Want / Wish: Хотіти, Хотітися, Бажати

Wanting something looks simple until you try to say "I want you to come" in Ukrainian — and discover the infinitive is forbidden. Ukrainian has three distinct ways to express desire, each with its own grammar: хоті́ти ("want") with a noticeable т → ч twist in its conjugation; the impersonal хоті́тися / хо́четься ("feel like"), which softens the desire and takes a dative; and бажа́ти ("wish"), which governs the genitive and supplies the fixed good-wishing formulas you'll use at every birthday and New Year. This page sorts out which to use when, with special attention to the щоб-clause that English speakers reach for far too late.

хоті́ти — "want," and the т → ч stem

Хоті́ти is the workhorse "want." Its conjugation hides a consonant alternation: the т of the infinitive becomes ч throughout the present tense.

It takes three kinds of complement:

• an infinitive ("want to do"): Я хо́чу ї́сти;
• an accusative noun ("want a thing"): Хо́чу ка́ву;
• a щоб-clause ("want that someone do") — when the wanter and the doer are different people.

"I want you to come" — the щоб + past clause

Here is the construction English speakers miss. In English, "I want you to come" uses an infinitive ("to come") with a new subject ("you"). Ukrainian cannot do this. The infinitive after хоті́ти only works when the subject stays the same ("I want to eat" — I eat). The moment the doer changes — I want, but you come — you must switch to a щоб-clause, and the verb inside it goes into the past tense, regardless of when the action actually is:

The "past" form here is the conditional/subjunctive use of щоб, not a real past time — it signals a wished-for, not-yet-real action. This is the same щоб you meet with purpose clauses; for the full grammar see щоб-clauses.

хоті́тися / хо́четься — the softer "feel like"

Alongside the assertive хоті́ти sits its impersonal reflexive partner хоті́тися, used in the fixed form хо́четься (present) / хоті́лося (past). The person goes in the dative, there is no subject, and the feel is softer, more involuntary — "I feel like, I fancy, I'm in the mood for" — rather than the direct "I want."

Compare the two registers directly. Я хо́чу is a plain statement of will; мені́ хо́четься is gentler, less demanding, and often more polite:

бажа́ти — "wish," and it governs the genitive

Бажа́ти means "to wish" and is the verb of good wishes. Its defining feature: the thing wished is in the genitive, not the accusative. You wish someone (dative) of something (genitive) — literally "I wish you of-success."

These are largely fixed formulas — the building blocks of Ukrainian congratulations and toasts. A few you should simply memorise as units, all with бажа́ти + genitive:

Бажа́ти can also take a щоб-clause for a fuller wish, but in everyday speech the genitive-formula pattern is what you'll reach for. For more set greetings and farewells, see greetings and farewells.

Source-language comparison

For an English speaker, three Ukrainian habits cut against the grain. First, "I want you to do X" has no infinitive — English "want + object + to-infinitive" is structurally impossible, and you must rebuild it as Хо́чу, щоб ти зроби́в (щоб + past). This is the single most important takeaway and it trips people up for months. Second, Ukrainian offers a softer impersonal want — мені́ хо́четься — with no clean English equivalent beyond "I feel like / I fancy"; learning to deploy it makes you sound far more natural and less demanding than a constant Я хо́чу. Third, бажа́ти takes the genitive, so good wishes are a fixed бажа́ти + genitive pattern (Бажа́ю успі́ху, не Бажа́ю успі́х) — memorise the formulas whole.

For a Russian speaker, the verbs map onto хоте́ть / хо́чется / жела́ть, so the system is familiar — but watch the Ukrainian forms: хо́чу / хо́чеш / хо́чуть (Ukrainian endings), the impersonal хо́четься / хоті́лося, and especially щоб + past where the construction and the conjunction differ from Russian что́бы. Бажа́ти + genitive parallels жела́ть + genitive; keep the case, swap the word.

Common Mistakes

Key Takeaways

• хоті́ти (хо́чу, хо́чеш, хо́че, хо́чемо, хо́чете, хо́чуть — т → ч) = "want" + infinitive (same subject) / accusative noun / щоб-clause (different subject).
• "I want you to V" is щоб + past: Хо́чу, щоб ти прийшо́в — the infinitive is impossible when the subjects differ.
• хоті́тися / хо́четься (impersonal + dative) = a softer "feel like": Мені́ хо́четься спа́ти.
• бажа́ти = "wish," and it governs the genitive: Бажа́ю успі́ху / здоро́в’я / ща́стя — the standard well-wishing formulas.
• Same subject → infinitive; different subject → щоб + past. Soften "want" with мені́ хо́четься.