INTRODUCTION |
Becky: Hello and welcome back to BulgarianPod101.com. This is Lower Beginner, season 1, lesson 18 -Take Care on the Bulgarian Streets! I’m Becky. |
Iva: Zdravei Iva here! |
Becky: In this lesson you'll learn how to warn someone about a dangerous situation in Bulgarian. |
Iva: The conversation takes place on the street in the center of Sofia. |
Becky: The conversation is between Maria and James; they are walking on the street. |
Iva: They’re friends, so they use informal speech. |
Becky: Let’s listen to the conversation. |
POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
Becky: So there was mention of a tram in this dialogue. |
Iva: Why don’t we see what kind of public transportation you can find in the capital of Bulgaria, Sofia. |
Becky: Ok. Well, I know that trains connect the cities in Bulgaria. |
Iva: That’s true. The public transportation system of Sofia includes the metro, buses, trolleybuses, trams and special van-type cars called “marshrutno taksi” or “marshrutka” in casual language. |
Becky: But we don’t really recommend taking those. |
Iva: Yes. They drive too fast and are often crowded. |
Becky: And they’re also expensive compared to the other transportation options. |
Iva: Yes, and a good one is the Sofia metro. The metro system exists only in Sofia but is quite new – it was opened in 1998. |
Becky: Buses are the most common way to get around in the cities, and because of that they are also the most crowded transportation option. |
Iva: Traffic jams can lead to delays, but generally buses come on time. |
Becky: Trolleybuses and trams are considered to be not so fast and comfortable in Sofia, but sometimes they are the only connection to certain areas. |
Iva: There are also taxis which are operated by different companies and are, of course, the most expensive transportation in Sofia. |
Becky: Those are some good tips, listeners. Now let’s move onto 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: First we have the word “Какъв”. |
Becky: This is an adjective that means “what”. So it changes its forms when we are talking about objects in different genders. |
Iva: Yes, and its forms are “какъв” for the masculine, “каква” for the feminine, “какво” for the neuter, and “какви” for the plural. |
Becky: OK, listeners, repeat after Iva! |
Iva: for the masculine “какъв” [pause], for the feminine “каква” [pause], for the neuter “какво” [pause], and for the plural, “какви” [pause]. |
Becky: What do we have next? |
Iva: “Трамвай” |
Becky: This noun means “tram”. |
Iva: It’s in the masculine, just like other transport words. |
Becky: For example? |
Iva: The other transportation includes buses, “автобуси”; trolleybuses, “тролейбуси” or “тролеи” in short; and sometimes specific cars called “маршрутни таксита” or “маршрутки”. |
Becky: Which we’ve mentioned before - do you remember, listeners? Iva, what’s our next word? |
Iva: “Разсейвам” |
Becky: This is an interesting word. It means “to distract”. |
Iva: Exactly. It can have more complex meanings like “disperse” or “scatter”… |
Becky: ...but its general meaning is something like an action that is connected with shifting your attention from something important, to something unimportant. |
Iva: Yes, and from the same verb we have an adjective meaning “absent-minded” - “разсеян” in Bulgarian. |
Becky: “absent-minded”, I will remember that. |
Iva: OK. And now to the grammar! |
GRAMMAR POINT |
Becky: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to warn someone about a dangerous situation. |
Iva: When you’re in a dangerous situation and someone wants to point out that there’s something you should be careful about, you can use one of these expressions. |
Becky: They usually include warning words. Iva, what’s an example? |
Iva: We can have the simple sentence “Внимавай!” in Bulgarian, |
Becky: which means “Be careful!”. |
Iva: Yes. James said it in the dialogue “А, внимавай, трамвай!” |
Becky: Yes. To refresh your memory, the one that means “Oh, careful, the tram!” He wanted to warn Maria about the approaching tram. |
Iva: Yes, and it was the imperative form of the verb “внимавам” which means “to be careful”; “to attend”; “to mind”; “to beware” and so on. |
Becky: So it is something like saying “(You) be careful!” |
Iva: Then we can have another verb in the same type of form, the imperative, directed at the person you’re talking to. |
Becky: And it is..? |
Iva: “Пази се!” |
Becky: This means “Watch out!”; “Look ahead!” or “Take care!”. |
Iva: Yes. It’s formed from the verb “пазя” which means “to keep”, “to preserve”, “to protect”, “to guard” and so on. |
Becky: So the form literally means something like “Guard yourself!” |
B: Yep. Here are the two examples so far… |
Becky: Listeners, repeat after Iva. |
Iva: “Внимавай!”[pause] “Пази се!” [pause] |
Becky: “Be careful!” and “Watch out!” |
Iva: Yes. And if you need to warn about danger in a formal situation… |
Becky: ...you would say the same kinds of warnings to people who are superior, or to a group of people. |
Iva: In this case, you will use another verb form for the plural of the same imperative form. |
Becky: Can you give us an example? |
Iva: Yes. So the first example will change like this: “Внимавайте!”, which means “(You) be careful!” in the plural or for a formal situation, and then “Пазете се!”, meaning “Guard (yourselves)!” |
Becky: OK. Listeners, repeat after Iva. |
Iva: “Внимавайте!”[pause] which means “(You) be careful!” and “Пазете се!”,[pause] meaning “Guard (yourselves)!” |
Becky: Ok listeners. For more examples, check the lesson notes |
Outro
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Iva: Okay everyone, that’s it for this lesson. |
Becky: Thanks for listening, everyone. Bye-bye! |
Iva: Bye! |
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