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Nouns#

[[index#|Bulgarian]] nouns

Gender#

Nouns in Bulgarian can take on one of three genders - masculine, feminine and neuter. It is not possible to determine the gender of noun solely by looking at it, but most nouns do exhibit certain patterns depending on their ending.

Masculine Nouns#

Tip: Masculine Noun Endings

Most nouns ending in a consonant are masculine.

Example

мъж (man), стол (chair), край (end)

Warning: Notable Exceptions

Most nouns ending in "-щ" are feminine.

Nouns ending in "-ар", "-ач", "-тел", "-ин", "-ик", "-ец" are always masculine and usually signify a male person or occupation.

Example

чар (charm); рибар (fisher), бръснар (barber), овчар (shepherd)

водач (leader), играч (player), купувач (buyer), продавач (seller)

учител (teacher), охранител (security guard), родител (parent), любител (enjoyer)

българин (a Bulgarian), гражданин (citizen), християнин (a Christian person), селянин (villager)

измамник (crook), мошеник (crook), виновник (culprit)

летец (flier), стрелец (archer), хубавец (a handsome man)

Tip: Names of the Months

The names of all months are masculine.

Example

януари (January), февруари (February), март (March), април (April), май (May), юни (June), юли (July), август (August), септември (September), октомври (October), ноември (November), декември (December)

Tip: Names of the Cardinal Directions

The names of all cardinal directions are masculine.

Example

север (north), изток (east), юг (south), запад (west)

североизток (northeast), северозапад (northwest), югоизток (southeast), югозапад (southwest)

Feminine Nouns#

Tip: Feminine Noun Endings

All nouns ending in "-а" or "-я" are feminine.

Example

кола (car), тръба (pipe)

ракия (rakia), хавлия (towel)

Warning: Exceptions

The only exceptions are words which refer to a male person or occupation - these are always masculine.

Example

баща (father), папа (pope), войвода (voivode)

съдия (judge), бояджия (painter)

Most nouns ending in "-щ" are feminine.

Example

пещ (oven), вещ (item), мощ (might, power), нощ (night), помо

Most nouns which represent abstract concepts and end in "а/о/e/и/я" + "-ст" are feminine.

Example

страст (passion), участ (fate);

младост (youthfulness), радост (joy), обреченост ("doomed-ness") честност (honesty);

прелест (beauty), болест (sickness);

завист (envy)

несвяст (unconsciousness)

Neuter Nouns#

Tip: Neuter Noun Endings

All nouns ending in "-o" or "-e" are neuter.

Warning: Exceptions

Nouns which signify a male person or occupation are masculine.

Example

татко (father), дядо (grandfather), чичо (uncle)

аташе (attaché)

Number#

Nouns in Bulgarian can be either singular or plural. Unlike in English, however, building the plural form of a noun from its singular form is not as easy as just adding a letter or two. The ending for the plural form of a noun can depend on several factors such as the noun's singular ending, its gender and its number of syllables.

Masculine Nouns#

There is no fool-proof rule for determining the plural form of a masculine from only its singular form, so each masculine nouns must be learned with both its singular and plural forms. However, there are certain patterns which most nouns follow and can make the process easier.

Count Form#

Masculine nouns which do not signify persons and end in a consonant have an additional plural form, known as count form which is used in certain situations.

Important

If the noun signifies a person, then it does not have a count form and always uses its normal plural form.

This form is built by appending either "-а" or "-я" to a noun's singular form. Almost all nouns use "-а", however, if a noun's singular form ends in "-й", its count form is built by replacing "-й" with "-я" because й + а = я. If the noun ends in "-тел", then its count form is obtained by appending "-я" instead of "-а". Some other nouns such as "кон" also use "-я" for their count form, but they are very rare.

Example

народ (nation) -> народа, театър (theatre) -> театъра, бряг (coast) -> бряга

усилвател (amplifier) -> усилвателя, ключодържател (keychain) -> ключодържателя

кон (horse) -> коня, път (road) -> пътя

Tip: Stress in the Count Form

The stress in the count form of a noun never ends on the last syllable.

The count form is used only after [[TODO|cardinal numbers]] ("два", "сто и един", "хиляда и сто"), combinations from such numbers ("четири-пет", "седем-осем") and the [[TODO|adverbs]] "колко", "колкото", "толкова" and "няколко".

Example

Би ли ми дал онези два стола? (Would you give me those two chairs?)

Четирите пътя са свързани с кръгово. (The four roads are joined by a roundabout.)

Колко крака имат паяците? (How many legs do spiders have?)

Трябват ми още няколко часа, за да приключа с работата. (I need a few more hours to finish the work).

Warning: Exceptions with "колко" and "толкова"

If "колко" or "толкова" are used to amplify something and do not express a particular quantity, then the normal plural form is used. This usually happens in exclamative sentences.

Example

Колко хубави коня имаш? (How many beautiful horses do you have?)

Колко хубави коне имаш! (You have such beautiful horses!)

Не очаквах толкова подаръци! (I did not expect so many presents!)

The count form is also used if there are other modifiers between the number / adverb and the noun. However, if one of these words is a [[TODO|preposition]] or [[TODO|verb]] or one of "и повече" / "или повече" and "и по-малко" / "или по-малко", then the normal plural form is used.

Example

Трите най-големи парка в страната имат обща площ над хиляда. кв. км. (The three biggest parks in the country have a total area of more than a thousand square kilometers.)

БДЖ закупи няколко нови влака. (BDZ bought a few new trains.)

Не е известно колко от старите телефони имат този дефект. (It is unknown how many of the old phones have this defect).

Четири са големите пожари, които изпепелиха селото. (The big fires which burned the village to the ground are four).

Петдесет хиляди или повече долари ще са нужни за реновирането на апартамента. (Fifty thousand dollars or more will be necessary for the refurbishment of the apartment.)

If the word is one of "двойка", "тройка", etc., "дузина", "чифт", or does not name a specific number ("стотици, десетки, хиляди"), then the normal plural form is used.

Example

Китай инвестира милиарди долари в този проект. (China is investing billions of dollars in this project).