Bulgarian verbs

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Bulgarian verbs are the most complicated part of Bulgarian grammar, especially when compared with other Slavic languages. Bulgarian verbs 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 contemporary Bulgarian, the basic form of a verb is its present simple tense first person singular form.

Contents

Conjugations

There are three conjugations. The conjugation of a verb is determined by the final vowel of the verb 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.

Aspect

As is typical of Slavic languages, Bulgarian verbs express lexical aspect (вид). The verbs are either of imperfective (глаголи от несвършен вид) or perfective (глаголи от свършен 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. There are not any strict rules and irregularities are very common. Nevertheless many verbs can be grouped according to their stem change:

PerfectiveImperfectivePerfectiveImperfectivePerfectiveImperfective
предложапредлагамотговоряотговарямкажаказвам
изложаизлагамизговоряизговарямнакажанаказвам
сложаслагампреговоряпреговарямпредскажапредсказвам
възложавъзлагамдоговорядоговарямдокажадоказвам

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 perfective verbs cannot stand alone in an independent clause, in these tenses such verbs are used only in subordinate clauses.

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 verbPerfective verbSecondary imperfective verbMeaning
метаизметаизмитамto sweep
вадяизвадяизваждамto take out
лъжаизлъжаизлъгвамto tell a lie
мажанамажанамазвамto spread, to smear
учанаучанаучавамto learn
пишанапишанаписвамto write
четапрочетапрочитамto read
мърдаммръднамръдвамto move
топятопнатопвамto dip

Verbs from the first type describe uncompleted actions (for example the verb мета could be roughly translated in English as to be sweeping), verbs from 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.

An explanation of the nuances between the three columns follows:

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.

Contrasting imperfective, perfective and secondary imperfective verbs

Adverbial participle
Present tense
Past imperfect
Past aorist
Future tense

Tenses

Present (praesens)

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
Person1st

conjugation

2nd

conjugation

3rd

conjugation

SingularPluralSingularPluralSingularPlural
1st-а/я-а/я-ме
2nd-еш-ете-иш-ите-те
3rd– е-ат/ят– и-ат/ят

See Bulgarian verb paradigm for the full conjugation.

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, when the stress falls on these endings, they are not pronounced а/йа and ат/йат but ъ/йъ and ът/йът instead. [1]

Discrepancy between spelling and pronunciation
Correct spelling

Incorrect pronunciation

Correct pronunciation

Incorrect spelling

чета

четат

четъ̀

четъ̀т

летя

летят

лет̀

лет̀т

The incorrect pronunciation is considered to be an error.

Neologisms

Newly adopted verbs, especially from English, tend to take a –ирам (–iram) ending, in which case they only have one form (the imperfective). Since this is not a native suffix (loaned from German verbal suffix -ieren), recent colloquial formations prefer the native suffixes –вам (-vam) and –на (–na) which do form an imperfective/perfective pair. Examples:

  • стартирам (startiram – to start), инициирам (initsiiram – to initiate), нокаутирам (nokautiram – to knock out), and even страницирам (stranitsiram – to paginate, with a native stem and the German suffix);
  • кликвам/кликна (klikvam/klikna – to click), даунлоудвам/даунлоудна (daunloudvam/daunloudna – to download), шеървам/шеърна (shearvam/shearna – to fileshare).

These verbs, especially the latter group, are extremely new and have not yet made it into the dictionaries.

Past imperfect (imperfectum)

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

PersonNumber
SingularPlural
First-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 (aoristus)

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

PersonNumber
SingularPlural
First-хме
Second-хте
Third-ха

See Bulgarian verb paradigm for the full conjugation.

Imperfective and perfective verbs

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 verbMeaningWith a perfective verbMeaning
Вчера четох една книгаYesterday, I read a book but I did not finish itВчера прочетох една книгаYesterday, I finished reading a book/I read a whole book.

