Bulgarian grammar lessons

There are 30 letters: А Б В Г Д Е Ж З И Й К Л М Н О П Р С Т У Ф Х Ц Ч Ш Щ Ъ Ь Ю Я. Split them into three groups and they get easy fast. Group one looks and sounds just like English.

Group two are the 'false friends'. They look like English letters but say something else. These trip everyone up at first, so learn them early.

Group three are new shapes, each with one clear sound. Nothing scary, just new to your eyes.

Two heads-ups. There are no letters for English q, w, x or y; Bulgarian builds those sounds from letters it already has. And handwriting (cursive) can look very different from print, so give yourself time to get used to it.

When a vowel is not the stressed one in a word, it gets lazy and shifts a bit. An 'а' leans toward 'ъ' (an 'uh' sound), and an 'о' leans toward 'у' (an 'oo' sound). The stressed vowel stays clear.

This is a tendency, strongest in fast, relaxed speech. In careful or formal speech people keep the vowels fuller. Also, е and и barely change, so don't worry about those.

You still write the normal letter because this pattern changes only the sound. Keep the stressed vowel full and clear.

Every word has one syllable that you say louder and longer. That is the stressed syllable. In Bulgarian, stress can fall on any syllable and is not marked in ordinary writing. Learn the stress of each word by hearing it.

Stress can distinguish words that have the same spelling. It may also fall on a different syllable when a word changes form.

Do not guess stress from spelling. There is no fixed rule such as 'always the second-to-last syllable'. Textbooks add an accent mark to help (вода́), but ordinary text does not show it. Learn each new word by hearing it.

ъ is a vowel, a short 'uh' sound like the u in 'cup'. It is very common and even sits inside the country's own name.

щ is simply two sounds glued together, 'sht'. And ь is silent; it just softens the letter before it and shows up almost only in the ending -ьо.

Do not mix up ъ (a real vowel you say) with ь (a silent helper you do not say). ь is rare, so if you are unsure, it is probably not ь.

At the end of a word, some 'buzzing' (voiced) consonants turn into their 'quiet' twin. So a final д sounds like т, a final б like п, a final ж like ш. You still spell the original letter.

Inside a word, when two consonants meet, the first often copies the second. So an 's' before a buzzing sound turns into a 'z', and the other way round too.

The spelling never changes, only the sound. If you are unsure how a word is really spelled, a longer form of it usually shows the true letter.

Here are the six forms. Learn them as one set because you will use them constantly.

In real speech you usually drop the 'I / you / he' word, because the form of съм already makes it clear who you mean.

These little forms are weak, they cannot start a sentence. Put a word in front (a name, 'аз', or a where/what word) and lean the form on it.

Here is the full set.

Bulgarian usually leaves the 'who' word out, because the verb ending already tells you who is doing the action. You add it back mainly for emphasis or to contrast two people.

'то' (it) is only for neuter words, like дете (child). It is not a general 'it' the way English uses it. And 'вие' does double duty: 'you all' and the polite 'you' for one person (next point).

Use 'ти' with people you know well: friends, family, kids, people your own age. Use 'Вие' with a stranger, someone older, or in a formal setting. 'Вие' takes the plural verb form, even for one person.

The polite 'Вие' for one person is written with a capital В, to tell it apart from 'вие' meaning 'you all'.

With polite Вие the verb is plural, but a describing word stays singular and matches the real person, man or woman. When unsure with a stranger, start with Вие; you can switch to ти later if they invite you.

Little words like 'съм' and the short object words (ме, те, го, се...) are 'leaners'. They are weak and must lean on a word before them, so they can never be the first word in a sentence.

If there is nothing to lean on, either add a 'who' word or move another word to the front. That's why 'Уморен съм' works but 'Съм уморен' does not.

When several little words pile up they follow a fixed order, but you'll meet that later. For now, one rule is enough: never begin a sentence with 'съм' or a short word like ме, те, го, се.

You can usually tell the gender from the last letter. Ends in a consonant = masculine. Ends in -а or -я = feminine. Ends in -о or -е = neuter.

This 'look at the ending' trick works for the big majority of words, so lean on it.

The ending is a strong hint, not a hard law. A few common words break the pattern (next point). Also, most words for men are masculine and most words for women are feminine, whatever the ending, though a few diminutive words for boys and young animals are neuter.

