Dialogue

Vocabulary

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
Becky: Hello and welcome back to BulgarianPod101.com. This is Lower Beginner, season 1, lesson 13 - Here’s Some Friendly Bulgarian Advice. My name is Becky.
Iva: Zdravei And I’m Iva!
Becky: In this lesson you'll learn how to give advice and opinions in Bulgarian.
Iva: The conversation takes place at a beauty salon.
Becky: It’s between Maria and Petia.
Iva: The speakers are good friends, so they use informal speech.
Becky: Let’s listen to the conversation.
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
Iva: Maria and Petia are talking about relationships in Bulgaria.
Becky: So let’s explore some basic facts about romantic relationships in Bulgarian culture.
Iva: Well, first of all, the family is an integral part of Bulgarian culture. It strongly influences how people behave, and live their daily lives. Loyalty and commitment to family members is essential.
Becky: And that means romantic relationships also place this emphasis on loyalty and commitment.
Iva: For sure! Dating a person from Bulgaria requires you to respect the customs and traditions of the culture.
Becky: That makes sense. What other tips do you have about Bulgarian relationships?
Iva: Usually dating is a long process that can include many dinners, and activities where the couple gets to know each other.
Becky: I’m sure these dates are similar to other countries, where it’s important to impress the woman!
Iva: It's important for a man to be respectful and show interest in the woman. Sometimes he should bring a small gift to show his feelings.
Becky: That’s a good tip.
Iva: But you should also note that Bulgarians are passionate, and sometimes possessive.
Becky: Well, I suppose that’s not so surprising considering how much value is placed on commitment! Ok, now let’s move on to the vocab.
KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES
Becky: Let’s take a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. What’s first, Iva?
Iva: The first word we have is “Дано”.
Becky: This literally means something like “let it happen” but a closer translation in English is “I hope”.
Iva: Yes. For example, you can say “I hope I will pass the test”, which in Bulgarian will be “Дано мина на теста”.
Becky: But you can also say something like “Let everything be OK.”
Iva: Which would be “Дано всичко е наред” in Bulgarian.
Becky: OK, what’s next then?
Iva: “Изглежда”.
Becky: It’s a Bulgarian verb meaning “to seem” or “to look (like)”.
Iva: It’s used in the same way as in English.
Becky: Listeners, repeat after Iva.
Iva: “Изглежда”. [pause]
Becky: The verb form introduced here is in the third person singular - “it seems (like)” or “it looks (like)”.
Iva: If you use it in the first person singular, you can make sentences like this: “How do I look?”
Becky: How does this sound in Bulgarian?
Iva: It’s“Как изглеждам?”
Becky: OK, that’s a useful phrase! What’s the last word?
Iva: “Зная”.
Becky: This is a verb that means “to know”.
Iva: Yes. And here it is again: “Зная”.
Becky: Now, there is another form of this same verb which has the same meaning, and is used in Bulgarian in the same kinds of situations.
Iva: And that’s the verb “знам”.
Becky: This difference is only for the first person singular form, right?
Iva: Yes, the others are “знаеш” - “you know”; “знае” - “he/she/it knows”; “знаем” - “we know”; “знаете” - “you know”; and “знаят” - “they know”.
Becky: (Name), can you repeat those for our listeners?
Iva: Yes. “Зная” or “знам” for “I know”. Then “знаеш”- “you know”; “знае”- “he/she/it knows”; “знаем” - “we know”; “знаете” - “you know”; “знаят” - “they know”.
Becky: OK! Now let’s move on to the grammar.
GRAMMAR POINT
Becky: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to give advice and opinions in Bulgarian.
Iva: When you suggest something, let’s say that something should be in some condition, give advice about something, or just express your opinion, you use the verb “to think”. In Bulgarian, that’s “мисля”, plus the phrase “че трябва” meaning “that (you) should”.
Becky: After those three words, you usually add a form that means something like “to do (something)”.
Iva: That’s right. It’s “да (verb)” or the conjunction “да” plus the appropriate verb form.
Becky: So altogether, we have “I think that (you) should be (something)” or “I think that you should do (something)”,
Iva: Which in Bulgarian is “Мисля, че трябва да (си) (adjective)” or “Мисля, че трябва да (verb)”.
Becky: In both cases, you address someone with the second person singular form of the adjective or the verb.
Iva: So if we have a sentence using an adjective, we can say for example “Мисля, че трябва да си по-упорит”
Becky: Can you repeat it please Iva?
Iva: “Мисля, че трябва да си по-упорит”
Becky: This means “I think you should be more persistent”.
Iva: Exactly! Here the adjective “упорит” is in its comparative form, which is made by adding the prefix “по-” in front of the word. So it’s “по-упорит”, meaning “more persistent”.
Becky: And again, listeners, repeat the two forms after Iva.
Iva: “упорит” [pause], “persistent” and “по-упорит” [pause] “more persistent”.
Becky: What if you use the verb form, “to do something” in this type of sentence?
Iva: Well, you get an example like this: “Мисля, че трябва да отидеш на почивка”,
Becky: in English, “I think you should go on vacation”.
Iva: Yes, here “да отидеш на почивка” means “(you) (to) go on vacation”.
Becky: What else can you tell us about this?
Iva: The examples so far were using the second person singular forms of the verbs and the adjectives.
Becky: So what if we want to use formal language instead?
B: If we are talking to one person formally, we need to change the forms into second person plural.
Becky: OK. For example?
Iva: For example, they will change like this: “Мисля, че трябва да си починете”,
Becky: in English “I think you should take a rest”;
Iva: where “да си починете” is a second person plural form of the verb “to rest”, “почивам си”.
Becky: How about an example with an adjective?
Iva: Ok, “Мисля, че трябва да сте много щастливи”,
Becky: this means “I think you must be very happy”;
Iva: Here the adjective “happy”, “щастливи”, is in plural; the singular is “щастлив” in masculine.
Becky: Can you repeat those for our listeners?
Iva: Yes, of course! “щастлив” [pause] singular masculine; “щастливи” [pause] plural.
Becky: But note that it’s unusual to give personalized advice or opinions in formal situations like this, so these forms are not very common. Ok, that about does it for this lesson.
Iva: Make sure to check the lesson notes for more information and examples!
Becky: And practice with them too!

Outro

Iva: That’s right! See you next time!
Becky: Thanks for listening, bye!
Iva: Bye-bye!

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