Bulgarian verbs
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Bulgarian verbs are the most complicated part of Bulgarian grammar, especially when compared to other Slavic languages. They are inflected for person, number and sometimes gender. They also have lexical aspect (perfective and imperfective), voice, nine tenses, five moods and six non-finite verbal forms. Because the subject of the verb can be inferred from the verb ending, it is often omitted. As there is no infinitive in the contemporary Bulgarian language the basic form of a verb is its present simple tense first person singular form.
[edit] Conjugations
There are three conjugations. Of which conjugation a verb is is determined by the final vowel, in which the verb ends in the third person singular present simple tense. Verbs of the first conjugation end in e, of the second in и and of the third in а or я.
[edit] Aspect
Bulgarian verbs express lexical aspect (вид). The verbs are either of incompletive (глаголи от несвършен вид) or completive (глаголи от свършен вид). The former describe actions in progress (uncompleted actions) and the latter whole completed actions (actions which have a beginning and an end). So in Bulgarian an English verb is usually translated by two verbs (or sometimes by even three, see below). Perfective verbs can be usually formed from imperfective ones by suffixation or prefixation, but when prefixes (or very rarely suffixes) are used the resultant verb often deviates in meaning from the original. It is better to learn the pairs of verbs by heart because there are not any strict rules and irregularities are very common. Nevertheless many verbs can be grouped according to their stem change:
| Completive | Incompletive | Completive | Incompletive | Completive | Incompletive |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| предложа | предлагам | отговоря | отговарям | кажа | казвам |
| изложа | излагам | изговоря | изговарям | накажа | наказвам |
| сложа | слагам | преговоря | преговарям | предскажа | предсказвам |
| възложа | възлагам | договоря | договарям | докажа | доказвам |
It should be noted that the verbs from one pair are of different conjugations, for example кажа is from the first conjugation and казвам from the third.
In the past imperfect and the present tense completive verbs can't stand alone in an independent clause, in these tenses such verbs are used only in subordinate clauses.
[edit] Secondary imperfective verbs
Very often when a perfective verb is formed from an imperfective one by means of a prefix (or rarely a suffix) this verb can be made again imperfective using a suffix. The resultant verb is called secondary imperfective verb (вторичен несвършен глагол). Here are some examples of such verbs:
| Initial imperfective verb | Perfective verb | Secondary imperfective verb | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| мета | измета | измитам | to sweep |
| вадя | извадя | изваждам | to take out |
| лъжа | излъжа | излъгвам | to tell a lie |
| мажа | намажа | намазвам | to spread, to smear |
| уча | науча | научавам | to learn |
| пиша | напиша | написвам | to write |
| чета | прочета | прочитам | to read |
| мърдам | мръдна | мръдвам | to move |
| топя | топна | топвам | to dip |
In English there is no difference in meaning between the three types of verbs (they are all translated by one verb), but in Bulgarian there is. Verbs from the first type describe uncompleted actions (for example the verb мета could be roughly translated in English as to be sweeping), verbs form the second describe whole, completed actions. Verbs from the third type are a combination between the first two. Although they are imperfective as the initial ones, they preserve the perfective meaning of the second verbs, they are only grammatically imperfective.
Secondary imperfective verbs are used in cases where it's grammatically incorrect to use perfective verbs (there are tenses, the present tense for example, where perfective verbs can't stand alone in an independent clause) but one wants to use their meaning, or where the action is complete but repeated over time. See below for examples.
