The synthetic future (про́ста, тобто непохідна́, фо́рма майбу́тнього ча́су) is Ukrainian's signature one-word future: чита́тиму, говори́тиму, роби́тиму. It is the imperfective future packed into a single word, and it is the form that most clearly separates Ukrainian from Russian, which has nothing like it. This page shows exactly how it is built, gives full stressed paradigms, explains why the endings look so strange, and drills the one restriction that matters — it attaches only to imperfective verbs. Master the -му/-меш endings and you have one of the surest markers of confident, natural Ukrainian.
How it is built: infinitive + -му
The recipe is unusually simple, and it is unlike anything else in the verb. Take the imperfective infinitive whole — do not drop the -ти — and attach the enclitic endings directly after it:
| Person | Ending | чита́ти + ending |
|---|---|---|
| я | -му | чита́ти + му → чита́тиму |
| ти | -меш | чита́ти + меш → чита́тимеш |
| він/вона́/воно́ | -ме | чита́ти + ме → чита́тиме |
| ми | -мемо | чита́ти + мемо → чита́тимемо |
| ви | -мете | чита́ти + мете → чита́тимете |
| вони́ | -муть | чита́ти + муть → чита́тимуть |
The key visual is that the infinitive's -ти stays in place and the ending hangs off the end of it: читаТИ+му → чита́тиму. There is no stem change, no mutation, no dropping of letters — the whole infinitive survives intact and the ending is simply glued on.
Full paradigms with stress
The stress rule is mercifully easy: the stress stays exactly where the infinitive carries it. Because the ending is added after the stressed syllable, it never pulls the stress off. So чита́ти (stress on -та́-) gives чита́тиму, and говори́ти (stress on -ри́-) gives говори́тиму.
| Person | чита́ти "to read" | говори́ти "to speak" |
|---|---|---|
| я | чита́тиму | говори́тиму |
| ти | чита́тимеш | говори́тимеш |
| він/вона́/воно́ | чита́тиме | говори́тиме |
| ми | чита́тимемо | говори́тимемо |
| ви | чита́тимете | говори́тимете |
| вони́ | чита́тимуть | говори́тимуть |
A few more high-frequency verbs, so the pattern feels automatic — note how every one just keeps its infinitive and adds the ending:
| Infinitive | я-form | вони́-form |
|---|---|---|
| роби́ти "to do" | роби́тиму | роби́тимуть |
| ходи́ти "to walk / go" | ходи́тиму | ходи́тимуть |
| люби́ти "to love" | люби́тиму | люби́тимуть |
| чека́ти "to wait" | чека́тиму | чека́тимуть |
| жи́ти "to live" | жи́тиму | жи́тимуть |
| пам’ята́ти "to remember" | пам’ята́тиму | пам’ята́тимуть |
За́втра ці́лий день чита́тиму — наре́шті ма́ю ві́льний день.
Tomorrow I'll be reading all day — I finally have a free day. (чита́тиму — ongoing future activity across the whole day.)
Я за́вжди пам’ята́тиму цей ве́чір.
I'll always remember this evening. (пам’ята́тиму — a lasting, open-ended state; note the apostrophe in пам’ята́ти.)
Чека́тиму на тебе́ біля теа́тру о сьо́мій.
I'll be waiting for you by the theatre at seven. (чека́тиму — the auxiliary бу́ду is dropped; the -му ending carries 'I.')
It only works with imperfectives
This restriction is not a quirk to memorise separately — it falls straight out of meaning. The synthetic future describes an ongoing or repeated action, which is the imperfective viewpoint. So the -му endings attach only to imperfective infinitives. There is no прочита́тиму, no напи́шутиму, no *зро́битиму — those would be perfective stems, and a perfective never takes this ending.
When you want a future that means completion, you do not use -му at all; you use the perfective simple future (the one-word прочита́ю, напишу́, зроблю́). That form already is a single word, so it never needs -му.
| Imperfective → synthetic future | Perfective → simple future (NOT -му) |
|---|---|
| чита́тиму "I'll be reading" | прочита́ю "I'll read it through" |
| писа́тиму "I'll be writing" | напишу́ "I'll write it" |
| роби́тиму "I'll be doing it" | зроблю́ "I'll get it done" |
| купува́тиму "I'll buy (regularly)" | куплю́ "I'll buy it (once)" |
Я писа́тиму щодня́, до́ки не закі́нчу рома́н.
I'll write every day until I finish the novel. (писа́тиму — repeated, imperfective; закі́нчу — perfective for the single finishing point.)
Because the synthetic future is imperfective by construction, it automatically carries the ongoing / habitual / process meaning — you never have to wonder about its aspect. Seeing -тиму on a word tells you it is imperfective future, full stop.
Fully equivalent to бу́ду + infinitive
The synthetic future is completely interchangeable with the analytic future (бу́ду + imperfective infinitive). There is no difference in meaning, tense, or aspect — only in style and compactness.
| Synthetic (one word) | Analytic (two words) | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| чита́тиму | бу́ду чита́ти | I'll be reading |
| говори́тимеш | бу́деш говори́ти | you'll be speaking |
| люби́тиме | бу́де люби́ти | he/she'll love |
| жи́тимемо | бу́демо жи́ти | we'll be living |
| чека́тимуть | бу́дуть чека́ти | they'll be waiting |
Я люби́тиму тебе́ за́вжди. — Я бу́ду люби́ти тебе́ за́вжди.
