#1 Guide To Bulgarian Conjunctions: Connect Easily

You’ve got a good grasp of Bulgarian already, but once you get the hang of different Bulgarian conjunctions, you’ll be able to link words into a clear sentence in no time!

In this guide, I’m going to show you the most common types of Bulgarian conjunctions. They’re like little bridges that connect words, phrases, and clauses into well-structured sentences. We’ll check out some examples together to see how they work and learn how to express our thoughts in a clear way using words like “and” – и (i), “or” – или (ili), “but” – но (no) and others. Let’s get started!

What Are Bulgarian Conjunctions?

Bulgarian conjunctions are special parts of speech. They link ideas or connect different parts of a sentence, whether they’re simple or complex. Bulgarian, like English, also uses these words to join independent clauses and show how different parts of a sentence relate to each other.

Now, let’s see which conjunctions are simple and which are complex and discover the ones we Bulgarians use most often. You’ll understand if you practice a little!

Types Of Conjunctions 

There are different types of Bulgarian conjunctions and we divide them into groups and subgroups depending on their specifics and functions.

1. By Form

Constitutive (Simple) Conjunctions – Coordinating Conjunctions

Coordinating conjunctions most often connect simple sentences into complex ones. Whether we are contrasting two statements or events against another, or listing sequential actions, we place a coordinating conjunction in the middle.

If you’re confused, let’s clear it up and take a look at some common coordinating conjunctions.

In the Bulgarian language, simple coordinating conjunctions are divided into three groups: connective, disjunctive, and opposite. Let’s dive deeper.

Connective Conjunctions

These coordinating conjunctions are parts of speech that simply connect sentences and link ideas. For example:

English conjunctions	Bulgarian conjunctions	Pronunciation
And	и	i
So	та	ta
–	па *	pa *
That	че	che

Let’s try to use them in context.

English sentence	Bulgarian sentence	Pronunciation
I woke up and went to the gym.	Събудих се и отидох на фитнес.	Subudih se i otidoh na fitnes.
I saw that he was struggling, so I decided to help.	Видях, че се мъчи, та реших да помогна.	Vidyah, che se muchi ta reshih da pomogna.
She said that she understood Bulgarian.	Тя каза, че разбира български.	Tya kaza, che razbira bulgarski.

Disjunctive Conjunctions

In Bulgarian grammar, these are coordinating conjunctions that indicate a contrast or an alternative between words, clauses, etc. For example:

English Conjunctions	Bulgarian Conjunctions	Pronunciation
Or	или	ili
Either … or	или … или	ili … ili
Whether … or	дали … или	dali … ili
Sometimes … sometimes	ту … ту	tu … tu
Both … and	хем … хем	hem … hem

Let’s see them in context.

English Sentence	Bulgarian Sentence	Pronunciation
What do you prefer – an apple or a banana?	Какво предпочиташ – ябълка или банан?	Kakvo predpochitаsh – yabulka ili banan?
You either win or you lose.	Или ще спечелите, или ще изгубите.	Ili shte spechelite, ili shte izgubite.
I’m going whether you like it or not.	Отивам, независимо дали ти харесва или не.	Otivam, nezavisimo dali ti haresva ili ne.
Sometimes he’s nice, sometimes he’s rude.	Ту е мил, ту е груб.	Tu e mil, tu e grub.
He both wants to bungee jump and is afraid.	Хем иска да скочи с бънджи, хем го е страх.	Hem iska da skochi s bundzhi, hem go e strah.

Opposite Conjunctions

Their name speaks for itself. These are conjunctions used to compare, contrast, or oppose ideas, actions, two clauses, or different contexts. For example:

English Conjunctions	Bulgarian Conjunctions	Pronunciation
But	но	no
But / yet	ала *	ala *
But / what a …	ама	ama
And / whereas / while / but / yet / rather	а	a
However, but, though	обаче	obache

Let’s use them in context.

