Bulgarian Grammar

Welcome to the 8th lesson about Bulgarian grammar. We will first learn about prepositions, negation, questions, adverbs, and pronouns including: personal, object and possessive pronouns. To hear the pronunciation, just click on the sound icon.

We will start with prepositions. In general, they are used to link words to other words. For example: I speak Bulgarian and English the preposition is [and] because it connects both words Bulgarian and English. The following is a list of the most used prepositions in Bulgarian.

Prepositions - Bulgarian - Pronunciation
and []
above над [nad]
under под [pod]
before преди [pryedi]
after след [slyed]
in front of пред [pryed]
behind зад [zad]
far from далеч от [dalyech ot]
near близо до [blizo do]
in в [v]
inside вътре [vʲtrye]
outside извън [izvʲn]
with с [s]
without без да [byez da]
about за [za]
between между [myeʐdoo]
but но [no]
for за [za]
from от [ot]
to за [za]

Preposition Grammar Rules

The following examples use prepositions in different ways and places to demonstrate how they behave in a sentence.

Prepositions + Rules - Bulgarian + Pronunciation
I eat without a knife [preposition + noun] Ям без нож [Yam byez noʐ]
she lives near the church [verb + preposition] тя живее близо до църквата [tya ʐivyeye blizo do tzʲrkvata]
he is taller than her [adjective + preposition] той е по-висок от нея [toy ye po-visok ot nyeya]
he came with his small dog [preposition + pronoun] той дойде с малкото си куче [toy doydye s malkoto si koochye]
can you come with me? [preposition + pronoun] може ли да дойдеш с мен? [moʐye li da doydyesh s myen?]

Negation in Bulgarian

Now let's learn how to make a negative sentence (negation). For example: Saying no, I can't, I don't ... The following examples use negation in different ways and places to demonstrate how they behave in a sentence.

Negation + Rules - Bulgarian + Pronunciation
I understand you [affirmative form] Ви разбирам [Vi razbiram]
I don't understand you [negation + verb] Не ви разбирам [Nye vi razbiram]
this is not the correct word [negation + adjective] това не е правилната дума [tova nye ye pravilnata dooma]
don't leave me [imperative negation] Не ме оставяй [Nye mye ostavyay]
no problem [negation + noun] няма проблем [nyama problyem]

Negative Sentences - Bulgarian + Pronunciation
I don't speak French [negation + present tense] Аз не говоря френски [Az nye guovorya fryenski]
she didn't visit Germany [negation + past tense] тя не посети Германия [tya nye posyeti Guyermaniya]
he cannot see us [negative modal verb] той не може да ни види [toy nye moʐye da ni vidi]
can't she play chess? [interrogative negation] Тя не може ли да играе шах? [Tya nye moʐye li da iguraye shakh?]
we will not come late [negation + future tense] ние няма да закъснеем [niye nyama da zakʲsnyeyem]

Questions in Bulgarian

Now let's learn how to ask questions (interrogative). Such as: what, why, can you ...? Here are some common examples:

English - Bulgarian - Pronunciation
how? как? [kak?]
what? какво? [kakvo?]
who? кой? [koy?]
why? защо? [zashto?]
where? къде? [kʲdye?]

More of the interrogative form, now in a sentence:

Questions + Rules - Bulgarian + Pronunciation
where do you live? [interrogative + verb] Къде живееш? [Kʲdye ʐivyeyesh?]
does she speak Chinese? [interrogative verb] тя говори ли китайски? [tya guovori li kitayski?]
how much is this? [interrogative preposition] колко е това? [kolko ye tova?]
can I help you? [interrogative modal verb] мога да ви помогна? [mogua da vi pomoguna?]
what is your name? [interrogative preposition] как ти е името? [kak ti ye imyeto?]

Adverbs in Bulgarian

It's time to learn the adverbs in Bulgarian. But what is an adverb? In general, adverbs modify verbs and adjectives. For example: You speak fast. The adverb is [fast] because it describes the verb and answers the question how do you speak?. Here is a list of the most common ones:

Adverbs - Bulgarian - Pronunciation
now сега [syegua]
yesterday вчера [vchyera]
today днес [dnyes]
tonight тази вечер [tazi vyechyer]
tomorrow утре [ootrye]
soon скоро [skoro]
quickly бързо [bʲrzo]
slowly бавно [bavno]
together заедно [zayedno]
very много [mnoguo]
almost почти [pochti]
always винаги [vinagui]
usually обикновено [obiknovyeno]
sometimes понякога [ponyakogua]
rarely рядко [ryadko]
never никога [nikogua]

The following examples use the adverbs in different ways and places to demonstrate how it behaves in a sentence.

