Learn how to use modal participles
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Eric: Hi everyone, and welcome back to BulgarianPod101.com. This is Intermediate Season 1 Lesson 12 - Trying to Come to an Agreement in Bulgaria. Eric here. |
| Tina: Здравейте. I'm Tina. |
| Eric: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to use modal particles in conversation. The conversation takes place on the phone during a coffee break. |
| Tina: It's between Dimitar and Gergana. |
| Eric: The speakers are friends, so they’ll use informal Bulgarian. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Гергана: Здрасти! Тъкмо излизам от интервю и имам време само за едно кафе. Дали имаш малко време? |
| Димитър: Да. В предаване съм, но имам 5 мин. Какво ще се разберем за довечера? |
| Гергана: Оф, дано свърша навреме. Толкова съм изморена, искам да се прибера... Нека просто да гледаме някакъв филм вкъщи. |
| Димитър: Става. Като приключа, ще мина да те взема. Какво искаш да гледаме? |
| Гергана: Какво ще кажеш за "Походът на Императорите"? |
| Димитър: Не съм чувал за този филм. |
| Гергана: Няма актьори, а историята е за хиляди императорски пингвини в Антарктида. Изключително красив филм. |
| Димитър: Оф, звучи ми много скучно, пак някоя от твоите сълзливи истории, нали? Да гледаме нещо по-динамично. "Такси"? Хем има действие, хумор, високи скорости... |
| Гергана: Колко пъти да го гледаме? В настроение съм за нещо спокойно и красиво. |
| Димитър: Добре... Винаги може да свалим нещо друго... |
| Eric: Listen to the conversation with the English translation. |
| Gergana: Hi! I’ve just finished an interview and just now have time for a coffee. Do you have some time? |
| Dimitar: Sure. I’m running a show with Rayna Tabakova. A remarkable woman. What shall we arrange for tonight? |
| Gergana: Uh, I'll finish on time hopefully. I’m so tired, I want to go home...Let's just watch a movie at home. |
| Dimitar: Ok. When I finish, I’ll come pick you up. What do you want to watch? |
| Gergana: What would you say about March of the Penguins? |
| Dimitar: I haven't heard about that movie. |
| Gergana: There are no actors, the story is about thousands of emperor penguins in Antarctica. It’s a very beautiful movie. |
| Dimitar: Oh, sounds boring to me, one of your teary stories again, right? Let's watch something more dynamic. What about Taxi? It has action, humor, high speed... |
| Gergana: How many times do we have to watch it? I’m in the mood for something relaxing and beautiful. |
| Dimitar: Fine... We can always download something else... |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Eric: A commonly heard quote is “humans are social animals,” which means that we all need to be in a relationship or to bond with others. This trait is more pronounced in some nations than in others because of differences in culture. Tina, what about Bulgaria? |
| Tina: According to the famous Hofstede, who researched national cultures, Bulgaria is quite a collectivistic society. People value relationships and invest effort into building long-term ones. |
| Eric: How do people usually network? |
| Tina: Workplaces are the most common place to make connections, but there are also events related to hobbies. |
| Eric: Any examples? |
| Tina: Especially in the bigger cities, you can easily find wine-tasting groups, volunteer organizations, dance clubs, handcrafting workshops, hiking groups, and so on. |
| Eric: What’s the Bulgarian for "to go out with someone as friends"? |
| Tina: излизам да се видя с някого |
| Eric: Thanks! Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Eric: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Tina: излизам от [natural native speed] |
| Eric: to go out of, to leave |
| Tina: излизам от [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Tina: излизам от [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Tina: предаване [natural native speed] |
| Eric: transmission, show, broadcast |
| Tina: предаване[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Tina: предаване [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Tina: разбирам [natural native speed] |
| Eric: to understand, to hear about |
| Tina: разбирам[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Tina: разбирам [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Tina: дано [natural native speed] |
| Eric: hopefully |
| Tina: дано[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Tina: дано [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Tina: изморен [natural native speed] |
| Eric: tired |
| Tina: изморен[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Tina: изморен [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Tina: прибирам се [natural native speed] |
| Eric: to go home, to return |
| Tina: прибирам се[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Tina: прибирам се [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Tina: взимам някого [natural native speed] |
| Eric: to pick somebody up |
| Tina: взимам някого[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Tina: взимам някого [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Tina: сълзлив [natural native speed] |
| Eric: teary, weepy |
| Tina: сълзлив[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Tina: сълзлив [natural native speed] |
| Eric: And last.. |
| Tina: свалям [natural native speed] |
| Eric: to download |
