Learn how to use the conditional to express your opinion
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Eric: Hi everyone, and welcome back to BulgarianPod101.com. This is Intermediate Season 1 Lesson 13 - Expressing Your Bulgarian Opinion. Eric here. |
| Tina: Здравейте. I'm Tina. |
| Eric: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to use the conditional when expressing opinions. The conversation takes place at the airport, listening to a radio broadcast. |
| Tina: It's between Dimitar and Rayna Tabakova. |
| Eric: The speakers are strangers, so they’ll use formal Bulgarian. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Димитър: Какво от Вашия богат опит се опитвате да предадете на Вашите ученици? |
| Райна Табакова: Всички сме различни и всеки носи нещо свое. А за нещастие, някои се мъчат да имитират някого си. Но аз никога не съм се и опитвала да подражавам. На своите ученици бих искала да помогна да открият своята индивидуалност. |
| Димитър: Политиката вълнува ли Ви? |
| Райна Табакова: Винаги. Но в България не я познавам. Би трябвало да живееш в страната, за да даваш оценка. |
| Димитър: Казват, че изкуството ще спаси света. |
| Райна Табакова: Изкуството няма да спаси света, това са глупости, но поне ни дава по-хубав живот. |
| Димитър: Някои смятат операта за отживелица. Какво ще кажете, ако видите човек по дънки и тениска в операта? |
| Райна Табакова: Това е нашето време, не бих се бунтувала. |
| Eric: Listen to the conversation with the English translation. |
| Dimitar: What do you try to teach your students from your rich experience? |
| Rayna Tabakova: We’re all different and everyone has something unique. Unfortunately, some people try to imitate others. I have never tried it myself. I would like to help my students discover their own individuality. |
| Dimitar: Do politics excite you? |
| Rayna Tabakova: Always. But I don’t know about them in Bulgaria. You should live in a country in order to give an assessment. |
| Dimitar: They say that arts will save the world... |
| Rayna Tabakova: The arts will not save the world. That is nonsense, but at least they make our lives more beautiful. |
| Dimitar: Some believe that opera is obsolete. What would you say if you saw someone wearing jeans and a t-shirt to the opera? |
| Rayna Tabakova: This is our time, I wouldn't disagree. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Eric: Tina, the dialogue was an interesting interview with an opera singer. Was it inspired by a real person? |
| Tina: Yes, Raina Kabaivanska, who is currently the most famous Bulgarian opera soprano abroad. |
| Eric: Tell us something about her. |
| Tina: She celebrated her 80th birthday in 2014. She graduated from the Bulgarian State Conservatory and debuted on the Bulgarian stage in 1957. Shortly after this she was sent to Italy, debuted at the Milan La Scala in 1961, and has been living in Italy ever since. |
| Eric: It seems she has a special aura. |
| Tina: Right, from her interviews it’s clear that she is a very open and direct person and at the same time a refined lady. |
| Eric: Is there a Bulgarian expression that would fit this great singer? |
| Tina: Yes, живот на сцената |
| Eric: which means "a life on the stage." Okay, now onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Eric: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is.. |
| Tina: нещастие [natural native speed] |
| Eric: misfortune, unhappiness |
| Tina: нещастие[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Tina: нещастие [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Tina: имитирам [natural native speed] |
| Eric: to imitate, to copy |
| Tina: имитирам[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Tina: имитирам [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Tina: подражавам [natural native speed] |
| Eric: to emulate |
| Tina: подражавам[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Tina: подражавам [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Tina: индивидуалност [natural native speed] |
| Eric: individuality, personality |
| Tina: индивидуалност[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Tina: индивидуалност [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Tina: оценка [natural native speed] |
| Eric: assessment, grade |
| Tina: оценка[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Tina: оценка [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Tina: спасявам [natural native speed] |
| Eric: to rescue, to save |
| Tina: спасявам[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Tina: спасявам [natural native speed] |
| Eric: Next we have.. |
| Tina: отживелица [natural native speed] |
| Eric: something obsolete, outdated |
| Tina: отживелица[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Tina: отживелица [natural native speed] |
| Eric: And last. |
| Tina: бунтувам се [natural native speed] |
| Eric: to rebel, to object |
| Tina: бунтувам се[slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Tina: бунтувам се [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 phrase is.. |
| Tina: за нещастие |
| Eric: meaning "unfortunately." |
| Tina: за is the preposition "for" and нещастие is a noun meaning "misfortune,” or “unhappiness." |
| Eric: The expression is largely used to indicate that the speaker feels sorry that something happened. Can you give us an example using this word? |
