8A) Present

Here are some verbs grouped by conjugation, for practicing the present tense:

Group 1

• чета - to read
• живея - to live
• пиша - to write
• пия - to drink
• знам - to know
• ям - to eat

Group 2

• уча - to study, to learn
• спя - to sleep
• правя - to do, to make
• говоря - to speak, to talk

Group 3

• виждам - to see
• отивам - to go
• слушам - to listen
• обичам - to love
• имам - to have
• искам - to want
• харесвам - to like

3 conjugation groups

Each verb belongs to one of 3 conjugation groups. This cannot be determined by looking at the verb's citation form. It is instead determined by the ending of the verb in its 3rd person present tense conjugation.

If the 3rd person present tense conjugation ends in:

• е: той чете (he reads) ➜ 1st group
• и: той учи (he learns) ➜ 2nd group
• а or я: той има (he has) ➜ 3rd group

Often, verbs with citation forms ending in -ам or -ям belong to the 3rd group, and others (ending in -а or -я) belong to the 1st or 2nd groups. But this is not a rule, and ям belongs to the 1st group (той яде).

The group of new verbs is specified by adding the 3rd person ending in brackets: чета (-е). Verbs ending in -ам are assumed to belong to the 3rd group unless otherwise specified.

Present tense conjugation

To conjugate a verb in the present tense, you take its stem and add the right termination for the subject.

In the 1st and 2nd groups, all verbs with a citation form ending in -я use the -ят ending for the 3rd person plural: те пият (they drink), те говорят (they speak).

Exceptions

All of the verbs above are regular in the present tense, but note that знам (to know) and ям (to eat) end in -ам/-ям but belong to the 1st group. It is also correct to use "зная" instead of "знам".

Present simple vs continuous

In English, there are 2 present tenses: present simple ("I eat meat" - generally) and present continuous/progressive ("I'm eating meat" - right now). In Bulgarian, there is only 1 present tense, so the context defines whether it is a general truth or something happening right now.

"Ядеш ли месо?" - Do you eat meat? "Какво правиш?" - What are you doing?