Боятися (to fear / be afraid)

Infinitive (imperfective): боя́тися — "to be afraid, to fear, to be scared (of)" Type: an inherently reflexive -ся verb (second conjugation); governs the genitive case Note: боя́тися has no -ся-less counterpart (*боя́ти does not exist) — the -ся is part of the verb itself

боя́тися is the everyday verb for fear, and it is the textbook example of a small but important group: emotional -ся verbs that take the genitive. You are afraid of something, and that something goes straight into the genitive — боя́тися соба́к "afraid of dogs," боя́тися те́мряви "afraid of the dark." English makes "dogs" the object of a preposition ("afraid of dogs"); Ukrainian uses a bare genitive with no preposition at all — the case of holding-at-a-distance, which fits fear perfectly. боя́тися has no perfective partner in everyday use (it names a lasting state, and states resist a clean "completion"), so this page covers one imperfective verb in depth. The only spelling trap is the ї that appears in the singular and plural-non-final forms (бої́шся, бої́ться, бої́мося, бої́теся). Stress is marked on every form.

Present tense — second conjugation, with ї

боя́тися is second conjugation: stem бо- with the -ю / -їш / -їть / -їмо / -їте / -яться endings and the reflexive -ся. The vowel-to-vowel hiatus is bridged by ї (бої́шся, not *бои́шся). Note the end stress in the singular and middle plural forms, retracting to the stem in the final боя́ться.

The form to watch is the final вони́ боя́ться — stem-stressed with -я-, not the -ї- of the other forms. The 1sg бою́ся has -ю- after the vowel stem; everywhere in between you write ї.

Past tense — gendered (боя́вся…)

A regular gendered past off the боя́- stem, with the reflexive -ся after the gender marker. Stress is on -я́- throughout.

Because боя́тися names a state, the past usually reads "was afraid / used to be afraid" — an ongoing fear, not a single event. Match the gender: a woman says я боя́лася, a man says я боя́вся. The reflexive -ся comes after the gender marker (боя́-л-а-ся), so it never disturbs the agreement.

Future tense

боя́тися is imperfective with no everyday perfective, so it forms only the compound futures — analytic (бу́ду + infinitive) or synthetic (-му).

The negated future не бу́ду боя́тися "I won't be afraid" is the common, defiant use.

Imperative

The imperative is almost always used in the negative — you tell someone not to be afraid. It is built on the suppletive imperative stem бі́й- (not the present бо-): бі́йся / бі́йтеся. The bare positive бі́йся! ("be afraid!") exists but functions as a threat.

Не бі́йся! / Не бі́йтеся! is one of the highest-frequency phrases of reassurance in the language — "Don't be scared, it's all right."

Participles and verbal adverbs

The verbal adverb боячи́сь is genuinely used in the sense "for fear of / afraid to" — Він мовча́в, боячи́сь сказа́ти за́йве "He kept silent, afraid to say too much." Standard Ukrainian forms no everyday active participle for this verb.

Key uses & case government

1. боя́тися + genitive — the thing feared

The thing you fear stands in the genitive, no preposition: боя́тися соба́к, те́мряви, сме́рті, і́спиту, поми́лок. боя́тися belongs to the genitive-governing family alongside уника́ти "avoid" and дося́гати "achieve" — see the broader reflexive-verb government note. A useful nuance: with concrete, definite, animate things — especially specific people — colloquial Ukrainian sometimes uses the accusative (боя́тися сво́го нача́льника). The genitive is always safe and is the form to learn.

2. боя́тися + infinitive — "be afraid to do"

To be afraid to do something, follow боя́тися with an infinitive (the infinitive-complement pattern). The infinitive is normally imperfective here, because you fear the activity, not a single completed act: боя́тися літа́ти "afraid to fly," боя́тися говори́ти "afraid to speak."

3. боя́тися, що / щоб не… — fearing a possible event

To fear that something might happen, use боя́тися, що + a clause. When the feared event is genuinely undesired and you want it not to happen, careful Ukrainian uses боя́тися, щоб не + past — Бою́ся, щоб він не захворі́в "I'm afraid he might fall ill" — but the plain що-clause is standard and always correct in speech.

Common Mistakes

Key Takeaways

• боя́тися is an inherently reflexive -ся verb — never drop the -ся; there is no *боя́ти, and no everyday perfective partner.
• Government: genitive, no preposition — боя́тися соба́к, те́мряви, і́спиту. (Colloquial accusative with definite people; learn the genitive.)
• Present (second conjugation), mind the ї: бою́ся / бої́шся / бої́ться / бої́мося / бої́теся / боя́ться — the вони́ form is stem-stressed with -я-.
• Past: боя́вся / боя́лася / боя́лося / боя́лися — agrees with the subject's gender.
• • infinitive
  (usually imperfective) = "be afraid to do";
  • що-clause
  = "be afraid that…".
• The imperative uses the suppletive stem бі́й-: the reassurance Не бі́йся! / Не бі́йтеся! is the workhorse use.