Dialogue

Vocabulary

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Lesson Notes

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Lesson Transcript

Intro

Michael: How can a word be masculine or feminine?
Yana: And how do you determine a noun's gender in Bulgarian?
Michael: At BulgarianPod101.com, we hear these questions often. Imagine the following situation: Karen is at a flower shop with her friend, Tanya. When asked what she was looking for, Karen says to the clerk,
"A tulip and a lily."
Karen Lee: Едно лале и една лилия. (Edno lale i edna liliya.)
Dialogue
Karen Lee: Едно лале и една лилия. (Edno lale i edna liliya.)
Tanya Kamenova: Само едно лале и една лилия ли? (Samo edno lale i edna liliya li?)
Michael: Once more with the English translation.
Karen Lee: Едно лале и една лилия. (Edno lale i edna liliya.)
Michael: "A tulip and a lily."
Tanya Kamenova: Само едно лале и една лилия ли? (Samo edno lale i edna liliya li?)
Michael: "Only a tulip and a lily?"

Lesson focus

Michael: In Bulgarian, as in the other Slavic languages, all nouns are assigned a gender. They can be masculine, feminine, or neuter. However, there are also some words which exist only in the plural form and do not have a specific gender. In accordance with the rules of the language, gender is necessary to create the definite form of nouns and to have adjectives agree with nouns.
Michael: Although there are exceptions to any grammatical rule, we can use general guidelines to establish the gender of a noun in Bulgarian. If a singular noun ends in a consonant, then its gender is almost certainly masculine. As an example, take the word for "city."
To say "city, one city" in Bulgarian, one would say
Yana: град, един град (grad, edin grad).
[SLOW] град, един град (grad, edin grad).
Michael: On the other hand, if a singular noun ends with the vowels
Yana: "a" (a) or "я" (ya),
Michael: then it is usually feminine, like the word for "lily."
To say "lily, one lily" in Bulgarian, one would say
Yana: лилия, една лилия (liliya, edna liliya).
[SLOW] лилия, една лилия (liliya, edna liliya).
Michael: And lastly, neuter nouns are nouns that usually end in the vowels
Yana: "e" (e) or "o" (o),
Michael: like the word for "tulip." To say "tulip, one tulip" in Bulgarian, one would say
Yana: лале, едно лале (lale, edno lale).
[SLOW] лале, едно лале (lale, edno lale).
Michael: Be careful, though, as these are just general guidelines. As we mentioned earlier, there are always exceptions. For example, "a youth" in Bulgarian is
Yana: една младост (edna mladost).
[SLOW] една младост (edna mladost).
Michael: Despite ending in a consonant, the noun "youth" is feminine. As another example, "a father" in Bulgarian is
Yana: един баща (edin bashta).
[SLOW] един баща (edin bashta).
Michael: In spite of the ending vowel, the word "father" in Bulgarian is masculine.
Michael: The easiest way to remember the gender of a noun is when you practice the noun with the numeral "one," as we did in the previous examples. The numeral "one" changes according to the gender of the noun and, surprisingly, even has a plural form.
Michael: The number also comes in handy as there is no indefinite article in Bulgarian. To show the definiteness of a noun in Bulgarian, a suffix must be added to the noun. As you progress in your studies, you will find that the gendered form of a number will also help you agree adjectives with nouns.
Before we conclude, let's go over the gendered forms of the number "one":
The masculine form of the number "one" is
Yana: един (edin), [SLOW] един (edin),
Michael: as in "a comb,"
Yana: един гребен (edin graben), [SLOW] един гребен (edin graben).
Michael: In front of feminine nouns, "one" would be
Yana: една (edna), [SLOW] една (edna),
Michael: as in "a table,"
Yana: една маса (edna masa), [SLOW] една маса (edna masa).
Michael: And lastly, for neuter nouns, "one" would be
Yana: едно (ednо), [SLOW] едно (ednо),
Michael: as in "a bed,"
Yana: едно легло (ednо leglo), [SLOW] едно легло (ednо leglo).
Michael: It's that simple: Start by learning the general guidelines for noun endings that help dictate the gender of nouns, as well as numerals. Then, little by little, begin to study and memorize the nouns that don't follow the standard gender rules.
Practice Section
Michael: Let's review the sample conversation: respond to the prompts by speaking aloud, and then listen carefully as Tanya models the correct answer. Repeat after her, with the focus on your pronunciation. Are you ready?
How do you say, "A tulip and a lily."
[Beep. Pause 5 seconds.]
Yana: Едно лале и една лилия. (Edno lale i edna liliya.)
Michael: Did you get it right? Listen again and repeat. Remember to focus on your pronunciation.
Yana: Едно лале и една лилия. (Edno lale i edna liliya.)
[Beep. Pause 5 seconds.]
Yana: Едно лале и една лилия. (Edno lale i edna liliya.)
Michael: Let's move on to the second sentence. How do you say, "Only a tulip and a lily?"
[Beep. Pause 5 seconds.]
Yana: Само едно лале и една лилия ли? (Samo edno lale i edna liliya li?)
Michael: Did you get it right this time? Listen again and repeat.
Yana: Само едно лале и една лилия ли? (Samo edno lale i edna liliya li?)
[Beep. Pause 5 seconds.]
Yana: Само едно лале и една лилия ли? (Samo edno lale i edna liliya li?)
Expansion
Michael: In Bulgarian, all of the months of the year end in
Yana: "и" (i),
Michael: which is commonly used to form the plural of masculine and feminine nouns. However, all of the months of the year in Bulgarian are singular and masculine, such as "January,"
Yana: януари (yanuari),
Michael: "July,"
Yana: юли (yuli),
Michael: and "December,"
Yana: декември (dekemvri).
Michael: Consequently, with the addition of the numeral "one," we have
Yana: един януари, един юли, един декември (edin yanuari, edin yuli, edin dekemvri).

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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