[edit] Contrasting imperfective, perfective and secondary imperfective verbs
- Adverbial participle
- imperfective verb: Четейки книгата, срещнах непозната дума = "While I was reading the book, I came across an unknown word" (at one single moment of the action I came across an unknown word)
- perfective verb: no adverbial participle
- secondary imperfective verb: Прочитайки книгата, научих много нови неща. = "By reading the book, I learned a lot of new things" (during the whole action I learned a lot, so after I had read the book I knew a lot of new things)
- imperfective verb:
- Чета книга = "I read a book, I'm reading a book" (uncompleted action)
- Когато чета книга, се удремвам = "When I read a book, I become sleepy" (While I'm in the middle of the action; uncompleted action)
- Всеки ден чета книга = "I read a book every day" (but this doesn't necessarily mean that I read a whole book, just a part of it; uncompleted repetitive action)
- perfective verb: Когато прочета книгата, ще ти я върна = "When I finish reading the book, I will give it back to you" (when I have read the whole book; completed action)
- secondary imperfective verb: Всеки ден прочитам една книга = "I read a whole book every day" (I begin reading and I finish reading a book every day; completed repetitive action)
- imperfective verb:
- Четях книга = "I was reading a book", "I used to read a book" (but not a whole book; uncompleted action)
- Когато четях книгата, телефонът звънна = "When I was reading the book, the phone rang" (uncompleted action)
- Всеки ден четях книга = "I used to read a book every day" (but not a whole book, uncompleted repetitive action)
- perfective verb: Щом прочетях нова книга, започвах да се хваля всекиму = "Whenever I finished reading a new book, I started boasting about it to everyone" (completed repetitive action, notice that the verb is in a dependent clause)
- secondary imperfective verb: Всеки ден прочитах една книга = "I used to read a whole book every day" (I used to begin and finish reading a book every day; completed repetitive action, notice that the verb is in an independent clause)
- imperfective verb: Вчера четох една книга = "Yesterday, I read a book" (but didn't finish it; uncompleted action)
- perfective verb: Вчера прочетох енда книга = "Yesterday, I finished reading a book" (I read a whole book; completed action)
- secondary imperfective verb: identical with the past imperfect tense
- imperfective verb:
- Ще чета книгата = "I will read the book" (but non necessarily the whole book), "I will be reading the book" (uncompleted action)
- Всеки ден ще чета книгата = "I will read the book every day" (but this doesn't necessarily mean that I will read the whole book, just a part of it; uncompleted repetitive action)
- perfective verb: Ще прочета книгата = "I will read the whole book just once" (I will begin and I will finish reading the book only one time; single completed action)
- secondary imperfective verb: Ще прочитам книгата всеки ден = "I will read the whole book every day" (I will begin and I will finish reading the book every day; completed repetitive action)
[edit] Tenses
[edit] Present Tense (Praesens)
The present tense is used to:
- describe an action that is happening at the moment of speaking;
- talk about things that are always true;
- talk about habits or things that happen on a regular basis;
Imperfective and perfective verbs are conjugated in the same way.
Verbs form the present tense according to their conjugation. They take the following personal endings:
| Personal endings | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Person | 1st and 2nd
conjugation |
3rd
conjuation |
||
| Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | |
| 1st | -а/я | -м | -м | -ме |
| 2nd | -ш | -те | -ш | -те |
| 3rd | - | -ат/ят | - | -т |
See Bulgarian verb paradigm for the full conjugation.
[edit] Discrepancy between spelling and pronunciation
Although verbs of the first and second conjugation in first person singular end in -а/я, and in third person plural in -ат/ят, they are not pronounced а/йа(/a/, /ja/) and ат/йат (/at/, /jat/), but ъ/йъ (/ɤ/, /jɤ/) and ът/йът (/ɤt/, /jɤt/) instead. This is not valid for verbs of the third conjugation.
| Discrepancy between spelling and pronunciation | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Correct spelling
Incorrect pronunciation |
Correct pronunciation
Incorrect spelling |
||
| чета
четат |
четъ
четът |
||
| играя
играят |
играйъ
играйът |
||
| летя
летят |
летьъ
летьът |
||
| мълча
мълчат |
мълчъ
мълчът |
||
The incorrect pronunciation is considered to be a gross error.
[edit] Past Imperfect Tense (Imperfectum)
Past Imperfect Tense (Минало несвършено време) is used to talk about a temporary situation that existed at or around a particular time in the past. It also expresses past actions that were frequent, repeated, permanent or always true. Its most common use is in story telling to provide a background to other actions which are usually expressed with verbs in the past aorist. In this use it means that the action had begun and was in progress when the other action(s) happened, we don't know whether it stopped or not.
