2A) Basics

Definite and indefinite articles

In English, and many other languages, there are 2 types of articles: definite and indefinite.

The woman - A definite woman A woman - An indefinite woman

There is no indefinite article in Bulgarian. See how the words "жена" (woman) and "куче" (dog) are used alone to refer to "a woman" or "a dog":

"Тя е жена" - She is a woman "Това е куче" - This is a dog

(Sometimes, the word for "one", "едно", can be used in a way similar to an indefinite article.)

Basic forms of "to be"

In Bulgarian, verbs are conjugated according to the subject (I, you...) and the tense (present, past...).

The conjugation is applied to the ending of the verb.

Bulgarian verbs do not have an infinitive form. When referring to a verb, we use the first person conjugation of that verb. This is the citation form: the form used to refer to a verb or to look it up in a dictionary, and is different from the infinitive in a grammatical sense.

For example, "to be" is "съм" in Bulgarian. "Съм" is used for the citation form and for "I am".

Examples:

"Той е мъж" - He is a man "Тя е жена" - She is a woman "Това е куче" - This is a dog

Since conjugations are unique to each subject, the pronoun can generally be left out. Instead of "аз съм жена" (I am a woman), you can say "жена съм".

Why did the verb suddenly change position? It is a rule that you cannot start a sentence with a present form of the verb "съм" ("to be"). Therefore, if you omit the subject personal pronoun, the verb has to move in second position:

"Аз съм жена" or "Жена съм" - I am a woman It is incorrect to say "съм жена".

Negation

"Не" means "no" in Bulgarian. It can also be used to negate a sentence:

"Ана не е мъж" - Ana is not a man

"Да" means "yes": "Да, жена съм" - Yes, I am a woman