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Lesson Transcript


Jonathan: Hello and welcome to the Absolute Beginner series at BulgarianPod101.com. This is season 1, lesson 22, What’s Your Favorite Bulgarian Drink? I’m Jonathan.
Iva: Hello. And I’m Iva!
Jonathan: In this lesson you'll learn how to talk about doing an intentional action in Bulgarian.
Iva: The conversation takes place at the supermarket where our characters are buying drinks.
Jonathan: As usual, the conversation is between Martin, Irina and Peter.
Iva: The speakers already know each other so their speech is informal.
Jonathan: Let’s listen to the conversation.

Lesson conversation

(At the supermarket)
Питър: Мартине, какво пиеш? Вино или бира?
Мартин: Аз пия бира.
Питър: Добре, ще взема бира. А ти, Ирина? И ти ли ще пиеш бира?
Ирина: Да, само малко.
Jonathan: Now let’s hear the conversation one time slowly. (slow speed, broken down by syllable)
(At the supermarket)
Питър: Мартине, какво пиеш? Вино или бира?
Мартин: Аз пия бира.
Ирина: Да, само малко.
Jonathan: And now with the English translation.
(At the supermarket)
Peter: Martin, what will you have to drink?
:Wine? Beer?
Martin: I'll have beer.
Peter: I'll buy some beer then.
:What about you, Irina? Will you drink beer too?
Irina: Yes, a little.
Jonathan: OK, since we started the conversation with buying drinks could you tell us more about the Bulgarian drinking culture?
Iva: Well, what I can say is that Bulgaria has a flourishing wine industry and very tasty beer but the so-called rakia is considered the national drink.
Jonathan: What is “rakia”?
Iva: Rakia (r-a-k-i-a), also spelled r-a-k-i-y-a or r-a-k-i-j-a, is a clear alcohol similar to brandy, made by the distillation of fermented fruits such as grapes, plums, apricots, pears, apples, cherries, figs, or quinces.
Jonathan: Sounds yummy.
Iva: But be careful because it has a high alcohol content, and home concoctions sometimes exceed 60%, which makes it a potent drink.
Jonathan: I see.
Iva: In Bulgaria, rakia made from grapes (like Italian grappa) is the most popular, but slivovitza (rakia made from plums) is also popular.
Jonathan: So when do you have it?
Iva: Rakia is usually drunk with appetizers known as meze and salads. Then, wine or beer is consumed with the rest of the meal.
Jonathan: Nice! What else can you tell us about rakia?
Iva: A very interesting one: If a drop of rakia happens to be spilled while pouring, it’s said "that's for the deceased." Indeed, after a funeral, a toast with rakia is made, and a little is spilled on the ground for the souls of the departed.
Jonathan: How about other occasions?
Iva: At weddings, the bride's father goes from table to table offering rakia and encouraging good tidings for the newly married couple. In general, rakia is considered a sign of hospitality and every guest is offered a tiny glassful as a symbolic gesture.
Jonathan: Very interesting, thanks for the information!
All right, now let’s move onto the vocab.
Jonathan: Now let’s take a look at the vocabulary in this lesson. The first word we shall see is...
Iva: какво
Jonathan: what
Iva: какво (slow, broken down by syllable)
Iva: какво
Iva: пия
Jonathan: to drink
Iva: пия (slow, broken down by syllable)
Iva: пия
Iva: ти
Jonathan: you
Iva: ти (slow, broken down by syllable)
Iva: ти
Iva: взимам
Jonathan: to take; (=to buy)
Iva: взимам (slow, broken down by syllable)
Iva: взимам
Iva: вино
Jonathan: wine
Iva: вино (slow, broken down by syllable)
Iva: вино
Iva: бира
Jonathan: beer
Iva: бира (slow, broken down by syllable)
Iva: бира
Iva: само
Jonathan: just; only
Iva: само (slow, broken down by syllable)
Iva: само
Iva: малко
Jonathan: some; a little
Iva: малко (slow, broken down by syllable)
Iva: малко
Jonathan: Let’s take a closer look at some of the words and phrases from this lesson. What’s first, Iva?
Iva: The first one is “Взимам” which is the Bulgarian verb that, in the first usage, means the same as the English “to take”.
Jonathan: What else can it mean?
Iva: Because of that meaning one of its main uses is like the English “to buy”.
Jonathan: Give us some examples, please.
Iva: When Bulgarians say “I bought a TV” they might say “Взех си телевизор” which is more informal that the official verb for “to buy”.
Jonathan: OK, could you repeat the sentence? Listeners, repeat after Iva.
Iva: “Взех си телевизор” [pause]
Jonathan: OK, and what’s the official verb for “to buy”?
Iva: “купувам”.
Jonathan: One more time?
Iva: “купувам”.
Jonathan: What’s next?
Iva: “Пия” is the Bulgarian verb for the English “to drink”.
Jonathan: Repeat it for our listeners please.
Iva: “Пия”. Like many Bulgarian verbs, its form changes when we conjugate the verb so here is how it sounds: “пия”, “пиеш”, “пие”, “пием”, “пиете”, “пият”.
Jonathan: OK, listeners, repeat after Iva.
Iva: “пия” [pause], “пиеш” [pause], “пие” [pause], “пием” [pause], “пиете [pause]”, “пият” [pause]. Actually, the words for “drink” originated form this verb. There are two main ones – “питие”, and “напитка”.
Jonathan: I see. So what is the last word here?
Iva: “Само” is a Bulgarian adverb which means “just” or “only” in English.
Jonathan: How do we use it?
Iva: It is used quite often together with the adverb for “little” – “малко” to form the expression “just a little” which is used for measuring quantity, time, and so on.
Jonathan: OK. I think that’s enough explanation of these phrases. Now let’s move on to the grammar.