Both imperfective and perfective verbs have past imperfect tense. They are conjugated in the same way.
Verbs form the past imperfect tense with the following endigns (they are the same for all conjugations):
| Personal endings
Past Imperfect Tense |
||
|---|---|---|
| Person | Number | |
| Singular | Plural | |
| First | -х | -хме |
| Second | -ше | -хте |
| Third | -ше | -ха |
These endings are added to the past imperfect basis. See Bulgarian verb paradigm for the full conjugation.
[edit] Past Aorist Tense (Aoristus)
Past aorist tense (Минало свършено време) expresses an action that happened at a specific time in the past. Both imperfective and perfective verbs have such tense (there is no difference in their conjugation).
Similarly, as in past imperfect tense, verbs have past aorist basis to which the following personal endings are added (they are the same for all conjugations):
| Personal endings
Past Aorist Tense |
||
|---|---|---|
| Person | Number | |
| Singular | Plural | |
| First | -х | -хме |
| Second | - | -хте |
| Third | - | -ха |
See Bulgarian verb paradigm for the full conjugation.
[edit] Imperfective and perfective verbs
Although imperfective and perfective verbs are conjugated in the same way in the past aorist tense, there is difference in their meaning. Compare the sentences:
| With an imperfective verb | Meaning | With a perfective verb | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| Вчера четох една книга | Yesterday, I read a book but I didn't finish it | Вчера прочетох една книга | Yesterday, I finished reading a book/I read a whole book. |
[edit] Past Imperfect or Past Aorist
Usually the difference between the two tenses is very clear:
- past imperfect is used for habits, things that were always true, actions that happened many times or for background for other actions.
- past aorist is used for single actions that have a beginning and an end.
But imperfective verbs both in past imperfect and past aorist can express actions that have long duration and therefore both tenses can be used to say that one action happened at the same time as another. One should always keep in mind that past aorist means that the action began and stopped, and past imperfect that the action was in progress. Compare the sentences (they all contain the imperfective verb играя that expresses an action with some duration, but depending on the tense the sentences have different meaning):
| Sentence | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Докато децата играеха навън, едно от тях си счупи крака. | While the kids were playing outside one of them broke his/her leg. (играеха is in past imperfect and счупи is a perfective verb in past aorist. This means that at a single moment of their play the kid broke his/her leg) |
| Децата си прекараха чудесно, докато играха навън. | The kids had a great time playing outside. Literal translation: The kids had a great time while they played outside. (прекараха is a perfective verb in past aorist and играха is in past aorist. Since играха is not in past imperfect the sentence means that the kids had a great time during the whole time they played outside, not just at a single moment) |
| Децата играха навън, докато не заваля. | The kids played outside until it started raining. (The action ended that's why играха is in the past aorist, not in the past imperfect) |
| Децата играеха навън. Изведнъж заваля, но продължиха да играят. | The kids were playing outside. Suddenly, it started raining but they continued to play. (The action didn't end so играеха can't be in the past aorist) |
[edit] Present Perfect Tense (Perfectum)
Present perfect tense (in Bulgarian минало неопределено време, past indefinite tense) expresses an action which happened in the past, but the precise moment when it happened is not specified. It is either not known or not important (in contrast with past aorist tense). What is important is the result of the action. The tense has a lot in common with the English present perfect tense.
Present perfect tense is made up of the verb съм, conjugated in present tense, and the past active aorist participle of the main verb. Not only person (first, second, third) and number, but also gender must be taken into account in the process of conjugating. In other words, the corresponding indefinite forms of the participle (masculine, feminine, neuter, singular, plural) are used according to the gender and number of the subject. For the position of the verb съм see word order.
