240 Ukrainian: A Comprehensive Grammar кінчати/скінчити 'finish' + imperfective Борис скінчив писати. Borys finished writing. Борис скінчив лист. Borys finished the letter. 6.4.1.3.1 Verbs of obligation or necessity + infinitive As a particular subset of 6.4.1.3, verbs of obligation/necessity need to be noted; these also require an infinitive: мусити (or мусіти) 'be obliged to', 'must' Мушу дзвонити до нього. І must phone him. Note: мусить бути. 'apparently', 'probably' мати 'have to', 'be supposed to' (cf. primary meaning 'to have') Що маєш робити? What are you supposed to do? What do you have to do? Це має бути зроблено негайно. This must be done immediately. доводитися (impersonal) 'an obligation to do X' Мені доводиться платити їй ... І must pay her, I feel I must... 6.4.1.4 The infinitive in place of the imperative The infinitive can be used in place of the imperative in limited contexts (see 6.4.3.3): this use of the infinitive expresses the highest or most urgent level of commands, to be expected not in ordinary speech, but typically in situations involving the military or law enforcement. Thus: Мовчати! Silence! He говорити! No talking! (= silence!!) 6.4.2 INTRANSITIVE VS. TRANSITIVE: -ся VERBS The majority of Ukrainian verbs are inherently transitive or intransitive. Transitive verbs occur in conjunction with a direct object, which in Ukrainian is a noun or noun phrase in the accusative case; the genitive can also occur in this function (see 2.4.1.2 on the genitive-accusative for animate masculine nouns, and 2.4.1.3 on the partitive genitive). Intransitive verbs stand alone without a direct object (as can transitives), while -ся verbs are either (a) intransitive, (b) reflexive/reciprocal, or (c) passive (see 6.4.4 on the passive uses of-ся).
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