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Lesson Transcript

Okay. Hi everyone. How are you today? I am your host Daria and this is an episode of BulgarianPod101.com, maybe one of the most important episodes because it gives you the Top 25 Bulgarian Phrases - they are.
I mean, these are key phrases that you need to start a conversation, to introduce yourself, to say the basic phrases of every language.
So if you want to be 25 Bulgarian phrases ahead of the rest of the people who don’t know those, grab a pen and a notebook and let’s start.
1. Здравей!
(Zdravey!)
“Hello.”
How to start? How should we start? I think there is no better way to start but to say,
Здравей!
(Zdravey!)
“Hello.”
Well, hello everyone.
Здравей!
(Zdravey!) is like an informal way to say it.
You can say Здравейте!
(Zdraveyte!) the formal one.
Also plural, yeah. You can say Здравейте! (Zdraveyte!) to multiple people.
And also if you hear that some Bulgarian people say Здрасти! (Zdrasti!)
This is the short version of Hello. Just Hi.
2. Добро утро!
(Dobro utro!)
“Good morning.”
How do you usually start the day? If you see somebody, you would greet them with,
Добро утро!
(Dobro utro!)
“Good morning.”
This phrase I love a lot because of the vibration of it.
Добро утро!
(Dobro utro!)
Practice your Rs in this phrase. Also, I like to use it because we are one step ahead of our southern neighbors, the Greek people, who don’t even have a phrase for good morning.
They just start from Καλημέρα (Kaliméra), which is the day. I don’t know why nobody celebrates the morning over there. We do.
3. Добър ден!
(Dobar den!)
“Good afternoon.”
Moving now later into day,
Добър ден!
(Dobar den!)
“Good afternoon.”
Now, here is the tricky part because it maybe 10 AM in the morning but you can hear a Bulgarian saying,
Добър ден!
(Dobar den!)
which literally is “good afternoon”
But we use it more as good day to you. So remember it,
Добър ден!
(Dobar den!)
4. Лека нощ.
(Leka nosht.)
“Goodnight.”
When you go to bed, you would hear a Bulgarian person wishing you Лека нощ
(Leka nosht.)
This is goodnight.
Goodnight! Goodnight! I remember a song from my childhood. There was a television show just before little kids would go to bed and the show was called,
Лека нощ, деца!
(Leka nosht, detsa!)
Good night, children!
Detsa. And it was about a character named Сънчо (Sancho) which is like a “sleepy boy”
Anyway, memories from my childhood.
Moving on.
5. Как се казваш?
(Kak se kazvash?)
“What's your name?”
Now that you’ve learned how to greet people according to the part of the day your encounter is happening, how to properly introduce yourself.
You can ask them for their name.
Как се казваш?
(Kak se kazvash?)
This is pretty much asking “what’s your name?”
You can also make it plural or formal by saying TE at the end.
Как се казвате?
Kak se kazvate?
“What is your name?” formal.
And how do we reply to that?
6. Аз съм Мая.
(Az sam Maya.)
“I'm Маya.”
Аз съм Даря.
(Az sam Darya.)
This is a way of saying, “I am Darya.”
And what do we usually add after that – after we introduce our name?
7. Приятно ми е да се запознаем.
(Priyatno mi e da se zapoznaem.)
“Nice to meet you.”
Usually after we say our name, we would add,
Приятно ми е да се запознаем.
(Priyatno mi e da se zapoznaem.)
Right? It’s very simple.
Приятно ми е да се запознаем.
(Priyatno mi e da se zapoznaem.)
“Nice to meet you.”
You can just use the first part of this phrase which is,
Приятно ми е
(Priyatno mi e)
“It’s nice.”
That’s pretty much enough for a Bulgarian but if you want to sound more like a true Bulgarian, you got to say,
Приятно ми е да се запознаем.
(Priyatno mi e da se zapoznaem.)
8. Как си?
(Kak si?)
“How are you?”
This is a classic question you can ask anybody and it’s a door opener by the way. I’ve heard it used quite a lot in the US or other countries.
However, please… I beg of you.
When you ask Как си? (Kak si?), really show interest and really mean it. Как си? (Kak si?)
9. Благодаря, добре. А ти?
(Blagodarya, dobre. A ti?)
