Can: Могти vs Вміти/Уміти | Ukrainian Grammar

English has one word, "can," for two completely different ideas: a skill you have learned ("I can swim," "I can drive") and a circumstance that makes something possible right now ("I can come tomorrow," "Can I help you?"). Ukrainian refuses to blur these. It uses вмі́ти / умі́ти for an acquired skill — "to know how to" — and могти́ for situational ability, possibility and permission. Pick the wrong one and the sentence sounds off to a native ear: Я мо́жу пла́вати for "I know how to swim" suggests something like "I'm allowed / able to swim today," not "swimming is a skill of mine." This page draws the line sharply, gives you both full present-tense paradigms, and contrasts them in the kinds of sentences you actually say.

могти́ — possibility, ability in the moment, permission

Могти́ answers the question "Is it possible / am I able / am I allowed — in these circumstances?" It is about the situation, not about a trained skill. Use it for:

possibility right now: Я мо́жу прийти́ за́втра "I can come tomorrow" (the circumstances allow it);
physical ability in the moment: Він не міг засну́ти "he couldn't fall asleep";
permission / offering help: Чи мо́жу я допомогти́? "Can I help?"

It is a slightly irregular first-conjugation verb with a stem vowel that shifts — learn it as a unit:

Person	Present	English
я	мо́жу	I can
ти	мо́жеш	you can (sg.)
він / вона́ / воно́	мо́же	he / she / it can
ми	мо́жемо	we can
ви	мо́жете	you can (pl./formal)
вони́	мо́жуть	they can

The past tense is built on the stem мог-, with the regular vowel shift to і in the masculine and the velar stem surfacing in the rest: the masculine takes no -в suffix after the consonant (the pattern you meet in consonant-stem verbs), giving міг (m.), but могла́ (f.), могло́ (n.), могли́ (pl.).

Я мо́жу прийти́ за́втра, якщо́ тобі́ зру́чно.

I can come tomorrow, if that suits you. (Circumstances permit it — possibility, not a skill.)

Ви́бач, я не міг тобі́ подзвони́ти — у ме́не сів телефо́н.

Sorry, I couldn't call you — my phone died. (Ability blocked by circumstances; past masculine міг.)

Чи мо́жу я поста́вити вам одне́ запита́ння?

May I ask you one question? (Asking permission — могти́, not вмі́ти.)

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Reach for могти́ whenever you could insert the words "in these circumstances": can I (right now / here / if I'm allowed). If the sentence is about a permanent know-how, you want вмі́ти instead.

вмі́ти / умі́ти — a learned skill, "know how to"

Вмі́ти means you have acquired a skill and retain it: swimming, driving, cooking, reading, dancing. It is a stable property of the person, not a feature of the moment. It is a perfectly regular first-conjugation -ти verb:

Person	Present	English
я	вмі́ю	I know how to
ти	вмі́єш	you know how to (sg.)
він / вона́ / воно́	вмі́є	he / she / it knows how to
ми	вмі́ємо	we know how to
ви	вмі́єте	you know how to (pl./formal)
вони́	вмі́ють	they know how to

It is almost always followed by an infinitive naming the skill.

Я вмі́ю пла́вати ще з дити́нства.

I've known how to swim since childhood. (A skill I acquired and keep — вмі́ти.)

Вона́ чудо́во вмі́є готува́ти — у не́ї як у рестора́ні.

She's a wonderful cook — it's like a restaurant at her place. (Cooking is a learned skill.)

Ти вмі́єш води́ти маши́ну?

Do you know how to drive a car? (Asking about a skill, not whether the road is clear right now.)

в- / у- : вмі́ти or умі́ти?

You will see this verb written both ways: вмі́ти and умі́ти (likewise вмі́ю / умі́ю). This is not two different verbs — it is the regular Ukrainian в / у alternation (чергува́ння у/в), a euphonic rule that smooths the flow of sounds. The basic guideline:

after a vowel, prefer в-: вона́ вмі́є, я вмі́ю;
after a consonant or at the very start of a phrase, у- often reads better: він умі́є, Умі́єш чита́ти?;
both are correct standard Ukrainian, so a "wrong" choice here is at most slightly less euphonic, never a grammar error.

Він іще́ мали́й, але́ вже умі́є чита́ти.

He's still little, but he already knows how to read. (After the consonant of вже, умі́є flows naturally.)

Вона́ вмі́є малюва́ти й гра́ти на піані́но.

She knows how to draw and play the piano. (After the vowel of вона́, вмі́є is the smoother choice.)

The decisive contrast: skill vs circumstance

Put the two side by side and the whole distinction snaps into focus. You can have the skill and yet not be able to use it right now — and Ukrainian lets you say exactly that in one sentence, because it has two different verbs:

Я вмі́ю пла́вати, але́ сього́дні не мо́жу — пошко́дила но́гу.

I know how to swim, but today I can't — I've hurt my leg. (вмі́ю = the skill; не мо́жу = the circumstance blocks it.)

Він умі́є гра́ти в ша́хи, та зара́з не мо́же — нема́є ча́су.

He knows how to play chess, but he can't right now — he has no time. (Skill intact, circumstance forbids.)

Here are four more minimal pairs to lock the choice in:

Я вмі́ю води́ти. — Чи мо́жу я повести́ твою́ маши́ну?

I know how to drive. — Can I drive your car? (First: I have the licence/skill. Second: am I permitted, is it possible right now?)

