Language/Bulgarian/Grammar/Nouns

Bulgarian Grammar - Nouns

Hi Bulgarian learners! 😊

In this lesson, we will learn about Bulgarian Nouns. Nouns in Bulgarian have three genders - masculine, feminine, and neuter. The gender of a noun determines the form of any adjectives that describe it. Bulgarian nouns also decline, which means that their endings change to denote cases.

Take some time to dive into these other pages after completing this lesson: DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUNS ..., GENERALIZING PRONOUNS ..., Negation & Comparatives and Superlatives.

Gender of Nouns

In Bulgarian, there are three genders - masculine, feminine, and neuter. To determine the gender of Bulgarian nouns, there are a few general rules you can follow:

• Masculine nouns usually end in a consonant, or a soft sign ь.
• Feminine nouns usually end in -а, -я, -ь, or -и.
• Neuter nouns usually end in -о or -е.

However, there are exceptions to these general rules, so it is important to check the gender of each noun individually.

Here are some examples:

Bulgarian	Pronunciation	English
мъж	măzh	man
жена	zhena	woman
момиче	momiche	girl
куче	kouche	dog

In the above examples, "мъж" and "куче" are masculine nouns, "жена" and "момиче" are feminine, and "момиче" is neuter.

Cases of Nouns

Bulgarian nouns decline, meaning that their endings change to denote cases.

There are six cases in Bulgarian:

1. Nominative Case - Used for the subject of a sentence. This is the default form of a noun, the base form. 2. Genitive Case - Used to denote possession or to show the relationship between two nouns. 3. Dative Case - Used to indicate the indirect object or to show the purpose of an action. 4. Accusative Case - Used to indicate the direct object of a verb. 5. Vocative Case - Used when addressing someone or something. It is not commonly used in Bulgarian. 6. Locative Case - Used to show the location of something or to indicate where something takes place.

Here are examples of how to decline the noun "книга" (kniga), meaning "book":

Case	Example
Nominative	книга (kniga) - book
Genitive	книга (kniga) - книга (kniga) - book's (possession)
Dative	на книга (na kniga) - to book (direction)
Accusative	книга (kniga) - I read a book (direct object)
Vocative	книго (knigo) - Hey book (addressing)
Locative	на книга (na kniga) - where is the book (location), в книгата (v knigata) - in the book

It is important to note that the ending of the noun changes depending on its gender and whether it is singular or plural.

Plurals of Nouns

In Bulgarian, the plural of a noun is formed by changing its ending. Here are some general rules to follow:

• For masculine nouns ending in a consonant, replace the consonant with -и.
• For masculine nouns ending in a soft sign ь, add -ове.
• For feminine nouns ending in -а or -я, replace -а/-я with -и.
• For feminine nouns ending in -ь, add -ове.
• For neuter nouns ending in -о, replace it with -а.
• For neuter nouns ending in -е, add -та.

Here are some examples:

Singular	Plural
мъж (man)	мъже (men)
град (city)	градове (cities)
жена (woman)	жени (women)
книга (book)	книги (books)
момиче (girl)	момичета (girls)
море (sea)	морета (seas)

Definite and Indefinite Articles

Bulgarian language has no article “the”. The indefinite article ”a” and ”an” in English is usually translated with the number ‘one‘”. To say “one” in Bulgarian you say ‘един’ / edin (masculine), ‘едно’ / edno (neutral) and ‘една’ / edna (feminine).

To indicate the definite article, Bulgarian uses suffix -а at the end of the noun.

Here is an example:

• Indefinite: това е една книга (tova e edna kniga) - This is a book.
• Definite: това е книга-та (tova e kniga-ta) - This is the book.

Dialogue

Here is a dialogue to help you understand Bulgarian nouns in context:

• Person 1: Купих нова книга. (Kupih nova kniga.) - I bought a new book.
• Person 2: Хубаво! Коя книга? (Hubavo! Koya kniga?) - Nice! Which book?
• Person 1: Купих една книга за граматиката на български език. (Kupih edna kniga za gramatikata na balgarski ezik.) - I bought a book about Bulgarian grammar.
• Person 2: Препоръчвам ти да го прочетеш. (Preporachvam ti da go prochetesh.) - I recommend you read it.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Bulgarian nouns have three genders, six cases, and plural forms. To improve your Bulgarian Grammar, you can also use the Polyglot Club website. Find native speakers and ask them any questions or check out the Bulgarian Grammar page on the website.

Keep learning!

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➡ If you have any questions, please ask them in the comments section below.
➡ Feel free to edit this wiki page if you think it can be improved. 😎

Sources

• Bulgarian grammar - Wikipedia
• Bulgarian / Lingvopedia :: lingvo.info
• A Beginner's Guide to Basic Bulgarian Grammar

Now that you've completed this lesson, don't stop learning! Check out these related topics: Plurals, PERSONAL PRONOUNS – Лични местоимения, Adjectives & CARDINAL NUMERALS – Бройни числителни.

Other Lessons

• Future Tense
• Adjectives
• Plurals
• NUMBER OF NOUNS – Число на съществителните
• PRESENT SIMPLE TENSE – Сегашно време
• Questions
• Personal Pronouns
• SHORT POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS – Кратки притежателни местоимения
• GENDER OF NOUNS – Род на съществителните
• How to Use Have