Learn how to express that you like or don't like something
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Intro |
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| Jonathan: Hello and welcome to the Absolute Beginner series at BulgarianPod101.com. This is season 1, lesson 18, Talking Likes and Dislikes in Bulgarian. I’m Jonathan. |
| Iva: Hello. And I’m Iva! |
| Jonathan: In this lesson you'll learn how to express that you like or don't like something. |
| Iva: The conversation takes place at Peter’s house. |
| Jonathan: And it’s between Martin, Irina and Peter. Irina and Martin are playing peek-a-boo with baby Sarah. |
| Iva: And again, they know each other so their speech is informal. |
| Jonathan: OK, let’s listen to the conversation. |
Lesson conversation |
| Ирина: Няма ме, няма ме... Паа! Няма ме, няма ме... Паа! |
| Сара: (Laughs). |
| Питър: Сара много обича играта на ку-ку. |
| Мартин: Аа, така ли. Добре, няма ме, няма ме... Паа! |
| Сара: (Cries). |
| Мартин: Оооо! Извинявай, извинявай! |
| Питър: Сара не обича мъже. (Laughs) |
| (Everyone laughs). |
| Jonathan: Now let’s hear the conversation one time slowly. (slow speed, broken down by syllable) |
| Ирина: Няма ме, няма ме... Паа! Няма ме, няма ме... Паа! |
| Сара: (Laughs). |
| Питър: Сара много обича играта на ку-ку. |
| Мартин: Аа, така ли. Добре, няма ме, няма ме... Паа! |
| Сара: (Cries). |
| Мартин: Оооо! Извинявай, извинявай! |
| Питър: Сара не обича мъже. (Laughs) |
| (Everyone laughs). |
| Jonathan: And now with the English translation. |
| Irina: Peek-a-boo! Peek-a-boo! |
| Sarah: (Laughs) |
| Peter: Sarah loves "Peek-a-boo." |
| Martin: Oh, really! Okay then...peek-a-boo! |
| Sarah: (cries) |
| Martin: Ahhh! I'm sorry, I'm sorry! |
| Peter: Sarah doesn't like men. (laughs) |
| (Everyone laughs) |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Jonathan: OK, Iva, in this dialogue we talk about liking and not liking things. |
| Iva: And that is our main grammar point. |
| Jonathan: So what can you tell us about expressing your likes and dislikes in Bulgaria? |
| Iva: Bulgarians consider taking care of their guests (especially if they are foreign ones) as an important part of their traditional culture. So they will want to know what you like and don’t like regarding food, housing, prices or just places for sightseeing. |
| Jonathan: OK, I see. That’s very helpful advice! |
| Iva: Remember to use the construction we are introducing in this lesson. |
| Jonathan: The one about liking and not liking things? |
| Iva: Yes. Together with the different degrees of preference, adding “much” or “много” or firmly saying “I don’t like it” which could be very useful. |
| Jonathan: How would you say “I don’t like it” in Bulgarian? |
| Iva: It is “Не ми харесва” and if you are asked about liking something or not you can say “Не, не ми харесва.” |
| Jonathan: So you also say “No” before “I don’t like it”. |
| Iva: Yes, to be affirmative. |
| Jonathan: Listeners, note also that Bulgarians use the double negative form quite a lot, so be careful to say this correctly. |
| Iva: But in order to be understood, just pay attention to the negative form of the verb “like” – “не ми харесва”, so that there aren’t any mistakes. |
| Jonathan: Good advice, Iva! |
| Iva: We hope you don’t come across anything to dislike in Bulgaria, but just in case, remember this lesson! |
| Jonathan: Now onto the vocab! |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Jonathan: Now let’s take a look at the vocabulary in this lesson. The first word we shall see is... |
| Iva: няма |
| Jonathan: (there is) no |
| Iva: няма (slow, broken down by syllable) |
| Iva: няма |
| Iva: Паа |
| Jonathan: Boo! |
| Iva: Паа (slow, broken down by syllable) |
| Iva: Паа |
| Iva: обичам |
| Jonathan: like; love |
| Iva: обичам (slow, broken down by syllable) |
| Iva: обичам |
| Iva: мъж |
| Jonathan: man |
| Iva: мъж (slow, broken down by syllable) |
| Iva: мъж |
| Iva: не обичам |
| Jonathan: don’t like; don’t love |
| Iva: не обичам (slow, broken down by syllable) |
| Iva: не обичам |
| Iva: игра |
| Jonathan: game; play |
| Iva: игра (slow, broken down by syllable) |
| Iva: игра |
| Iva: ме |
| Jonathan: me |
| Iva: ме (slow, broken down by syllable) |
| Iva: ме |
| Iva: добре |
| Jonathan: good, OK, well |
| Iva: добре (slow, broken down by syllable) |
| Iva: добре |
| KEY VOCABULARY AND PHRASES |