Lesson focus

Jonathan: In this lesson, we’re going to learn how we can ask about doing intentional actions.
Iva: In Bulgarian, when we are talking about actions that are going to happen and we want to check if the other person is intending to do something, we ask one specific type of question.
Jonathan: And that is?
Iva: Well, first we put the particle “ще” which is used for forming the future tense of verbs in Bulgarian.
Jonathan: In this case it means something like the English “will…”, right?
Iva: Yes. Then we have the verb that is used for the question in its corresponding form – person, singular or plural.
Jonathan: After that?
Iva: Then we add the particle for forming questions in Bulgarian, “ли”, which as you should know by now, is used quite often in the question form. At the end we put the direct object we are asking about.
Jonathan: Give us an example please.
Iva: “Ще ходим ли на кино?”
Jonathan: What does this mean?
Iva: In English this is: “Are we going to go to the cinema?”
Jonathan: Could you repeat it for our listeners?
Iva: Yes. “Ще ходим ли на кино?”
Jonathan: Note that the English translation clearly shows the intent by using “going to”.
Iva: The Bulgarian expressions do not have this distinction, so it’s important to be able to tell the difference between the simple future tense in Bulgarian and the expressions which show intention.
Jonathan: I see. Is there a way to recognize this type of sentence anyway?
Iva: Sometimes the more formal sentences will have the verbs “смятам” and “възнамерявам” which can be roughly translated in English as “consider” and “intend” but basically mean the English “going to”.
Jonathan: So what is the connection between this type of sentence and the future tense?
Iva: Well, they form the future tense either because of the forms of the verb or because of the meaning.
Jonathan: How about the future tense in Bulgarian?
Iva: Basically, Bulgarian future tense is formed with the help of that particle “ще”.
Jonathan: It can mean “will”, “shall” or “should”.
Iva: You can easily remember it because the Bulgarian word for “future” is “бъдеще” and itself contains the particle “ще”.
Jonathan: OK… “future”…
Iva: “бъдеще”
Jonathan: And “will”
Iva: “ще”.
Jonathan: Great! I’m sure the listeners will find many other useful examples in the lesson notes.
Iva: Please check them and stay tuned for the next lesson!
Jonathan: OK, see you next time everyone!
Iva: Bye everyone!

1 Comment

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Thursday at 6:30 pm
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Hi everyone,

What's YOUR favorite Bulgarian drink? ;)