English Sentence	Bulgarian Sentence	Pronunciation
I tried it but didn’t like it.	Опитах го, но не ми хареса.	Opitah go, no ne mi haresa.
I searched high and low, but found nothing.	Тъсих под дърво и камък, ала не открих нищо.	Tursih pod dyrvo i kamuk, ala ne otkrih nishto.
But I don’t understand.	Ама не разбирам.	Ama ne razbiram.
I got a pink pen, and he got a blue one.	Аз взех розов химикал, а той – син.	Az vzeh rozov himikal, a toĭ sin.
I thought there would be no one, however there were a lot of people.	Мислех си, че няма да има никой, обаче имаше много хора.	Misleh, che nyama da ima nikoĭ, obache imashe mnogo hora.

Complex Conjunctions

These conjunctions are formed by combining different parts of speech, like prepositions, adverbs, and simple conjunctions. In other words, complex conjunctions are named like this because they combine in themselves different parts of speech, i.e., create complex combinations and phrases. However, their function is also to connect different contexts.

For example: Preposition + Conjunction

English Conjunctions	Bulgarian Conjunctions	Pronunciation
Without	без да	bez da
To	за да	za da
Like	като да	kato da
Except to…	освен да…	osven da…
Before	преди да	oredi da
Although	въпреки че	vupreki che
As if / like	като че	kato che
Except that	освен че	osven che
Because	задето	zadeto
Except as	освен като	osven kato
After	след като	sled kato

Adverb + Preposition

English Conjunctions	Bulgarian Conjunctions	Pronunciation
Because	затова че	zatova che
But	само че	samo che
So	тъй че (colloquial form)/ така че	tuĭ che / taka che
Although	макар че	makar che
As if	сякаш че	syakash che

Conjunction + Conjunction:

English conjunctions	Bulgarian conjunctions	Pronunciation
And if / and to / even if	и да	i da
If	ако	ako
And yet / but	а пък	a puk
But / but yet	но пък	no puk
Although	макар и	makar i
Although	макар че	makar che
Although	макар и да	makar i da

Conjunctive Words (Connect Words)

These are pronouns and adverbs that serve as a link between the subordinate clause and the main clause to express complex ideas. Again, we can consider them in two subgroups.

Interrogative And Relative Pronouns

These two types of Bulgarian pronouns are used as conjunctive words to link the subordinate sentence and the main sentence. They allow us to express intentions, show relationship/ownership, and describe actions or opposite ideas.

English Conjunctions	Bulgarian conjunctions	Pronunciation
Who	кой	koĭ
What	какъв	kakuv
What	какво	kakvo
How / How many / How much	колко	kolko
Who / That / Which / Whoever	който	koĭto
Such as / As / Whatever / What	какъвто	kakuvto
Whose / Of whom	чийто	chiĭto

Interrogative And Relative Pronominal Adverbs

Again, these are types of conjunctive words that we use to connect two clauses according to their relationship. They are essential for everyday communication because they are used for expressing relations. For example:

English Conjunctions	Bulgarian Conjunctions	Pronunciation
Where	къде	kude
When	кога	koga
How	как	kak
Why	защо	zashto
Where / Wherever	където	kudeto
When / Whenever	когато	kogato

Let’s try to use them in context.

English Sentence	Bulgarian Sentence	Pronunciation
She asked who broke the window.	Тя попита кой е счупил прозореца.	Tya popita koĭ e schupil prozoretsa.
We have no such books as you want.	Нямаме книги каквито искате.	Nyamame knigi kakvito iskate.
The man whose phone was lost came.	Дойде мъжът, чийто телефон беше изгубен.	Doĭde muzhut, chiĭto telefon beshe izguben.
She asked why we have to know all this stuff.	Тя попита защо трябва да знаем всички тези неща.	Tya popita zashto tryabva da znaem vsichki tezi neshta.
The wedding will take place where we met.	Сватбата ще е там, където се запознахме.	Svatbata shte e tam, kudeto se zapoznahme.
I will call you when we arrive.	Ще ти се обадя, когато пристигнем.	Shte ti se obadya, kogato pristignem.

As we said and you saw, when it comes to understanding everything in context, we need to have a general knowledge of the language. But that’s not difficult if you practice consistently! You can use learning tools like the Ling app or read useful material.

