Hi Millie!

Sorry for the confusion. The dictionary definition of бихте is would. However, could and would are sometimes interchangeable, e.g. Could you pass me the salt? and Would you pass me the salt? They will be both translated as Бихте ли ми подали солта? In Bulgarian.

I hope this answers your question.

Cheers,

Viktoria

Team BulgarianPod101.com

hi you know on the lesson audio it said that "бихте" means "could" but on the vocabulary it says that it means "would". so which one is it or is it both?

Hi, Ashlee!

'Povtorete' is the imperative form of “repeat” as in “Povtorete, molya” (Repeat please). “Povtori” is the same but in second person singular informal.

“Povtorili” is the second person plural (informal/formal) of the past active participle of the verb “povtorya” (repeat). This form of the verb is used in polite forms after “would”.

Bihte li izchakali? (Would you wait?)

It probably sounds too complicated but you will get used to these. Maybe it’s better to memorize the phrases for now.

“Vie” is the polite form for both singular and plural. For example, you will use “Bihte li povtorili” for one person or many people in a formal situation.

I hope this helps. Enjoy the course :)

Kind regards,

Viktoria

Team BulgarianPod101.com

Hi!

Loving this course so far!

However i'm stuck here.

I don't know the difference between 'povtorete' and 'povtorili'.

Quote- The first word, povtorete (повторете), is the polite second person plural form of the verb "repeat." You can use it when you speak to one person formally or to a group of people formally or informally.

- and -

Now we can take a look at the last word in the phrase, povtorili (повторили), which is the second person polite form of the verb "repeat."

So from what I understand, both would have 'vie' in front of them. I never knew there were 2 variations for the 'vie' conjugations - one for polite singular and one for polite plural?

Thanks

Hello Titia,

This is correct, “повтори” is second person singular and “повторили” is either a formal form for second person singular or informal/formal for second person plural. This is valid for all verbs. The formal form for second person singular is the same as the informal/formal form for second person plural. The informal and formal forms for second person plural are the same.

For example: “Бихте ли повторили, моля?”can refer to second person singular (formal) or second person plural (informal/formal).

I hope this makes things clearer.

Kind regards,

Viktoria

Team BulgarianPod101.com

In the lesson you say: "The informal version of the phrase is povtori, molya (повтори, моля) where povtori (повтори) is the second person singular form of the verb "repeat." This is used with friends or close acquaintances."

In the quiz you say this is coorect:

' 1. повторили → to repeat (polite second person plural form in this context, can be used to talk formally to a single person as well as formally or informally to a group of people)".

My question is повторили formal or informal?

Hi Georgia,

you get it right, especially for the pronunciation of "в" as in в Сао Пауло. Whereas in "от", "т" is a voiceless consonant, therefore we pronounce it as it is.

Best regards,

Tina

BulgarianPod101.com Team

Благодаря, Тина!

Now, I see. I guess this rule also holds for the words "в" and "от" when a word with a consonant follows, e.g. Живея в Сао Пауло.

Hi Georgia,

you noticed quite correctly.

Consonants in Bulgarian are divided in pairs, consisting of one voiced and one voiceless consonant. When a voiced consonant stands in front of a voiceless consonant, it is also pronounced as if it is voiceless. the same happens if a voiced consonant is the last letter of the word:

Let me give you an example with these pairs of a voiced and voiceless consonants: в-ф, г-к, and д-т.

So, when you pronounce повтарям, it might sound closer to поф-тарям.

However, in повдигам (to lift, to raise), you pronounce it пов-дигам.

The same patten you can notice here:

подвиг (an act of bravery) pronounced as под-вик

or here:

подтиквам (to earge, to incite) pronounced as пот-тиквам

I hope these examples would help you get your way with the Bulgarian pronunciation :)

Best regards,

Tina

BulgarianPod101.com

Does "в" before consonants sound like "ф"? I've been noticing that in повторете and other words.