Verbs in -увати/-ювати: The Borrowing Factory | Ukrainian Grammar

If Ukrainian had a single "verb factory" — a slot it reaches for whenever it needs to turn a new word into a verb — it would be -ува́ти / -юва́ти. Borrowings go in here (тестува́ти "to test," сканува́ти "to scan," фотографува́ти "to photograph"), and so do hundreds of native verbs (працюва́ти, малюва́ти, дя́кувати, керува́ти, святкува́ти). The class is enormous and still growing, which makes it the most economical pattern an A2 learner can master. The one twist English speakers must internalise is this: in the present tense, the suffix -ува-/-юва- contracts to -у-/-ю-, so the present is shorter than the infinitive — працюва́ти gives працю́ю, not the textbook-looking *працюва́ю. This page drills the contraction, marks the stress, and shows where the full suffix comes back (the past).

The core rule: -ува-/-юва- → -у-/-ю- in the present

Take the infinitive, strip the -ува́ти / -юва́ти, and you are left with the present stem ending in -у- / -ю-. Onto that you add the ordinary first-conjugation soft endings (-ю, -єш, -є, -ємо, -єте, -ють). The crucial mental move is that the long suffix collapses: працюва́- becomes працю́-, малюва́- becomes малю́-, дя́кува- becomes дя́ку-.

Person	працюва́ти → працю́ю	малюва́ти → малю́ю	дя́кувати → дя́кую
я	працю́ю	малю́ю	дя́кую
ти	працю́єш	малю́єш	дя́куєш
він/вона́/воно́	працю́є	малю́є	дя́кує
ми	працю́ємо	малю́ємо	дя́куємо
ви	працю́єте	малю́єте	дя́куєте
вони́	працю́ють	малю́ють	дя́кують

💡

The present of an -ува́ти verb is shorter than its infinitive, because -ува- shrinks to -у-. If you find yourself saying працюва́ю (keeping the -ва-), you've kept the infinitive's suffix where the present drops it. The right form is працю́ю.

Я працю́ю з до́му три дні на ти́ждень, а в о́фіс їжджу́ по вівто́рках.

I work from home three days a week, and I go into the office on Tuesdays. (працю́ю — the -ува- has contracted to -у-.)

Дя́кую за запро́шення, ми обов’язко́во прийде́мо.

Thanks for the invitation, we'll definitely come. (дя́кую — the everyday 'thanks', a frozen 1sg of дя́кувати.)

Моя́ дочка́ ці́лими дня́ми малю́є котів і драко́нів.

My daughter draws cats and dragons all day long. (малю́є — 3sg, -юва- → -ю-.)

Watch the stress: it moves to the new syllable

The infinitive carries its stress on the suffix — працюва́ти, малюва́ти — but when the suffix shrinks, the stress lands on the -ю́-/-у́- of the present: працю́ю, малю́ю, керу́ю. A handful keep stress on the root because that is where the infinitive already stressed it — the clearest case is дя́кувати → дя́кую, where the accent stays on дя́- in both. The reliable habit is to learn the 1sg with its stress (працю́ю, дя́кую, керу́ю) rather than deriving it.

Infinitive	1sg present	Stress note
працюва́ти	працю́ю	stress moves to -цю́-
керува́ти	керу́ю	stress moves to -ру́-
святкува́ти	святку́ю	stress moves to -ку́-
дя́кувати	дя́кую	stress stays on дя́-

Хто керу́є цим прое́ктом? — Я керу́ю, пиши́ мені́ напряму́.

Who's running this project? — I am; write to me directly. (керу́ю — керува́ти drops to керу́-, stress on -ру́-.)

Ми святку́ємо її́ день наро́дження в субо́ту, прихо́дь.

We're celebrating her birthday on Saturday — come along. (святку́ємо — святкува́ти → святку́-.)

The past brings the suffix back: працюва́в

Here is the symmetry that makes the class easy to remember. The present drops the -ува-, but the past keeps it in full. The past tense is built straight off the infinitive stem, so працюва́ти → працюва́в / працюва́ла, and дя́кувати → дя́кував / дя́кувала. So the same verb is "short" in the present (працю́ю) and "long" in the past (працюва́в) — never the other way around.

Infinitive	Present (1sg)	Past (masc / fem)
працюва́ти	працю́ю	працюва́в / працюва́ла
малюва́ти	малю́ю	малюва́в / малюва́ла
дя́кувати	дя́кую	дя́кував / дя́кувала
керува́ти	керу́ю	керува́в / керува́ла

Торі́к я працюва́в у Льво́ві, а тепе́р працю́ю в Ки́єві.

Last year I worked in Lviv, and now I work in Kyiv. (past працюва́в keeps -ува-; present працю́ю drops it.)

Він до́вго малюва́в цю карти́ну, а зара́з ма́йже не малю́є.

He spent a long time painting this picture, and now he hardly draws at all. (малюва́в vs малю́є — long past, short present.)

Why this is the highest-yield class for borrowings

Ukrainian does not borrow a foreign verb raw; it bolts -ува́ти onto the foreign root and the word is instantly a normal first-conjugation verb. That is why almost every modern, tech, and internet verb you meet conjugates on the працю́ю template without any further memorisation: тестува́ти → тесту́ю, сканува́ти → скану́ю, ґуґлити sits aside as an -ити verb, but its near-synonyms slot in here. Master one paradigm and you have pre-conjugated the language's entire growing edge.