Some words that end in -а or -я are actually masculine, usually because they name men or roles held by people.

And some words that end in a consonant are actually feminine. Many of these are 'thing' or abstract words.

There is no trick here, just learn these few as they come. It helps to learn a new noun together with its 'the' form, because that reveals the gender.

'кой' means 'who' (or 'which'), and 'какво' means 'what'. Put them at the start of the question.

'кой' changes shape a little to match what you're asking about: a man, a woman, a thing, or a group.

'Кой е това?' is the handy all-purpose 'who is this?' when you point at someone. Use 'какво' only for things, never for people.

Put 'не' right before the verb. That's it, the whole sentence becomes negative.

Stress falls on 'не', while the following verb is usually unstressed. In speech, pronounce 'не' clearly.

With an object pronoun such as ме, те, го, or я, put 'не' first, then the pronoun, then the verb.

To ask a yes/no question, put 'ли' right after the word you're asking about, usually the verb.

The word you put in front of 'ли' is the thing you're really asking about. Move it, and the focus of the question changes.

With 'съм' the order is form + ли: 'Студент ли си?'. And you don't need 'ли' if the sentence already has a question word like кой or какво.

Take a normal statement and raise your tone at the end. That alone turns it into a question, just like a casual 'You're coming?' in English.

This is more casual than a 'ли' question. Both are correct; the voice-only version just feels lighter and quicker.

In writing you only have the question mark to show it, so these look exactly like statements apart from the '?'. When in doubt, the 'ли' version is clearer.

'да' means yes, 'не' means no. Used just like in English as a quick answer.

You can soften or strengthen them with a few common add-ons.

Careful: the same little word 'не' is also the 'not' you put before a verb. On its own it means 'no'; in front of a verb it makes the sentence negative.

Many verbs have -е- in the middle of the present forms: чета, четеш, чете; пиша, пишеш, пише.

The endings are -а/-я, -еш, -е, -ем, -ете, -ат. The first and third forms often look different, so learn the whole small pattern.

In this group, the middle vowel is -и-: говоря, говориш, говори; работя, работиш, работи.

The plural forms are говорим, говорите, говорят and работим, работите, работят. The person is clear from the ending, so the pronoun can be left out.

Many verbs in this group keep -а- before the ending: имам, имаш, има; гледам, гледаш, гледа.

The plural forms are имаме, имате, имат and гледаме, гледате, гледат. Keep the base and change the ending.

Some verbs end in -а or -я with аз: чета, пиша, говоря, работя. Others end in -м: имам, гледам.

Do not remove the ending from every verb in the same way. Learn аз together with ти and той: говоря–говориш–говори, гледам–гледаш–гледа.

Use има for 'there is/are' and няма for 'there is/are not'. They do not change for singular and plural.

Put the place first when you want to show it clearly. The noun after има/няма can be new information.

Use имам for possession and нямам for 'I do not have'. Change the verb for the person: имаш, има, имаме.

A noun after имам is the thing owned. Add един/една/едно when you mean one particular new thing.

Use Какво има...? for 'What is there...?'. Add a place with в, на, or тук.

Answer with има or няма and name the thing. Use a plural if there is more than one.

Many masculine nouns add -и or -ове: стол–столове, град–градове, приятел–приятели. Learn the plural with the noun.

After numbers, some masculine nouns use a special counting form in -а. This is common with two to five.

Most feminine nouns change -а/-я to -и: жена–жени, книга–книги, стая–стаи. Neuter nouns often use -а or -я: море–морета, поле–поля.

Some neuter nouns use -ета after a consonant change. Learn common plurals as whole words.

The most useful irregular pairs are човек–хора, дете–деца, and око–очи.

The plural may change the middle sound too. Use the plural word, not a guessed ending.

Add the definite ending to a noun when the listener knows which one you mean: книга–книгата, град–градът, море–морето.

The article comes after the plural ending too: книги–книгите, жени–жените, деца–децата.

Feminine nouns usually add -та: жена–жената, книга–книгата, стая–стаята.

Neuter nouns usually add -то: дете–детето, море–морето, село–селото.

Use -ът/-ят when a masculine noun is the subject: градът е голям, учителят говори. Use -а/-я in other positions: виждам града, с учителя.

The full ending is a careful-writing rule. In speech, the difference can be hard to hear, so use the subject test when you write.