Learn about reflexive verbs in Bulgarian
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Intro |
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| Michael: What are reflexive verbs? |
| Yana: And how do they work in Bulgarian? |
| Michael: At BulgarianPod101.com, we hear these questions often. Imagine the following situation: the Lee family is holding a garden party with their friends. |
| During the party, Petya meets little 4-year-old Marta and asks her, |
| "What's your name?" |
| Petya Popova: Как се казваш? (Kak se kazvash?) |
| Dialogue |
| Petya Popova: Как се казваш? (Kak se kazvash?) |
| Marta Borisova: Казвам се Марта. (Kazvam se Marta.) |
| Michael: Once more with the English translation. |
| Petya Popova: Как се казваш? (Kak se kazvash?) |
| Michael: "What's your name?" |
| Marta Borisova: Казвам се Марта. (Kazvam se Marta.) |
| Michael: "My name is Marta." |
Lesson focus |
| Michael: "Reflexive verbs" or |
| Yana: възвратни глаголи (vazvratni glagoli) |
| Michael: don't really have an English counterpart, but you can find similar structures in other languages, like Spanish, or Italian. A verb in Bulgarian is reflexive when the subject carries out the action on itself. However, keep in mind that not all verbs can be reflexive. Let's see an example by taking a closer look at the dialogue. |
| Do you remember how Petya asks "What's your name?" |
| (pause 4 seconds) |
| Yana as Petya Popova: Как се казваш? (Kak se kazvash?) |
| Michael: And do you remember how Marta answers "My name is Marta?" |
| (pause 4 seconds) |
| Yana as Marta Borisova: Казвам се Марта. (Kazvam se Marta.) |
| Michael: Literally, this translates as "I call myself Marta". In both sentences, we have examples of reflexive verbs, which means that the action of owning a name is pointed towards the same subject: Marta. The easiest way to recognise a reflexive verb in Bulgarian is to look out for the clitic |
| Yana: се (se) |
| Michael: which is a reflexive personal pronoun for accusative case that doesn't change according to the subject's gender and can appear either before or after the verb. Another reflexive clitic is |
| Yana: си (si) |
| Michael: which also is a reflexive personal pronoun but for the dative case, and acts as an indirect object. Both clitics indicate that the action is received by the subject itself. Let's see another example to better comprehend the difference between regular and reflexive verbs: |
| Yana: Местя го. (Mestya go.) |
| Michael: This means "I'm moving it" and contains the regular verb |
| Yana: местя (mestya) |
| Michael: or "to move." To make the verb reflexive, we add the clitic |
| Yana: сe (se) |
| Michael: which changes the receiver of the action from "it" to "me". It will look like this: |
| Yana: Местя се. (Mestya se). |
| Michael: or "I'm moving me/myself." You can see how in this case the subject and object are the same person. |
| Michael: Some verbs exist only in reflexive form as you cannot apply the action to any other person, but yourself. You can see it clearly in the next example with the verb "yawn." |
| Yana: Прозявам се. (Prozyavam se.) |
| Michael: meaning "I'm yawning." This verb cannot be used as a regular one. In the lesson notes, you’ll find a few more examples of common reflexive verbs. |
| Michael: Some other verbs exist in both forms, but change their meaning when they become reflexive. Let's take the example from the main dialogue. The regular verb |
| Yana: казвам (kazvam) |
| Michael: means "to say or tell," while its reflexive form |
| Yana: казвам се (kazvam se) |
| Michael: changes the meaning to "to be called." It’s the same verb we saw in the main conversation. The meaning of verbs also changes depending on which of the two clitics we use. Still using the previous example, let's change the clitic to: |
| Yana: казвам си (kazvam si) |
| Michael: In this case, we have a reflexive verb that means "to tell myself." |
| [Summary] |
| Michael: In this lesson, you got acquainted with reflexive verbs in Bulgarian. These are verbs that express an action carried on and received by the subject. The easiest way to differentiate reflexive from regular verbs in Bulgarian is by spotting the clitics |
| Yana: се and си (se and si) |
| Michael: which are indicators for an action done upon oneself. |
| Review |
| Michael: Let's review. Respond to the prompts by speaking aloud. Then, repeat after the native speaker focusing on pronunciation. |
| Do you remember how to say "What's your name?" |
| [Beep. Pause 5 seconds.] |
| Yana as Petya Popova: Как се казваш? (Kak se kazvash?) |
| Michael: Listen again and repeat. |
| Yana as Petya Popova: Как се казваш? (Kak se kazvash?) |
| [Beep. Pause 5 seconds.] |
| Yana as Petya Popova: Как се казваш? (Kak se kazvash?) |
| Michael: And do you remember how to say "My name is Marta?" |
| [Beep. Pause 5 seconds.] |
| Yana as Marta Borisova: Казвам се Марта. (Kazvam se Marta.) |
| Michael: Listen again and repeat. |
| Yana as Marta Borisova: Казвам се Марта. (Kazvam se Marta.) |
| [Beep. Pause 5 seconds.] |
| Yana as Marta Borisova: Казвам се Марта. (Kazvam se Marta.) |
| Expansion |
| Michael: Sometimes, in Bulgarian, the clitic |
| Yana: си (si) |
| Michael: doesn't change the meaning of the verb, but rather implies that the subject is enjoying the action. For example, |
| Yana: Пея песен. (Peya pesen.) |
| Michael: is the same as |
| Yana: Пея си песен. (Peya si pesen.) |
| Michael: and they both mean "I'm singing a song." The latter one, however, suggests some lightness of the activity. |
Outro |
| Michael: Do you have any more questions? We're here to answer them! |
| Yana: До скоро! |
| Michael: See you soon! |
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