Umiera

Umiera is a Slovak verb form meaning “is dying” or “dies” depending on aspect. It is the third-person singular present tense form of the imperfective verb umierať, which denotes an ongoing or repeated action of dying or being in the process of dying.

In Slovak, verbs have imperfective and perfective aspects. The imperfective umierať conveys ongoing or habitual dying, while the related perfective verb umrieť expresses a completed action, with its present-tense third-person form being umrie (not umiera). This distinction affects how the word is used in sentences, particularly in conveying whether death is viewed as ongoing or as a single, completed event.

Usage examples include: On umiera. (He is dying / He dies, in a general sense.) Otec umiera na rakovinu. (My father is dying of cancer.) The form umiera therefore appears in contexts describing the process of dying rather than a completed death, which would use umrieť with forms like umrie.

Across related West Slavic languages, cognates of umiera appear with similar meaning. For instance, Polish umierać and its present form umiera also express “to die” or “is dying.” In Czech, a closely related form is umírá. These connections reflect shared roots in the Slavic verb for death.