Learn top 25 Bulgarian phrases
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| Okay. Hi everyone. How are you today? I am your host Daria and this is an episode of BulgarianPod101.com, maybe one of the most important episodes because it gives you the Top 25 Bulgarian Phrases - they are. |
| I mean, these are key phrases that you need to start a conversation, to introduce yourself, to say the basic phrases of every language. |
| So if you want to be 25 Bulgarian phrases ahead of the rest of the people who don’t know those, grab a pen and a notebook and let’s start. |
| 1. Здравей! |
| (Zdravey!) |
| “Hello.” |
| How to start? How should we start? I think there is no better way to start but to say, |
| Здравей! |
| (Zdravey!) |
| “Hello.” |
| Well, hello everyone. |
| Здравей! |
| (Zdravey!) is like an informal way to say it. |
| You can say Здравейте! |
| (Zdraveyte!) the formal one. |
| Also plural, yeah. You can say Здравейте! (Zdraveyte!) to multiple people. |
| And also if you hear that some Bulgarian people say Здрасти! (Zdrasti!) |
| This is the short version of Hello. Just Hi. |
| 2. Добро утро! |
| (Dobro utro!) |
| “Good morning.” |
| How do you usually start the day? If you see somebody, you would greet them with, |
| Добро утро! |
| (Dobro utro!) |
| “Good morning.” |
| This phrase I love a lot because of the vibration of it. |
| Добро утро! |
| (Dobro utro!) |
| Practice your Rs in this phrase. Also, I like to use it because we are one step ahead of our southern neighbors, the Greek people, who don’t even have a phrase for good morning. |
| They just start from Καλημέρα (Kaliméra), which is the day. I don’t know why nobody celebrates the morning over there. We do. |
| 3. Добър ден! |
| (Dobar den!) |
| “Good afternoon.” |
| Moving now later into day, |
| Добър ден! |
| (Dobar den!) |
| “Good afternoon.” |
| Now, here is the tricky part because it maybe 10 AM in the morning but you can hear a Bulgarian saying, |
| Добър ден! |
| (Dobar den!) |
| which literally is “good afternoon” |
| But we use it more as good day to you. So remember it, |
| Добър ден! |
| (Dobar den!) |
| 4. Лека нощ. |
| (Leka nosht.) |
| “Goodnight.” |
| When you go to bed, you would hear a Bulgarian person wishing you Лека нощ |
| (Leka nosht.) |
| This is goodnight. |
| Goodnight! Goodnight! I remember a song from my childhood. There was a television show just before little kids would go to bed and the show was called, |
| Лека нощ, деца! |
| (Leka nosht, detsa!) |
| Good night, children! |
| Detsa. And it was about a character named Сънчо (Sancho) which is like a “sleepy boy” |
| Anyway, memories from my childhood. |
| Moving on. |
| 5. Как се казваш? |
| (Kak se kazvash?) |
| “What's your name?” |
| Now that you’ve learned how to greet people according to the part of the day your encounter is happening, how to properly introduce yourself. |
| You can ask them for their name. |
| Как се казваш? |
| (Kak se kazvash?) |
| This is pretty much asking “what’s your name?” |
| You can also make it plural or formal by saying TE at the end. |
| Как се казвате? |
| Kak se kazvate? |
| “What is your name?” formal. |
| And how do we reply to that? |
| 6. Аз съм Мая. |
| (Az sam Maya.) |
| “I'm Маya.” |
| Аз съм Даря. |
| (Az sam Darya.) |
| This is a way of saying, “I am Darya.” |
| And what do we usually add after that – after we introduce our name? |
| 7. Приятно ми е да се запознаем. |
| (Priyatno mi e da se zapoznaem.) |
| “Nice to meet you.” |
| Usually after we say our name, we would add, |
| Приятно ми е да се запознаем. |
| (Priyatno mi e da se zapoznaem.) |
| Right? It’s very simple. |
| Приятно ми е да се запознаем. |
| (Priyatno mi e da se zapoznaem.) |
| “Nice to meet you.” |
| You can just use the first part of this phrase which is, |
| Приятно ми е |
| (Priyatno mi e) |
| “It’s nice.” |
| That’s pretty much enough for a Bulgarian but if you want to sound more like a true Bulgarian, you got to say, |
| Приятно ми е да се запознаем. |
| (Priyatno mi e da se zapoznaem.) |
| 8. Как си? |
| (Kak si?) |
| “How are you?” |
| This is a classic question you can ask anybody and it’s a door opener by the way. I’ve heard it used quite a lot in the US or other countries. |
| However, please… I beg of you. |
| When you ask Как си? (Kak si?), really show interest and really mean it. Как си? (Kak si?) |
| 9. Благодаря, добре. А ти? |
| (Blagodarya, dobre. A ti?) |
| “I'm fine, thanks. And you?” |
