Learn how to say you're going to be late
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Becky: Hello and welcome back to BulgarianPod101.com. This is Lower Beginner, season 1, lesson 15 - Running Late in Bulgaria. I’m Becky. |
| Iva: Zdravei And I’m Iva. |
| Becky: In this lesson you'll learn how to talk about being late in Bulgarian. |
| Iva: The conversation takes place in front of a hotel. |
| Becky: It’s between Maria and James; Maria is on time for the meeting but James is late. |
| Iva: Yes. Also, the speakers are friends now so their speech is informal |
| Becky: Ok, let’s listen to the conversation. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Becky: In this dialogue, James was late... |
| Iva: So let’s talk about punctuality in Bulgaria. I think lack of punctuality in Bulgaria is a bit exaggerated, because foreigners are usually advised to get used to people arriving late in Bulgaria. |
| Becky: Although this might be true in some cases, when it’s a business meeting or related to business, this isn’t a problem. |
| Iva: Yes, people need to be on time for business meetings, and Bulgarians know and respect it. But it is true that if you have a more casual relationship with the person who is late, and if you have arranged to meet in a cafe or restaurant for example, it may be worth waiting 15 to 30 minutes before deciding to leave. |
| Becky: Quite often being late is due to some traffic problem, and that can’t be foreseen. |
| Iva: Yes, that’s always a possibility! |
| Becky: Still, the person who is running late will usually try to tell the person they’re meeting about it. So conversations like the one in the dialogue are quite common. |
| Iva: But of course, we should not forget good manners! |
| Becky: Finally, Bulgarians like a relaxed way of living, so that’s why they’re more free about time when it comes to informal meetings. |
| Iva: Yes, that is also true… |
| Becky: Anyway, thanks for another good tip about Bulgarian society. Now let’s move on to the vocab. |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Becky: Let’s take a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| Iva: The first word from this dialogue is “Бавя се”. |
| Becky: It is a verb meaning something like “to be late” or “to take too long” while doing something. It comes from another verb that means “being delayed” or “procrastinate”. You use it to describe someone or something that is not arriving or happening on time. |
| Iva: Yes. |
| Becky: OK, again, listeners, repeat after Iva, please! |
| Iva: “Бавя се”. |
| Becky: What’s next? |
| Iva: “Навреме”. |
| Becky: This is an adverb meaning “on time” or “in time”. And it’s used in the same way as in English. |
| Becky: So it usually goes at the end of the sentence. |
| Iva: Yeah, we can say that. The word itself is made from the preposition “на”, which means “on”, and the word for “time” you already should know, “време” in Bulgarian. |
| Becky: OK, what’s the last word? |
| Iva: “Звъня”. |
| Becky: This is means “to ring” or “to call”. |
| Iva: It’s used when we call someone on the phone… |
| Becky: Is there anything special about it? |
| Iva: Well, usually the expression “on the phone” which is “по телефона” in Bulgarian, is omitted, because we know by the context that we are talking about a phone call. |
| Becky: So we just say the verb, “to call”… |
| Iva: Yes, “Звъня”, without saying “on the phone”, “по телефона”. |
| Becky: And of course, it can be used in situations, like for example, ringing on a doorbell, and so on. |
| Iva: Yes, everything that rings uses this verb in Bulgarian. |
| Becky: Great, I guess that’s all for the vocabulary part. So let’s move on to the grammar! |
| GRAMMAR POINT |
| Becky: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to talk about being late in Bulgarian. Let’s say you’re late for an appointment, and you want to inform the place about the delay and that you are going to be “right there” or that it will take “just a moment”. |
| Iva: Bulgarian has these same expressions. For example, you can say “Ей сега идвам!” |
| Becky: This is a very casual way to say “I’ll be right there!” to your friend or partner. |
| Iva: This sentence is composed of the adverb “ей сега”, which means something like “just now”, and is usually put in sentences with the meaning “right away”. Then we have the verb “to come” which is “идвам” in the first person singular form. |
| Becky: In this case, it’s “(I am) coming”. |
| Iva: Yes, so altogether we have something like “(I am) coming right away!” |
| Becky: Can you repeat the whole sentence for our listeners, please Iva? |
| Iva: Of course, “Ей сега идвам!” |
| Becky: How about another example? |
| Iva: Let’s say “Всеки момент ще съм там”, which roughly means something like “I will be arriving there any moment”. |
| Becky: You can also have very short versions of these types of sentences. |
| Iva: like this one, for example: “Идвам веднага!” which means “Coming right away!” |
| Becky: Can you repeat that one too, Iva? |
| Iva: Sure, it’s “Идвам веднага!” [pause] |
| Becky: What is important to remember here? |
| Iva: You see the same verb “to come” in the same verb form, plus the Bulgarian adverb “веднага” to mean “immediately”, “instantly”, “at once” and of course, “right away”. |
| Becky: How about saying you will be late in more formal situations? |
| Iva: This type of expression sounds a little bit more complicated in formal situations. |
| Becky: You need to explain you are late, and you will need to use some more words to sound official. |
| Iva: Here’s an example: “Съжалявам, че закъснявам, но всеки момент ще съм там!” |
| Becky: This means something like “I’m sorry, I’m late, but I’ll there any moment!” |
| Becky: Can you repeat that one again for the listeners please Iva? |
| Iva: “Съжалявам, че закъснявам, но всеки момент ще съм там!” [pause] |
| Becky: Ok, that’s going to do it for this lesson. Remember to check the lesson notes to reinforce what you’ve learned in this lesson. |
| Iva: And see you in the next lesson! |
Outro |
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| Becky: Thanks for listening, bye! |
| Iva: Bye-bye! |
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