сумаваць па + Locative

Missing Someone with Сумаваць Па

Level 3Sounds Like sumavacʹ pa

Сумаваць па + locative means to miss: Я сумую па табе. (I miss you.)

How It Works

English miss takes a direct object, but Belarusian says who or what you miss with па and the locative, the same case that па takes for places (па вуліцы).

With pronouns (pronoun case forms): па мне, па табе, па ім, па ёй, па нас, па вас, па іх.

With nouns the usual locative endings apply (locative endings): мама → па маме, дом → па доме, мора → па моры, бабуля → па бабулі. The к of вёска changes to ц: па вёсцы. In the plural the ending is -ах or -ях (plural locative): па сябрах, па бацьках.

Forms. Сумаваць swaps -ава- for -у- in the present, like other -аваць verbs: сумую, сумуеш, сумуе, сумуем, сумуеце, сумуюць. Past: сумаваў, сумавала, сумавалі. Imperative: сумуй, сумуйце.

Without па, сумаваць means to be sad, gloomy or bored: Не сумуй! (Cheer up! Don't be sad!) The related word сумна works like холадна: Мне сумна (I feel sad), see dative of state.

Сумаваць never takes a direct object, so сумую цябе is a mistake. You may also hear сумую за табой, which matches Ukrainian and Polish usage. Dictionaries of standard Belarusian give only па with the locative, so use па.

Examples (6)

  1. Я сумую па табе.

    I miss you.

    Word by Word: I miss along you.

  2. Яна сумуе па доме.

    She misses home.

    Word by Word: She misses along home.

  3. Мы вельмі сумавалі па моры.

    We really missed the sea.

    Word by Word: We very missed along sea.

  4. Дзеці сумуюць па бабулі.

    The children miss their grandma.

    Word by Word: Children miss along grandma.

    Бабуля has a soft stem, so its locative ends in -і.

  5. Ён сумуе па сябрах.

    He misses his friends.

    Word by Word: He misses along friends.

    The plural locative ends in -ах.

  6. Не сумуй, мы хутка вернемся!

    Don't be sad, we will be back soon!

    Word by Word: Not be-sad, we soon will-return!

    Without па, сумаваць means to feel sad.

Common Mistakes

  • Using a direct object, as in English "I miss you".

    Я сумую цябе.
    Я сумую па табе.

    Сумаваць never takes a direct object. The person you miss goes after па in the locative: па табе.

  • Putting a plural noun after па in the dative.

    Ён сумуе па сябрам.
    Ён сумуе па сябрах.

    With сумаваць, the noun after па takes the locative, so plural nouns end in -ах or -ях.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

сумаваць па + LocativeLevel 3Missing Someone with Сумаваць Па

Learn This First

Missing someone needs па + locative.

Words in This Pattern

сумавацьпа