да не for Fear

Fear that something may happen. After се плаши or страв ми е, да не + present names the event you fear. The не does not make it negative; English simply says "that ... might":

• Се плашам да не задоцнам. (I'm afraid I might be late.)
• Страв ми е да не се изгубиме. (I'm scared we might get lost.)
• Се плашеше да не го изгуби работното место. (She was afraid she might lose her job.)

You can also use дека and a future: Се плашам дека ќе задоцнам. With дека, the fear is stated as something you expect.

Without не. Се плаши да without не means afraid to do something yourself: Се плашам да одам сама ноќе. (I'm afraid to walk alone at night.)

Verb forms and order. After да, use the present, usually perfective, even in a past story: Се плашев да не задоцнам. The aorist is not used after да. Short pronouns come after не: да не го изгубам, да не те видат (see the order before the verb).

Warnings. After внимавај (watch out), or on its own, да не warns someone, and here English keeps "not": Внимавај да не паднеш! (Be careful not to fall!) Да не заборавиш! (Don't forget!)

Worried questions. A question that starts with да не checks a worrying guess: Да не си болен? (You're not ill, are you?) With the l-form, it asks about something that may already have happened: Да не си заборавил? (You haven't forgotten, have you?) Compare нели, which expects agreement, and зарем, which shows surprise.