Past imperfect or past aorist

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):

SentenceMeaning
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 (perfectum)

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
persongender and number
m.sg.f.sg.n.sg.pl.
1stчел съмчела съм(чело съм)чели сме
2ndчел сичела си(чело си)чели сте
3rdчел ечела ечело ечели 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

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
persongender and number
m.sg.f.sg.n.sg.pl.
1stбях челбях чела(бях чело)бяхме чели
2ndбе(ше) челбе(ше) чела(бе(ше) чело)бяхте чели
3rdбе(ше) челбе(ше) челабе(ше) челобяха 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":

Future (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, positive
personnumber
sg.pl.
1stще четаще четем
2ndще четешще четете
3rdще четеще четат
Future, negative
personnumber
sg.pl.
1stняма да четаняма да четем
2ndняма да четешняма да четете
3rdняма да четеняма 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

PersonNumber
SingularPlural
PositiveNegativePositiveNegative
1stще съмще бъданяма да съмняма да бъдаще смеще бъдемняма да сменяма да бъдем
2ndще сище бъдешняма да синяма да бъдешще стеще бъдетеняма да стеняма да бъдете
3rdще еще бъденяма да еняма да бъдеще саще бъдатняма да саняма да бъдат

Future perfect (futurum secundum exactum)

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, positive
persongender and number
m.sg.f.sg.n.sg.pl.
1stще съм челще съм чела(ще съм чело)ще сме чели
2ndще си челще си чела(ще си челo)ще сте чели
3rdще е челще е челаще е челоще са чели
Future perfect, negative
persongender and number
m.sg.f.sg.n.sg.pl.
1stняма да съм чѐлняма да съм чѐла(няма да съм чѐло)няма да сме чѐли
2ndняма да си чѐлняма да си чѐла(няма да си чѐлo)няма да сте чѐли
3rdняма да е чѐлняма да е чѐланяма да е чѐлоняма да са чѐли

Future-in-the-past

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):

Future-in-the-past, positive
personnumber
sg.pl.
1stщях да четащяхме да четем
2ndщеше да четешщяхте да четете
3rdщеше да четещяха да четат
Future-in-the-past, negative
personnumber
sg.pl.
1stнямаше да четанямаше да четем
2ndнямаше да четешнямаше да четете
3rdнямаше да четенямаше 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.

Future-in-the-past perfect

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 prior to a past action which itself is future with respect 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):

Future-in-the-past perfect, positive
persongender and number
m.sg.f.sg.n.sg.pl.
1stщях да съм чѐлщях да съм чѐла(щях да съм чѐло)щяхме да сме чѐли
2ndщеше да си чѐлщеше да си чѐла(щеше да си чѐлo)щяхте да сте чѐли
3rdщеше да е чѐлщеше да е чѐлащеше да е чѐлощяха да са чѐли
Future-in-the-past perfect, negative
persongender and number
m.sg.f.sg.n.sg.pl.
1stнямаше да съм чѐлнямаше да съм чѐла(нямаше да съм чѐло)нямаше да сме чѐли
2ndнямаше да си чѐлнямаше да си чѐла(нямаше да си чѐлo)нямаше да сте чѐли
3rdнямаше да е чѐлнямаше да е чѐланямаше да е чѐлонямаше да са чѐли

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"):

See also Participles, below.

Mood

Modal distinctions in subordinate clauses are expressed not through verb endings, but through the choice of complementizerче (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 or -ай (-i or -ay) to the root of the verb:

Conditional mood

The so-called conditional refers to a possible action, which is usually intentional and under the control of a subject. [2] It is formed by a special form [note 3] of the auxiliary 'съм' (to be), and the aorist active participle of the main verb: [3]

persongender and number
m.sg.f.sg.n.sg.pl.
1stбѝх чѐлбѝх чѐла(бѝх чѐло)бѝхме чѐли
2ndбѝ чѐлбѝ чѐла(бѝ чѐло)бѝхте чѐли
3rdбѝ чѐлбѝ чѐлабѝ чѐлобѝха чѐли

Evidentials

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. [4] [5] 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

kuče-to

dog-DEF

изя̀де

izjad-e

eat-AOR.3sg

рѝбата

riba-ta

fish-DEF

Ку̀чето изя̀де рѝбата

kuče-to izjad-e riba-ta

dog-DEF eat-AOR.3sg fish-DEF

"I know from my own observation that the dog ate the fish."

