Language/Bulgarian/Grammar/How-to-Use-Have

Bulgarian Grammar - How to Use "Have"

Hi Bulgarian learners! 😊
In this lesson, we are going to learn how to use "have" in Bulgarian. This topic is crucial for those who want to improve their speaking and writing skills.

What does "have" mean in Bulgarian?

In Bulgarian, "have" has two translations: "имам" (imam) and "поседявам" (posedyavam). "Имам" is the main one and means "to possess." For example:

Bulgarian	Pronunciation	English
Имам кола	Imаm kola	I have a car

"Поседявам" is used in the context of sitting down, for example:

Bulgarian	Pronunciation	English
Ще прекарам часове, докато мамата ми поседне.	Shte prekaram chasove, dokato mamata mi posedne.	I will spend hours waiting for my mother to sit down.

From now on, we will focus on the first translation - "имам."

How to conjugate "имам"

Just like in English, "имам" changes depending on the subject of the sentence. Here is how it looks like in the present tense:

Bulgarian	Pronunciation	English
Аз имам	Az imam	I have
Ти имаш	Ti imash	You have
Той/Тя/То има	Toi/Tya/To ima	He/She/It has
Ние имаме	Nie imame	We have
Вие имате	Vie imate	You have (formal or plural)
Те имат	Te imat	They have

Let's see some examples:

• Аз имам мечта. (Az imam mechta.) - I have a dream.
• Ти имаш куче. (Ti imash kuche.) - You have a dog.
• Тя има топла дреха. (Tya ima topla dreha.) - She has warm clothes.
• Ние имаме бусола. (Nie imame busola.) - We have a compass.
• Вие имате ключ. (Vie imate klyuch.) - You have a key.
• Те имат книга. (Te imat kniga.) - They have a book.

It's essential to memorize these conjugations since they are used in many essential conversations.

"Имам" in the past

The past tense of "имам" is "имах" (imah). Just like in English, it means the action of possessing already happened in the past. Here is the conjugation:

Bulgarian	Pronunciation	English
Аз имах	Az imah	I had
Ти имаше	Ti imashe	You had
Той/Тя/То имаше	Toi/Tya/To imashe	He/She/It had
Ние имахме	Nie imahme	We had
Вие имахте	Vie imakhte	You had (formal or plural)
Те имаха	Te imaha	They had

Let's see some examples:

• Аз имах куче докато бях малък. (Az imah kuche dokato byah malak.) - I had a dog when I was little.
• Ти имаше желание да посетиш тази дестинация. (Ti imashe zhelanie da posetish tazi destynatsiya.) - You had a desire to visit this destination.
• Той имаше учебник по философия. (Toi imashe uchebnik po filosofiya.) - He had a textbook on philosophy.
• Ние имахме време за кратка почивка. (Nie imahme vreme za kratka pochivka.) - We had time for a short break.
• Вие имахте храна за цял сезон. (Vie imakhte hrana za tsyal sezon.) - You had food for the entire season.
• Те имаха достатъчно пари да купят къща. (Te imaha dostatychno pari da kupyat kashta.) - They had enough money to buy a house.

It's important to notice that, just like in English, the past tense can indicate completed actions, but it can also mean interrupted actions. For example, "Ти имаше работа по този проект, но най-после не продължава работа в компанията." (Ti imashe rabota po tozi proekt, no nai-posle ne prodalzhava rabota v kompaniyata.) - "You had a job on this project, but in the end, you didn't continue working in the company." Here, the past tense of "имам" indicates that the job "had" but it doesn't exist anymore.

"Имам" in the future

The future tense of "имам" is "ще имам" (shte imam). Unlike English, Bulgarians usually use the present tense when talking about future events. For example:

• Тази вечер имам участие в концерт. (Tazi vecher imam uchastie v koncert.) - Tonight I have a concert. (Instead of "Tonight I will have a concert.")

However, to avoid confusion, we can use the marker "ще" (shte) to denote that we are talking about a future event. Here is the conjugation:

Bulgarian	Pronunciation	English
Аз ще имам	Az shte imam	I will have
Ти ще имаш	Ti shte imash	You will have
Той/Тя/То ще има	Toi/Tya/To shte ima	He/She/It will have
Ние ще имаме	Nie shte imame	We will have
Вие ще имате	Vie shte imate	You will have (formal or plural)
Те ще имат	Te shte imat	They will have

Let's see some examples:

• Утре ще имам рожден ден. (Utre shte imam rozhden den.) - Tomorrow I will have a birthday.
• Ти ще имаш възможност за излет. (Ti shte imash vozmozhnost za izlet.) - You will have the opportunity for a trip.
• Той ще има лекция тази неделя. (Toy shte ima lektsiya tazi nedelya.) - He will have a lecture this Sunday.
• Ние ще имаме празник утре. (Nie shte imame praznik utre.) - We will have a holiday tomorrow.
• Вие ще имате привилегията да работите от вкъщи. (Vie shte imate priviliegiyata da rabotite ot vkashti.) - You will have the privilege to work from home.
• Те ще имат време да направят ремонт. (Te shte imat vreme da napravyat remont.) - They will have time to make repairs.

Dialogue

To see "имам" in context, let's see a dialogue between two friends:

• Иван: И какво планираш да направиш уикенда? (Ivan: I kakvo planirash da napravish uikenda?) - And what are you planning to do this weekend?
• Петър: Нищо особено. Имам заготовки за учене. (Petyr: Nishto osobeno. Imam zagotovki za uchene.) - Nothing special. I have some studying to do.
• Иван: А аз имам билети за филма на "Завръщането на джедаите." Идееш ли с мен? (Ivan: A az imam bilet za filma na "Zavryshtaneto na dzhedayte." Idesh li s men?) - Well, I have tickets to the "Return of the Jedi" movie. Will you come with me?
• Петър: Радвам се да те придружа. (Petyr: Radvam se da te pridruzhа.) - I would be happy to join you.

Conclusion

In this lesson, we learned how to use "have" in Bulgarian. We saw the present, past, and future tenses of "имам" and how they work in different contexts. Remember to practice your knowledge with native speakers. Find native speakers and ask them any questions about what you've learned today!

To improve your Bulgarian Grammar, you can also use the Polyglot Club website.

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