Adverbs + Rules - Bulgarian + Pronunciation
do you understand me now? [pronoun + adverb] Разбираш ли ме сега? [Razbirash li mye syegua?]
I need help immediately [noun + adverb] Имам нужда от помощ незабавно [Imam nooʐda ot pomosht nyezabavno]
she is very intelligent [adverb + adjective] тя е много интелигентна [tya ye mnoguo intyeliguyentna]
I will always love you [verb + adverb] Аз винаги ще те обичам [Az vinagui shtye tye obicham]
can we learn German together? [adverb in a question] можем да научим немски заедно? [moʐyem da naoochim nyemski zayedno?]

Pronouns in Bulgarian

We're almost done! This time we will learn the pronouns in Bulgarian. In general, a pronoun can be used instead of a noun. For example instead of saying my teacher speaks 3 languages, you can use the pronoun he, and say he speaks 3 languages. Here is a list of the most common ones:

Personal Pronouns - Bulgarian - Pronunciation
I Аз [Az]
you ти [ti]
he той [toy]
she тя [tya]
we ние [niye]
they те [tye]

Object Pronouns - Bulgarian - Pronunciation
me мен [myen]
you теб [tyeb]
him него [nyeguo]
her нея [nyeya]
us нас [nas]
them тях [tyakh]

Possessive Pronouns - Bulgarian - Pronunciation
my мой [moy]
your твой [tvoy]
his негов [nyeguov]
her нейн [nyeyn]
our наш [nash]
their техен [tyekhyen]

I think it's better to put the above example in a sentence to better assist you. The following examples use pronouns in different ways and places to demonstrate how they behave in a sentence. We will start with the personal pronouns.

Personal Pronouns - Bulgarian + Pronunciation
I am your friend [1st pronoun + verb] Аз съм твой приятел [Az sʲm tvoy priyatyel]
you speak very fast [2nd pronoun + adverb] вие говорите много бързо [viye guovoritye mnoguo bʲrzo]
he has three dogs [3rd pronoun + verb] той има три кучета [toy ima tri koochyeta]
she can speak German [3rd pronoun + verb] тя може да се говори немски [tya moʐye da sye guovori nyemski]
we will not come late [1st plural pronoun] ние няма да закъснеем [niye nyama da zakʲsnyeyem]
they bought milk and bread [3rd plural pronoun] те купиха мляко и хляб [tye koopikha mlyako i khlyab]

The object pronoun is used as a target by a verb, and usually come after that verb. For example: I gave him my book. The object pronoun here is him. Here are more examples:

Object Pronouns - Bulgarian + Pronunciation
can you tell me your name? [1st object pronoun] може ли да ми кажете вашето име? [moʐye li da mi kaʐyetye vashyeto imye?]
I will give you money [2nd object pronoun] Аз ще ти дам пари [Az shtye ti dam pari]
she wrote him a letter [3rd object pronoun] тя му написа писмо [tya moo napisa pismo]
they visited her yesterday [3rd object pronoun] те я посетиха вчера [tye ya posyetikha vchyera]
can she help us? [1st pl. object pronoun] може ли тя да ни помогне? [moʐye li tya da ni pomogunye?]
he gave them food [3rd pl. object pronoun] Той им даде храна [Toy im dadye khrana]

Possessive Pronouns - Bulgarian + Pronunciation
my name is Maya [1st possessive pronoun] Моето име е Мая [Moyeto imye ye Maya]
your brother lives here [2nd possessive pronoun] брат ти живее тук [brat ti ʐivyeye took]
her mother cooks for us [3rd possessive pronoun] нейната майка ни готви [nyeynata mayka ni guotvi]
his hobby is reading books [3rd possessive pronoun] неговото хоби е четенето на книги [nyeguovoto khobi ye chyetyenyeto na knigui]
our dream is to visit Paris [1st pl. possessive pronoun] нашата мечта е да посетим Париж [nashata myechta ye da posyetim Pariʐ]
their house is not far [3rd pl. possessive pronoun] къщата им не е далеч [kʲshtata im nye ye dalyech]

One more thing you need to know is the demonstrative pronouns. They're very easy to learn.

Demonstrative Pronouns - Bulgarian - Pronunciation
this is my house Това е моят дом [Tova ye moyat dom]
that restaurant is far онзи ресторант е далеч [onzi ryestorant ye dalyech]
these apples are delicious тези ябълки са вкусни [tyezi yabʲlki sa vkoosni]
those stars are shiny онези звезди са блестящи/бляскави [onyezi zvyezdi sa blyestyashti/blyaskavi]

I hope you learned a lot about the Bulgarian grammar in this lesson. Please check out our main menu here for more lessons: homepage. The next lesson is below, have fun!