| Jonathan: Let’s take a closer look at some of the words and phrases from this lesson. What’s first, Iva? |
| Iva: The first word we are going to talk about is “Няма”. |
| Jonathan: It is a word that Bulgarian people use a lot. |
| Iva: Yes. Besides its direct meaning of “(there is) no” it is used also to reject a suggestion. |
| Jonathan: Like saying “No way!” |
| Iva: Exactly. But just in this case, it is accompanied by the word “ставам” (“to become”) and means “it is not possible” but sounds quite informal – “няма да стане”. |
| Jonathan: I see. Repeat it just in case for our listeners. |
| Iva: “няма да стане”. |
| Jonathan: “No way!” |
| Iva: Yes. Next is “Мъж”, the Bulgarian word for “man”. |
| Jonathan: This is an essential word! |
| Iva: Yes, and its plural form is “мъже”. |
| Jonathan: Listeners, repeat both forms. |
| Iva: “Мъж”, “мъже”. |
| Jonathan: OK, what else do we need to know about it? |
| Iva: Well, the form with the definite article is “мъжът” if the word is a subject in the sentence, or “мъжа” if it is a direct object. |
| Jonathan: Again, repeat after Iva. |
| Iva: If the word is a subject in the sentence, “мъжът” [pause] or if it is a direct object, “мъжа” [pause]. |
| Jonathan: OK, I hope our listeners will remember the difference. What’s next? |
| Iva: “Добре”. |
| Jonathan: This means “OK”, or the adverb well, right? |
| Iva: Yes – but it can be also the neutral form of the adjective “good” or “добър” in Bulgarian. |
| Jonathan: Can you say both again – the adverb and the adjective. |
| Iva: “Добре” and “добър”. |
| Jonathan: But in this lesson it is used as an adverb which means something like “OK” or “Well” |
| Iva: Yes, and it is usually put at the beginning of the sentence. |
| Jonathan: OK, I think that’s all for this section. |
| Iva: Yes, “Добре”. |
| Jonathan: Now let’s see the grammar. |
Lesson focus |
| Jonathan: OK, in this lesson you will learn how to express that you Like or don't like something in Bulgarian. |
| Iva: Put simply, we say “Обичам A” or “Не обичам А”. |
| Jonathan: What is ‘A’? |
| Iva: Well, you can put anyone or anything you want in this position. But when you want to express that you like or don’t like something in Bulgarian, you use one verb which literally translates to “to love” – the verb “обичам”. |
| Jonathan: OK, could you repeat it again for our listeners please? |
| Iva: “обичам”. |
| Jonathan: And “don’t like” is what? |
| Iva: “Не обичам.” Just add the word for “no” - “Не”. |
| Jonathan: That’s simple! |
| Iva: Well of course the verb conjugates, so this is the form for first person singular. |
| Jonathan: OK, what else? |
| Iva: We can omit the Bulgarian pronoun “I” and just say “...like [A]” or “...don’t like [A]” where the form of the verb will indicate that this is said from the first person singular point. |
| Jonathan: So the sentences again are… |
| Iva: “Обичам…” or “Не обичам ..”. |
| Jonathan: And if we add the pronoun… |
| Iva: “Аз обичам…” or “Аз не обичам ..”. |
| Jonathan: The same applies when you’re saying this for someone who is present. |
| Iva: Yes, you will say “(You) like apples, don’t you?” without saying the “you”. |
| Jonathan: How will this sound in Bulgarian? |
| Iva: “Харесваш ябълки, нали?” And if we use the pronoun for you, “Ти харесваш ябълки, нали?” |
| Jonathan: But it sounds more natural without it. |
| Iva: And we can guess who we are talking about by the verb form. |
| Jonathan: Ok, got it! |
| Iva: Also, when asked this type of question, we will reply in Bulgarian with “Yes, I like [A]” or “No, I don’t like [A]”. |
| Jonathan: OK, tell us how those sound in Bulgarian. Listeners, repeat after Iva. |
| Iva: “Да, обичам [A]” [pause] or “Не, не обичам [A]”. [pause] |
| Jonathan: I still don’t get who or what is A. |
| Iva: [A] can be just an object, a person, an activity or just a whole new sentence added to this construction. For example, we may say: “Do you like going out in the middle of the night to buy ice-cream?” |
| Jonathan: In Bulgarian? |
| Iva: “Обичаш ли да излизаш посред нощ, за да си купуваш сладолед?” |
| Jonathan: Yes, I do! But that sure is one long sentence for our beginner listeners! |
| Iva: I know. So for now, just practice the simple ones we have prepared as examples in the lesson notes. |
| Jonathan: And that’s all for now. |
| Iva: Yes. Bye-bye! |
| Jonathan: See you next time! |
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