Inferential:

Ку̀чето

kuče-to

dog-DEF

е

e

be.3sg

изя̀ло

izjal-o

eat.AORPT-N.SG

рѝбата

riba-ta

fish-DEF

Ку̀чето е изя̀ло рѝбата

kuče-to e izjal-o riba-ta

dog-DEF be.3sg eat.AORPT-N.SG fish-DEF

"The dog must have eaten the fish." (The speaker did not witness it, but inferred it, for example, from the fact that the fish was missing and there was a pile of fish bones by the kennel.)

Renarrative:

Ку̀чето

kuče-to

dog-DEF

изя̀ло

izjal-o

eat.AORPT-N.SG

рѝбата

riba-ta

fish-DEF

Ку̀чето изя̀ло рѝбата

kuče-to izjal-o riba-ta

dog-DEF eat.AORPT-N.SG fish-DEF

"I've been told that the dog ate the fish."

Dubitative:

Ку̀чето

kuče-to

dog-DEF

било̀

bil-o

be.AORPT-N.SG

изя̀ло

izjal-o

eat.AORPT-N.SG

рѝбата

riba-ta

fish-DEF

Ку̀чето било̀ изя̀ло рѝбата

kuče-to bil-o izjal-o riba-ta

dog-DEF be.AORPT-N.SG eat.AORPT-N.SG fish-DEF

"I've been told that the dog ate the fish, but I doubt it." (Alternatively, this can be taken to imply that the speaker has heard about it from someone else, who in turn was not a witness of the event).

On a theoretical level, there are alternatives to treating those forms as the four members of a single evidential category. 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). [6] The inferential is then viewed as one of the moods, [7] and the dubitative – as a renarrative inferential, whose dubitative meaning, albeit more frequent, is only secondary. [8] Another view is presented by Gerdzhikov – in his treatment there are two distinctive features involved – subjectivity and renarrativity. The indicative is unmarked for both, while the inferential is marked for subjectivity, the renarrative for renarrativity, and the dubitative for both subjectivity and renarrativity. [9]

Forms

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; [10] hence inferential and renarrative forms are generally not distinguished in the 1st and 2nd person. [11] The dubitative is formed from the renarrative by adding the past active participle of the verb съм (to be). [12] An example paradigm is given in the following table. [13] 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]

