The analytic future (складена, тобто компонентна, фо́рма майбу́тнього ча́су) is the two-word imperfective future: the future of бу́ти plus an imperfective infinitive — бу́ду чита́ти, "I will be reading." It is the more transparent of Ukrainian's two imperfective futures (the other being the one-word synthetic чита́тиму), and it is the one English speakers find immediately intuitive, because it works almost exactly like English "will be reading." This page conjugates the auxiliary, fixes the two things that must be true (the auxiliary is the future of бу́ти, the infinitive is imperfective), and shows why this construction is the natural imperfective counterpart to the perfective прочита́ю.
The auxiliary: the future of бу́ти
The construction is built on бу́ти ("to be"). Crucially, бу́ти has no present tense in modern Ukrainian — the form you might expect for "is" is simply є or nothing — so the auxiliary here is the future of бу́ти, which conjugates as a fully regular verb:
| Person | Auxiliary | English |
|---|---|---|
| я | бу́ду | I will (be) |
| ти | бу́деш | you will (be) |
| він/вона́/воно́ | бу́де | he/she/it will (be) |
| ми | бу́демо | we will (be) |
| ви | бу́дете | you (pl./polite) will (be) |
| вони́ | бу́дуть | they will (be) |
On its own, this verb means "will be": Я бу́ду вдо́ма "I'll be home," Він бу́де лі́карем "He'll be a doctor." Add an imperfective infinitive after it and you get the analytic future: "I will be V-ing."
За́втра я бу́ду вдо́ма ці́лий день, заходь у го́сті.
Tomorrow I'll be home all day, come visit. (бу́ду alone = 'I'll be'; the infinitive comes in the next examples.)
The construction: бу́ду + imperfective infinitive
Conjugate the auxiliary for the subject; the infinitive stays unchanged (and imperfective) for every person.
| Person | auxiliary |
| English |
|---|---|---|---|
| я | бу́ду | чита́ти | I'll be reading |
| ти | бу́деш | чита́ти | you'll be reading |
| він/вона́ | бу́де | чита́ти | he/she'll be reading |
| ми | бу́демо | чита́ти | we'll be reading |
| ви | бу́дете | чита́ти | you'll be reading |
| вони́ | бу́дуть | чита́ти | they'll be reading |
The same template runs every imperfective verb: бу́ду говори́ти, бу́деш роби́ти, бу́де працюва́ти, бу́демо вчи́тися. Only the auxiliary changes by person; the infinitive is a constant.
Цього́ ро́ку я бу́ду вчи́тися на ку́рсах украї́нської мо́ви.
This year I'll be studying at Ukrainian-language courses. (бу́ду + вчи́тися — an ongoing course of study.)
Вони́ бу́дуть будува́ти дім аж до кінця́ лі́та.
They'll be building the house right until the end of summer. (бу́дуть + будува́ти — a long, open-ended process.)
Що ти бу́деш роби́ти на вихідни́х?
What are you going to be doing this weekend? (бу́деш роби́ти — the everyday way to ask about future plans.)
Rule 1: the infinitive must be imperfective
The analytic future is imperfective by construction, so the infinitive after бу́ду must be imperfective. You can never put a perfective infinitive there: no бу́ду прочита́ти, no бу́ду написа́ти, no бу́ду купи́ти. A perfective makes its future the other way — as the one-word *simple future (прочита́ю, напишу́, куплю́) — so it simply does not need бу́ду.
| Imperfective → бу́ду + infinitive ✓ | Perfective → simple future ✓ (never бу́ду) |
|---|---|
| бу́ду чита́ти "I'll be reading" | прочита́ю "I'll read it through" |
| бу́ду писа́ти "I'll be writing" | напишу́ "I'll write it" |
| бу́ду купува́ти "I'll buy (regularly)" | куплю́ "I'll buy it (once)" |
❌ Я бу́ду прочита́ти кни́жку. → ✅ Я прочита́ю кни́жку.
бу́ду takes only imperfective infinitives; a finished result is the perfective simple future — прочита́ю.
The deeper reasoning — that completion belongs to the perfective and process to the imperfective — is on aspect in the future.
Rule 2: the auxiliary is the future of бу́ти, not the present
Because бу́ти has no real present, there is no risk of saying "є чита́ти" — the auxiliary is always the *future бу́ду/бу́деш/бу́де… So the construction is literally "I-will-be + to-read." Keep the auxiliary in its full future form; do not try to substitute a present-of-"to be," because there isn't one.
