English has one tidy way to make a suggestion that includes the speaker: "let's" + verb ("let's go," "let's sing"). Ukrainian has several, and choosing the right one is partly a matter of register and partly a matter of avoiding a russified habit. The native, idiomatic core is a single-word synthetic form: the imperative with a -мо ending — ході́мо! "let's go!", заспіва́ймо! "let's sing!", бу́дьмо! the toast "cheers!". This page lays out that synthetic hortative, the emphatic ну́мо / ну, the colloquial дава́й(те) construction (and why ході́мо is preferred over it), and the plain inclusive future that often does the same job.
The native form: imperative + -мо
The cleanest "let's" is the 1st-person plural imperative, formed by adding -мо to the imperative stem. You already know the 2sg imperative (ходи́! "go!", сядь! "sit!", заспіва́й! "sing!"); the hortative simply swaps in -мо instead of the bare or -и ending, giving a "let us…" that is one word and entirely native.
| Infinitive | 2sg imperative ('do!') | 1pl hortative ('let's do!') | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| іти́ / ходи́ти | іди́ / ходи́ | ході́мо | let's go |
| сі́сти | сядь | ся́дьмо | let's sit down |
| заспіва́ти | заспіва́й | заспіва́ймо | let's sing |
| поговори́ти | поговори́ | поговорі́мо | let's have a talk |
| бу́ти | будь | бу́дьмо | let's be / cheers |
Ході́мо вже, бо запізни́мося на по́тяг!
Let's go already, or we'll miss the train! (ході́мо — the everyday native 'let's go'.)
Ся́дьмо тут, бі́ля вікна́, тут зати́шніше.
Let's sit here, by the window — it's cosier. (ся́дьмо — 1pl hortative of сі́сти.)
Заспіва́ймо щось украї́нське, я ввімкну́ гіта́ру.
Let's sing something Ukrainian — I'll plug in the guitar. (заспіва́ймо — -мо on the imperative stem заспіва́й-.)
Бу́дьмо! — the toast
The most famous member of this family is бу́дьмо! — literally "let us be!", used as the standard Ukrainian drinking toast, the equivalent of "cheers!". It is the 1pl hortative of бу́ти, and it carries a warm, distinctly Ukrainian flavour that "за здоро́в’я" or imported toasts do not.
Підніма́ймо ча́рки — бу́дьмо, дру́зі!
Let's raise our glasses — cheers, friends! (підніма́ймо and бу́дьмо, two hortatives in one line.)
Ну́мо / Ну — 'come on, let's'
To add urging or encouragement — the "come on!" flavour — Ukrainian prefixes ну́мо (or plain ну) to the hortative, an infinitive, or a future. Ну́мо is itself a hortative particle; it pushes the group into action and is common in speech, songs, and rallying contexts.
Ну́мо працюва́ти, дедла́йн уже́ за́втра!
Come on, let's get to work — the deadline's tomorrow! (ну́мо + infinitive, an energetic 'let's'.)
Ну, ході́мо, не стій на моро́зі.
Come on, let's go — don't stand out in the cold. (ну + the synthetic ході́мо.)
Ну́мо ра́зом: раз, два, три!
Come on, all together: one, two, three! (ну́мо ра́зом — a rallying 'let's, together'.)
Дава́й(те) + future or infinitive — colloquial
You will hear дава́й (informal, to one person) and дава́йте (to a group or politely) followed by a perfective future or an infinitive: дава́й пі́демо, дава́йте почне́мо, дава́й поговори́мо. It is grammatically fine and extremely common in casual speech, but it is colloquial and somewhat russified — дава́й literally means "give!", and this "give + let's" frame mirrors Russian usage. In careful or written Ukrainian, and any time you want to sound idiomatic, prefer the synthetic ході́мо / почні́мо.
| Colloquial (дава́й + future/inf.) | Preferred native (synthetic -мо) | English |
|---|---|---|
| дава́й пі́демо | ході́мо | let's go |
| дава́йте почне́мо | почні́мо | let's begin |
| дава́й поговори́мо | поговорі́мо | let's talk |
| дава́й заспіва́ємо | заспіва́ймо | let's sing |
Дава́йте почне́мо, бо ча́су ма́ло.