| Tina: свалям[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Tina: свалям [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Eric: Let's have a closer look at some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Tina: разбирам |
| Eric: and it means "to understand,” or “to hear about" and is an imperfective verb. |
| Tina: It can be used as a reflexive verb - разбирам се, but then its meaning changes to "to agree," where ce is the personal reflexive pronoun in accusative. It can be used also in the colloquial phrase както си разбирам, |
| Eric: which means "As I see fit." |
| Tina: The phrase consists of three words- както is the adverb translated as "as," си is a personal reflexive pronoun in dative, and разбирам is the verb "to understand." |
| Eric: The meaning of this phrase implies to the speaker that no matter what they think or advise, the listener will not take it into consideration. Can you give us an example using this phrase? |
| Tina: Sure. For example, you can say.. Каквото и да ми казваш, аз ще си го направя, както си разбирам. |
| Eric: ..which means "No matter what you tell me, I will do as I see fit." Okay, what's the next phrase? |
| Tina: разбирамe се за |
| Eric: meaning "to arrange, to reach an agreement." |
| Tina: разбираме се is the 1st person plural form of the reflexive verb "to understand each other," за is the preposition "for." |
| Eric: The phrase can be followed by a noun or a verb. |
| Tina: If a verb follows it, then the preposition gets replaced by the particle да, connecting the two verbs. |
| Eric: Can you give us an example using this word? |
| Tina: Sure. For example, you can say.. Те се разбраха да се срещнат пред киното в неделя. |
| Eric: .. which means "They arranged to meet in front of the cinema on Sunday." Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Eric: In this lesson, you'll learn how to use modal particles in conversations. |
| Tina: When we retell the plot of a book or a movie, or are describing our reactions to them, we usually try to actively involve the listener by using short words, called modal particles. |
| Eric: Modal particles are very short words, usually from two up to five letters, which make the language more expressive by introducing different nuances, slightly changing or emphasizing the meaning of the words, or helping to form words. |
| Tina: In most cases the origin of the Bulgarian particles can’t be explained, but they’re frequently used. The good news is that they don’t change and have only one form. |
| Eric: The modal particles are usually placed at the beginning or the end of the sentence and their role is mainly to express the mood of the speaker. They usually require the use of a verb. Tina, what’s the first group? |
| Tina: The first group of particles - нали, дали, ли, нима, is used to express emotion while asking a question or expressing an opinion in a question-like form. |
| Eric: Let’s see them one by one. |
| Tina: The most common use of the particle нали is to request confirmation from the listener or to affirm the validity of a fact. |
| Eric: In English, it could be translated as “isn’t it?” “won’t you?” or “right?” Could you give us an example? |
| Tina: Няма да забравиш, нали? |
| Eric: “You won’t forget, will you?” |
| Tina: Another possible use of the particle нали is to express the speaker’s feeling of vexation or displeasure. For example, Нали виждаш, чашата е счупена. |
| Eric: meaning “You see it, right, the cup has been broken.” |
| Tina: The next particle is Дали which usually expresses hesitation, uncertainty, or wondering. You might also consider the question particle ли as a shorter version of дали, but it doesn’t convey any emotion. |
| Eric: Please give us two different examples of this. |
| Tina:We can ask the same thing in two ways - Дали можеш да ми помогнеш? |
| Eric: “Would you be able to help me?” |
| Tina: or simply Можеш ли да ми помогнеш? |
| Eric: ”Can you help me?” Ok, what’s the next particle? |
| Tina: нима, which expresses surprise or disbelief, for example Нима не знаеш, че той стана баща? |
| Eric: “You really didn’t know he became a father?” |
| Tina: The next particle is Дано, which expresses a hope or wish. For example Дано успееш! |
| Eric: Which means “Best of luck!” |
| Tina: Then comes дори, and даже which are used to emphasize statements. |
| Eric: Both of them have a bit of a negative connotation, although they differ slightly in meaning. |
| Tina: Дори can most closely be translated as “even if,” whereas даже might imply the meaning of “on top of everything.” Often, though, they can be used interchangeably. |
| Eric: Could you give us an example with one of them? |
| Tina: Дори и да знаех, нямаше да ти кажа. |
| Eric: “Even if I knew, I wouldn’t have told you.” Ok, what’s the last particle we’ll see for this lesson? |
| Tina: It’s Нека, which most often expresses invitation or urging. |
| Eric: It’s usually translated into English as “Let’s.” Can you give us an example? |
| Tina: Нека не забравяме, че той е все още малко дете. |
| Eric: “Let’s not forget that he is just a little child.” |
| Tina: Нека might also express negative feelings such as a warning or threat, or even indifference. For example, Нека си ходи, нея никога нищо не я интересува. |
| Eric: “Let her go away, she’s never interested in anything.” |
Outro |
| Eric: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time! Bye! |
| Tina: До скоро! |
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