Example (чета, to read):
|
Present Perfect Tense |
|||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number | First person | Second person | Third person | ||||||
| Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | |
| Singular | чел съм | чела съм | чело съм | чел си | чела си | чело си | чел е | чела е | чело е |
| Plural | чели сме | чели сте | чели са | ||||||
In contrast with English, in Bulgarian (very rarely) the present perfect tense can be used even if the moment when the action happened is specified. In such cases the importance of the action or its result is emphasized:
- Снощи до два часа съм гледал телевизя и тази сутрин съм станал в шест, затова съм изключително изтощен. = "Last night, I watched TV until 2 o'clock and this morning, I got up at six, so I'm extremely exhausted."
[edit] Past Perfect Tense
Past perfect tense (in Bulgarian минало предварително време, "past preliminary tense") expresses an action that happened before another past action. It is made up of the past tense of съм and the past active aorist participle of the main verb. Again as in present perfect the participle agrees in number and gender with the subject. For the position of the verb съм see word order.
Example (чета, to read):
|
Past Perfect Tense |
|||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number | First person | Second person | Third person | ||||||
| Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | |
| Singular | бях чел | бях чела | бях чело | бе(ше) чел | бе(ше) чела | бе(ше) чело | бе(ше) чел | бе(ше) чела | бе(ше) чело |
| Plural | бяхме чели | бяхте чели | бяха чели | ||||||
Rarely the past perfect can be used for actions that happened at an indefinite time in the past but very long ago, especially in sentences containing the phrase "someone sometimes said":
- Някой някога беше казал, че любовта ще спаси света. = "Someone sometimes said that love will save the world."
[edit] Future Tense (Futurum primum)
The future tense (in Bulgarian бъдеще време) is formed with the particle ще (derived from the verb ща, "to want") and the present simple tense (ще always stands before the present forms). In contrast with the other tenses negation is not expressed with the particle не, but with the construction няма да + the present tense. Forms with не are also possible but they are found mainly in the poetry.
Example (чета, to read):
|
Future Tense |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Person | Number | |||
| Singular | Plural | |||
| Positive | Negative | Positive | Negative | |
| First | ще чета | няма да чета | ще четем | няма да четем |
| Second | ще четеш | няма да четеш | ще четете | няма да четете |
| Third | ще чете | няма да чете | ще четат | няма да четат |
The verb съм forms the future in two ways. The first one with its present tense, and the second one with its special future form - бъда. The latter is more common:
|
Future Tense of съм |
||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Person | Number | |||||||
| Singular | Plural | |||||||
| Positive | Negative | Positive | Negative | |||||
| First | ще съм | ще бъда | няма да съм | няма да бъда | ще сме | ще бъдем | няма да сме | няма да бъдем |
| Second | ще си | ще бъдеш | няма да си | няма да бъдеш | ще сте | ще бъдете | няма да сте | няма да бъдете |
| Third | ще е | ще бъде | няма да е | няма да бъде | ще са | ще бъдат | няма да са | няма да бъдат |
[edit] Future Perfect Tense (Futurum Secundum exactum)
Future perfect tense (in Bulgarian бъдеще предварително време, future preliminary tense) expresses an action which is to take place in the future before another future action. It is made up of the future tense of the verb съм (in this tense the form with бъда is less common than the usual one) and the past active aorist participle of the main verb which agrees in number and gender with the subject.
Example (чета, to read):
|
Future Perfect Tense |
|||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Person | Gender | Number | |||||||
| Singular | Plural | ||||||||
| Positive | Negative | Positive | Negative | ||||||
| First | Masculine | ще съм чел | ще бъда чел | няма да съм чел | няма да бъда чел | ще сме чели | ще бъдем чели | няма да сме чели | няма да бъдем чели |
| Feminine | ще съм чела | ще бъда чела | няма да съм чела | няма да бъда чела | |||||
| Neuter | ще съм чело | ще бъда чело | няма да съм чело | няма да бъда чело | |||||
| Second | Masculine | ще си чел | ще бъдеш чел | няма да си чел | няма да бъдеш чел | ще сте чели | ще бъдете чели | няма да сте чели | няма да бъдете чели |
| Feminine | ще си чела | ще бъдеш чела | няма да си чела | няма да бъдеш чела | |||||
| Neuter | ще си челo | ще бъдеш челo | няма да си челo | няма да бъдеш челo | |||||
| Third | Masculine | ще е чел | ще бъде чел | няма да е чел | няма да бъде чел | ще са чели | ще бъдат чели | няма да са чели | няма да бъдат чели |
| Feminine | ще е чела | ще бъде чела | няма да е чела | няма да бъде чела | |||||
| Neuter | ще е чело | ще бъде чело | няма да е чело | няма да бъде чело | |||||
[edit] Past Future Tense
Past future tense or future in the past (in Bulgarian бъдеще време в миналото, future tense in the past) expresses an action which was to be completed in the past but was future as regards another past action. It is made up of the past imperfect tense of the verb ща "will, want", the particle да "to" and the present tense of the main verb. Negation is expressed with the construction нямаше да + the present tense, although forms with не are also possible but found mainly in the poetry.
