Learn Bulgarian-- Verb Twins

Without verbs, it is impossible to speak a language fluently or even comprehensibly. The problem with Bulgarian verbs is that you  have two verbs for the price of one--and they're rarely identical twins in form or usage.

If you find grammar a real turn off, don't read this paragraph. Your dictionary may only show you one of the twins--the imperfective one.

This is the one you use mostly when talking in the present tense. When you talk about now, you are usually referring to an action which is not yet complete or finished.'I live in Sofia.' I live there now, I am living there--the action is still continuing.

The second problem is that there is no infinitive, no word to give you the name of the verb as such. When you look up a verb in a Bulgarian dictionary, you find the "I" form  of one of the twin verbs. Look up the verb 'live' and you find: живея, which translates as I live, I am living.
Look up the verb 'eat' and you find ям, which translates as I eat, I am eating.  

In learning Bulgarian, most students tackle what is known as the third conjugation first. It is the most common conjugation with over 3000 verbs. However the 'twin' verb can be a completely different conjugation so it is necessary to learn the endings for all the conjugations together.

Have a look at these:


Let's choose one of these pairs to see how the verbs are used. Here both verbs of the pair belong to the same conjugation or verb pattern.

продавам / продам

Both mean sell. The first is used when the action is not completed or finished. The second is complete--perfective.

So: продавам яйца днес. I am selling eggs today. (action not finished)
искам да продам яйца. I want to sell eggs. This time the wanting is the ongoing action. To sell--and you must use да in front of the verb--needs the second or perfective form of the twin.

Normally a student learns verbs in a new language by putting them into patterned sets or conjugations. All verbs with a certain ending will (mostly) work in the same way.

But the more common the verb, the less likely it is to follow a set pattern. The more it is used, the more corrupted it becomes.

So  the verb 'to be' is never an easy one to guess.

Verbs are very difficult to master and twin verbs are very difficult indeed. Any questions, grammatical comments on and corrections of this article will be gratefully received.