Let's begin, we're short on time. (дава́йте + future — fine in speech; почні́мо is the tidier native form.)
Дава́й поговори́мо про це за́втра, я зара́з не мо́жу.
Let's talk about this tomorrow — I can't right now. (дава́й + future, casual register.)
The plain inclusive future — the neutral default
Often the simplest "let's" is just the 1st-person plural future with no particle at all. Because the future already includes "we," a perfective future like зро́бимо, підемо́, візьме́мо reads naturally as a proposal: "we'll do it (together)" = "let's do it." Adding ра́зом "together" makes the inclusive sense explicit. This is fully neutral and works everywhere.
Зро́бимо це ра́зом, удвох шви́дше.
Let's do it together — it's faster with two of us. (зро́бимо — 1pl perfective future read as a proposal.)
Візьме́мо таксі́, бо вже пі́зно.
Let's take a taxi, it's already late. (візьме́мо — inclusive future, neutral 'let's'.)
Putting the registers in order
From most idiomatic-native to most colloquial, for "let's go":
- Ході́мо! — native, idiomatic, the default (any register).
- Ну́мо, ході́мо! — same, with urging ("come on, let's go!").
- Пі́демо ра́зом — neutral inclusive future ("we'll go together").
- Дава́й пі́демо — (informal), casual speech, slightly russified; understood everywhere but avoid in careful Ukrainian.
Saying "let's not" and choosing the aspect
To make the hortative negative — "let's not" — simply put не before it: не ході́мо "let's not go," не поспіша́ймо "let's not rush," не сварі́мося "let's not quarrel." There is a strong aspect preference here that mirrors the ordinary imperative: a negative suggestion almost always uses the imperfective (не поспіша́ймо, not *не поспіши́мо), because you are warning against a process rather than commanding a single completed act.
In the positive hortative the aspect choice carries meaning, exactly as in the imperative: the perfective proposes a single, bounded action you want done (Зробі́мо це! "Let's get it done!", Почні́мо! "Let's begin!"), while the imperfective proposes an ongoing activity or a general habit (Працю́ймо ра́зом "Let's work together [as a way of doing things]"). Most one-off "let's…" suggestions are perfective.
| Aspect | Hortative | Reading |
|---|---|---|
| perfective | зробі́мо | let's get it done (one bounded act) |
| imperfective | робі́мо | let's be doing / let's make a habit of it |
| negative (imperfective) | не робі́мо | let's not do it |
Не поспіша́ймо з ви́сновками, дочека́ймося результа́тів.
Let's not rush to conclusions — let's wait for the results. (не поспіша́ймо — negative hortative, imperfective; дочека́ймося — positive perfective.)
Зробі́мо це сього́дні, щоб за́втра відпочи́ти.
Let's get it done today, so we can rest tomorrow. (зробі́мо — perfective, a single bounded action.)
Не сварі́мося че́рез дрібни́ці, це не ва́рто.
Let's not quarrel over trifles — it's not worth it. (не сварі́мося — negative reflexive hortative.)
Source-language comparison
For an English speaker, the surprise is that the best "let's" is a single inflected word (ході́мо), not a helper + verb. English "let's" is an eroded "let us," so learners reach for a two-word frame and land on дава́й — exactly the construction to use sparingly. Re-train the reflex: a proposal to a group is the -мо imperative (ході́мо, ся́дьмо, почні́мо), and "cheers" is its showpiece, бу́дьмо. The дава́й frame is a tool for casual speech, not your starting point.
For a Russian speaker, the instinct "дава́й + verb" maps straight from давай, and that is precisely why it reads as russified in Ukrainian. The genuinely Ukrainian choice is the synthetic ході́мо / почні́мо / заспіва́ймо and the toast бу́дьмо. Keep дава́й for relaxed conversation and lean on the -мо forms otherwise.
Common Mistakes
❌ Дава́й пі́демо в кіно́. (defaulting to the russified frame)
Understood, but the idiomatic native 'let's go' is one word: Ході́мо в кіно́. (Keep дава́й for casual speech.)
