The Focus of this Lesson is How to Speak in a Formal Context
Заповядайте! Уговорката Ви е с мен.
Zapovyadayte! Ugovorkata Vi e s men.
"Come in! Your appointment is with me."

1. Introduction of Personal Pronouns and the Subject Nominative

There are a total of nine categories of pronouns in Bulgarian language. Although nowadays no case forms are used by Bulgarians when they speak, three case forms have remained in the personal and interrogative pronouns forms. It takes some time and practice to learn them all. We will start with the Nominative form of the personal pronouns, and will introduce other cases and types of pronouns in the following lessons.

The Nominative (dictionary form) of pronouns is divided in two main groups according to number, and three sub-groups according to whether it is in first, second, or third-person:

Personal Pronouns in Nominative:

You can always double-check it with the question "Who?"

For example:

1. Кой е това? - Това съм аз.
   "Who is this? - This is me."

*The formal "You":

In the Bulgarian language, there is a clear distinction between the formal and informal language forms. When speaking in a formal setting, no matter whether they are addressing one person or a group of people, Bulgarians use the second person plural form of the personal pronoun, which is вие.

The accepted rule is that in written speech, when Bulgarians want to be polite, they write the respective form of the personal pronoun with a capital letter.

As the verb in Bulgarian changes according to person and number, even if the personal pronoun gets omitted during a conversation, it is still clear whether people are talking in a formal or informal way.

Here are some examples:

The other two remaining case forms are:

Dative

The Dative is a "giving-taking" concept where we point out the "receiver" in the Dative. For example:

1. Той ми даде подарък.
   "He gave me a present."

Той or "he" is a personal pronoun in Nominative and ми or "to me" is the "I" short personal pronoun form in Dative.

Accusative

The Accusative designates a person or thing to whom or which an action is being done.

1. Те ме взеха от летището.
   "They picked me up from the airport."

Те or "they" is a personal pronoun in Nominative and ме or "me" is the "I" short personal pronoun form in Accusative.

2. Omitting the Personal Pronoun

If you would take a closer look back at the dialogue, you would notice that the interviewer and the interviewee hardly used any personal pronouns while they talked. For example, in these lines:

1. Първо, бихте ли се представили накратко?
   "First, would you introduce yourself briefly?"
   OR
   Казвам се Калин и съм студент по психология. Бих желал да започна работа през лятото.
   "My name is Kalin, and I study psychology. I would like to get a job during the summer."
   OR
   Какво имате предвид?
   "What do you mean?"

As you already know, the verbs in Bulgarian change according to person and number, therefore even if you omit the personal pronoun, you will still be able to understand who is the subject of the conversation.

Omitting the personal pronoun in Nominative is actually very common in spoken language, both in informal and formal situations.

However, there are a few cases when the personal pronoun in Nominative CANNOT be omitted and they are as follows:

1. As the verb form of the three genders in third person singular is the same, this is one situation where the personal pronoun in Nominative cannot be omitted. If it is omitted, the sentence will not make sense to the listener.  For example:

We can say:

Отидох на кино. ("I went to the cinema")

Отидохме на кино. ("We went to the cinema")

But we cannot just say:

Отиде на кино. ("went to the cinema,") because the subject might be either she or he. Therefore, we need to add:

Тя/Той отиде на кино. ("She/He went to the cinema")

2. It is not acceptable to omit the personal pronoun in nominative in written formal speech, especially in novels, stories, textbooks, reports, articles, etc.

When you are writing a formal email, you would also be expected to have full sentences and not omit the personal pronouns.

For example, let's compare how Kalin introduced himself in the interview and what he would have done it if he had sent an introductory email to Gergana:

Introduction in the dialogue:

1. Казвам се Калин и съм студент по психология. Бих желал да започна работа през лятото.
   "My name is Kalin, and I study psychology. I would like to get a job during the summer."

Introduction in an email:

1. Уважаема г-жо ... (фамилия),
   Аз се казвам Калин и съм студент по Психология...
   "Dear Ms... (family name),
   My name is Kalin, and I study psychology..."

Examples from the dialogue:

1. Така... Първо, бихте ли се представили накратко?
   Taka... Parvo, bihte li se predstavili nakratko?
   "So... First, would you introduce yourself briefly?"
   Какво имате предвид?
2. Kakvo imate predvid?
   "What do you mean?"

Sample Sentences

1. Каква специалност сте завършили?
   Kakva spetsialnost ste zavarshili?
   "What major did you graduate with?"
2. Къде сте работили преди?
   Kade ste rabotili predi?
   "Where did you work before?"
3. Обаждам се, за да потвърдя срещата Ви за днес от 13 ч.
   Obazhdam se, za da potvardya sreshtata Vi za dnes ot 13 ch.
   "I am calling to confirm your appointment today at 1 p.m."