Example (чета, to read):
|
Past Future Tense |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Person | Number | |||
| Singular | Plural | |||
| Positive | Negative | Positive | Negative | |
| First | щях да чета | нямаше да чета | щяхме да четем | нямаше да четем |
| Second | щеше да четеш | нямаше да четеш | щяхте да четете | нямаше да четете |
| Third | щеше да чете | нямаше да чете | щяха да четат | нямаше да четат |
The verb съм forms the future in the past in two ways. The first one with its present tense, and the second one with бъда (щях да съм and щях да бъда). The latter is more common.
[edit] Past Future Perfect Tense
Past future perfect tense or future perfect in the past (in Bulgarian бъдеще предварително време в миналото, future preliminary tense in the past) expresses a past action which is future with respect to a past action which itself is prior to another past action. It is made up of the past imperfect tense of ща "will, want", the particle да "to", the present tense of the verb съм "be" (in other words, the past future tense of съм, but not the form with бъда) and the past active aorist participle of the main verb, which agrees in number and gender with the subject.
Example (чета, to read):
|
Past Future Perfect Tense |
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Person | Gender | Number | |||
| Singular | Plural | ||||
| Positive | Negative | Positive | Negative | ||
| First | Masculine | щях да съм чел | нямаше да съм чел | щяхме да сме чели | нямаше да сме чели |
| Feminine | щях да съм чела | нямаше да съм чела | |||
| Neuter | щях да съм чело | нямаше да съм чело | |||
| Second | Masculine | щеше да си чел | нямаше да си чел | щяхте да сте чели | нямаше да сте чели |
| Feminine | щеше да си чела | нямаше да си чела | |||
| Neuter | щеше да си челo | нямаше да си челo | |||
| Third | Masculine | щеше да е чел | нямаше да е чел | щяха да са чели | нямаше да са чели |
| Feminine | щеше да е чела | нямаше да е чела | |||
| Neuter | щеше да е чело | нямаше да е чело | |||
[edit] Voice
The voice in Bulgarian adjectives is presented not through the auxiliary verb, as it is in English ("I have eaten" - active; "I was eaten" - passive), but rather by the ending on the past participle; the auxiliary remains съм ("to be"):
- Active - ударил съм... - udaril sum... - I have hit...
- Passive - ударен съм - udaren sum - I have been hit
-
- See also Participles, below.
[edit] Mood
Mood in Bulgarian is expressed not through verb endings, but through the auxiliary particles че (che) and да (da) (which both translate as the relative pronoun that). The verbs remain unchanged.[1] Thus:
- Indicative - че -
- eg. знам, че си тук - znam, che si tuk - I know that you are here;
- Subjunctive - да -
- eg. искам да си тук - iskam da si tuk - I want you here (lit. "I want that you are here")
The inferential is formed in exactly the same way as the perfect, but with the omission of the auxiliary:
- Perfect - той е бил - toy e bil - he has been
- Inferential - той бил - toy bil - he (reportedly) was
The imperative has its own conjugation - usually by adding -и or -ай (-i or -ay) to the root of the verb:
- eg. sit - сядам → сядай (syadam → syaday – imperfective), or седна → седни (sedna → sedni – perfective).