✅ Ході́мо в кіно́.
Let's go to the cinema — synthetic ході́мо.
❌ Хо́димо вже! (using the present-tense form for 'let's')
The hortative is ході́мо (stress on -ді́-, imperative stem), not the present хо́димо 'we go': Ході́мо вже!
✅ Ході́мо вже!
Let's go already! — hortative ході́мо, distinct from present хо́димо.
❌ Дава́й заспіва́й! (дава́й + a 2sg imperative)
With дава́й use the future or infinitive, not a 2sg imperative: Дава́й заспіва́ємо! — or simply Заспіва́ймо!
✅ Заспіва́ймо!
Let's sing! — the clean synthetic hortative.
❌ Бу́демо! (as a toast)
The toast is the hortative бу́дьмо 'let us be', not the future бу́демо 'we will be': Бу́дьмо!
✅ Бу́дьмо!
Cheers! — the hortative of бу́ти.
Key Takeaways
- The native, idiomatic "let's" is the synthetic 1pl imperative in -мо: ході́мо, ся́дьмо, заспіва́ймо, почні́мо, бу́дьмо.
- Бу́дьмо! ("let us be!") is the standard Ukrainian toast, "cheers!".
- Ну́мо / ну
- verb adds urging — "come on, let's" (Ну́мо працюва́ти!).
- Дава́й(те)
- future/infinitive is (informal) and slightly russified; fine in casual speech, but prefer ході́мо in careful Ukrainian.
- The plain inclusive future (зро́бимо ра́зом, візьме́мо таксі́) is the neutral everyday way to propose joint action.
Now practice Ukrainian
Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.
Start learning Ukrainian→Related Topics
- The Imperative: FormationA1 — Ukrainian builds the imperative (наказо́вий спо́сіб) from the PRESENT stem. The 2sg takes -и (when stressed or after a cluster: пиши́!, неси́!), -й after a vowel (чита́й!, грай!), a soft -ь after one consonant (сядь!, будь!), or a bare consonant (роби́!). The 2pl/polite adds -те (чита́йте!, несі́ть!). There's a dedicated 1pl hortative in -мо (ході́мо! 'let's go', чита́ймо!) and a 3rd-person command with хай / неха́й (Хай іде́! 'let him go').
- Using the Imperative (Politeness and Softening)A2 — How commands land depends on form. The bare 2sg (Дай!, Іди!) is intimate or blunt; the -те plural doubles as the POLITE singular with ви (Да́йте, будь ла́ска). Softeners — будь ла́ска, прошу́, чи не могли́ б ви, дава́йте — turn an order into a request. Invitations and offers use the imperfective for warmth (Заходьте! Сіда́йте! Пригоща́йтеся!), and prohibitions take the imperfective (Не хвилю́йтеся). The хай / неха́й forms carry wishes and slogans (Неха́й щасти́ть!).
- 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.
- Ходити (to go / walk — multidirectional)A2 — Complete conjugation-and-usage reference for ходи́ти 'to go on foot, to walk' — the MULTIDIRECTIONAL member of the іти́ / ходи́ти motion pair. Covers the present (ходжу́ with д→дж only in the 1sg, then хо́диш / хо́дить / хо́димо / хо́дите / хо́дять), the gendered past where ходи́в means a completed round trip, both imperfective futures, the imperative ході́ть and the hortative ході́мо 'let's go', the habit / round-trip / ability meanings (ходжу́ до шко́ли щодня́; дити́на вже хо́дить), and the prefixed imperfectives прихо́дити, вихо́дити.
- 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.
- Давати / Дати (to give)A1 — Complete conjugation-and-usage reference for the aspect pair дава́ти (imperfective) / да́ти (perfective) 'to give'. The imperfective дава́ти is a regular -ва- present (даю́, дає́ш, дає́…); the perfective да́ти is one of the four ATHEMATIC verbs of Ukrainian, with the irregular set дам, даси́, дасть, дамо́, дасте́, даду́ть that means the FUTURE, not the present. Recipient in the DATIVE (дай мені́), thing given in the ACCUSATIVE (да́ти кни́жку), plus the everyday дай / дава́й imperatives.