Ways to say it
| Ukrainian | Romanization (Wiktionary) | Note |
|---|---|---|
| поме́рти | pomérty | perfective |
| умира́ти | umyráty | imperfective |
| уме́рти | umérty | perfective |
| помира́ти | pomyráty | imperfective |
| ги́нути | hýnuty | imperfective |
| зги́нути | zhýnuty | perfective |
| здо́хнути | zdóxnuty | also, derogatory, perfective |
Which one should you use?
For a neutral description of the act of dying, use поме́рти or помира́ти. If you want to describe a more tragic, formal or heroic death, such as perishing in a disaster or in battle, use ги́нути and its perfective form зги́нути. For a highly disrespectful, vulgar or derogatory way to say someone or something died (similar to "to croak"), use здо́хнути.
Is there a formal and an informal way to say it?
поме́рти is the standard, neutral way to express the act of dying. ги́нути is more formal and is typically reserved for tragic or heroic contexts. Conversely, здо́хнути is derogatory and is often used for animals or to insult people.
Related words
How does it change in a sentence?
умира́ти and помира́ти are imperfective forms used to describe the ongoing process of dying or a repeated action. уме́рти, поме́рти, зги́нути and здо́хнути are perfective forms.
How do you pronounce it?
pomérty
Did you know?
- The term здо́хнути is often the first word a Ukrainian speaker would use when expressing anger at a machine or an object that has stopped working.
- While ги́нути can mean 'to perish' in a heroic sense, it is also the standard word used for the death of a person's hopes or dreams.
- The word здо́хнути is so insulting that it is used to strip a person of their humanity, effectively treating them as nothing more than a carcass.
Examples in context
- Його дідусь помер від серцевого нападу.His grandfather died of a heart attack.
- Її бабуся померла ввечері після тривалої хвороби.Her grandmother died in the evening after a prolonged illness.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “die” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