| And usually there is the answer. |
| Благодаря, добре. А ти? |
| (Blagodarya, dobre. A ti?) |
| Literally, “I am fine. Thank you. And how about you?” |
| Благодаря, добре. А ти? |
| (Blagodarya, dobre. A ti?) |
| “I’m fine, thanks. And you?” |
| Literally, Благодаря |
| (Blagodarya) is, |
| “thank you” |
| Добре |
| (dobre) is, |
| “good” |
| Thank you, good. |
| А ти? |
| (A ti?) |
| “And you?” |
| You can juggle with that or you can say how you really feel. You may be moody, you may be happy. You may be anxious. |
| So you can add whatever you like in that little phrase, |
| Blagodarya, dobre. |
| Blagodarya, ne dobre. |
| 10. Моля. |
| (Molya.) |
| “Please.” |
| It’s a very important word because it shows politeness. It shows good intention. This is the Bulgarian word for "please." Please. |
| Also Моля (Molya) means, |
| I beg you. I beg of you. |
| But you can also add it to any sentence if you would like to request something. And we will see later on how to use Моля (Molya) |
| 11. Благодаря. |
| (Blagodarya.) |
| “Thank you.” |
| The next word is a very important one because it shows gratitude. |
| Благодаря. |
| (Blagodarya.) |
| One word. It means, “thank you” |
| But the root of the word is благо |
| (blago) |
| Which is “all the best.” The best things or the nice things. |
| Даря |
| (darya) |
| I am gifting them to you. Like nice things I am giving. |
| So you can say Благодаря |
| (Blagodarya.) |
| But also for people who don’t feel confident in saying this long word in Bulgarian, it’s fine for you to use the French Мерси! Mersi! |
| Because we’ve stolen that one in our language. |
| 12. Пак заповядай. |
| (Pak zapovyaday.) |
| “You're welcome.” |
| And usually if you say Благодаря (Blagodarya), you can say right afterwards, |
| Пак заповядай. |
| (Pak zapovyaday.) |
| “You're welcome.” |
| And you have the nicest of nicest things in your relationship with the person you have just met. |
| Nice. Nice base to work on from then on. |
| 13. Да. |
| (Da.) |
| “Yes.” |
| Here are the two most important words to reply Yes and No question which are the words Yes and No. |
| Да. |
| (Da.) in Bulgarian means, |
| “Yes.” |
| 14. Не. |
| (Ne.) |
| “No.” |
| Не. |
| (Ne.) in Bulgarian means, |
| No. |
| But don’t confuse it with the type of nodding because all over the world, this means Да (Da) and this means (Ne) “No.” |
| But only in Bulgaria, it’s vice versa. So this would mean No and this would mean Yes. Not Ne. Da. Why? |
| I can’t even tell you. I can’t. Some psychology thing, sociology. I don’t know. |
| 15. Добре. |
| (Dobre.) |
| “Okay.” |
| Remember the phrase that we’ve used before, Blagodarya Dobre replying to “how are you feeling today?” |
| Good. Thank you. Good. |
| This is the word Dobre. This means “Okay” in Bulgarian and it’s okay to use it as much as possible just because of the good vibration of it. |
| Dobre. Dobre. |
| 16. Извинете. |
| (Izvinete.) |
| “Excuse me.” |
| Another of the Top 25 Bulgarian phrases that everybody should know is Извинете. |
| (Izvinete.) |
| “Excuse me.” |
| Yes. People should learn how to use this word as much as possible because first of all, Bulgarian people really use it. Why? |
| It’s that if they step on your foot or they push you or punch you, did something horrible to you. They would say, |
| Опа |
| (opa) |
| They may even cross your car and they will say, Опа |
| (opa) |
| Which literally is “Oops.” |
| They would not say “excuse me, I apologize” and they would just go away. |
| I guess we are such people. But really a lot of people say Опа (opa) which is I think it’s a Greek word as well, |
| Опа (opa) |
| Okay. |
| 17. Съжалявам. |
| (Sazhalyavam.) |
| “I'm sorry.” |
| Another good word to use is, |
| Съжалявам. |
| (Sazhalyavam.) |
| “I'm sorry.” |
| Now, this means, “I am sorry.” |
| And I am sorry but a lot of people find difficulty pronouncing the – now, I am having difficulty speaking. |
| Pronouncing the uh in the beginning because we have this sound, uh, uh. |
| The Brazilian people would understand perfectly what I am talking about because they have this sound but if you don’t stress on Съжалявам (Sazhalyavam.) |
| Съжалявам (Sazhalyavam), /uh/, It actually makes you – makes your body feel good after you say it. |
| So I am sorry. Use it as much as you can. |
| 18. Колко е часът? |
| (Kolko e chasat?) |
| “What time is it?” |
| So you are walking in the streets of Sofia or Plovdiv and you have a meeting with a local person to show you around. |