| Tina: Sure. For example, you can say.. За нещастие, чуждестранният инвеститор оттегли офертата си. |
| Eric: ..which means "Unfortunately, the foreign investor withdrew their offer." |
| Tina: Although за нещастие is neutral, in very formal situations Bulgarians would use the expression по неприятно стечение на обстоятелствата, which essentially expresses the same feeling of regret. |
| Eric: Here, though, instead of implying it directly, the situation is regarded in a more objective way, with something like "due to unfavorable conditions." Okay, what's the next phrase? |
| Tina: подражавам на някого |
| Eric: meaning "to follow someone's example." |
| Tina: подражавам is an imperfective verb meaning "to emulate." It might be considered a shortened form of the expression по държанието на някого meaning "after someone else's behavior or example." |
| Eric: The phrase is used to indicate that someone is following someone else's example, copying their behavior, or generally holding someone in such high regard that they follow their example. Can you give us an example using this word? |
| Tina: Sure. For example, you can say.. Той се опитва да подражава на шефа си, но определено няма неговата увереност. |
| Eric: .. which means "He is trying to follow his boss' example but definitely does not have his confidence." |
| Tina: When copying a style, most often an outfit, other expressions would be used such as копирам стила на някого |
| Eric: “copy someone's style,” |
| Tina: or обличам се като някого- |
| Eric: meaning "to dress up as someone." Okay, now onto the lesson focus. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Eric: In this lesson you'll learn how to use the conditional when expressing opinions. You will learn how to form conditional sentences when talking about different points of view, when expressing beliefs, giving advice or expressing disagreement, and when talking generally about the future. Let’s start with the conditional mood |
| Tina: The conditional mood in Bulgarian is similar to the English, for example Ако бях на твое място, щях да (направя нещо). or Ако бях на твое място, бих (направил нещо). |
| Eric: Literally, these mean, "If I were in your shoes, I would ~ " This is an example of the pure conditional when an action is dependent on the condition set in the “if” sentence. |
| Tina: The first example, Ако бях на твое място, щях да (направя нещо), would be used among friends in a conversational situation. The second one, Ако бях на твое място, бих (направил нещо), is actually the grammatically correct form. |
| Eric: The conditional construct is formed in Bulgarian from two parts. |
| Tina: Right, бих, which is the past aorist form of the auxiliary verb съм “to be,” and направил, or the past active aorist participle of the main verb, in this case “to do.” |
| Eric: How is the past active aorist participle formed? |
| Tina: The past active aorist participle is formed from the 1st person singular past aorist form of the verb, for example, направих. From there, the final letter х is removed and replaced by л, направил. |
| Eric: Then this form changes as an adjective according to gender and number. |
| Tina: Right, направил, направила, направило, направили. |
| Eric: Let’s give another example. |
| Tina: Ако бях на твое място, щях просто да я попитам. |
| Eric: "If I were you, I'd just ask her." As is the case with many languages, the hypothetical period does not convey only its proper cause-effect meaning, but it’s also related to the politeness level of the conversation. |
| Tina: Using the conditional is also the polite way to give suggestions or make requests to other people. Don’t forget to use the appropriate Ви-form when necessary, for example, Вие бихте ли обмислили това предложение? |
| Eric: “Would you consider this proposal?” |
| Tina: Би ли затворил вратата, моля? |
| Eric: “Would you close the door, please?” When using the conditional in polite conversation, we’re actually talking about a future action using past forms of the verbs. |
| Tina: Another peculiarity is that the really polite forms are quite long, and people tend to shorten them in conversations. For example, let’s look again at Вие бихте ли обмислили това предложение? |
| Eric: which means “Would you consider this proposal?” |
| Tina: In its complete form, it would be Вие бихте ли били така любезни да обмислите това предложение? |
| Eric: which can be also translated as “Would you be so kind as to consider this proposal?” |
| Tina: As we’re talking about a future action, another possible way to ask the question is, Вие ще бъдете ли така любезни да обмислите това предложение? |
| Eric: Literally meaning “Will you be so kind as to consider this proposal?” |
| Tina: In conversational situations you might also hear Ще затворите ли прозореца, моля? |
| Eric: “Will you close the window, please?” |
| Tina: This is just a shortened version of the request without the polite phrase ще бъдете ли така любезни, |
| Eric: meaning “would you be so kind as to.” Finally, another possible use of the conditional mood is to express intention or desire. |
| Tina: For example Да, благодаря, бих опитала тези сладки. |
| Eric: ”Yes, thank you, I would like to try these cookies.” |
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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