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, three moods,[note 1] four evidentials 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.
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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.
Bulgarian verbs express lexical aspect (вид). The verbs are either of perfective (глаголи от свършен вид) or imperfective (глаголи от несвършен вид) aspect. 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:
| Perfective | Imperfective | Perfective | Imperfective | Perfective | Imperfective |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| предложа | предлагам | отговоря | отговарям | кажа | казвам |
| изложа | излагам | изговоря | изговарям | накажа | наказвам |
| сложа | слагам | преговоря | преговарям | предскажа | предсказвам |
| възложа | възлагам | договоря | договарям | докажа | доказвам |
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 cannot stand alone in an independent clause, in these tenses such verbs are used only in subordinate clauses.
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 cannot 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.
The present tense is used to:
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
conjugation |
||
| 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.
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.
Past Imperfect (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 do not know whether it stopped or not.
Both imperfective and perfective verbs have past imperfect. They are conjugated in the same way.
Verbs form the past imperfect with the following endings (they are the same for all conjugations):
| Personal endings
Past Imperfect |
||
|---|---|---|
| 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.
Past aorist (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, verbs have past aorist basis to which the following personal endings are added (they are the same for all conjugations):
| Personal endings
Past Aorist |
||
|---|---|---|
| Person | Number | |
| Singular | Plural | |
| First | -х | -хме |
| Second | - | -хте |
| Third | - | -ха |
See Bulgarian verb paradigm for the full conjugation.
Although imperfective and perfective verbs are conjugated in the same way in the past aorist, 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 did not finish it | Вчера прочетох една книга | Yesterday, I finished reading a book/I read a whole book. |
Usually the difference between the two tenses is very clear:
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 did not end so играеха cannot be in the past aorist) |
Present perfect (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). What is important is the result of the action. The tense has a lot in common with the English present perfect.
Present perfect 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 |
|||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 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:
Past perfect (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 |
|||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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":
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 |
Future perfect (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 |
|||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | |||||
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 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.
Past future perfect 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 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 |
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | |||
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"):
Modal distinctions in subordinate clauses are expressed not through verb endings, but through the choice of complementizer - че (che) or да (da) (which might both be translated with the relative pronoun "that"). The verbs remain unchanged.[note 2] Thus:
The imperative has its own conjugation - usually by adding -и or -ай (-i or -ay) to the root of the verb:
The so called conditional refers to a possible action, which is usually intentional and under the control of a subject.[1] It is formed by a special form[note 3] of the auxiliary 'съм' (to be), and the aorist active participle of the main verb:[2]