| You’ve agreed to meet at 2 o’clock somewhere but you don’t have a watch. |
| The phone – the battery on your phone is dead. So there is no way for you to know, is it 2 o’clock already or not. |
| Here is a way to ask for it. |
| Колко е часът? |
| (Kolko e chasat?) |
| “What’s the time?” |
| Usually, as an answer, you would get just a number. |
| Two. |
| (dva) |
| два |
| два часа̀, три часа̀, четири (dva chasa, tri chasa, chetiri) |
| And it’s useful if you know the Bulgarian numbers. |
| 19. Къде е тоалетната? |
| (Kade e toaletnata?) |
| “Where is the restroom?” |
| Another very useful phrase which is definitely among the Top 25 Bulgarian Phrases you should know is this one. |
| Къде е тоалетната? |
| (Kade e toaletnata?) The double O. Okay. |
| “Where is the restroom?” |
| I don’t know why – why I feel saying that. Learning this will open a lot of doors for you. |
| Hopefully, it will open a lot of doors for you and you don’t have to wait in front of the restroom but in Bulgaria, there are a lot, a lot of public restrooms around or you can use any café or restaurant for this. |
| And literally, you can just say “toilet” and they will understand you because “toilet” |
| (toaletna) |
| Тоалетна |
| Very similar. |
| 20. Изчакайте за момент. |
| (Izchakayte za moment.) |
| “Wait a moment.” |
| Here is another phrase if you hear somebody say, |
| Изчакайте за момент. |
| (Izchakayte za moment.) |
| They usually mean, “wait a moment.” |
| I hope you don’t hear this in front of the restroom door but in case that happens, you know that you have to wait. |
| Ey! Sometimes in life, you have to wait for the good things to come and to happen to you. |
| 21. Колко струва това? |
| (Kolko struva tova?) |
| “How much is this?” |
| So you’ve had a wonderful day sightseeing and you’ve met the local person and then you enter a souvenir shop but in the souvenir shop, there is no price announced. |
| Now, if that happens, you can ask, |
| Колко струва това? |
| (Kolko struva tova?) |
| “How much is this?” |
| And again, they will give you a number as an answer. So it’s always handy and good to learn the Bulgarian numbers first. |
| 22. Помощ! |
| (Pomosht!) |
| “Help!” |
| If you need help, ask for it. You can say, |
| Помощ! |
| (Pomosht!) |
| “Help!” |
| Yell it as aloud as you can. |
| Помощ! |
| (Pomosht!) |
| It’s a funny thing that we Bulgarians have been exposed so much to Western movies that almost everybody would know the English version of – |
| Помощ! (Pomosht!) |
| which is Help. |
| However, you will sound like a true Bulgarian if you learn Помощ! (Pomosht!) |
| 23. До скоро. |
| (Do skoro.) |
| “See you later.” |
| We are almost towards the end. It seems proper that I give you two phrases of how to part with people. So bear with me. |
| До скоро. |
| (Do skoro.) |
| Means “see you later.” |
| 24. Довиждане. |
| (Dovizhdane.) |
| “Goodbye.” |
| Another word would be, |
| Довиждане. |
| (Dovizhdane.) |
| “Goodbye.” |
| And don’t be afraid to use the Italian Чао! Chao! |
| Because it’s so short and so easy and everybody uses it and this is another foreign word that we have stolen and claimed in our Bulgarian language. |
| 25. Не знам. |
| (Ne znam.) |
| “I don't know.” |
| Не знам. |
| (Ne znam.) |
| This is the way of saying, “I don’t know.” |
| And in my personal opinion, this phrase can get you out of almost any situation. |
| Whatever they ask you, you just say, |
| Не знам |
| (Ne znam.) |
| And you can add български (balgarski) at the end of that sentence. |
| For example, |
| Не знам български. |
| (Ne znam balgarski.) |
| And that will be enough for the people to leave you alone. Uh-huh. |
| If you do know Bulgarian which you do by watching BulgarianPod101.com, you can just say, |
| Знам |
| (znam) |
| “I know” |
| български. |
| (balgarski.) |
| Bulgarian. |
| Не знам български. |
| Ne znam balgarski. |
| “I know Bulgarian.” |
| Great. Seems like we’ve reached the end of this episode of BulgarianPod101.com and you now know the Top 25 Bulgarian Phrases everybody should know. Great. |
| That’s amazing. I am proud of you. |
| And by the way, for more Bulgarian, Click. Subscribe here under this video and leave me a comment about which of this you would say to a stranger or go to BulgarianPod101.com for more lessons in Bulgarian. |
| I am your host Daria and I can’t wait until we meet you next time. Until then… |
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