5) Definite Articles
In Bulgarian, there is no indefinite article such as the English "a". The word for cat, "котка", can be used alone to mean "a cat" (an indefinite cat).
In English, that same cat can be made definite by using "the": "the cat" (a specific one).
In Bulgarian, the definite article is added at the end of the noun, attached to it:
"котка" - a cat "котката" - the cat
The article will vary depending on the gender and ending of the word:
| Ending | Article | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Masculine nouns | -ът/-а* | мъж ➜ мъжът / мъжа* |
| Feminine nouns | -та | котка ➜ котката, нощ ➜ нощта |
| Neuter nouns | -то | кафе ➜ кафето |
| Plural nouns ending in -а or -я | -та | кафета ➜ кафетата |
| All other plural nouns | -те | градове ➜ градовете |
* Why are there 2 different articles for masculine words?
Masculine words ending in a consonant will use the long -ът article when they are the subject of the sentence, and the short -а article when they are not:
"Мъжът говори" - The man is talking "Аз говоря с мъжа" - I'm talking with the man
In the first sentence, "the man" is the subject, so "мъж" gets the -ът definite article. In the second sentence, "I" is the subject, so "мъж" gets the -а definite article.
The long definite article (-ът) is also used for the subject complement after a linking verb (that is, a verb that is used to re-identify or describe its subject, like "to be"):
"Той е мъжът" - He is the man
In this case, "he" is the subject, but "he" and "the man" are the same person.