“I'm fine, thanks. And you?”
And usually there is the answer.
Благодаря, добре. А ти?
(Blagodarya, dobre. A ti?)
Literally, “I am fine. Thank you. And how about you?”
Благодаря, добре. А ти?
(Blagodarya, dobre. A ti?)
“I’m fine, thanks. And you?”
Literally, Благодаря
(Blagodarya) is,
“thank you”
Добре
(dobre) is,
“good”
Thank you, good.
А ти?
(A ti?)
“And you?”
You can juggle with that or you can say how you really feel. You may be moody, you may be happy. You may be anxious.
So you can add whatever you like in that little phrase,
Blagodarya, dobre.
Blagodarya, ne dobre.
10. Моля.
(Molya.)
“Please.”
It’s a very important word because it shows politeness. It shows good intention. This is the Bulgarian word for "please." Please.
Also Моля (Molya) means,
I beg you. I beg of you.
But you can also add it to any sentence if you would like to request something. And we will see later on how to use Моля (Molya)
11. Благодаря.
(Blagodarya.)
“Thank you.”
The next word is a very important one because it shows gratitude.
Благодаря.
(Blagodarya.)
One word. It means, “thank you”
But the root of the word is благо
(blago)
Which is “all the best.” The best things or the nice things.
Даря
(darya)
I am gifting them to you. Like nice things I am giving.
So you can say Благодаря
(Blagodarya.)
But also for people who don’t feel confident in saying this long word in Bulgarian, it’s fine for you to use the French Мерси! Mersi!
Because we’ve stolen that one in our language.
12. Пак заповядай.
(Pak zapovyaday.)
“You're welcome.”
And usually if you say Благодаря (Blagodarya), you can say right afterwards,
Пак заповядай.
(Pak zapovyaday.)
“You're welcome.”
And you have the nicest of nicest things in your relationship with the person you have just met.
Nice. Nice base to work on from then on.
13. Да.
(Da.)
“Yes.”
Here are the two most important words to reply Yes and No question which are the words Yes and No.
Да.
(Da.) in Bulgarian means,
“Yes.”
14. Не.
(Ne.)
“No.”
Не.
(Ne.) in Bulgarian means,
No.
But don’t confuse it with the type of nodding because all over the world, this means Да (Da) and this means (Ne) “No.”
But only in Bulgaria, it’s vice versa. So this would mean No and this would mean Yes. Not Ne. Da. Why?
I can’t even tell you. I can’t. Some psychology thing, sociology. I don’t know.
15. Добре.
(Dobre.)
“Okay.”
Remember the phrase that we’ve used before, Blagodarya Dobre replying to “how are you feeling today?”
Good. Thank you. Good.
This is the word Dobre. This means “Okay” in Bulgarian and it’s okay to use it as much as possible just because of the good vibration of it.
Dobre. Dobre.
16. Извинете.
(Izvinete.)
“Excuse me.”
Another of the Top 25 Bulgarian phrases that everybody should know is Извинете.
(Izvinete.)
“Excuse me.”
Yes. People should learn how to use this word as much as possible because first of all, Bulgarian people really use it. Why?
It’s that if they step on your foot or they push you or punch you, did something horrible to you. They would say,
Опа
(opa)
They may even cross your car and they will say, Опа
(opa)
Which literally is “Oops.”
They would not say “excuse me, I apologize” and they would just go away.
I guess we are such people. But really a lot of people say Опа (opa) which is I think it’s a Greek word as well,
Опа (opa)
Okay.
17. Съжалявам.
(Sazhalyavam.)
“I'm sorry.”
Another good word to use is,
Съжалявам.
(Sazhalyavam.)
“I'm sorry.”
Now, this means, “I am sorry.”
And I am sorry but a lot of people find difficulty pronouncing the – now, I am having difficulty speaking.
Pronouncing the uh in the beginning because we have this sound, uh, uh.
The Brazilian people would understand perfectly what I am talking about because they have this sound but if you don’t stress on Съжалявам (Sazhalyavam.)
Съжалявам (Sazhalyavam), /uh/, It actually makes you – makes your body feel good after you say it.
So I am sorry. Use it as much as you can.
18. Колко е часът?
(Kolko e chasat?)
“What time is it?”