Conjugation of чета̀ (to read) in the evidential system
TensePerson
and Number
Evidential
IndicativeInferential [note 5] RenarrativeDubitative
Present
and
Imperfect
1sgчетя̀хчетя̀л съмчетя̀л съмбѝл съм четя̀л
2sgчетѐшечетя̀л сичетя̀л сибѝл си четя̀л
3sgчетѐшечетя̀л ечетя̀лбѝл четя̀л
1plчетя̀хмечетѐли смечетѐли смебилѝ сме четѐли
2plчетя̀хтечетѐли стечетѐли стебилѝ сте четѐли
3plчетя̀хачетѐли сачетѐлибилѝ четѐли
Aorist1sgчѐтохчѐл съмчѐл съмбѝл съм чѐл
2sgчѐтечѐл сичѐл сибѝл си чѐл
3sgчѐтечѐл ечѐлбѝл чѐл
1plчѐтохмечѐли смечѐли смебилѝ сме чѐли
2plчѐтохтечѐли стечѐли стебилѝ сте чѐли
3plчѐтохачѐли сачѐлибилѝ чѐли
Perfect
and
Past Perfect
1sgчѐл съмбѝл съм чѐлбѝл съм чѐлбѝл съм чѐл
2sgчѐл сибѝл си чѐлбѝл си чѐлбѝл си чѐл
3sgчѐл ебѝл е чѐлбѝл чѐлбѝл чѐл
1plчѐли смебилѝ сме чѐлибилѝ сме чѐлибилѝ сме чѐли
2plчѐли стебилѝ сте чѐлибилѝ сте чѐлибилѝ сте чѐли
3plчѐли сабилѝ са чѐлибилѝ чѐлибилѝ чѐли
Future
and
Future
in the
Past
pos.1sgщя̀х да чета̀щя̀л съм да чета̀щя̀л съм да чета̀щя̀л съм бѝл да чета̀
2sgщѐше да четѐшщя̀л си да четѐшщя̀л си да четѐшщя̀л си бѝл да четѐш
3sgщѐше да четѐщя̀л е да четѐщя̀л да четѐщя̀л бѝл да четѐ
1plщя̀хме да четѐмщѐли сме да четѐмщѐли сме да четѐмщѐли сме билѝ да четѐм
2plщя̀хте да четѐтещѐли сте да четѐтещѐли сте да четѐтещѐли сте билѝ да четѐте
3plщя̀ха да чета̀тщѐли са да чета̀тщѐли да чета̀тщѐли билѝ да чета̀т
neg.1sgня̀маше да чета̀ня̀мало съм да чета̀ня̀мало (съм) да чета̀ня̀мало било̀ да чета̀
2sgня̀маше да четѐшня̀мало си да четѐшня̀мало (си) да четѐшня̀мало било̀ да четѐш
3sgня̀маше да четѐня̀мало е да четѐня̀мало да четѐня̀мало било̀ да четѐ
1plня̀маше да четѐмня̀мало сме да четѐмня̀мало (сме) да четѐмня̀мало било̀ да четѐм
2plня̀маше да четѐтеня̀мало сте да четѐтеня̀мало (сте) да четѐтеня̀мало било̀ да четѐте
3plня̀маше да чета̀тня̀мало са да чета̀тня̀мало да чета̀тня̀мало било̀ да чета̀т
Future Perfect
and
Future
Perfect
in the
Past
pos.1sgщя̀х да съм чѐлщя̀л съм да съм чѐлщя̀л съм да съм чѐлщя̀л съм бѝл да съм чѐл
2sgщѐше да си чѐлщя̀л си да си чѐлщя̀л си да си чѐлщя̀л си бѝл да си чѐл
3sgщѐше да е чѐлщя̀л е да е чѐлщя̀л да е чѐлщя̀л бѝл да е чѐл
1plщя̀хме да сме чѐлищѐли сме да сме чѐлищѐли сме да сме чѐлищѐли сме билѝ да сме чѐли
2plщя̀хте да сте чѐлищѐли сте да сте чѐлищѐли сте да сте чѐлищѐли сте билѝ да сте чѐли
3plщя̀ха да са чѐлищѐли са да са чѐлищѐли да са чѐлищѐли билѝ да са чѐли
neg.1sgня̀маше да съм чѐлня̀мало съм да съм чѐлня̀мало (съм) да съм чѐлня̀мало било̀ да съм чѐл
2sgня̀маше да си чѐлня̀мало си да си чѐлня̀мало (си) да си чѐлня̀мало било̀ да си чѐл
3sgня̀маше да е чѐлня̀мало е да е чѐлня̀мало да е чѐлня̀мало било̀ да е чѐл
1plня̀маше да сме чѐлиня̀мало сме да сме чѐлиня̀мало (сме) да сме чѐлиня̀мало било̀ да сме чѐли
2plня̀маше да сте чѐлиня̀мало сте да сте чѐлиня̀мало (сте) да сте чѐлиня̀мало било̀ да сте чѐли
3plня̀маше да са чѐлиня̀мало са да са чѐлиня̀мало да са чѐлиня̀мало било̀ да са чѐли
 IndicativeInferentialRenarrativeDubitative

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, [14] [15] for the inferential future perfect in the past – ще съм бѝл чѐл alongside the usual щя̀л съм да съм чѐл, [16] 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. [17] 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. [18]

Inferential

Present and Imperfect Inferential

Present Inferential is not used.

Imperfect Inferential
persongender and number
m.sg.f.sg.n.sg.pl.
1stчетя̀л съмчетя̀лa съм(четя̀лo съм)четѐли сме
2ndчетя̀л сичетя̀лa си(четя̀лo си)четѐли сте
3rdчетя̀л ечетя̀лa ечетя̀л ечетѐли са

Aorist Inferential

Aorist Inferential
persongender and number
m.sg.f.sg.n.sg.pl.
1stчел съмчела съм(чело съм)чели сме
2ndчел сичела си(чело си)чели сте
3rdчел ечела ечело ечели са

Present Perfect and Past Perfect Inferential

Present Perfect Inferential is not used.