If you want to significantly enhance your Bulgarian vocabulary and grammar knowledge, I recommend you take a look at some resources about Bulgarian nouns and pronouns, study everyday vocabulary and even look at some tips for communication.

However, for now, let’s see what else we can determine about Bulgarian conjunctions.

2. By Meaning

Don’t panic! There are no more conjunctions! We just divided them into different groups according to their meaning. That’s because all Bulgarian conjunctions can fall into more than one group according to different indicators or functions. In this case, we’ll take a look at Simple and Subordinating conjunctions.

Simple Conjunctions

This type of Bulgarian conjunction connects two statements with a unary function and no dependency relationship; that is, neither of the two simple clauses in the sentence is dominant or dominated. They are equal in value and are connected because of similarity, consistency, when contrasted, or when they are happening at the same time. They are:

English conjunctions	Bulgarian conjunctions	Pronunciation
And / Whereas / While / But / Yet / Rather	а	a
But / Yet	ала	ala
But / What a …	ама	ama
But / and / why / no fear, not me / you don’t say! / really!	ами	ami
But	но	no
Not a (single), Never a (neither…nor) / Nor	ни (ни…ни) *colloquial form /нито (нито…нито)	ni (ni…ni) *colloquial form / nito (nito…nito)
Sometimes … sometimes	ту (ту…ту)	tu (tu…tu)
But / Yet / And / While	пък	puk
However / But / Though	обаче	obache
Both… And	както… така и	kakto…taka i
Not only… but also	не само… но и	ne samo…no i
As much as	колкото…толкова	kolkoto….tolkova
Ket alone	камо ли	kamo li
So	та	ta
–	па (colloquial word)	pa (colloquial word)
That	че	che

Subordinating Conjunctions  

Subordinating conjunctions are words or phrases that link dependent clauses to independent clauses, i.e., when one of the simple sentences in the composition is dominant, and the other is dominated by the first. This means that the conjunction between the two statements shows a cause-and-effect relationship; something has happened or will happen because of something else. Therefore, these connective words or phrases indicate that the second sentence has an informational value that is added to the main idea of the sentence. They are:

English conjunctions	Bulgarian conjunctions	Pronunciation
To	за да	za da
To	да	da
If	ако	ako
That	че	che
Because	понеже	ponezhe
Without to	без да	bez da
Except to…	освен да	osven da
Before to	преди да	predi da
Although	въпреки че	vupreki che
As if / like	като че	kato che
Except that	освен че	osven che
After	след като	sled kato
Except as	освен като	osven kato
Instead of	вместо да	vmesto da
Because of	затова че	zatova che
But	само че	samo che
So	тъй че (colloquial form)/ така че	tuĭ che / taka che
Although	макар че	makar che
Though	при все че	pri vse che

How Do You Say Conjunction In Bulgarian?

The word for conjunction in Bulgarian is suyuz (Съюз).

FAQ’s About Bulgarian Conjunctions

1. What Is The Sentence Structure Of Bulgarian?

Bulgarian has a Subject-Verb-Object (SVO) structure, but it also allows for variations to show emphasis and style. It’s a pretty flexible language, which is amazing!

2. How Many Tenses Does Bulgarian Have?

We have nine tenses in Bulgarian verbs: Present Simple, Past Aorist (Past Tense), Past Imperfect, Present Perfect, Past Perfect, Future Tense, Future-In-The-Past, Future Perfect (Futurum Secundum Exactum), Future-In-The-Past Perfect.

Quick note: Only the first seven tenses are typically taught in school, so don’t stress if you don’t recall all of them.

3. Is Bulgarian Easy To Learn?

With good practice, yes. At its core, Bulgarian grammar is quite straightforward. It doesn’t have many exceptions, so it’s enough to learn it once. Maybe the most difficult part for foreigners is pronunciation.

Wrapping Up

Learning Bulgarian conjunctions doesn’t have to be overwhelming. If you start with the right resources and practice consistently, you can master them and take your language skills to the next level. So, dive into Bulgarian grammar today and unlock the full potential of your language-learning journey!

For more helpful articles and tips on learning Bulgarian and other languages, visit the Ling blog. Happy learning!