[edit] Inferential mood
The renarrative mood has five distinct tenses, which are used for all nine tenses in the indicative. This means that some indicative tenses have identical inferential forms. All inferential tenses are formed with the present tense of the verb съм, which in third person singular and plural can be omitted.
- Present Inferential and Past Imperfect Inferential - съм + past active imperfect participle;
- Past Aorist Inferential - съм + past active aorist participle. This inferential form is almost identical with Present Perfect Indicative, the only difference is that in third person singular and plural there can be no е/са;
- Future Inferential and Past Future Inferential - съм щял (in other words Present Perfect Indicative of the verb ща) + да + the present tense. Negation is expressed by the construction нямало да + the present tense;
- Present Perfect Inferential and Past Perfect Inferential - съм бил (Present Perfect Indicative of съм) + past active aorist participle;
- Future Perfect Inferential and Past Future Perfect Inferential - съм щял (Present Perfect Indicative of ща) + да съм + past active aorist participle. Negation is expressed by the construction нямало да съм + past active aorist participle.
All participles agree in number and gender with the subject. For the position of the verb съм see word order.
| Inferential mood | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tense | Gender | Singular | Plural | |||||
| 1st person | 2nd person | 3rd person | 1st person | 2nd person | 3rd person | |||
| Present and Past Imperfect |
masc. | четял съм | четял си | четял (е) | четели сме | четели сте | четели (са) | |
| fem. | четяла съм | четяла си | четяла (е) | |||||
| neut. | четяло съм | четяло си | четяло (е) | |||||
| Past Aorist |
masc. | чел съм | чел си | чел (е) | чели сме | чели сте | чели (са) | |
| fem. | чела съм | чела си | чела (е) | |||||
| neut. | чело съм | чело си | чело (е) | |||||
| Present Perfect and Past Perfect |
masc. | бил съм чел | бил си чел | бил (е) чел | били сме чели | били сте чели | били (са) чели | |
| fem. | била съм чела | била си чела | била (е) чела | |||||
| neut. | било съм чело | било си чело | било (е) чело | |||||
| Future and Past Future |
pos. | masc. | щял съм да чета | щял си да четеш | щял (е) да чете | щели сме да четем | щели сте да четете | щели (са) да четат |
| fem. | щяла съм да чета | щяла си да четеш | щяла (е) да чете | |||||
| neut. | щяло съм да чета | щяло си да четеш | щяло (е) да чете | |||||
| neg. | нямало да чета | нямало да четеш | нямало да чете | нямало да четем | нямало да четете | нямало да четат | ||
| Future Perfect and Past Future Perfect |
pos. | masc. | щял съм да съм чел | щял си да си чел | щял (е) да е чел | щели сме да сме чели | щели сте да сте чели | щели (са) да са чели |
| fem. | щяла съм да съм чела | щяла си да си чела | щяла (е) да е чела | |||||
| neut. | щяло съм да съм чело | щяло си да си чело | щяло (е) да е чело | |||||
| neg. | masc. | нямало да съм чел | нямало да си чел | нямало да е чел | нямало да сме чели | нямало да сте чели | нямало да са чели | |
| fem. | нямало да съм чела | нямало да си чела | нямало да е чела | |||||
| neut. | нямало да съм чело | нямало да си чело | нямало да е чело | |||||
[edit] Participles
[edit] Past active aorist participle
Past active aorist participle (минало свършено деятелно причастие) is used to form the present perfect tense, in the renarrative and conditional mood and as an adjective. It is formed by adding -л (this is its masculine indefinite form) to the past aorist basis (first person singular past aorist tensе but without the final х), but additional alterations of the basis are also possible. The indefinite feminine, neuter and plural forms take respectively the endings -а, -о and -и after the masculine form. The definite forms are formed from the indefinite by adding the definite articles -ят/я for masculine participles, та for feminine participles, то for neuter participles and те for plural participles
- See also Voice above
See Bulgarian verb paradigm for the full conjugation.
[edit] External links
