да не би да

Fear and Precaution with Да Не Би Да

Level 4Sounds Like da ne bi da

Да не би да + verb voices a fear. As a question it means surely not ...?: Да не би да си болен? (You're not ill, are you?). After a request it means in case: Вземи чадър, да не би да завали. (Take an umbrella in case it rains.)

How It Works

1. Worried questions. The speaker suspects something unwelcome and asks to check:

  • Да не би да си болен? (You're not ill, are you?)
  • Да не би да си забравил ключовете? (You haven't forgotten the keys, have you?) The perfect is used for something that may already have happened.
  • Да не би да казах нещо лошо? (I didn't say anything wrong, did I?) A simple past form is possible too.
  • Да не би някой да е взел колата? (Has someone taken the car, by any chance?) The subject can stand between би and да.

A yes answer confirms the fear: Да не би да си болен? — Да, малко. (Yes, a little.)

2. Precaution: in case. After an instruction or a decision, да не би да names the unwanted event you want to guard against. The verb is usually perfective:

  • Вземи чадър, да не би да завали. (Take an umbrella in case it rains.)
  • Записах си адреса, да не би да го забравя. (I wrote down the address in case I forget it.)

A more neutral way to say this is за да + не: Записах си адреса, за да не го забравя. Да не би да puts more weight on the worry. For planning around a possible event, see в случай че.

3. The pieces. Write it as separate words: да не би да. The second да is the normal да before a verb, so short pronouns and се come after it: да не би да го забравя. Never use ще after it; the present already covers the future.

4. Shorter form in speech. In casual questions people often say just Да не: Да не си болен? It means the same thing.

Examples (6)

  1. Да не би да си болен?

    You're not ill, are you?

    The speaker suspects the listener is ill and wants to check.

  2. Вземи чадър, да не би да завали.

    Take an umbrella in case it rains.

    Precaution: the rain is the unwanted event.

  3. Да не би да си забравил ключовете?

    You haven't forgotten the keys, have you?

    Си забравил is the perfect: it may already have happened.

  4. Записах си адреса, да не би да го забравя.

    I wrote down the address in case I forget it.

  5. Обади се на майка си, да не би да се тревожи.

    Call your mother, in case she is worried.

  6. Да не би някой да е взел колата?

    Has someone taken the car, by any chance?

    The subject някой stands between би and да.

Common Mistakes

  • Leaving out the second да.

    Да не би си болен?
    Да не би да си болен?

    The full phrase is да не би да. The second да is the one that introduces the verb; in casual speech you can drop the whole middle and say Да не си болен?

  • Adding ще for a future event.

    Вземи чадър, да не би да ще завали.
    Вземи чадър, да не би да завали.

    After да the verb stays in the present tense, even when the event is in the future. Ще is not used after да.

How It Connects

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да не би даLevel 4Fear and Precaution with Да Не Би Да

Learn This First

Да не би да builds on warnings with да не.

Words in This Pattern

би