If you’ve just started studying the Bulgarian language, you might need additional motivation to cope with the initial shock that this language usually provokes in foreigners. To give you more confidence for your Bulgarian language learning journey, we have prepared this overview of Bulgarian words in English (and vice-versa).

You’ll definitely be surprised to learn how many words are the same in English and Bulgarian. But this is great news for all learners of the Bulgarian language! Why? Because it means you already know all of these words, their meanings, and how to use them in different situations. That’s a great start, isn’t it?

BulgarianPod101 has prepared this guide to help you quickly recognize these well-known words in Bulgarian so that you can easily enrich your vocabulary and have more effective communication with Bulgarians.

Table of Contents

1. Why is it Important to Study English Words Used in the Bulgarian Language?
2. Why Are There So Many English Words in Bulgarian?
3. The Use of Foreign Words in Bulgarian
4. English Words Used in Bulgarian Business Culture
5. English Words Used in the Bulgarian IT Sector
6. English Words Used in Professional Terminology
7. World-Famous Celebrity Names Translated to Bulgarian
8. How BulgarianPod101 Can Help You Learn More Bulgarian

Why is it Important to Study English Words Used in the Bulgarian Language?

Let’s start with a quote by the great Bulgarian writer, Yordan Yovkov:

“The word is a scary thing. It contains the means of expression of all the arts: colors, lines, shapes, sounds, movements—everything, as long as you can handle these riches.”

View the Bulgarian language as a treasure trove and each new word you learn as a golden coin you have discovered. In this sense, BulgarianPod101.com will help you become rich with scores of golden coins—we’ll even show you how best to use them. 

This form of treasure hunting can be intimidating, but picking up a few English loanwords in Bulgarian is a great place to start. Because you’re already familiar with the meaning of these words, you can begin applying them to your Bulgarian conversations right away. 

So let’s get to it!

Why Are There So Many English Words in Bulgarian?

Globalization is the main reason there are so many English words in the Bulgarian language. Recent technologies such as the World Wide Web, social media, and global trading mediums facilitate the global spread of English words. Virtual communication encourages the use of many English words, which have become widely used in both spoken and written Bulgarian. 

As a result, many English words are used in the Bulgarian political, social, cultural, and economic spheres and people use them to describe services, products, and business information. There are also many professional terms in Bulgarian that originate from English vocabulary.

The Use of Foreign Words in Bulgarian

Like most other languages, Bulgarian adopts many foreign words for regular use in the language. When a foreign word is used often enough for a long enough period of time, it’s common for Bulgarians to perceive that word as being native to Bulgarian. For example, there are many Turkish words that are so widely used by Bulgarians that many of them don’t even realize they’re foreign. 

Such Turkish words include:

• чешма (cheshma) – faucet
• памук (pamuk) – cotton
• зехтин (zehtin) – olive oil

There are so many Turkish words in Bulgarian because Bulgarians were under the Turkish yoke for five centuries. The Russian, French, and German languages later influenced Bulgarian as well. 

Here are some examples of Russian words in the Bulgarian language:

• дружба (druzhba) – friendship
• хазяин (hazyain) – house owner
• болшинство (bolshinstvo) – majority
• съблюдавам (sablyudavam) – observe
• милосърдие (milosardie) – mercy

Here are examples of French words in the Bulgarian language. You’ll notice that these words are also used in English.

• трофей (trofey) – trophy
• меню (menyu) – menu
• майонеза (mayoneza) – mayonnaise
• бюро (byuro) – buro
• булевард (bulevard) – boulevard

Here are examples of German words in the Bulgarian language:

• вафла (vafla) – waffle
• курорт (kurort) – resort
• табела (tabela) – signboard
• ауспух  (auspuh) – muffler

Because of the common history between Bulgaria and Greece, there are many Greek words in the Bulgarian language, as well. Here are some of them:

• евтин (eftin) – cheap
• пирон (piron) – nail
• ангел (angel) – angel
• килер (kiler) – closet
• стомах (stomah) – stomach
• тиган (tigan) – frying pan
• тетрадка (tetradka) – notebook

After communism fell in 1990, Bulgaria opened up to the Western world—its food, music, culture, markets, and language. Naturally, more and more English words entered the Bulgarian language and even began to replace some Bulgarian words. Here are some examples:

Original Bulgarian Word/Phrase	English Replacement	Meaning
търсене в глобалната мрежа (tarsene v globalnata mrezha)	сърфиране в нета (sarfirane v neta)	surfing the Net
разговори (razgovori)	чатове (chatove)	chats
сприятеляване (spriyatelyavane)	aдване на френдове (advane na frendove)	to add friends
опит (оpit)	eкспириънс (ekspirians)	experience
публикувам информация във Фейсбук (publikuvam informatsiya vav Feysbuk)	поствам (postvam)	to post
изключвам от приятелите си (izklyuchvam ot priyatelite si)	ънфрендвам (аnfrendvam)	to unfriend

English Words Used in Bulgarian Business Culture

Each year, thousands of new foreign words enter the Bulgarian language. Some of them may not be well-accepted by people and will be forgotten over time. Others are widely used and end up becoming a part of the daily or business language. Over time, some of them can even take the place of existing Bulgarian words. 

Below is a list of twenty Bulgarian words replaced by English words in the business world. People who know English will find this information very useful when speaking with their Bulgarian business partners.

