Learn all you need to know about greetings in Bulgarian
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Intro |
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| Michael: How do you greet someone at different times of the day? |
| Yana: And are there any alternatives? |
| Michael: At BulgarianPod101.com, we hear these questions often, so let's help answer them by giving some examples. In the following scenario, Ben Lee greets his friend, but he didn't notice how late it already is. Ben says, "Good morning." |
| Ben Lee: Добро утро. (Dobro utro.) |
| Dialogue |
| Ben Lee: Добро утро. (Dobro utro.) |
| Lidiya Angelova: Вече минава 10 ч. Добър ден. (Veche minava 10 ch. Dobar den.) |
| Michael: Once more with the English translation. |
| Ben Lee: Добро утро. |
| Michael: "Good morning." |
| Lidiya Angelova: Вече минава 10 ч. Добър ден. |
| Michael: "It is already past 10 a.m. Good day." |
Lesson focus |
| Michael: In this lesson, we will talk about time-sensitive Bulgarian greetings. Bulgarian, similarly to English, has some greetings that are used depending on the time of the day, or |
| Yana: време на деня (vreme na denya) |
| Michael: And, similar to English, Bulgarian has greetings for three different times of the day. The first one is |
| Yana: Добро утро (Dobro utro) |
| Michael: which means, "Good morning." This is the acceptable greeting in the early hours of the day till around 10:00 a.m. |
| Yana: Добър ден (Dobar den) |
| Michael: or "Good afternoon." It literally means "Good day." It is used during the second part of the day, from 10:00 a.m. till sunset. Unlike English, there is no specific greeting during the afternoon hours. |
| Yana: Добър вечер (Dobar vecher) |
| Michael: "Good evening." This is a greeting you can use after the sun has set. |
| Now, let's look at one more greeting. |
| Michael: These greetings in Bulgarian can be used both in a casual and a formal context. |
| [Recall 1] |
| Michael: Let's take a closer look at the dialogue. |
| Do you remember how Ben says "Good morning?" |
| (pause 4 seconds) |
| Yana as Ben Lee: Добро утро. (Dobro utro) |
| Michael: As we've learned, "Good morning" is used in the early morning hours. However, there is another way that Ben Lee could greet his friend, and this is with a friendly |
| Yana: Здравей! (Zdravey!) |
| Michael: meaning "Hello." He could also say |
| Yana: Хей! (Hey!) |
| Michael: or "Hey!" This is a quite casual exclamation to greet a friend or an equal, so reserve its use only for people you're very close to. This exclamation is intended to draw the attention of the other person and is mostly used together with the previous greeting: |
| Yana: Хей, здравей! (Hey, zdravey!) |
| Michael: You can use these greetings no matter the time of the day, but remember that they are considered informal. If you are addressing strangers and you are not exactly certain which greeting to use at any time of the day, you can safely go with the friendly and formal: |
| Yana: Здравейте! (Zdraveyte!) |
| Michael: meaning "Hello." |
| [Recall 2] |
| Michael: Now, let's take a look at our second sentence. |
| Do you remember how Ben's friend says "It is already past 10 a.m. Good day?" |
| (pause 4 seconds) |
| Yana as Lidiya Angelova: Вече минава 10 ч. Добър ден. (Veche minava 10 ch. Dobar den.) |
| Michael: We've explained that "Good morning" or |
| Yana: Добро утро. (Dobro utro) |
| Michael: is used in the early hours of the day till around 10:00 a.m. Once the clock strikes 10:00 a.m., you can use |
| Yana: Добър ден (Dobar den) |
| Michael: "Good afternoon" or again |
| Yana: Добър ден (Dobar den) |
| Michael: Again, you can use this last expression until nighttime begins, usually around sunset. You are also safe to use the neutral and friendly: |
| Yana: Здравейте! (Zdraveyte!) |
| Michael: "Hello." during any time of the day. |
| [Summary] |
| Michael: In this lesson, we learned that Bulgarian, similarly to English, has time-related greetings, which are |
| Yana: Добро утро (Dobro utro) |
| Michael: for "Good morning," in the early hours of the day till around 10:00 a.m, |
| Yana: Добър ден (Dobar den) |
| Michael: for "Good day," between 10:00 a.m. until sunset, |
| Yana: Добър вечер (Dobar vecher) |
| Michael: and "Good evening," usually starting at 6:00 p.m. And then there's |
| Yana: Здравейте (Zdraveyte) |
| Michael: which is equivalent to "Hello!," It is a time-neutral alternative for "Good morning" and "Good afternoon" when addressing strangers. |
| Expansion |
| Michael: Speaking of "Hello," did you know that there are several ways to use this greeting in Bulgarian? The first one is |
| Yana: Здрасти (Zdrasti) |
| Michael: This is the equivalent of "Hi" in English and is the most informal way to greet someone. You should only use this when saying hi to a close friend or a family member. The next one is |
| Yana: Здравей (Zdravey) |
| Michael: which we have already covered. It means "Hello," and can be used when greeting one person. And there's |
| Yana: Здравейте (Zdraveyte) |
| Michael: This also means, "Hello" and should be used when greeting a group of people. You can also use this when speaking politely to just one person. |
| Cultural Insight |
| Michael: Bulgaria is a fairly formal society, so don't be surprised if initial greetings are more reserved in Bulgaria than in other Western countries. A formal greeting consists of a firm handshake and direct eye contact. Of course, it's important to use a greeting that's appropriate for the time of the day just as we have discussed. Remember to also address people by their titles if you know them—or, you can say |
| Yana: господин (gospodin) |
| Michael: to address someone as "Mr." and |
| Yana: госпожа (gospozha) |
| Michael: to address someone as "Mrs." followed by their surname. And one thing you shouldn't forget when greeting people in a group is to greet each person individually starting with the women and the elderly. |
Outro |
| Michael: Do you have any more questions? We're here to answer them! |
| Yana: До скоро! (Do skoro!) |
| Michael: See you soon! |
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