Learn Hardcore Ukrainian: Я не встиг, бо пропустив автобус. - I didn’t make it because I missed the bus.

Встиг is the masculine past tense of the perfective verb встигнути/встигти, meaning “to manage in time,” “to make it (before a deadline).” With negation, не встиг means “didn’t make it in time,” which is about timing, not ability. Compare:

Я не встиг = I didn’t make it (because there wasn’t enough time).
Я не зміг = I couldn’t (for some reason: ability, permission, circumstances).

Why is it встиг, not встигнув? Are both correct?

Both are correct. Встиг is the short past form and is the most common in speech. Встигнув is a longer variant you’ll see and hear too; it can sound a bit more formal or careful. You can use either:

Я не встиг, бо…
Я не встигнув, бо…

How would a woman say this? What about plural?

Past tense in Ukrainian agrees with gender and number:

Female speaker: Я не встигла, бо пропустила автобус.
Plural: Ми не встигли, бо пропустили автобус.

Why is there a comma before бо?

In Ukrainian, you put a comma before бо when it links two clauses. It’s standard punctuation: Я не встиг, бо…. This differs from English, where “because” often doesn’t take a comma. In Ukrainian, leaving out the comma here would be a mistake.

Can I use something other than бо for “because”?

Yes. Common alternatives:

тому що (neutral): Я не встиг, тому що пропустив автобус.
оскільки (more formal/“since”): …оскільки пропустив автобус.
через те, що (quite formal/literary): …через те, що пропустив автобус. All mean “because,” with slight differences in register; бо is short and very natural in speech.

Why isn’t я repeated in the second clause? Should it be?

Ukrainian often omits the subject pronoun in the second clause when it’s the same as before. The verb ending already shows the person/gender, so …бо пропустив автобус clearly means “because I missed the bus.” Adding я (…бо я пропустив…) is also correct; it can add clarity or emphasis.

What case is автобус in, and why doesn’t it change?

Автобус is the direct object of пропустив, so it’s in the accusative case. For inanimate masculine nouns, the accusative singular looks like the nominative, so you see автобус (not автобуса). If the object were animate masculine, accusative = genitive: e.g., пропустив друга (missed a friend).

Does пропустив mean “missed” or “skipped”? Both?

Both, depending on context. Пропустити can mean:

“to miss (not catch)” a vehicle: пропустив автобус
“to skip” a class/lesson/event: пропустив урок
“to omit/leave out” a word/step: пропустив слово/крок

Could I say Я не встиг на автобус instead of пропустив автобус?

Yes. Both are common:

Я не встиг на автобус = I didn’t make it for the bus (focus on being in time for it).
Я пропустив автобус = I missed the bus (focus on the act/result of missing). They’re interchangeable in many contexts, with a slight nuance of focus.

How do aspect and tense work here (perfective vs. imperfective)?

Пропустив and встиг are perfective past: single, completed events in the past.
Imperfective forms describe ongoing/repeated situations:
- Я не встигаю = I’m not managing (in time) [now/habitually].
- Я пропускав автобус = I was missing/used to miss the bus (repeatedly). Use perfective for one-off results; imperfective for process or habit.

How would I say this in the present or future?

A few useful forms:

Present (imperfective): Я не встигаю. = I’m not managing (in time).
Future (perfective): Я встигну. = I’ll make it (in time).
Future (perfective): Я пропущу автобус. = I’ll miss the bus. Note: perfective verbs don’t have a “present” meaning; their “present” forms express future time.

Is there a difference between не встиг and не зміг/не міг?

Yes:

не встиг = didn’t make it in time (a timing issue).
не зміг/не міг = couldn’t (lack of ability/possibility). Also, to say “I was late,” use я запізнився/спізнився (masc.), я запізнилася/спізнилася (fem.).

Can I change the word order for emphasis?

Ukrainian word order is flexible. You can move elements to highlight them:

Neutral: Я не встиг, бо пропустив автобус.
Emphasizing “I”: Не встиг я, бо пропустив автобус.
Emphasizing the object: …бо я автобус пропустив. All remain grammatical; the changes affect emphasis, not basic meaning.

How do I pronounce it? Where is the stress?

A helpful stressed transliteration: Ya ne vstýh, bo propustýv avtóbus.

встиг has a consonant cluster; keep the initial в (don’t say “ustýh”).
Ukrainian г in встиг is a voiced [ɦ] (not a hard English “g”).
Stresses: встúг (vstýh), пропустúв (propustýv), автóбус (avtóbus).

Is не written together with the verb or separately?

With verbs, не is typically written separately: не встиг, не бачу, не знаю. Writing it together would be wrong here. Note there are verbs with the prefix недо- (different meaning: “insufficiently”), e.g., недооцінити = to underestimate.

Are there articles in Ukrainian? How do I know if it’s “a bus” or “the bus”?

Ukrainian has no articles. Автобус can mean “a bus” or “the bus” depending on context. Here, in English you’d naturally say “the bus” because a specific missed bus is implied.

What are some natural alternatives to say I’m late because of the bus?

Вибачте, я запізнився/спізнився — пропустив автобус. (Sorry, I’m late — I missed the bus.)
Я не встиг на зустріч, бо пропустив автобус. (I didn’t make it to the meeting because I missed the bus.)
With a noun phrase cause: Я не встиг через затримку автобуса. (I didn’t make it because of a bus delay.)