Вона́ вмі́є танцюва́ти, і сього́дні наре́шті мо́же піти́ на та́нці.

She knows how to dance, and today she can finally go dancing. (вмі́є танцюва́ти = ability learned; мо́же піти́ = the occasion allows it.)

Ти вмі́єш гото́вити борщ? — Так, але́ за́раз не мо́жу: нема́є буряка́.

Do you know how to make borsch? — Yes, but I can't right now: there's no beetroot. (Skill vs missing ingredient.)

Ма́ленька вже вмі́є хо́дити, тож тепе́р мо́же сама́ дійти́ до две́рей.

The little one already knows how to walk, so now she can get to the door by herself. (вмі́є хо́дити = acquired the skill; мо́же дійти́ = a particular thing is now possible.)

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A quick test: replace "can" with "know how to." If the English still means the same thing — "I know how to swim" ✓ — use вмі́ти. If "know how to" sounds wrong — "I know how to come tomorrow" ✗ — use могти́.

мо́жна — impersonal permission, "one may"

Closely related to могти́ is the impersonal word мо́жна, "it is allowed / one may." Unlike могти́, it does not conjugate — it has a single fixed form — and it takes no nominative subject. The person, if mentioned, goes in the dative (the same experiencer pattern you meet across Ukrainian modality); the action is an infinitive.

Мо́жна?

May I? (Said at a door, reaching for the last biscuit, asking to join — the all-purpose Ukrainian 'is it allowed?')

Тут мо́жна фотографува́ти?

Can one take photos here? / Is photography allowed here? (General permission, no specific subject.)

Мені́ вже мо́жна вста́ти? — спита́в він у лі́каря.

Am I allowed to get up now? — he asked the doctor. (Dative experiencer мені́ + impersonal мо́жна.)

Its negation не мо́жна means "must not, it is forbidden" — a prohibition, treated in detail on the треба / мусити / повинен / слід page alongside the other necessity words. For the broader map of how all these modal words fit together, see the modality overview; for the dative-experiencer machinery behind мо́жна and мені́ тре́ба, see impersonal sentences.

Source-language comparison

For an English speaker, the trap is that "can" does double duty. English signals the difference only through context: "I can swim" might mean I have the skill (in a swimming-lesson conversation) or the pool's open, I'm allowed in (at a hotel). Ukrainian forces you to commit up front — вмі́ти for the trained ability, могти́ for the circumstantial possibility. The discipline to build is: before you say "can," silently ask "skill or situation?" and let that pick the verb. "I can read" = вмі́ю чита́ти (literacy is a skill); "Can you read this sign from here?" = Чи ти мо́жеш прочита́ти цей знак зві́дси? (a here-and-now possibility).

For a Russian speaker, the split is familiar (уме́ть vs мочь), so the concept transfers — but the forms are Ukrainian: вмі́ти / умі́ти with the в/у alternation (not уме́ть), мо́жу / мо́жеш / мо́жуть (note the soft-less Ukrainian endings), and the impersonal мо́жна rather than мо́жно. Keep the framework, swap the words.

Common Mistakes

❌ Я мо́жу пла́вати.

Wrong if you mean 'I know how to swim' — that's a skill, so use вмі́ти: Я вмі́ю пла́вати. (Я мо́жу пла́вати only means 'I'm able/allowed to swim right now.')

✅ Я вмі́ю пла́вати.

I know how to swim — a learned skill.

❌ Я вмі́ю прийти́ за́втра.

Wrong — coming tomorrow isn't a skill but a possibility: Я мо́жу прийти́ за́втра.

✅ Я мо́жу прийти́ за́втра.

I can come tomorrow — circumstantial possibility, могти́.

❌ Чи вмі́ю я допомогти́?

Wrong — offering help asks possibility/permission, not skill: Чи мо́жу я допомогти́?

✅ Чи мо́жу я допомогти́?

Can I help? — могти́ for the offer.

❌ Я мо́жу води́ти, у ме́не є права́, але́ сього́дні я вмі́ю.

Reversed both verbs — the skill is вмі́ю, the today-possibility is мо́жу: Я вмі́ю води́ти, у ме́не є права́, але́ сього́дні я не мо́жу (...).

✅ Я вмі́ю води́ти, у ме́не є права́.

I know how to drive, I have a licence — skill = вмі́ти.

❌ Можна́ тут пали́ти?

Wrong stress and idiom — the impersonal permission word is мо́жна (stressed on the first syllable): Тут мо́жна пали́ти?

✅ Тут мо́жна пали́ти?

Is smoking allowed here? — impersonal мо́жна.

Key Takeaways

могти́ (мо́жу, мо́жеш, мо́же, мо́жемо, мо́жете, мо́жуть; past міг / могла́) = possibility, ability in the moment, permission — the situation allows it.
вмі́ти / умі́ти (вмі́ю, вмі́єш, …) = a learned skill, "know how to" — a stable property of the person.
The test: if "know how to" fits the English, use вмі́ти; otherwise могти́.
в / у in вмі́ти / умі́ти is the euphonic alternation, not two verbs — both are correct.
мо́жна is impersonal "one may" (dative experiencer, no subject); не мо́жна = "must not."
One sentence can hold both: Я вмі́ю пла́вати, але́ сього́дні не мо́жу — skill intact, circumstance blocking.

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