Past Perfect Inferential
persongender and number
m.sg.f.sg.n.sg.pl.
1stбѝл съм чѐлбѝлa съм чѐлa(бѝлo съм чѐлo)билѝ сме чѐли
2ndбѝл си чѐлбѝлa си чѐлa(бѝлo си чѐлo)билѝ сте чѐли
3rdбѝл е чѐлбѝлa е чѐлaбѝлo е чѐлoбилѝ са чѐли

Future and Future-in-the-past Inferential

Future Inferential is not used.

Future-in-the-past Inferential, positive
persongender and number
m.sg.f.sg.n.sg.pl.
1stщя̀л съм да чета̀щя̀лa съм да чета̀(щя̀лo съм да чета̀)щѐли сме да четѐм
2ndщя̀л си да четѐшщя̀лa си да четѐш(щя̀лo си да четѐш)щѐли сте да четѐте
3rdщя̀л е да четѐщя̀лa е да четѐщя̀лo е да четѐщѐли са да чета̀т
Future-in-the-past Inferential, negative
personnumber
sg.pl.
1stня̀мало съм да чета̀ня̀мало сме да четѐм
2ndня̀мало си да четѐшня̀мало сте да четѐте
3rdня̀мало е да четѐня̀мало са да чета̀т

Future Perfect and Future-in-the-past Perfect Inferential

Future Perfect Inferential is not used.

Future-in-the-past Perfect Inferential, positive
persongender and number
m.sg.f.sg.n.sg.pl.
1stщя̀л съм да съм чѐлщя̀лa съм да съм чѐлa(щя̀лo съм да съм чѐлo)щѐли сме да сме чѐли
2ndщя̀л си да си чѐлщя̀лa си да си чѐлa(щя̀лo си да си чѐлo)щѐли сте да сте чѐли
3rdщя̀л е да е чѐлщя̀лa е да е чѐлaщя̀лo е да е чѐлoщѐли са да са чѐли
Future-in-the-past Perfect Inferential, negative
persongender and number
m.sg.f.sg.n.sg.pl.
1stня̀мало съм да съм чѐлня̀мало съм да съм чѐлa(ня̀мало съм да съм чѐлo)щѐли сме да сме чѐли
2ndня̀мало си да си чѐлня̀мало си да си чѐлa(ня̀мало си да си чѐлo)щѐли сте да сте чѐли
3rdня̀мало е да е чѐлня̀мало е да е чѐлaня̀мало е да е чѐлoщѐли са да са чѐли

Renarrative

Present and Imperfect Renarrative

Present and Imperfect Renarrative
persongender and number
m.sg.f.sg.n.sg.pl.
1stчетя̀л съмчетя̀лa съм(четя̀лo съм)четѐли сме
2ndчетя̀л сичетя̀лa си(четя̀лo си)четѐли сте
3rdчетя̀лчетя̀лaчетя̀лчетѐли

Aorist Renarrative

Aorist Renarrative
persongender and number
m.sg.f.sg.n.sg.pl.
1stчел съмчела съм(чело съм)чели сме
2ndчел сичела си(чело си)чели сте
3rdчелчелачелочели

Present Perfect and Past Perfect Renarrative

Present Perfect and Past Perfect Renarrative
persongender and number
m.sg.f.sg.n.sg.pl.
1stбѝл съм чѐлбѝлa съм чѐлa(бѝлo съм чѐлo)билѝ сме чѐли
2ndбѝл си чѐлбѝлa си чѐлa(бѝлo си чѐлo)билѝ сте чѐли
3rdбѝл чѐлбѝлa чѐлaбѝлo чѐлoбилѝ чѐли