Borrowing	1sg present	3pl present
тестува́ти	тесту́ю	тесту́ють
сканува́ти	скану́ю	скану́ють
організува́ти	організу́ю	організу́ють
фотографува́ти	фотографу́ю	фотографу́ють

Many of these borrowings are also biaspectual — a single form does duty as both imperfective and perfective (організува́ти "to organise / to have organised," телефонува́ти, інформува́ти). Whether such a sentence is "process" or "result" is read off the context, not off a separate prefixed verb. See biaspectual verbs for how to tell them apart.

Ми тесту́ємо нови́й застосу́нок цього́ ти́жня, реліз — у п’я́тницю.

We're testing the new app this week; the release is on Friday. (тесту́ємо — modern borrowing on the працю́ю template.)

Я організу́ю зустрі́ч на четве́р, скину́ запро́шення в чат.

I'll organise the meeting for Thursday; I'll drop the invite in the chat. (організу́ю — biaspectual, here read as future-perfective from context.)

The reflexive sub-class: -уватися → -уюся

A huge share of these verbs are reflexive, ending in -уватися / -юватися, and they contract exactly the same way — the -ува- shrinks to -у- — then take the reflexive particle -ся / -сь on the end. So дивува́тися "to be surprised" gives диву́юся, фотографува́тися "to have one's photo taken" gives фотографу́юся, and користува́тися "to use" gives користу́юся. The particle is -ся by default, with -сь as a lighter colloquial variant; the contraction of the suffix itself is identical to the non-reflexive class.

Infinitive (reflexive)	1sg present	Meaning
користува́тися	користу́юся	use / make use of
дивува́тися	диву́юся	be surprised
фотографува́тися	фотографу́юся	have one's photo taken
хвилюва́тися	хвилю́юся	worry / be nervous

Я користу́юся цим застосу́нком щодня́, він ду́же зру́чний.

I use this app every day — it's very convenient. (користу́юся — reflexive -уюся, suffix contracted.)

Не хвилю́йся, усе́ бу́де до́бре, я дзвоню́ за́раз же.

Don't worry, everything will be fine — I'm calling right now. (хвилюва́тися → present stem хвилю́-; here the negative imperative.)

Which native verbs live here, and why it pays off

Beyond the borrowings, a long list of everyday native verbs belongs to this class, so the pattern is not just a loanword tool — it carries core vocabulary: святкува́ти "celebrate," подорожува́ти "travel," ночува́ти "spend the night," дослі́джувати "research," зимува́ти "spend the winter," дя́кувати "thank," керува́ти "steer / manage." Learning the single contraction rule therefore unlocks a slice of high-frequency native verbs and the entire borrowing system in one stroke — which is exactly why it earns its place as an early A2 pattern rather than a footnote.

Влі́тку ми подорожу́ємо Украї́ною, а взи́мку сиди́мо вдо́ма.

In summer we travel around Ukraine, and in winter we stay home. (подорожу́ємо — native verb, same contraction.)

Source-language comparison

For an English speaker, the trap is purely visual: the infinitive ends in a long -увати, so the instinct is to keep all of it and say працюва́ю. Train yourself to *strip -ува-/-юва- to -у-/-ю- for the present, and to put it back for the past. There is no English analogue for a productive verbalising suffix this clean — the closest is "-ize" (organize, digitize), but English doesn't then shrink it. Think of -ува- as a suffix that is fully present in the dictionary form and the past, but compressed in the present.

For a Russian speaker, the cognate suffix is -овать/-евать, but Ukrainian differs in surface form and stress: the present is in -у́ю / -у́єш (працю́ю, керу́ю), spelled with -ю- and -є-, and the everyday "thanks" is дя́кую, not a -spasibo word. Don't import Russian stress (Ukrainian працю́ю, not *рабо́таю-style); trust the tables here.

Common Mistakes

❌ Я працюва́ю з до́му. (infinitive suffix kept in the present)

Wrong — -ува- contracts to -у- in the present: Я працю́ю з до́му.

✅ Я працю́ю з до́му.

I work from home — present stem працю́-.

❌ Я дя́куваю тобі́. (keeping -ува- in 'thanks')

Wrong — the present is дя́кую, with the suffix contracted: Я дя́кую тобі́.

✅ Я дя́кую тобі́.

I thank you / thanks — дя́кую, the frozen everyday form.

❌ Учо́ра я працю́в ці́лий день. (dropping -ува- in the past)

Wrong — the past keeps the full suffix: Учо́ра я працюва́в ці́лий день.

✅ Учо́ра я працюва́в ці́лий день.

Yesterday I worked all day — past працюва́в keeps -ува-.

❌ Вони́ керу́ять компа́нією. (wrong 3pl ending)

Wrong — the 3pl is the soft -ють: Вони́ керу́ють компа́нією.

✅ Вони́ керу́ють компа́нією.

They run the company — 3pl керу́ють.

Key Takeaways

-ува́ти / -юва́ти is the productive class — the home of borrowings (тестува́ти, сканува́ти) and many natives (працюва́ти, малюва́ти, дя́кувати, керува́ти).
In the present, the suffix contracts: -ува-/-юва- → -у-/-ю-, then take the soft first-conjugation endings (працюва́ти → працю́ю, малюва́ти → малю́ю).
Stress usually moves onto the new -у́-/-ю́- (працю́ю, керу́ю), but дя́кую keeps root stress.
The past keeps the full -ува- (працюва́в / працюва́ла), so the verb is short in the present and long in the past.
Many of these are biaspectual (організува́ти, телефонува́ти) — one form, two aspects read from context.

Now practice Ukrainian

Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.

Start learning Ukrainian→