Dialogue

Vocabulary

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
Здравейте (zdraveyte). Hello and welcome to BulgarianPod101.com. This course is designed to equip you with the language skills and knowledge to enable you to get the most out of your visit to Bulgaria. You will be surprised at how far a little Bulgarian will go. Now before we jump in, remember to stop by BulgarianPod101.com. And there, you’ll find the accompanying PDF, additional info in the post. If you stop by, be sure to leave us a comment.

Lesson focus

Lesson 4 - Basic Greetings
In this lesson, we will cover basic greetings for the appropriate time of the day. As there are quite a few to go over, let's jump right in!
In Bulgarian, the phrase здравейте (zdraveyte) can be used as a universal semi-formal greeting to a single person or a group of people.
Here it is once again: здравейте (zdraveyte)
Let’s break it down by syllable: здравейте (zdraveyte)
Now let's hear it once again: здравейте (zdraveyte)
This word is a verb and originates from the noun здраве (zdrave) which means "health." As it has no literal equivalent in English, we can translate zdraveyte roughly as "may you grow healthier." I dub this expression as "semi-formal" because it relies on the formal plural construction used to address a single person respectfully and at the same time is used in situations where there is a growing feeling of familiarity between people who have not yet moved to an informal level of communication.
The next three phrases are the expressions which you can rely on in any kind of formal situation as well as in daily communication with people you are meeting for the first time or don't know well.
In Bulgarian, "good morning" is добро утро (dobro utro).
добро утро (dobro utro)
Let’s break it down by syllable: добро утро (dobro utro)
Here it is once again: добро утро (dobro utro)
The first word добро (dobro) means "good."
Let's break down this word and hear it one more time: добро (dobro)
добро (dobro)
This is followed by утро (utro) which in Bulgarian is "morning."
утро (utro)
утро (utro)
"Good afternoon" doesn't have a direct equivalent. In this situation, the period between morning and evening, Bulgarians say добър ден (dobar den) which is "good day."
Let’s break it down by syllable: добър ден (dobar den)
Once again: добър ден (dobar den)
The first word, добър (dobar), means "good."
Let's break down this word and hear it one more time: добър (dobar)
добър (dobar)
This is followed by ден (den) which is "day."
ден (den)
ден (den)
And finally, we have the evening greeting which in Bulgarian is добър вечер (dobar vecher).
Let’s break it down by syllable: добър вечер (dobar vecher)
добър вечер (dobar vecher)
The first word, dobar, as you already know, means "good." This is followed by вечер (vecher), which is "evening."
Let's break down this word and hear it one more time: вечер (vecher)
вечер (vecher)
At the workplace it is common to greet your colleagues with all of the above-mentioned expressions where здравей (zdravey) is the informal first person singular form of zdraveyte which we already mentioned.
здравей (zdravey)
Let’s break it down by syllable: здравей (zdravey)
An appropriate way to address your superiors as well as your customers would be by using the three formal expressions dobro utro, dobar den, and dobar vecher which we covered a moment ago.

Outro

Okay, to close out this lesson, we’d like for you to practice what you just learned. I’ll provide you with the English equivalent of the phrase, and you’re responsible for saying it out loud. You’ll have few seconds before I give you the answer. So, Успех! (Uspeh!) that means "Good luck!" in Bulgarian. Ok, here we go!
"Hello! (formal version)" - Zdraveyte!
Zdraveyte!
Zdraveyte!
"Hi! (informal version)" - Zdravey!
Zdravey!
Zdravey!
"Good morning!" - Dobro utro!
Dobro utro!
Dobro utro!
"Good afternoon!" - Dobar den!
Dobar den!
Dobar den!
"Good evening!" - Dobar vecher!
Dobar vecher!
Dobar vecher!
All right. That’s going to do it for today. Remember to stop by BulgarianPod101.com and pick up the accompanying PDF. If you stop by, make sure to leave a comment. Довиждане (dovizhdane)!

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