належить + Infinitive

Належить Plus Infinitive

Level 5Sounds Like naležitʹ + ínfínítiv

The pattern належить + інфінітив is the standard way to express 'it is required to' or 'one shall' in official, legal, and administrative Ukrainian contexts.

How It Works

In Ukrainian administrative and legal styles, належить functions as an impersonal modal verb. It does not change its form to agree with a subject; it remains in the 3rd person singular form (which defaults to the neuter form in the past tense, належало).

Key Syntactic Features:

  • Direct Attachment: It is followed immediately by an infinitive (e.g., подати, виконати).
  • The Agent: If you need to specify who must perform the action, that person or group is placed in the Dative case (e.g., вам належить, сторонам належить). However, in very formal documents, the agent is often omitted to sound more objective.
  • The Object: The object of the action follows the standard rules of the infinitive, usually appearing in the Accusative case.

Nuance and Register:
This pattern is strictly formal. While general necessity is often expressed with other modal words and слід is used for recommendations or logical advice, належить indicates a requirement dictated by law or protocol. It is frequently found in EU-Ukraine legal harmonization documents and modern Ukrainian legislative acts.

Examples (4)

  1. Заяву належить подати до секретаріату не пізніше п'ятниці.

    The application must be submitted to the secretariat no later than Friday.

    Word by Word: Application it-is-required to-submit to secretariat not later Friday.

    This is a classic administrative instruction where the requirement is impersonal and mandatory.

  2. Вам належить з'явитися до суду у визначений час.

    You are required to appear in court at the appointed time.

    Word by Word: To-you it-is-required to-appear to court at determined time.

    Here, the agent 'you' is in the Dative case (Вам), indicating who holds the obligation.

  3. Особливу увагу належить звернути на техніку безпеки.

    Particular attention must be paid to safety techniques.

    Word by Word: Particular attention it-is-required to-turn on technique of-safety.

    Used here to emphasize a mandatory protocol in a formal safety manual.

  4. Сторонам належить виконувати умови договору.

    The parties shall fulfill the terms of the contract.

    Word by Word: To-parties it-is-required to-fulfill conditions of-contract.

    A typical legal sentence where 'the parties' (Сторонам) is in the Dative case.

Common Mistakes

  • Using the Nominative case for the person who has the obligation.

    Ви належить подати документи.
    Вам належить подати документи.

    Because 'належить' is an impersonal construction, the person responsible must be in the Dative case, not the Nominative.

  • Confusing the modal use with the verb meaning 'to belong to'.

    Він належить до подати заяву.
    Йому належить подати заяву.

    The construction 'належати до' means 'to belong to a group.' The modal requirement never uses the preposition 'до' before the infinitive.

How It Connects

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

належить + InfinitiveLevel 5Належить Plus Infinitive

Learn This First

To understand 'належить + інфінітив', a learner needs to be familiar with the infinitive form of verbs and the third-person singular conjugation. It is also helpful to have experience with other impersonal modal constructions where a verb or predicative expresses necessity or advice followed by an infinitive.

Words in This Pattern

належати