Future and Future-in-the-past Renarrative

Future and Future-in-the-past Renarrative, positive
persongender and number
m.sg.f.sg.n.sg.pl.
1stщя̀л съм да чета̀щя̀лa съм да чета̀(щя̀лo съм да чета̀)щѐли сме да четѐм
2ndщя̀л си да четѐшщя̀лa си да четѐш(щя̀лo си да четѐш)щѐли сте да четѐте
3rdщя̀л да четѐщя̀лa да четѐщя̀лo да четѐщѐли да чета̀т
Future and Future-in-the-past Renarrative, negative
personnumber
sg.pl.
1stня̀мало (съм) да чета̀ня̀мало (сме) да четѐм
2ndня̀мало (си) да четѐшня̀мало (сте) да четѐте
3rdня̀мало да четѐня̀мало да чета̀т

Future Perfect and Future-in-the-past Perfect Renarrative

Future Perfect and Future-in-the-past Perfect Renarrative, positive
persongender and number
m.sg.f.sg.n.sg.pl.
1stщя̀л съм да съм чѐлщя̀лa съм да съм чѐлa(щя̀лo съм да съм чѐлo)щѐли сме да сме чѐли
2ndщя̀л си да си чѐлщя̀лa си да си чѐлa(щя̀лo си да си чѐлo)щѐли сте да сте чѐли
3rdщя̀л да е чѐлщя̀лa да е чѐлaщя̀лo да е чѐлoщѐли да са чѐли
Future Perfect and Future-in-the-past Perfect Renarrative, negative
persongender and number
m.sg.f.sg.n.sg.pl.
1stня̀мало (съм) да съм чѐлня̀мало (съм) да съм чѐлa(ня̀мало (съм) да съм чѐлo)щѐли (сме) да сме чѐли
2ndня̀мало (си) да си чѐлня̀мало (си) да си чѐлa(ня̀мало (си) да си чѐлo)щѐли (сте) да сте чѐли
3rdня̀мало да е чѐлня̀мало да е чѐлaня̀мало да е чѐлoщѐли да са чѐли

Dubitative

Present and Imperfect Dubitative

Present and Imperfect Dubitative
persongender and number
m.sg.f.sg.n.sg.pl.
1stбѝл съм четя̀лбѝла съм четя̀ла(бѝло съм четя̀ло)билѝ сме четѐли
2ndбѝл си четя̀лбѝла си четя̀ла(бѝло си четя̀ло)билѝ сте четѐли
3rdбѝл четя̀лбѝла четя̀лабѝл четя̀лбилѝ четѐли

Aorist, Present Perfect and Past Perfect Dubitative

Notice that Present Perfect and Past Perfect Dubitative have the same forms as Aorist Dubitative.

Aorist Dubitative
persongender and number
m.sg.f.sg.n.sg.pl.
1stбѝл съм чѐлбѝлa съм чѐлa(бѝлo съм чѐлo)билѝ сме чѐли
2ndбѝл си чѐлбѝлa си чѐлa(бѝлo си чѐлo)билѝ сте чѐли
3rdбѝл чѐлбѝлa чѐлaбѝлo чѐлoбилѝ чѐли

Future and Future-in-the-past Dubitative

Future and Future-in-the-past Dubitative, positive
persongender and number
m.sg.f.sg.n.sg.pl.
1stщя̀л съм бѝл да чета̀щя̀ла съм бѝла да чета̀щя̀ло съм бѝло да чета̀щѐли сме билѝ да четѐм
2ndщя̀л си бѝл да четѐшщя̀ла си бѝла да четѐшщя̀ло си бѝло да четѐшщѐли сте билѝ да четѐте
3rdщя̀л бѝл да четѐщя̀ла бѝла да четѐщя̀ло бѝло да четѐщѐли билѝ да чета̀т
Future and Future-in-the-past Dubitative, negative
personnumber
sg.pl.
1stня̀мало било̀ да чета̀ня̀мало било̀ да четѐм
2ndня̀мало било̀ да четѐшня̀мало било̀ да четѐте
3rdня̀мало било̀ да четѐня̀мало било̀ да чета̀т