Уве́чері ми бу́демо диви́тися фільм і не бу́демо ніко́му відчиня́ти.
In the evening we'll be watching a film and won't open the door to anyone. (бу́демо… бу́демо — the auxiliary repeats for each verb; note the negative бу́демо… не бу́демо.)
Fully synonymous with the synthetic future
бу́ду чита́ти and the synthetic чита́тиму are two names for the same thing: the imperfective future. They share aspect, tense, and meaning. Use either; recognise both.
| Analytic (two words) | Synthetic (one word) | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| бу́ду чита́ти | чита́тиму | I'll be reading |
| бу́деш роби́ти | роби́тимеш | you'll be doing |
| бу́де чека́ти | чека́тиме | he/she'll be waiting |
| бу́демо жи́ти | жи́тимемо | we'll be living |
| бу́дуть працюва́ти | працюва́тимуть | they'll be working |
Я бу́ду чека́ти на тебе́ біля вхо́ду. — Я чека́тиму на тебе́ біля вхо́ду.
I'll be waiting for you by the entrance. (The analytic and synthetic forms are equally correct.)
A subtle point: word order is flexible
The auxiliary and the infinitive do not have to sit side by side. Other words can come between them, and the infinitive can even come first for emphasis — бу́ду stays a normal, mobile auxiliary.
Я бу́ду за́втра ці́лий день працюва́ти з до́му.
Tomorrow I'll be working from home all day. (за́втра ці́лий день sits between бу́ду and працюва́ти — perfectly natural.)
Чека́ти я тебе́ бу́ду, скі́льки тре́ба.
I'll wait for you as long as it takes. (the infinitive чека́ти is fronted for emphasis; бу́ду follows — marked, emotional word order.)
Source-language comparison
For an English speaker, the analytic future is the friendliest piece of the whole Ukrainian future system: бу́ду чита́ти lines up almost perfectly with "I will be reading," auxiliary plus main verb, the auxiliary carrying person and the main verb staying constant. Two adjustments to internalise: the main verb is an infinitive (чита́ти), not a participle ("reading"); and the infinitive must be imperfective — there is no analytic future for "I'll get it read," which is the perfective прочита́ю instead. If you remember "бу́ду means will be, and what follows must be ongoing," you will rarely go wrong.
For a Russian speaker, this construction transfers essentially unchanged: бу́ду + imperfective infinitive works exactly as in Russian (бу́ду чита́ть). The only thing to add — and it is significant — is that Ukrainian also has the synthetic future чита́тиму as a fully equivalent alternative, which Russian lacks. Don't lean on бу́ду forever just because it feels familiar; the синтетична form is everywhere in real Ukrainian.
Common Mistakes
❌ Я бу́ду прочита́ти кни́жку за́втра.
Incorrect — бу́ду takes only imperfective infinitives; a finished result is the perfective simple future.
✅ Я прочита́ю кни́жку за́втра.
I'll read the book (through) tomorrow — perfective simple future.
❌ Я бу́ду чита́тиму ці́лий ве́чір.
Incorrect — don't combine the analytic and synthetic futures; -тиму already includes the future, so no бу́ду.
✅ Я бу́ду чита́ти ці́лий ве́чір. / Я чита́тиму ці́лий ве́чір.
I'll be reading all evening — pick one route.
❌ Я є чита́ти за́втра.
Incorrect — бу́ти has no present auxiliary here; the future of бу́ти is бу́ду/бу́деш/бу́де…
✅ Я бу́ду чита́ти за́втра.
I'll be reading tomorrow — the auxiliary is the future бу́ду.
❌ Ми бу́де працюва́ти ра́зом.
Incorrect — the auxiliary must agree with the subject; 'we' takes бу́демо, not бу́де.
✅ Ми бу́демо працюва́ти ра́зом.
We'll be working together — бу́демо for 'we.'
Key Takeaways
- Build: future of бу́ти (бу́ду, бу́деш, бу́де, бу́демо, бу́дете, бу́дуть)
- imperfective infinitive
- The auxiliary is the future of бу́ти, never a present (бу́ти has no present here).
- The infinitive must be imperfective — no *бу́ду прочита́ти; a perfective uses the simple future (прочита́ю).