Original Bulgarian Word/Phrase	English Replacement	Meaning
започвам (zapochvam)	стартирам (startiram)	I start
в брой (v broy)	в кеш (v kesh)	in cash
връзка (vrazka)	контакт (kontakt)	contact
положение (polozhenie)	ситуация (situatsiya)	situation
място (myasto)	локация (lokatsiya)	location
среща с журналисти (sreshta s zhurnalisti)	брифинг (brifing)	briefing
финансова проверка (finansova proverka)	одит (odit)	audit
наблюдение (nablyudenie)	мониторинг (monitoring)	monitoring
майстор-готвач (maystor-gotvach)	мастър-шеф (mastar-shef)	chef
курс (kurs)	мастър-клас (mastar-klas)	master class
изложба (izlozhba)	експозиция (ekspozitsiya)	exposition
събитие (sabitie)	евент (event)	event
представяне (predstavyane)	презентация (prezentatsiya)	presentation
осъществявам (osashtestvyavam)	реализирам (realiziram)	I realize / I achieve
представление (predstavlenie)	шоу (shou)	show
съдържание (sadarzhanie)	контент (kontent)	content
желание (zhelaniye)	мотивация (motivatsiya)	motivation

→ If you would like to learn useful Bulgarian phrases to use in your conversations with Bulgarian business partners, you can take a look at our list of Essential Phrases for Doing Business Successfully.

→ Also see our free vocabulary lists on Jobs / Work and The Workplace for some practical supplementary vocab!

English Words Used in the Bulgarian IT Sector

The Bulgarian IT sector is probably the field that’s most influenced by English terminology. This is understandable, since computer science borrows heavily from the English language. As a result, foreigners will be able to quickly recognize these famous English words in Bulgarian. Take a look at these examples, keeping in mind that the Bulgarian versions are pronounced almost identically to the original English words. 

English Word	Bulgarian Equivalent
organizer	органайзер (organayzer)
timer	таймер (taymer)
scanner	скенер (skener)
printer	принтер (printer)
router	рутер (ruter)
monitor	монитор (monitor)
sensitive	сензитивен (senzitiven)
canceling	канселиране (kanselirane)
to click	кликам (clikam)
developer	дивелъпър (diveloper)
digital	дигитален (digitalen)
header	хедър (heder)
font	фонт (font)
user	юзър (user)

→ Here is another useful list of Bulgarian Words Related to Computers.

English Words Used in Professional Terminology

There are many newly coined words and phrases related to professional terminology that originate from the English language. Here is a list of some of the most popular English words in Bulgarian that may sound very familiar to you.

English Word	Bulgarian Equivalent
voucher	ваучер (vaucher)
action	екшън (ekshan)
integration	интеграция (integratsiya)
globalization	глобализация (globalizatsiya)
anti-globalism	антиглобализъм (antiglobalizam)
Euroscepticism	евроскептицизъм (evroskeptitsizam)
dollarization	доларизация (dolarizatsiya)
sponsor	спонсор (sponsor)
image	имидж (imidzh)
logo	лого (logo)
training	тренинг (trening)
trend	тренд (trend)
media	медия (mediya)
weekend	уикенд (uikend)

→ Want to learn more vocabulary related to the professional world? You can get acquainted with 20 Common Bulgarian Words for Occupations on our website.

World-Famous Celebrity Names Translated to Bulgarian

Have you ever wondered how Bulgarians pronounce the names of world-famous celebrities? Then you’re going to enjoy this section! 

Celebrity names are most often transliterated into Bulgarian instead of receiving a brand-new translation. We’ll provide you with some examples of how this works, using the names of several popular celebrities. 

★ Before proceeding, we would like to give you a task: Cover the right side of the screen with a sheet of paper in order to hide the English translation of the names, and read them in Bulgarian on the left side. Try to guess who they are and then check the answers in the right column. Good luck!

Bulgarian Names of Celebrities	English Names of Celebrities
Бийонсе	Beyoncé
Дуейн Джонсън	Dwayne Johnson
Тейлър Суифт	Taylor Swift
Дженифър Анистън	Jennifer Aniston
Анджелина Джоли	Angelina Jolie
Том Ханкс	Tom Hanks
Брад Пит	Brad Pitt
Риана	Rihanna
Уил Смит	Will Smith
Леонардо ди Каприо	Leonardo DiCaprio
Ким Кардашян	Kim Kardashian
Джони Деп	Johnny Depp
Джъстин Бийбър	Justin Bieber
Бен Афлек	Ben Affleck
Мадона	Madonna
Джулия Робъртс	Julia Roberts

How BulgarianPod101 Can Help You Learn More Bulgarian

BulgarianPod101 was created with one goal in mind: to help people learn Bulgarian more easily. We know how tough a foreign language can seem, but we believe that the process of learning can be fun and simple. In fact, that’s why we put together this overview of English words in the Bulgarian language—this way you can start adding words you already know to your Bulgarian vocabulary arsenal. And as you can see, they are not few!

If you believe that at this stage of your learning, you need a professional native Bulgarian teacher to give you individualized assignments and guidance, then you might be interested in our MyTeacher service for Premium PLUS members.

We hope that you were able to successfully complete the task about celebrity names. If not, don’t get discouraged—just head over to our Alphabet lesson where you’ll find our Free Guide to Beginner Bulgarian. 

Before you go, please share with us whether you found this article useful and how you did guessing the celebrity names. We’re always happy to read your comments and help out the best we can!