Future Perfect and Future-in-the-past Perfect Dubitative

Future Perfect and Future-in-the-past Perfect Dubitative, positive
persongender and number
m.sg.f.sg.n.sg.pl.
1stщя̀л съм бѝл да съм чѐлщя̀лa съм бѝла да съм чѐлa(щя̀лo съм бѝло да съм чѐлo)щѐли сме билѝ да сме чѐли
2ndщя̀л си бѝл да си чѐлщя̀лa си бѝла да си чѐлa(щя̀лo си бѝло да си чѐлo)щѐли сте билѝ да сте чѐли
3rdщя̀л бѝл да е чѐлщя̀лa бѝла да е чѐлaщя̀лo бѝло да е чѐлoщѐли билѝ да са чѐли
Future Perfect and Future-in-the-past Perfect Dubitative, negative
persongender and number
m.sg.f.sg.n.sg.pl.
1stня̀мало било̀ да съм чѐлня̀мало било̀ да съм чѐлa(ня̀мало било̀ да съм чѐлo)ня̀мало било̀ да сме чѐли
2ndня̀мало било̀ да си чѐлня̀мало било̀ да си чѐлa(ня̀мало било̀ да си чѐлo)ня̀мало било̀ да сте чѐли
3rdня̀мало било̀ да е чѐлня̀мало било̀ да е чѐлaня̀мало било̀ да е чѐлoня̀мало било̀ да са чѐли

Non-finite verb forms

Participles

Present active participle

Past active participle

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 also Voice above

See Bulgarian verb paradigm for the full conjugation.

Past active renarrative participle

Can be used only predicatively

Past passive participle

Gerund (present active adverbial participle)

Action nouns

Action nouns ending in -не

Can be formed only from imperfective verbs

Action nouns ending in -ние

Can be formed from both imperfective and perfective verbs

Obsolete verb forms

Present passive participle

Obsolete; used only as adjective in modern Bulgarian

Infinitive

Obsolete

Notes

  1. These are the indicative, the imperative and the conditional. Additionally, the inferential is treated as a fourth mood by those linguists who do not include it within the evidential system (e.g. Kutsarov 2007, p. 282-286). And there are a few authors who treat da-forms as constituting a conjunctive mood, but the prevailing opinion is against this view (Kutsarov 2007, p.282, Nitsolova 2008, p. 327)
  2. In ordinary sentences, the imperfective aspect is most often used for the indicative, and the perfective for the subjunctive, but any combination is possible, with the corresponding change in meaning.
    • eg iskam da stanesh (perfective) / iskam da stavash (imperfective) – i want you to get up.
    The latter is more insisting, since the imperfective is the more immediate construction.
  3. Historically, it is the aorist form.
  4. Exceptions are the auxiliary ня̀мало in all negative future and future perfect forms, and ня̀мало било̀ in the negative future (perfect) dubitative, which always remain in the neuter singular.
  5. There are inferential forms only for the past tenses – imperfect, aorist, past perfect and future (perfect) in the past ( Nitsolova 2008 , p. 353). Thus, while the renarrative form четя̀л can have both present and imperfect meaning, the corresponding inferential четя̀л е can only be imperfect.

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References

  1. Murdarov, Vladko (2012). Mariya Buneva (ed.). Официален правописен речник на българския език[Official orthographic dictionary of the Bulgarian language] (in Bulgarian). Prosveta – Sofia. pp. 11–12. ISBN   9789540127019.
  2. Nitsolova 2008 , p. 397
  3. Nitsolova 2008 , p. 395
  4. Nitsolova 2008, pp. 322–323.
  5. Gerdzhikov 2003, pp. 5–13.
  6. Kutsarov 2007, pp. 294–307.
  7. Kutsarov 2007, pp. 282–6.
  8. Kutsarov 2007, pp. 316–318, 326.
  9. Gerdzhikov 2003, pp. 24–25.
  10. Gerdzhikov 2003, pp. 40–1.
  11. Nitsolova 2008, p. 362.
  12. Nitsolova 2008, p. 370.
  13. It is based on ( Nitsolova 2008 , pp. 357–60, 365–69, 372–75), and ( Kutsarov 2007 , pp. 297–303, 308–321, 388–396)
  14. Kutsarov 2007, pp. 300, 312.
  15. Nitsolova 2008, p. 368.
  16. Kutsarov 2007, p. 303.
  17. Kutsarov 2007, p. 320.
  18. Nitsolova 2008, p. 275.

Bibliography