How do you say "fear" in Russian?

бояться

bojat'sja

Verb Cyrillic

In Russian, "fear" is бояться (bojat'sja).

Listen to the pronunciation:

Free Russian learning game. No sign-up, play in browser. See all games

Pronunciation

It's pronounced close to bojat'sja, and stressing the "ats" chunk a touch more than the rest, and the apostrophe sound is just a soft touch, not a full syllable.

Writing and usage

бояться is written using cyrillic. It's a verb, part of the vocabulary taught in the Noun Town language learning game.

Example sentence

Многие боятся тьмы.

Mnogie bojatsja t'my.

Many people fear the dark.

Test your Russian knowledge in our free browser games.

How to remember бояться

Break "bojat'sja" down to "boj" and let that spark "fear" in your mind. Come back to this hook whenever the word slips your mind.

Related words

Browse all Russian words in the glossary.

Questions about бояться

How do you pronounce бояться?

It's pronounced close to bojat'sja, and stressing the "ats" chunk a touch more than the rest, and the apostrophe sound is just a soft touch, not a full syllable.

Is бояться formal or casual?

бояться is a neutral, everyday word that works in both casual and polite speech.

How is бояться used in Russian?

бояться is used the same way as the equivalent English verb. For example: Многие боятся тьмы. (Many people fear the dark.).

Where can I practice Russian words for free?

You can play free Russian minigames in your browser on the Noun Town online games page, no sign-up required. Every word in the Russian glossary also has native audio and an example sentence you can revisit any time.

"Fear" in other languages

Curated by Jack Ratcliffe

This word is part of the vocabulary taught in the Russian language learning game Noun Town, where words are introduced through play rather than memorisation. Want to play the full game? Get Noun Town on Steam.

Noun Town language-learning game on PC, Mac and VR

The full experience

Noun Town on PC, Mac & VR

These browser games are just a taste. The full Noun Town is a bigger, deeper 3D world: explore a living town, talk to its characters and learn thousands of words in immersive VR, Mixed Reality, or on your computer. It's an award-winning game with 590+ reviews on Steam and 12 languages to learn.

See the full game ▶

Spot an error? Email us at contact@noun.town