So you are walking in the streets of Sofia or Plovdiv and you have a meeting with a local person to show you around.
You’ve agreed to meet at 2 o’clock somewhere but you don’t have a watch.
The phone – the battery on your phone is dead. So there is no way for you to know, is it 2 o’clock already or not.
Here is a way to ask for it.
Колко е часът?
(Kolko e chasat?)
“What’s the time?”
Usually, as an answer, you would get just a number.
Two.
(dva)
два
два часа̀, три часа̀, четири (dva chasa, tri chasa, chetiri)
And it’s useful if you know the Bulgarian numbers.
19. Къде е тоалетната?
(Kade e toaletnata?)
“Where is the restroom?”
Another very useful phrase which is definitely among the Top 25 Bulgarian Phrases you should know is this one.
Къде е тоалетната?
(Kade e toaletnata?) The double O. Okay.
“Where is the restroom?”
I don’t know why – why I feel saying that. Learning this will open a lot of doors for you.
Hopefully, it will open a lot of doors for you and you don’t have to wait in front of the restroom but in Bulgaria, there are a lot, a lot of public restrooms around or you can use any café or restaurant for this.
And literally, you can just say “toilet” and they will understand you because “toilet”
(toaletna)
Тоалетна
Very similar.
20. Изчакайте за момент.
(Izchakayte za moment.)
“Wait a moment.”
Here is another phrase if you hear somebody say,
Изчакайте за момент.
(Izchakayte za moment.)
They usually mean, “wait a moment.”
I hope you don’t hear this in front of the restroom door but in case that happens, you know that you have to wait.
Ey! Sometimes in life, you have to wait for the good things to come and to happen to you.
21. Колко струва това?
(Kolko struva tova?)
“How much is this?”
So you’ve had a wonderful day sightseeing and you’ve met the local person and then you enter a souvenir shop but in the souvenir shop, there is no price announced.
Now, if that happens, you can ask,
Колко струва това?
(Kolko struva tova?)
“How much is this?”
And again, they will give you a number as an answer. So it’s always handy and good to learn the Bulgarian numbers first.
22. Помощ!
(Pomosht!)
“Help!”
If you need help, ask for it. You can say,
Помощ!
(Pomosht!)
“Help!”
Yell it as aloud as you can.
Помощ!
(Pomosht!)
It’s a funny thing that we Bulgarians have been exposed so much to Western movies that almost everybody would know the English version of –
Помощ! (Pomosht!)
which is Help.
However, you will sound like a true Bulgarian if you learn Помощ! (Pomosht!)
23. До скоро.
(Do skoro.)
“See you later.”
We are almost towards the end. It seems proper that I give you two phrases of how to part with people. So bear with me.
До скоро.
(Do skoro.)
Means “see you later.”
24. Довиждане.
(Dovizhdane.)
“Goodbye.”
Another word would be,
Довиждане.
(Dovizhdane.)
“Goodbye.”
And don’t be afraid to use the Italian Чао! Chao!
Because it’s so short and so easy and everybody uses it and this is another foreign word that we have stolen and claimed in our Bulgarian language.
25. Не знам.
(Ne znam.)
“I don't know.”
Не знам.
(Ne znam.)
This is the way of saying, “I don’t know.”
And in my personal opinion, this phrase can get you out of almost any situation.
Whatever they ask you, you just say,
Не знам
(Ne znam.)
And you can add български (balgarski) at the end of that sentence.
For example,
Не знам български.
(Ne znam balgarski.)
And that will be enough for the people to leave you alone. Uh-huh.
If you do know Bulgarian which you do by watching BulgarianPod101.com, you can just say,
Знам
(znam)
“I know”
български.
(balgarski.)
Bulgarian.
Не знам български.
Ne znam balgarski.
“I know Bulgarian.”
Great. Seems like we’ve reached the end of this episode of BulgarianPod101.com and you now know the Top 25 Bulgarian Phrases everybody should know. Great.
That’s amazing. I am proud of you.
And by the way, for more Bulgarian, Click. Subscribe here under this video and leave me a comment about which of this you would say to a stranger or go to BulgarianPod101.com for more lessons in Bulgarian.
I am your host Daria and I can’t wait until we meet you next time. Until then…

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