Most Bulgarian verbs come in pairs:
- imperfective — a process or a habit:
"Всеки ден купувам хляб."
— I buy bread every day. - perfective — one whole action, a result:
"Ще купя хляб."
— I'll buy (some) bread.
Pairs are made in three ways: a different suffix ("купувам → купя"
), a prefix ("пиша → напиша"
), or a different word ("идвам → дойда"
).
The golden rule: the present of a perfective verb can't stand alone. It needs a helper — "да"
, "ще"
, "ако"
, "когато"
:
"Искам да купя билет."
— I want to buy a ticket."Когато стигнеш, обади ми се."
— Call me when you get there.- ~~
"Аз купя хляб."
~~ — wrong.
In the past, the aorist usually uses perfective verbs ("купих"
, "платих"
), the imperfect uses imperfective ones ("купувах"
).
Learn verbs in pairs, the way dictionaries list them.
| несвършен вид | свършен вид |
|---|---|
| купувам | купя |
| плащам | платя |
| вземам | взема |
| казвам | кажа |
| давам | дам |
| идвам | дойда |
| пиша | напиша |
| чета | прочета |
Examples
Всеки месец плащам наема по банков път.
Every month I pay the rent by bank transfer.
Днес ще платя сметката за ток.
Today I'll pay the electricity bill.
Трябва да купя подарък за Мария.
I need to buy a present for Maria.
Обикновено чета преди сън.
I usually read before going to sleep.
Снощи прочетох цялата книга.
Last night I read the whole book.
Когато стигнеш, обади ми се.
Call me when you get there.
For speakers of your language
English has no verb pairs, but compare "I was writing" (process) with "I wrote it (done)". Learn every verb together with its partner.
Quick quiz
Всеки ден ___ хляб от магазина до нас.
купувам
A habit ("всеки ден") → imperfective:
"купувам".
Утре ще ___ сметката.
платя
One complete action → perfective:"ще платя".
Which sentence is correct?
Искам да купя билет.
"купя"is perfective and can't stand alone — it needs
"да"or
"ще".
Which is the perfective partner of "пиша"
?
напиша
The prefix на- makes"напиша". The others are past tenses.
"идвам"
and "дойда"
are an aspect pair.
True
Yes — two different words, one meaning: "come".