше й бі́гати в па́рку.
From Monday I'll start getting up earlier and running in the park. (Imperfective future — a new habit, repeated mornings.)
Imperative
The imperative is one of the highest-frequency uses of this verb — it is how you wake someone up. The imperfective встава́й / встава́йте is the gentle, coaxing "come on, up you get" you say to a sleepy child; the perfective встань / вста́ньте is sharper and more decisive ("get up, now"). The aspect carries the tone. See aspect in the imperative.
| Addressee | встава́ти (impf) | вста́ти (pf) |
|---|---|---|
| ти (informal) | встава́й | встань |
| ви (formal / plural) | встава́йте | вста́ньте |
| 3rd person (let…) | хай / неха́й встає́ | хай / неха́й вста́не |
Встава́й, со́нечко, уже́ во́сьма — снідано́к на столі́!
Get up, sweetheart, it's already eight — breakfast is on the table! (Imperfective встава́й — warm, coaxing.)
Встань, коли́ з тобо́ю розмовля́є вчи́тель.
Stand up when a teacher is speaking to you. (Perfective встань — firm, one decisive act.)
Participles and verbal adverbs
| Form | встава́ти / вста́ти |
|---|---|
| imperfective verbal adverb | встаю́чи "(while) getting up" |
| perfective verbal adverb | вста́вши "having got up" |
The perfective вста́вши is the more natural of the two — Вста́вши вдо́світа, вона́ ти́хо ви́йшла з ха́ти "Having got up at dawn, she quietly left the house." Both are (literary / written); in speech you would simply say Вона́ вста́ла й ви́йшла.
Key uses & case government
1. встава́ти / вста́ти vs прокида́тися — the morning sequence
This is the contrast to drill. прокида́тися / прокину́тися is waking up (your eyes open, sleep ends); встава́ти / вста́ти is getting out of bed (your body rises). The order is fixed: first you wake, then you rise. Many English speakers say встаю́ when they mean прокида́юся, because "I wake up at seven" feels like one event. See прокида́тися / прокину́тися.
Я прокида́юся о сьо́мій, але́ встаю́ ті́льки о пів на во́сьму.
I wake up at seven, but I only get up at half past seven. (The two verbs in their natural sequence.)
2. Intransitive — no object, but it pairs with prepositions of place
встава́ти governs no accusative object — you rise, full stop. But it often takes a phrase of origin or destination: встава́ти з + genitive (get up from — ліжка, стільця́, столу́) and встава́ти на + accusative (stand up onto — ноги). Confusing it with the transitive сіда́ти / сі́сти "sit down" is common, since they are mirror-image movements.
Лі́кар сказа́в, що бра́тові вже мо́жна встава́ти з лі́жка.
The doctor said my brother is already allowed to get out of bed. (з + genitive лі́жка — origin of the rising.)
Він ва́жко встав на но́ги, спира́ючись на ці́пок.
He stood up onto his feet with difficulty, leaning on a cane. (на + accusative но́ги — direction of the rising.)
3. Figurative — the sun and the dough "rise"
Like English "rise," встава́ти / вста́ти extends to the sun coming up (со́нце встає́) and, idiomatically, to standing up for someone — вста́ти на за́хист "to rise to the defence of."
Со́нце вже вста́ло, і туман над рі́чкою помали́ ро́звіявся.
The sun had already risen, and the mist over the river slowly cleared. (Figurative со́нце вста́ло.)
Common Mistakes
❌ Я вста́ю о сьо́мій.
Wrong stress on the imperfective present — it is end-stressed: Я встаю́ о сьо́мій.
✅ Я встаю́ о сьо́мій.
I get up at seven.
❌ За́втра я встану́ ра́но.
Wrong stress and wrong vowel — the perfective future is stem-stressed вста́ну (with -н-), not встану́: За́втра я вста́ну ра́но.
✅ За́втра я вста́ну ра́но.
Tomorrow I'll get up early.
❌ Я встаю́ся о во́сьмій.
встава́ти is not reflexive — drop the -ся: Я встаю́ о во́сьмій. (You may be thinking of прокида́юся, which does take -ся.)
✅ Я встаю́ о во́сьмій.
I get up at eight.
❌ Уночі́ я встаю́ воду́.
встава́ти takes no direct object — you cannot 'get up water.' For drinking at night use a different verb: Уночі́ я встаю́, щоб попи́ти води́. (rise in order to drink)
✅ Уночі́ я встаю́, щоб попи́ти води́.
At night I get up to have a drink of water.
❌ Вона́ встав ра́но й пішла́ на робо́ту.
Agreement error — a female subject takes the feminine past вста́ла: Вона́ вста́ла ра́но й пішла́ на робо́ту.
✅ Вона́ вста́ла ра́но й пішла́ на робо́ту.
She got up early and went to work.
Key Takeaways
- встава́ти / вста́ти = the ACTION of rising (out of bed, from a chair, the sun). Intransitive — no direct object.
- Present (impf): встаю́ / встає́ш / встає́ / встаємо́ / встає́те / встаю́ть — end-stressed.
- Future (pf): вста́ну / вста́неш / вста́не / вста́немо / вста́нете / вста́нуть — note the inserted -н-, stem-stressed.
- Past: встава́в (impf) vs встав / вста́ла / вста́ло / вста́ли (pf).
- Government: з + genitive (rise from), на + accusative (rise onto ноги); never an accusative object.
- Sequence: first прокида́єшся (wake), then встає́ш (rise) — don't merge them.
- Imperative: coaxing Встава́й! / Встава́йте! vs decisive Встань! / Вста́ньте!
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