2B) Politeness

Formal and informal speech

In Bulgarian, like in French or in Spanish, there are 2 levels of speech that you can use when you address someone ("you").

We'll call them formal and informal:

ти	You, singular and informal (friend, family, younger person...)
вие	You, plural or formal (stranger, elder person, your boss...)

In short, formal speech means that you'll talk to someone like there's several of them! (use the plural "you").

When вие is used for politeness (rather than for the informal plural), it is capitalized ("Вие").

By politeness, can be used all day:

Здрасти!	Hi! (most informal, to be used between friends and family)
Здравей!	Hello! (used to greet one person, informal)
Здравейте!	Hello! (when addressing multiple people, or one person politely)

By time of the day, can be used for all levels of politeness:

Добро утро!	Good morning!
Добър ден!	Good day!
Добър вечер!	Good evening!

Farewells The following expressions can be used to say goodbye. They work for all levels of politeness:

Довиждане!	Goodbye!
До скоро!	See you soon! (literally, "till soon")
Лек ден!	Have a good day! (literally, "light day")
Лека вечер!	Have a good evening! (literally, "light evening")
Лека нощ!	Good night! (literally "light night")
Чао!	Bye! (more casual)

"Чао" is not too casual. You can use it when leaving a shop.

"Може ли ...?" (literally "can it?") is a very useful phrase to ask something politely:

"Може ли две кафета?" - Can I have two coffees, please? "Може ли да питам...?" - Can I ask ...?

To which the person might answer "може", for yes (literally, "it can")

"Мерси" (like in French!) is appropriate to say thanks for small things like getting your change in a shop, or saying "не, мерси" (no, thanks).