Learn Hardcore Ukrainian: Я хочу дізнатися правду.

Я — pronoun “I.” Transliteration: Ya.
хочу — 1st person singular present of хотіти “to want.” Transliteration: khochu.
дізнатися — perfective infinitive “to find out, to discover.” Transliteration: diznatysia.
правду — “truth” in the accusative singular (base form: правда). Transliteration: pravdu.

Whole sentence: Ya khochu diznatysia pravdu.

Why is it дізнатися and not знати?

знати = “to know” (a state you already have).
дізнатися = “to find out, to discover” (an action bringing you to a new state of knowing, with a completed result).
So to express the intention to learn/discover, you need дізнатися.

What does the -ся ending mean in дізнатися?

-ся is a reflexive/mediopassive clitic. Here it doesn’t mean “myself” literally; it forms a verb meaning “to find out” (intransitive/resultative).
After vowels you’ll also see a contracted form -сь (e.g., дізнатись) in informal writing; both are correct, with -ся more formal.

What case is правду, and why not правда?

правду is the accusative singular of the feminine noun правда.
It’s in the accusative because it’s the direct object of дізнатися (“find out what?” → “the truth”).
Feminine nouns ending in -а typically take -у in the singular accusative (e.g., книга → книгу).

Is there an imperfective version of дізнатися? What’s the difference?

Imperfective: дізнаватися (“to be finding out, to get information (habitually/ongoingly)”).
Perfective: дізнатися (single, completed discovery).
Compare:
- Я хочу дізнатися правду. = I want to find out (once, to reach the result).
- Я хочу дізнаватися правду щодня. = I want to be finding out the truth regularly (ongoing/habitual).

Can I drop the subject pronoun Я?

Yes. Ukrainian is pro-drop. Хочу дізнатися правду. is natural because the verb ending already shows person/number. The full version with Я adds emphasis or clarity.

Do I need a preposition like “about” here?

Not for the core phrase. It’s simply дізнатися правду.
Use про + accusative when you specify the topic:

дізнатися правду про це = “find out the truth about this.”
Avoid дізнатися про правду for this meaning; that means “to find out about the existence of ‘truth’,” which is odd here.

Can I say “Я хочу правди” instead? How is that different?

Я хочу правди (genitive) = “I want (some) truth / I want the truth (as a general thing to be told).” It’s a demand/desire for truth in general.
Я хочу дізнатися правду focuses on the action of discovering a specific truth.
Both are grammatical, but they don’t mean the same thing.

What are polite or softer ways to say this?

Я хотів би / хотіла б дізнатися правду. (male/female) = “I would like to find out the truth.”
Мені хотілося б дізнатися правду. = “I would like to find out the truth.”
Чи можна дізнатися правду? / Чи можу я дізнатися правду? = “May I/Is it possible to find out the truth?”

Are there synonyms for дізнатися?

довідатися — near-synonym (“to find out, get information”); often a bit more formal/bookish.
Others exist (e.g., впізнати = recognize, з’ясувати = clarify/establish), but for “find out (the truth)” the closest is дізнатися or довідатися:
- Я хочу довідатися правду.

What are the present-tense forms of хотіти?

я хочу
ти хочеш
він/вона/воно хоче
ми хочемо
ви хочете
вони хочуть
Common mistake to avoid: “хотять” (that’s a Russicism; use хочуть).

How would I say “I want you to find out the truth”?

Use щоб with the appropriate gender/number in the subordinate clause:

Я хочу, щоб ти дізнався правду. (to a male)
Я хочу, щоб ти дізналася правду. (to a female)
Plural: щоб ви дізналися правду.

How do I negate it, and does the case change?

Я не хочу дізнаватися правди.
With negation, Ukrainian often prefers the genitive for the object of verbs like “знати/дізнаватися,” so правди (genitive) is common and sounds natural here.
You may hear accusative in some contexts, but genitive is the safe, standard choice after negation.

What about word order—can I move words around?

Yes, Ukrainian word order is flexible for emphasis:

Neutral: Я хочу дізнатися правду.
Without pronoun: Хочу дізнатися правду.
Emphasizing the object: Правду я хочу дізнатися. / Я правду хочу дізнатися.
All are possible; keep the verb phrase хочу дізнатися together unless you have a strong reason to split it.

How is it pronounced? Where’s the stress?

A clear, practical guide:

Я = “ya”
хочу ≈ “kho-chu” (kh like German “Bach”)
дізнатися ≈ “diz-NA-ty-sia” (stress on “NA”; “di” has a soft d)
правду ≈ “PRA-vdu” (stress on “PRA”; Ukrainian “в” is like a light v/ʋ)
Ukrainian vowels are not reduced like in English; pronounce them clearly.

Is any comma needed here?

No. It’s a simple sentence with no subordinate clause: Я хочу дізнатися правду. No comma.

Is дізнатись (with -сь) also correct?

Yes. дізнатися and дізнатись are both standard; -сь is a contracted, more informal/colloquial variant. In formal writing, prefer -ся.