вы + -еце/-іце

Present Tense with Вы

Level 1Sounds Like vy + -ece/-íce

The вы form ends in -еце in the first conjugation and -іце in the second: вы чытаеце, вы робіце.

How It Works

Use this form with вы: "you" for several people, and also the polite "you" for one person. With polite Вы the verb is the same: Вы працуеце тут? (Do you work here?) See agreement with polite Вы.

First conjugation:

  • -еце when the stress is on the stem: чытаеце (you read), працуеце (you work), ведаеце (you know).
  • -аце after ж, ш, ч, р, stressed or not: пішаце (you write), хочаце (you want), бераце (you take), печаце (you bake).
  • -яце after a soft consonant when the last syllable is stressed: ідзяце (you go), жывяце (you live), несяце (you carry).

Why я and а? In ідзяце, бераце and несяце the stress falls on the final -це. The vowel right before a stressed syllable follows yakanye (е → я after a soft consonant) and akanye (е → а after a hard one). That is why Russian идёте corresponds to Belarusian ідзяце.

Stress can also shift the stem vowel, so check the dictionary for verbs with stressed endings: несці → нясём but несяце; браць → бяром but бераце.

Second conjugation: -іце after a soft consonant (робіце, ходзіце, любіце) and -ыце after ж, ш, ч, р (гаворыце, бачыце).

Examples (6)

  1. Што вы чытаеце?

    What are you reading?

    чытаеце: unstressed, so -еце.

  2. Куды вы ідзяце?

    Where are you going?

    ідзяце: the stress is on -це, so е before it becomes я.

  3. Вы вельмі добра пішаце!

    You write very well!

    пішаце: -аце after the hard ш.

  4. Вы бераце гэты пакой?

    Are you taking this room?

    бераце: the stress is on -це, and the vowel after р is а.

  5. Дзе вы жывяце?

    Where do you live?

    жывяце: stressed ending after a soft consonant, so -яце.

  6. Вы гаворыце па-англійску?

    Do you speak English?

    гаворыце: second conjugation, -ыце after р.

Common Mistakes

  • Keeping е before a stressed -це.

    Куды вы ідзеце?
    Куды вы ідзяце?

    The stress falls on the last syllable, so the е before it is written я (yakanye).

  • Writing е after ш.

    Вы пішеце ліст?
    Вы пішаце ліст?

    After a hard consonant the ending is -аце.

  • Giving a second-conjugation verb the first-conjugation ending.

    Што вы робеце?
    Што вы робіце?

    Рабіць is second conjugation, so its вы form ends in -іце.

How It Connects

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

вы + -еце/-іцеLevel 1Present Tense with Вы

Learn This First

The вы form follows мы.

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Patterns that build on this one.

Words in This Pattern

вы