| First person | Second person | Third person | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | |
| Singular | бѝх чѐл | бѝх чѐла | бѝх чѐло | бѝ чѐл | бѝ чѐла | бѝ чѐло | бѝ чѐл | бѝ чѐла | бѝ чѐло |
| Plural | бѝхме чѐли | бѝхте чѐли | бѝха чѐли | ||||||
Bulgarian verbs are inflected not only for aspect, tense and modality, but also for evidentiality, that is, the source of the information conveyed by them. There is a four-way distinction between the unmarked (indicative) forms, which imply that the speaker was a witness of the event or knows it as a general fact; the inferential, which signals general non-witness information or one based on inference; the renarrative, which indicates that the information was reported to the speaker by someone else; and the dubitative, which is used for reported information if the speaker doubts its veracity.[3][4] This can be illustrated with the four possible ways of rendering in Bulgarian the English sentence 'The dog ate the fish' (here 'AORPT' denotes the aorist active participle):
Indicative:
| Ку̀чето | изя̀де | рѝбата |
| kučeto | izjade | ribata |
| dog-DEF | eat.AOR-3sg | fish-DEF |
Inferential:
| Ку̀чето | е | изя̀ло | рѝбата |
| kučeto | e | izjalo | ribata |
| dog-DEF | be.3sg | eat.AORPT-Nsg | fish-DEF |
Renarrative:
| Ку̀чето | изя̀ло | рѝбата |
| kučeto | izjalo | ribata |
| dog-DEF | eat.AORPT-Nsg | fish-DEF |
Dubitative:
| Ку̀чето | било̀ | изя̀ло | рѝбата |
| kučeto | bilo | izjalo | ribata |
| dog-DEF | be.AORPT-Nsg | eat.AORPT-Nsg | fish-DEF |
On a theoretical level, there are alternatives to treating those forms as the four members of a single evidential category. I. Kutsarov, for example, posits a separate category, which he terms 'type of utterance' (вид на изказването), proper to which is only the distinction between forms, expressing speaker's own statements (indicative, inferential), and forms that retell statements of another (renarrative, dubitative).[5] The inferential is then viewed as one of the moods,[6] and the dubitative - as a renarrative inferential, whose dubitative meaning, albeit more frequent, is only secondary.[7] Another view is presented by G. Gerdzhikov - in his treatment there are two distinctive features involved - subjectivity and renarrativity. The indicative is unmarked for both, the inferential is marked for subjectivity, the renarrative - for renarrativity, and the dubitative is marked for both subjectivity and renarrativity.[8]
An evidential for a given tense is formed by taking the past active participle of the verb (or auxiliary, if there is one) of the corresponding indicative tense, and adding a form of the auxiliary verb съм (to be). For the inferential and the renarrative it is its present tense form, which, however, is omitted in the 3rd person of the renarrative;[9] hence inferential and renarrative forms are generally not distinguished in the 1st and 2nd person.[10] The dubitative is formed from the renarrative by adding the past active participle of the verb съм (to be).[11] An example paradigm is given in the following table.[12] Given for reference are some tenses of the indicative (these are the imperfect, aorist, perfect, future in the past and future perfect in the past). Whenever there are participles involved, they are given in their masculine form, but they have different forms for the three genders in the singular.[note 4]
| Tense | Person and Number |
Evidential | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indicative | Inferential [note 5] | Renarrative | Dubitative | |||
| Present and Imperfect |
1sg | четя̀х | четя̀л съм | четя̀л съм | бѝл съм четя̀л | |
| 2sg | четѐше | четя̀л си | четя̀л си | бѝл си четя̀л | ||
| 3sg | четѐше | четя̀л е | четя̀л | бѝл четя̀л | ||
| 1pl | четя̀хме | четѐли сме | четѐли сме | билѝ сме четѐли | ||
| 2pl | четя̀хте | четѐли сте | четѐли сте | билѝ сте четѐли | ||
| 3pl | четя̀ха | четѐли са | четѐли | билѝ четѐли | ||
| Aorist | 1sg | чѐтох | чѐл съм | чѐл съм | бѝл съм чѐл | |
| 2sg | чѐте | чѐл си | чѐл си | бѝл си чѐл | ||
| 3sg | чѐте | чѐл е | чѐл | бѝл чѐл | ||
| 1pl | чѐтохме | чѐли сме | чѐли сме | билѝ сме чѐли | ||
