Breakdown of Коли тобі страшно говорити, дихай повільно і посміхнися.
Questions & Answers about Коли тобі страшно говорити, дихай повільно і посміхнися.
Тобі страшно is an impersonal construction that literally means “it is scary to you” / “you feel scared.”
- тобі – dative case of ти (to you).
- страшно – an adverb/predicative form meaning “scary” / “it is scary.”
So коли тобі страшно говорити is literally “when it is scary to you to speak”, which in natural English is “when you are scared to speak” or “when you feel scared to speak.”
Using ти страшний would mean “you are scary”, i.e., you frighten others – completely different meaning.
Ти боїшся = “you are afraid” / “you’re scared” and is also correct, but it sounds a bit more direct and personal.
Тобі страшно focuses more on the feeling coming over you, not on you as the subject who “fears.”
Yes, Коли ти боїшся говорити, дихай повільно і посміхнися is grammatically correct and means almost the same thing.
Nuance:
Коли тобі страшно говорити…
- More impersonal and emotional.
- Emphasizes the state/feeling of fear: “When it feels scary to speak…”
Коли ти боїшся говорити…
- More personal and direct: “When you are afraid to speak…”
- Slightly more “active,” with ти clearly as the subject of боїшся.
Both are natural; тобі страшно feels a bit softer and more about the emotional experience.
In коли тобі страшно говорити, the verb говорити is an infinitive that depends on the phrase тобі страшно:
- тобі страшно (що робити?) говорити – “it is scary for you (to do what?) to speak.”
Ukrainian often uses an infinitive after impersonal expressions of feeling or necessity:
- Мені легко працювати. – It’s easy for me to work.
- Тобі важко говорити. – It’s hard for you to speak.
- Їм цікаво читати. – It’s interesting for them to read.
If you said коли ти говориш, that just means “when you speak”, with no built-in meaning of fear. You’d need another verb of emotion:
- Коли ти говориш, ти боїшся. – When you speak, you are afraid. (different structure)
Yes, both are imperative forms (commands / instructions):
- дихай – “breathe” (informal singular)
- from дихати – to breathe
- посміхнися – “smile” (informal singular)
- from посміхнутися – to smile (once, to give a smile)
They’re used when speaking to one person you address as ти (informal you).
For politeness or when addressing more than one person, use the plural/polite imperatives:
- Дихайте повільно і посміхніться.
– to a group or to one person you address as ви (formal you).
So:
- дихай / посміхнися – you (singular, informal)
- дихайте / посміхніться – you (plural or polite)
The -ся (or its shorter variant -сь) is the reflexive particle in Ukrainian, similar to “-self” in some English verbs, but much more common and sometimes not directly translatable.
- The base verb is посміхнутися – to smile (give a smile).
- Imperative: посміхнися (full form) or посміхнись (colloquial/short form).
The reflexive -ся is just part of the normal verb посміхнутися; you can’t drop it without changing the verb. Many emotion or posture verbs are reflexive in Ukrainian:
- сміятися – to laugh
- усміхатися – to smile (more continuously/“keep smiling”)
- злитися – to be angry
- гордитися – to be proud
So посміхнися = “smile”, literally “smile yourself”, but in meaning just “smile.”
Yes, there are aspect and nuance differences:
посміхнися
- From посміхнутися (perfective).
- Suggests a single act: “give a smile (now)”.
- Fits well with one-time advice or a momentary action.
посміхайся
- From посміхатися (imperfective).
- Implies repeated / ongoing smiling: “keep smiling,” “smile more often.”
усміхайся
- From усміхатися. Very close in meaning to посміхайся.
- In modern Ukrainian, усміхатися is often considered a bit more stylistically “pure/standard” than посміхатися, but both are used.
In this sentence, посміхнися works well because it’s a one-time, immediate instruction:
“When you’re scared to speak, (at that moment) breathe slowly and smile.”
The comma separates a subordinate clause from the main clause.
- Коли тобі страшно говорити – subordinate clause (time condition): “When you are scared to speak…”
- дихай повільно і посміхнися – main clause with two imperatives: “breathe slowly and smile.”
In Ukrainian, subordinate clauses introduced by коли (when) are normally separated by a comma:
- Коли буде дощ, візьми парасолю. – When it rains, take an umbrella.
- Коли втомишся, відпочинь. – When you get tired, rest.
Same rule applies here.
Yes, Ukrainian word order is relatively flexible, and you can shift things for emphasis or style.
All of these are grammatically possible:
- Коли тобі страшно говорити, дихай повільно і посміхнися. (neutral, very natural)
- Коли страшно тобі говорити, дихай повільно і посміхнися. (emphasis slightly shifts to страшно)
- Дихай повільно і посміхнися, коли тобі страшно говорити. (focuses first on the instruction, then adds the condition)
The original version is the most straightforward and typical. Changing the order doesn’t usually change the core meaning, just the focus and rhythm of the sentence.
Повільно is an adverb meaning “slowly”, and it directly modifies дихай:
- дихай (як?) повільно – “breathe (how?) slowly.”
Yes, you can also say:
- Дихай повільніше і посміхнися. – “Breathe more slowly and smile.”
Difference:
- повільно – describes slow breathing in general.
- повільніше – comparative: “more slowly (than before / than usual).”
In advice or instructions, both are natural, depending on whether you just want “slow breathing” or specifically “slower than you’re breathing now.”
Страшний is an adjective: “scary, terrible” (describing a noun):
- страшний фільм – a scary film
- страшний сон – a terrible dream
Страшно is the adverb/predicative form and is used in impersonal expressions of feeling:
- Мені страшно. – I’m scared / I feel afraid.
- Тобі страшно говорити. – You’re scared to speak.
- Йому було страшно. – He was scared.
So страшно here works like “it is scary / (someone) feels scared”, and combined with dative тобі it gives “you feel scared.”