хацець

Wanting with Хацець

Level 1Sounds Like hacecʹ

Я хачу каву. (I want a coffee.) Хочаш пагуляць? (Do you want to go for a walk?)

How It Works

The present tense:

  • я хачу, ты хочаш, ён/яна хоча
  • мы хочам, вы хочаце, яны хочуць

What makes it special:

  • ц → ч in all six forms: хацець → хачу, хочаш.
  • It has first-conjugation endings (хочуць, not *хоцяць), although other verbs in -ець such as сядзець are second conjugation.
  • а or о? In хачу the stress is on the ending, so the unstressed о of the root is written а (akanye). Everywhere else the root is stressed and keeps о. The infinitive хацець also has а.
  • After the hard ч, the unstressed endings have а: хочаш, хоча, хочам, хочаце.

What follows хацець:

  • an infinitive: Хачу спаць. (I want to sleep.) Мы хочам паехаць у Полацк. (We want to go to Polatsk.)
  • a noun as the object: Я хачу каву. (I want a coffee.) A feminine noun in -а changes to -у; see the feminine accusative.
  • You will also hear the genitive for "some": Хочаш гарбаты? (Would you like some tea?) See the partitive genitive.

For polite requests Belarusians often soften хацець to хацеў бы / хацела б (I would like); see polite wishes.

Examples (6)

  1. Я хачу каву.

    I want a coffee.

    хачу + a noun: кава becomes каву.

  2. Хочаш пагуляць?

    Do you want to go for a walk?

    хочаш + an infinitive; ты is left out.

  3. Ён хоча спаць.

    He wants to sleep.

    хоча: о in the stressed root, а at the end.

  4. Мы хочам паехаць у Полацк.

    We want to go to Polatsk.

    хочам: the мы form.

  5. Што вы хочаце на вячэру?

    What would you like for dinner?

    хочаце: the вы form.

  6. Дзеці хочуць есці.

    The children are hungry.

    Word by Word: Children want to-eat.

    хочуць: the яны form ends in -уць.

Common Mistakes

  • Using the Russian form хочу.

    Я хочу каву.
    Я хачу каву.

    In хачу the stress is on the ending, so the root vowel is written а.

  • Building the яны form like Russian хотят.

    Яны хоцяць есці.
    Яны хочуць есці.

    Belarusian хацець has ч in every present form and the first-conjugation ending -уць.

  • Conjugating the verb after хацець.

    Я хачу сплю.
    Я хачу спаць.

    After хацець the second verb stays in the infinitive.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

хацецьLevel 1Wanting with Хацець

Learn This First

Хацець is an irregular present-tense verb.

Learn Next

Patterns that build on this one.

Words in This Pattern

хацець