Learn some common verb prefixes in Bulgarian
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Intro |
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| Michael: What are some verb prefixes in Bulgarian? |
| Yana: And why are they useful to know? |
| Michael: At BulgarianPod101.com, we hear these questions often. Imagine the following situation: Karen Lee hears a new word that sounds familiar, but she isn't sure about the meaning and asks her friend, |
| "What does "podpisvam" mean?" |
| Karen Lee: Какво означава "подписвам"? (Kakvo oznachava "podpisvam"?) |
| Dialogue |
| Karen Lee: Какво означава "подписвам"? (Kakvo oznachava "podpisvam"?) |
| Tanya Kamenova: Означава "подписвам" или буквално "да пиша под," (Oznachava "podpisvam" ili bukvalno "da pisha pod,") |
| Michael: Once more with the English translation. |
| Karen Lee: Какво означава "подписвам"? |
| Michael: "What does "podpisvam" mean?" |
| Tanya Kamenova: Означава "подписвам" или буквално "да пиша под," |
| Michael: "It means "to sign," or literally, "to write under." |
Lesson focus |
| Michael: Just as in many other languages, verbs can be very complicated to study in Bulgarian. That's because they are inflected for person, number, and in some instances, gender. That's one of the reasons you sometimes see verbs in Bulgarian with the same root but different prefixes, or |
| Yana: представка (predstavka) |
| Michael: This indicates a grammar particle always placed before the root of a verb and gives it a new meaning. Let's see some of these prefixes: |
| Yana: без (bez), |
| Michael: which can be translated as "from" |
| Yana: из (iz) |
| Michael: which can be translated as "in" |
| Yana: въз (vaz) |
| Michael: which can be translated as "under" |
| Yana: през (prez) |
| Michael: which can be translated as "through." Please find the rest in the Lesson Notes. These prefixes "tint" the root of Bulgarian verbs, which can be either in the imperfective form, |
| Yana: глаголи от несвършен вид (glagoli ot nesvarshen vid) |
| Michael: or in the perfective form, |
| Yana: глаголи от свършен вид (glagoli ot svarshen vid) |
| Michael: Perfective verbs can be formed from imperfective verbs either by prefixation or suffixation. In most cases, when prefixes are used, the meaning of the resulting verb is often different from the original one. |
| In case you don't remember, the imperfective form of a verb indicates that the action is in progress or has not yet been completed. It can also refer to ongoing, or habitual, actions. |
| While the perfective form indicates that the action has a beginning and a definite end, it's a one-time action. |
| [Recall] |
| Michael: Now, let's take a closer look at the dialogue. |
| Do you remember how Karen says "What does "podpisvam" mean?" |
| (pause 4 seconds) |
| Yana as Karen Lee: Какво означава "подписвам"? |
| Michael: Now, let's take a look at our second sentence. |
| Do you remember how Tanya says "It means "to sign," or literally, "to write under?" |
| (pause 4 seconds) |
| Yana as Tanya Kamenova: Означава "подписвам" или буквално "да пиша под," |
| Michael: In this example, we can distinguish the prefix literally meaning "under" |
| Yana: под (pod) |
| Michael: in front of the root of the verb "write" or |
| Yana: пиша (pisha) |
| Michael: All together, it's |
| Yana: подписвам (podpisvam). |
| Michael: This literally means "under-write," but translates as "to sign," This example also shows how the imperfective form of the verb "write" changes into a perfective form with the help of a prefix. |
| Expansion |
| Michael: Let's look at some more examples of different verb prefixes and how they change the same verb root. Take the verb "pick" or |
| Yana: бера (bera) |
| Michael: and add the prefixes |
| Yana: из- (iz-), под- (pod-), and съ- (sa-) |
| Michael: Now, you have three new verbs which are: |
| Yana: избера, подбера, събера (izbera, podbera, sabera) |
| Michael: Meaning "elect," "select." and "collect." Pretty easy, right? |
| Michael: Did you know that you can form a verb in Bulgarian with two prefixes? Let's take the verb "write" again, |
| Yana: пиша (pisha) |
| Michael: and add not one, but two prefixes in front of it: |
| Yana: пре- (pre-) and на- (na-) |
| Michael: The new verb is a derivative of the verb "write" and translates as "rewrite" or |
| Yana: пренапиша (prenapisha) |
| Michael: Sometimes prefixes can be paronyms, so watch out for those when you hear them. They sound almost the same but have completely different meanings. For example, the prefixes |
| Yana: пре- (pre), and при- (pri-) |
| Michael: When you use them with the root verb "give" or |
| Yana: давам (davam), |
| Michael: you get |
| Yana: предавам (predavam) |
| Michael: which means "hand over" and |
| Yana: придавам (pridavam), |
| Michael: which means "attach" |
| Expansion |
| Michael: And did you know that there can be verbs with four or even six prefixes? It sounds a bit complicated, but let's see an example. Try to distinguish all the prefixes. |
| Yana: изпонаприказвам (izponaprikazvam) [SLOW] изпонаприказвам |
| Michael: There are four prefixes in front of the root of the verb and they are: |
| Yana: из- (iz-), по- (po-), на- (na), and при- (pri), |
| Michael: altogether this word means "having exhausted a topic," |
Outro |
| Michael: Do you have any more questions? We're here to answer them! |
| Yana: До скоро! |
| Michael: See you soon! |
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