Learn Hardcore Ukrainian: Мама хвилюється, але скоро заспокоїться. - Mom is worried, but she will calm down soon.

It’s the reflexive marker. In Ukrainian, -ся attaches to a verb to show the action is directed at the subject or is intransitive/mediopassive. In the 3rd person present/future, you see -ться because it’s -ть (3rd person ending) + -ся (reflexive).

хвилюватися = to worry (no direct object)
заспокоїтися = to calm down (oneself) Compare: заспокоїти когось (to calm someone) vs заспокоїтися (to calm down oneself). Note: -ся is part of the verb and never written separately.

Why does заспокоїться mean “will calm down” if it looks like a present-tense form?

Aspect. Заспокоїтися is perfective. In Ukrainian, perfective “present” forms actually refer to a single completed action in the future: вона заспокоїться = she will calm down. Imperfective verbs have true present meanings and form the future with буде + infinitive (or a synthetic future for some verbs).

Can I use заспокоюється here instead of заспокоїться?

Only if you mean a different nuance:

вона заспокоюється = she is calming down (in progress) or she calms down (habitually).
With скоро (“soon”), the natural choice for a single future event is perfective: вона скоро заспокоїться.
You could say вона вже заспокоюється = she’s already calming down.

Do I need to repeat the subject or add вона in the second clause?

No. Ukrainian often drops pronouns when the subject is clear. Your sentence is perfect. If you want to be explicit, you can say: Мама хвилюється, але вона скоро заспокоїться. It’s correct but heavier.

Why is there a comma before але?

Because але (“but”) is a coordinating conjunction joining two clauses. Ukrainian punctuation requires a comma before але in this use.

What’s the difference between скоро and швидко?

скоро = soon (in a short time)
швидко = quickly/fast (at a high speed) Examples:
Вона скоро заспокоїться. = She will calm down soon.
Вона швидко заспокоїлася. = She calmed down quickly (once she started).

Can I move скоро to a different position?

Yes. Word order is flexible:

Мама хвилюється, але скоро заспокоїться. (neutral)
Мама хвилюється, але заспокоїться скоро. (afterthought/emphasis on “soon”)
Мама хвилюється, але вона скоро заспокоїться. (explicit pronoun)

How do I say “to worry about” someone or something?

Common patterns:

хвилюватися за + accusative (about/for someone): Мама хвилюється за мене.
хвилюватися через + accusative (because of something): Мама хвилюється через іспит. With a more “care about” nuance, you may also see турбуватися про + accusative.

What’s the difference between мама, мамо, and мати?

мама = mom/mum (nominative; used as the subject here).
мамо = Mom! (vocative, used for direct address): Мамо, не хвилюйтеся.
мати = mother (more formal/literary or dictionary form).

Can I start a sentence with але?

Yes. Але can begin a sentence: Але вона скоро заспокоїться. This is common in real-life speech and writing.

What are some synonyms for але and скоро?

але ≈ проте, однак (both “however/but”); та can sometimes mean “but” in a literary style (otherwise it usually means “and”).
скоро ≈ невдовзі, незабаром (“before long/soon”).

Why is it spelled заспокоїться with ї, not і?

Ukrainian ї represents the sound [ji] (a “y” glide + i). After о, ї shows there’s a “y” glide: -ої- = [o-ji]. If it were -оїться with just і, you would lose that [j] sound. So ї is required.

How do you pronounce the cluster хв and the ending -ться?

хв = [khv] (start with a rough “kh” like in “Bach,” then v).
-ться is pronounced roughly like “tsia.” The ть
- с often fuses to a [ts]-like sound, then -я gives the “-sia/ -tsia” ending. Approximate whole words:
хвилюється ≈ “khvy-lyu-ye-tsia”
заспокоїться ≈ “za-spo-koy-it-sia”

How do these verbs look for “I” and “she”?

я хвилююся / хвилююсь; вона хвилюється
я заспокоюся / заспокоюсь; вона заспокоїться
After a vowel, the short -сь variant is common in speech (both forms are standard).

Do I need an article or a possessive before мама?

Ukrainian has no articles. Мама can mean “(my) mom” from context. If you need to be explicit, say моя мама (“my mom”).

Can I replace хвилюється with переживає or турбується?

Yes, with slight nuances:

переживає = is worried/going through strong feelings (very common colloquially).
турбується = is concerned/cares (also “takes care” in some contexts). Your sentence stays natural: Мама переживає, але скоро заспокоїться.

How would this look in the past or (imperfective) future?

Past: Мама хвилювалася, але скоро заспокоїлася.
Future (imperfective): Мама буде хвилюватися, але скоро заспокоїться.
You can also use the synthetic future: Мама хвилюватиметься, але скоро заспокоїться.

Is there a spelling rule about -ться vs -тся (like in Russian)?

In Ukrainian, 3rd-person reflexive forms are always spelled with -ться. There’s no -тся vs -ться alternation to worry about.