- бу́ду alone = "I will be" (Я бу́ду вдо́ма); бу́ду + infinitive = "I will be V-ing."
- Fully synonymous with the synthetic чита́тиму — бу́ду + infinitive is the safer learner default, -тиму the idiomatic flourish.
- The auxiliary is mobile: other words can sit between бу́ду and the infinitive.
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- The Future Tense: Three RoutesA2 — Ukrainian builds the future three ways. (1) The PERFECTIVE simple future — a perfective verb's present-shaped form IS its future: прочита́ю 'I'll read it through', напишу́, зроблю́, куплю́ — one word, a single result. (2) The IMPERFECTIVE analytic future — бу́ду + an imperfective infinitive (бу́ду чита́ти), the auxiliary бу́ду/бу́деш/бу́де/бу́демо/бу́дете/бу́дуть conjugating. (3) The IMPERFECTIVE synthetic future — the infinitive fused with the enclitic -му/-меш/-ме/-мемо/-мете/-муть (чита́тиму), a one-word imperfective future that Ukrainian has and Russian lacks. So 'I will read' is прочита́ю (finish it) OR бу́ду чита́ти OR чита́тиму (ongoing); the last two are interchangeable.
- The Synthetic Future (читатиму)A2 — Ukrainian's distinctive one-word imperfective future (про́ста фо́рма майбу́тнього ча́су): take the imperfective infinitive whole — keeping its -ти — and fuse on the enclitic endings -му, -меш, -ме, -мемо, -мете, -муть. чита́ти → чита́тиму, чита́тимеш, чита́тиме, чита́тимемо, чита́тимете, чита́тимуть; говори́ти → говори́тиму; роби́ти → роби́тиму; ходи́ти → ходи́тиму. The endings descend from a fused old 'have' (я́ти); the stress stays where the infinitive carries it. It works ONLY with imperfectives (no *прочита́тиму), so it always carries ongoing/repeated meaning, and it is fully equivalent to бу́ду + infinitive — but more compact, very common, and with NO Russian counterpart.
- Using the Future (and Present-for-Future)B1 — When to use each future and where Ukrainian and English diverge. Perfective simple future for a single completed future result (Я зроблю́ це за́втра, Він при́йде о шо́стій). Imperfective future (бу́ду чита́ти / чита́тиму) for ongoing or repeated future action. The PRESENT-for-future with motion verbs and timetables (За́втра ї́ду до Ки́єва, По́їзд відхо́дить о п’я́тій). And the big divergence: after коли́ 'when' and якщо́ 'if' pointing to the future, Ukrainian uses the FUTURE — Коли́ при́йдеш, подзвони́ — where English keeps the present ('when you arrive').
- Aspect in the Future TenseA2 — English 'will read' is ambiguous; Ukrainian forces a choice. The PERFECTIVE future is the simple one-word form — прочита́ю, напишу́, зроблю́, куплю́ — for a single completed future result. The IMPERFECTIVE future is a two-piece form, either analytic (бу́ду чита́ти) or synthetic (чита́тиму), for an ongoing, repeated, or process-focused future. The perfective can NEVER use бу́ду — *бу́ду прочита́ти is impossible — because бу́ду builds only on imperfective infinitives.
- Бути (to be)A1 — Complete conjugation-and-usage reference for бу́ти 'to be' — the most important irregular verb in Ukrainian. The present is normally OMITTED (є survives only for existence, possession у ме́не є, and emphasis); the past is gendered був / була́ / було́ / були́; and бу́ду / бу́деш / бу́де / бу́демо / бу́дете / бу́дуть is both the verb's own future and the universal future auxiliary. Predicate nouns are NOMINATIVE in the present but INSTRUMENTAL in the past, future and infinitive.
- The Present of Бути (and the Missing Copula)A1 — Ukrainian normally has NO present-tense 'to be': Він студе́нт 'he is a student', Я вдо́ма 'I'm home' — the copula simply disappears, often replaced in writing by a dash (Київ — столи́ця). The single present form є exists for all persons but is used sparingly: for existence and possession (У ме́не є час 'I have time'), for emphasis or formal definitions (Украї́на є незале́жною держа́вою), and it negates to нема́є + genitive (нема́є ча́су). Inserting є everywhere is a beginner error; forgetting it in 'у ме́не є…' is the opposite error.