Breakdown of Boję się, że braknie nam śrubek.
my
we
że
that
bać się
to be afraid
śrubka
screw
braknąć
to run out of
Questions & Answers about Boję się, że braknie nam śrubek.
Why is the verb in the third-person singular (braknie) instead of matching 'we'?
The verbs braknąć (perfective, used here) and brakować (imperfective) are used impersonally. Instead of saying 'we will run out', Polish phrases this as 'it will be lacking to us'. That is why the verb is fixed in the 'it' form (braknie) and the people experiencing the lack are expressed using the Dative pronoun (nam).
Why is the word for screws (śrubek) in the Genitive case?
The verbs braknąć and brakować always require the missing or lacking object to be in the Genitive case. Since the base word is the plural śrubki, it changes to the Genitive plural form śrubek.
Is braknie a future tense verb?
Yes! Braknie is the future tense of the perfective verb braknąć, which focuses on the completed event of running out of something. If you wanted to say 'we are currently short of screws' in the present tense, you would use the imperfective form: brakuje nam śrubek.
I know boję means 'I am afraid', but why do we need się here?
The Polish verb for 'to be afraid' or 'to fear' is bać się. It is an inherently reflexive verb, which means the się is a permanent, required part of the verb. You must always include it, even though we do not say 'I fear myself' in English.
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