I'll love you forever. (Two phrasings of one future — the synthetic люби́тиму and the analytic бу́ду люби́ти are equally correct.)
Ми жи́тимемо в Льво́ві ще рік-два.
We'll be living in Lviv for another year or two. (жи́тимемо — synthetic; бу́демо жи́ти would mean the same.)
The reflexive -ся goes on the very end
For a reflexive verb, the particle -ся stays at the very end, after the future ending: учи́тися → учи́тимуся, диви́тися → диви́тимуся. The order is infinitive + -м-ending + -ся.
Насту́пного семе́стру я вчи́тимуся в Ки́єві.
Next semester I'll be studying in Kyiv. (вчи́тимуся — synthetic future of вчи́тися, with -ся on the very end.)
Ми диви́тимемося цей серіа́л разо́м щоп’я́тниці.
We'll watch this series together every Friday. (диви́тимемося — reflexive synthetic future; the habit fits the imperfective.)
Source-language comparison
For an English speaker, the synthetic future is a genuinely new shape — a one-word future built by gluing an ending onto the full infinitive — but the underlying meaning is just "will be V-ing," which English handles easily. The practical advice: when you are unsure, you can always say бу́ду + infinitive instead, and you will be perfectly correct. Learn -тиму as a second gear: it is more compact and more idiomatic, and using it well makes your Ukrainian sound noticeably more native. The endings -му/-меш/-ме/-мемо/-мете/-муть are worth drilling until they are automatic, because they recur on every imperfective verb.
For a Russian speaker, this is the single biggest "new form" on the imperfective side, because Russian has no synthetic future whatsoever — Russian can only say бу́ду чита́ть. The temptation is to default forever to бу́ду + infinitive (which is correct) and never pick up -тиму. Resist it: the synthetic future is extremely common in Ukrainian, and consistently avoiding it is one of the things that marks a speaker as Russian-first. Drill чита́тиму, роби́тиму, ходи́тиму until they come without thinking.
Common Mistakes
❌ Я чита́ му за́втра ввечері.
Incorrect — the ending fuses onto the whole infinitive; don't drop the -ти. The form is one word: чита́тиму.
✅ Я чита́тиму за́втра ввечері.
I'll be reading tomorrow evening — infinitive + -му, one word.
❌ Я прочита́тиму кни́жку.
Incorrect — -му attaches only to imperfectives; прочита́ти is perfective. Use the perfective simple future.
✅ Я прочита́ю кни́жку.
I'll read the book (through) — perfective simple future.
❌ Я бу́ду чита́тиму.
Incorrect — don't stack both imperfective futures; -тиму already contains the future, so no бу́ду.
✅ Я чита́тиму. / Я бу́ду чита́ти.
I'll be reading — pick one route, not both.
❌ Ми диви́тимемо цей фільм.
Incorrect — the verb is reflexive (диви́тися); -ся must stay on the end.
✅ Ми диви́тимемося цей фільм.
We'll be watching this film — reflexive -ся after the future ending.
Key Takeaways
- Build: imperfective infinitive (keep the -ти)
- -му, -меш, -ме, -мемо, -мете, -муть
- Stress stays where the infinitive has it (чита́ти → чита́тиму; говори́ти → говори́тиму).
- The endings are a fossilised old "have" (я́ти) fused onto the infinitive — that is why they look unique.
- Imperfective only (no *прочита́тиму); the form therefore always means ongoing / repeated future.
- Fully equivalent to бу́ду + infinitive — pick whichever; -тиму is the more compact, idiomatic option.
- Reflexive -ся goes on the very end: вчи́тимуся, дивитимуся.
- No Russian counterpart — using -тиму is a hallmark of native-sounding Ukrainian.
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Start learning Ukrainian→Related Topics
- 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 Analytic Future (буду читати)A2 — The analytic (compound) imperfective future (складена фо́рма майбу́тнього ча́су): the future of бу́ти — бу́ду, бу́деш, бу́де, бу́демо, бу́дете, бу́дуть — followed by an IMPERFECTIVE infinitive, unchanged. бу́ду чита́ти, бу́деш чита́ти, бу́де чита́ти, бу́демо чита́ти, бу́дете чита́ти, бу́дуть чита́ти. The auxiliary must be the FUTURE of бу́ти (not its present), and the infinitive must be imperfective — no *бу́ду прочита́ти; a perfective forms its future synthetically as прочита́ю. бу́ду alone = 'I will be' (Я бу́ду вдо́ма); бу́ду + infinitive = 'I will be V-ing / will V'. It is fully synonymous with the synthetic чита́тиму — the safer default for learners, while -тиму is the idiomatic flourish.
- 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.
- What the Imperfective MeansA2 — The imperfective (недоко́наний вид) is the aspect of process, habit, simultaneity, and — crucially — of simply naming an activity without caring whether it finished: чита́ти, чита́ю, чита́в. It is the ONLY aspect with a real present, the default for repeated and backgrounded action, and the form Ukrainian uses to ask whether something was ever done at all (Ти диви́вся цей фільм? 'have you seen this film?').
- 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.