провеждам събитие
provezhdam intervyu
"to conduct / carry out an event"

провеждам is an imperfective transitive verb and means to do something or to carry out something. The verb is almost exclusively related to the organizing and carrying out of an event. It can be used in phrases such as: провеждам среща ("to hold a meeting"), провеждам избори ("to carry out elections"), провеждам разговор ("to have a talk"), etc.

It is most often used in formal or reported speech, i.e. in a business setting, news announcements, etc. In informal speech, the verb провеждам can be sometimes replaced by правя ("to do"), as in правя среща ("to arrange or hold a meeting"), правя избори ("to hold elections"), etc.

For example:

1. Срещите на Световния икономически форум се провеждат в Давос.
   Sreshtite na Svetovniya ikonomicheski forum se provezhdat v Davos.
   "The meeting of the World Economic Forum takes place in Davos."

1. явявам се (на интервю)
   yavyavam se (na intervyu)
   "to go to an interview"

явявам се is a reflexive verb and literarily means "to appear, to show up, to arrive," and the verb contains the notion of expectedness. It is very close in meaning to the verb появявам се, "to appear, to show up, to come into view," but that verb somehow contains the nuance of unexpectedness or surprise. The two verbs can very often be used as substitutes in the same expressions, but be aware of a few things.

You can say both явявам се на интервю and появявам се на интервю, but in this case, появявам се на интервю would imply that you do it unexpectedly or uninvitedly, whereas явявам се на интервю would imply that you went through a required procedure. The same applies if you use the verbs in expressions related to work as in "to turn up at work": явявам се на работа implies that you are expected and it has been arranged or is an ordinary event, whereas появявам се на работа will contain the notion of unexpectedness, for example, if you are officially on holiday but happen to turn up at the office.

However, in the following expressions you can use the verbs interchangeably:

1. явявам се/появявам се в ролята на - "to figure as" (in a play, in the role of )
2. явявам се/появявам се на бял свят - "to see the light of day"

For example:

1. Бебето се яви на бял свят в 2 часа през нощта.
   Bebeto se yavi na byal svyat v 2 chasa prez noshtta.
   Literally, "The baby saw the light of day at 2 a.m." ("The baby was born at 2 a.m.")

1. подготвям (се за интервю)
   podgotvyam (se za intervyu)
   "to prepare (for an interview)"

подготвям is an imperfective verb meaning "to prepare, to get ready," and it contains the notion that something is in the process of preparation; the perfective form of the verb is подготвя. It can also be a reflexive verb: подготвям се, подготвя се, implying that the action is performed by oneself.

It can be used both in formal and informal situations, for example:

1. Подготви ли си уроците?
   "Have you finished with your homework?"
2. Самолетът се подготвяше за излитане, когато неочаквано затвориха летището.
   "The airplane had been preparing for take off when they closed the airport unexpectedly."

For example:

1. Подготвяш ли се за сватбата?
   Podgotvyash li se za svatbata?
   "Are you getting ready for the wedding?"

Може ли да си говорим на "ти"? ("May we talk in an informal way?")

The formal "you" form is usually referred to as the Vie-form, and the informal as the Ti-form.

When people address each other formally, they usually use their family names. The Vie- form is used when talking to people you do not know, or when you want to demonstrate respect or to acknowledge power distance. Respectively, when people use informal speech, they use their given names. The Ti-form is the language used between friends or when people want to intentionally shorten the power distance.

In the last 20 years, following the "western" pattern of creating a more friendly work environment, people have started using the informal form in the office. Especially in smaller companies, and when the boss is younger (say in their 30s or 40s), people prefer to be addressed by their given name. Even in government administration, people tend to use informal language when talking to colleagues.

Therefore, during an interview, especially if it is conducted by a recruiter, or by the person who is going to be the interviewee's direct supervisor, do not be surprised if shortly after the introduction, you hear the question:

Бихте ли имали нещо против да си говорим на "ти"? ("Would you mind if we talk to each other in the informal form?")

or

Може ли да си говорим на "ти"? ("May we talk in an informal way?")

As mentioned, the Vie- form is the language of respect. Therefore, if you have started a relationship with someone in a formal way, but over time you get really close, you might still continue to address the person in a formal way. For example, if you have a school teacher with whom you still keep in touch even long after you have left school, you might keep addressing your former teacher by their family name and use the Vie- form with them. In this case, the Vie- form is not an expression of power distance, but of your respect to the other person.

Sometimes, as a kind of joke, long-time friends or family members might use the Vie- form to address each other. Then they will use their family names. Here is an example:

1. Какво ще кажете, г-жо Петрова, дали бихте желали да отидем на кино тази вечер?
   "What do you say, Mrs. Petrova, would you like to go to the cinema this evening?"

Finally, a semi-formal way to talk to people exists in the Bulgarian culture. It may occur in a formal context, when you want to slightly shorten the distance between each other, but still to not become too close. In this case, you might hear people using their given names, but talking in the formal Vie- form. For example:

1. Мария, бихте ли организирали, моля, среща между мен и г-н Иванов по някое време следващата седмица?
   "Maria, would you please organize a meeting between me and Mr. Ivanov sometime next week?"