| 2pl | чѐтохте | чѐли сте | чѐли сте | билѝ сте чѐли | ||
| 3pl | чѐтоха | чѐли са | чѐли | билѝ чѐли | ||
| Perfect and Past Perfect |
1sg | чѐл съм | бѝл съм чѐл | бѝл съм чѐл | бѝл съм чѐл | |
| 2sg | чѐл си | бѝл си чѐл | бѝл си чѐл | бѝл си чѐл | ||
| 3sg | чѐл е | бѝл е чѐл | бѝл чѐл | бѝл чѐл | ||
| 1pl | чѐли сме | билѝ сме чѐли | билѝ сме чѐли | билѝ сме чѐли | ||
| 2pl | чѐли сте | билѝ сте чѐли | билѝ сте чѐли | билѝ сте чѐли | ||
| 3pl | чѐли са | билѝ са чѐли | билѝ чѐли | билѝ чѐли | ||
| Future and Future in the Past |
pos. | 1sg | щя̀х да чета̀ | щя̀л съм да чета̀ | щя̀л съм да чета̀ | щя̀л съм бѝл да чета̀ |
| 2sg | щѐше да четѐш | щя̀л си да четѐш | щя̀л си да четѐш | щя̀л си бѝл да четѐш | ||
| 3sg | щѐше да четѐ | щя̀л е да четѐ | щя̀л да четѐ | щя̀л бѝл да четѐ | ||
| 1pl | щя̀хме да четѐм | щѐли сме да четѐм | щѐли сме да четѐм | щѐли сме билѝ да четѐм | ||
| 2pl | щя̀хте да четѐте | щѐли сте да четѐте | щѐли сте да четѐте | щѐли сте билѝ да четѐте | ||
| 3pl | щя̀ха да чета̀т | щѐли са да чета̀т | щѐли да чета̀т | щѐли билѝ да чета̀т | ||
| neg. | 1sg | ня̀маше да чета̀ | ня̀мало съм да чета̀ | ня̀мало (съм) да чета̀ | ня̀мало било̀ да чета̀ | |
| 2sg | ня̀маше да четѐш | ня̀мало си да четѐш | ня̀мало (си) да четѐш | ня̀мало било̀ да четѐш | ||
| 3sg | ня̀маше да четѐ | ня̀мало е да четѐ | ня̀мало да четѐ | ня̀мало било̀ да четѐ | ||
| 1pl | ня̀маше да четѐм | ня̀мало сме да четѐм | ня̀мало (сме) да четѐм | ня̀мало било̀ да четѐм | ||
| 2pl | ня̀маше да четѐте | ня̀мало сте да четѐте | ня̀мало (сте) да четѐте | ня̀мало било̀ да четѐте | ||
| 3pl | ня̀маше да чета̀т | ня̀мало са да чета̀т | ня̀мало да чета̀т | ня̀мало било̀ да чета̀т | ||
| Future Perfect and Future Perfect in the Past |
pos. | 1sg | щя̀х да съм чѐл | щя̀л съм да съм чѐл | щя̀л съм да съм чѐл | щя̀л съм бѝл да съм чѐл |
| 2sg | щѐше да си чѐл | щя̀л си да си чѐл | щя̀л си да си чѐл | щя̀л си бѝл да си чѐл | ||
| 3sg | щѐше да е чѐл | щя̀л е да е чѐл | щя̀л да е чѐл | щя̀л бѝл да е чѐл | ||
| 1pl | щя̀хме да сме чѐли | щѐли сме да сме чѐли | щѐли сме да сме чѐли | щѐли сме билѝ да сме чѐли | ||
| 2pl | щя̀хте да сте чѐли | щѐли сте да сте чѐли | щѐли сте да сте чѐли | щѐли сте билѝ да сте чѐли | ||
| 3pl | щя̀ха да са чѐли | щѐли са да са чѐли | щѐли да са чѐли | щѐли билѝ да са чѐли | ||
| neg. | 1sg | ня̀маше да съм чѐл | ня̀мало съм да съм чѐл | ня̀мало (съм) да съм чѐл | ня̀мало било̀ да съм чѐл | |
| 2sg | ня̀маше да си чѐл | ня̀мало си да си чѐл | ня̀мало (си) да си чѐл | ня̀мало било̀ да си чѐл | ||
| 3sg | ня̀маше да е чѐл | ня̀мало е да е чѐл | ня̀мало да е чѐл | ня̀мало било̀ да е чѐл | ||
| 1pl | ня̀маше да сме чѐли | ня̀мало сме да сме чѐли | ня̀мало (сме) да сме чѐли | ня̀мало било̀ да сме чѐли | ||
| 2pl | ня̀маше да сте чѐли | ня̀мало сте да сте чѐли | ня̀мало (сте) да сте чѐли | ня̀мало било̀ да сте чѐли | ||
| 3pl | ня̀маше да са чѐли | ня̀мало да са чѐли | ня̀мало да са чѐли | ня̀мало било̀ да са чѐли | ||
| Indicative | Inferential | Renarrative | Dubitative | |||
Additionally, there are also a few rare forms for some of the future tenses. In some cases, there are less common forms in which the auxiliary ще remains impersonal instead of being inflected for person and number; thus for the inferential and renarrative future/future in the past rare forms of the type ще съм четя̀л are possible alongside the more common forms of the type щя̀л съм да чета̀,[13][14] for the inferential future perfect in the past - ще съм бѝл чѐл alongside the usual щя̀л съм да съм чѐл,[15] and for the dubitative future/ future in the past - rare forms of the type ще съм бѝл четя̀л in addition to the more common forms of the type щя̀л съм бѝл да чета̀.[16] Also, the negative form of the dubitative future perfect/future perfect in the past can be either ня̀мало било̀ да съм чѐл, or ня̀мало съм бил да съм чѐл.[17]
Past active aorist participle (минало свършено деятелно причастие) is used to form the present perfect, 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 Bulgarian verb paradigm for the full conjugation.
| For a list of words relating to Bulgarian verbs, see the Bulgarian verbs category of words in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |