In short

The Ukrainian past tense is the language’s simplest finite form. You drop the infinitive’s final -ти and add just one of four endings: -в (masculine), -ла (feminine), -ло (neuter), -ли (plural). That is the whole system. Unlike English or the Ukrainian present tense, the past has no personal endings — it does not care whether the subject is я, ти or він. Instead it agrees, exactly like an adjective, with the gender and number of the subject. So «я чита́в» and «я чита́ла» are both “I read”, and the only difference is whether я is a man or a woman.

The rule

To build the past tense of most verbs:

1. Take the infinitive: чита́ти (“to read”).
2. Remove the ending -ти to get the stem: чита-.
3. Add the gender/number ending:
   • -в if the subject is masculine singular → чита́в
   • -ла if the subject is feminine singular → чита́ла
   • -ло if the subject is neuter singular → чита́ло
   • -ли if the subject is plural (any gender) → чита́ли

Two things to internalise:

• Agreement is with the subject, not the speaker’s grammar of person. A woman says «я була́ вдо́ма»; a man says «я був удо́ма». For ти it works the same way: «ти прийшла́?» to a woman, «ти прийшо́в?» to a man.
• Formal ви takes the plural form, even for one person: «Ви вже обі́дали?» — one polite guest, but the verb is -ли.

A small but frequent group of verbs whose stem ends in a consonant (type нести́, могти́, везти́, пекти́) take no -в in the masculine: the bare consonant stem stands alone (ніс, міг, віз, пік), often with an о/е → і vowel shift. The feminine, neuter and plural of these verbs are perfectly regular (несла́, несло́, несли́).

Forms & patterns

Regular pattern — чита́ти “to read” and бу́ти “to be”:

Note how бу́ти shifts its stress onto the ending in every form except the masculine: був → була́ → було́ → були́.

One form covers all persons — the past does not distinguish я / ти / він:

Consonant-stem masculines — no -в, with an о/е → і shift:

іти́ / йти “to go, walk” is an everyday verb this rule cannot build: it does take -в, but on a different stem — ішо́в / йшов, ішла́ / йшла, ішло́ / йшло, ішли́ / йшли (the й-form after a vowel, the і-form after a pause or a consonant). Every prefixed verb built on it inherits that stem, always in the й-form: прийшо́в, пішла́, зайшло́ (the іти́/ходи́ти pair itself is in Verbs of motion (uni-/multidirectional)).

Reflexive verbs — the particle -ся goes after the gender/number ending:

Examples

Common mistakes

• я чита́ю вчо́ра -> я чита́в / чита́ла вчо́ра — a past action needs a past form, not the present.
• я чита́лаю / вона́ чита́лає -> я чита́ла, вона́ чита́ла — the past has NO personal endings; never glue a present-tense ending onto it.
• (man speaking) я чита́ла -> я чита́в — the form agrees with the subject’s gender, so a male speaker uses -в.
• вони́ чита́в -> вони́ чита́ли — a plural subject always takes -ли.
• Ви прийшо́в? (polite, to one person) -> Ви прийшли́? — formal ви governs the plural form even for a single addressee.
• він нісв / він мігв -> він ніс, він міг — consonant-stem masculines take no -в at all.
• він сяучи́в -> він учи́вся / вчи́вся — the reflexive -ся attaches AFTER the gender/number ending, not before the stem.
• бу́ла, бу́ло -> була́, було́ — remember the stress jumps to the ending in бути (був stays, the rest move).

Tips

• Think of the past tense as a gender-marked adjective in disguise: match it to the subject the way you would match an adjective (він до́брий → він чита́в; вона́ до́бра → вона́ чита́ла).
• There is nothing to memorise per person — four forms (m., f., n., pl.) cover я, ти, він, вона, воно, ми, ви, вони between them.
• With polite ви, default to the -ли form; using -в or -ла to one person sounds like informal ти.
• For the tricky masculines, learn them as pairs by ear: нести́ → ніс, могти́ → міг, везти́ → віз, пекти́ → пік — no -в, plus the о/е → і vowel shift.
• To negate, just place не before the verb: не чита́в, не прийшла́, не було́ — the ending never changes.
• Keep aspect in play: the imperfective past describes an ongoing or repeated action (чита́в = was reading), while the perfective past reports a completed one (прочита́в = read through, finished).