Bulgarian Nouns Made Easy: #1 Guide With Related Vocabulary

Want to learn Bulgarian nouns? In a few words, Bulgarian nouns are words used to name people, places, things, or ideas. They can be masculine, feminine, or neuter and change form based on number and case. Examples include “човек” (chovek – person), “книга” (kniga – book), and “куче” (kuche – dog). In short, they’re the heart of Bulgarian sentences!

So, in this article, we’ll break down the basics of Bulgarian nouns, covering everything from gender and number to cases used in everyday conversations. Whether you’re just starting out or looking to sharpen your skills and expand your Bulgarian grammar and vocabulary, you’ve come to the right place! Let’s make your learning experience as smooth as a walk on the Black Sea and get a look at some general rules together!

Understanding The Basics Of Bulgarian Nouns

It is obvious that, like in many other languages, nouns are words that name people, places, things, animals, or ideas. They can be concrete or abstract, or nominative and proper. The tricky part is that in Bulgarian language, nouns have gender, number, and case. This can seem a bit confusing at first, but with a little practice, you’ll get the hang of it.

Grammatical Gender

Every Bulgarian noun has a specific one of the three grammatical genders – masculine, feminine, and neuter. So, in Bulgarian the phone is masculine, the table is feminine, and the curtain is neutral.

It’s funny sometimes because imagine – you are a native Bulgarian speaker and you go for a walk in the park with your non-Bulgarian friend and there is a squirrel. You say: “Oh, look! She eats hazelnut.” and your friend comes up with: “How do you know it’s а ‘she’?” Confusing, right? Well, it is actually easy to understand the gender of nouns. Let’s take a close-up.

Masculine Nouns

Masculine nouns typically end in a consonant.

• Chair – stol (стол)
• Rabbit – zaek (заек)
• Teacher – uchitel (учител)

Months are considered masculine even though they end in a vowel letter:

• January – yanuari (януари)
• February – fevruari (февруари)
• March – mart (март)
• April – april (април)
• May – maĭ (май)
• June – yuni (юни)
• July – yuli (юли)
• August – avgust (август)
• September – septemvri (септември)
• October – oktomvri (октомври)
• November – noemvri (ноември)
• December – dekemvri (декември)

Bonus tip: The names of the months in the Bulgarian language are written with a small letter.

Feminine Nouns

Feminine nouns usually end in vowel letters like “-a” (-a) or “-я” (-ya). For example:

• Squirrel – kateritsa (катерица)
• Sneak – zmiya (змия)
• Woman – zhena (жена)
• Water – voda (вода)

However, some feminine nouns end in a consonant, but they most often are abstract ones like:

• Night – nosht (нощ)
• Authenticity – avtentichnost (автентичност)
• Addiction – zavisimost (зависимост)

Neuter Nouns

Neuter nouns also often end in vowel letters like “-o” (-o) and “-e”(-e), or “-y”(-u), “и”(-i), and “ю”(-yu). Examples are:

• Child – dete (дете)
• Bed – leglo (легло)
• Cabbage – zele (зеле)
• Taxi – taksi (такси)
• Menu – menyu (меню)

I know it looks a bit difficult at first, but I promise you’ll get it once you give it a try! It’s really important to understand this because, in the Bulgarian language, it also affects other parts of the sentence structure.

Singular And Plural Form

Sounds pretty similar to English, right? But in Bulgarian, how a noun changes from singular to plural depends on its gender and ending. Here are some basic rules to help you out:

Masculine Noun Endings

Add the following endings to masculine nouns to make them plural: “-и”(-i) or “-ове”(-ove). For example:

• To the word “teacher” – uchitel (учител), we add “-i” (-и) and it becomes “teacher” – uchitel-i (учители).

You have to know that sometimes, nouns change when they become plural, like this:

• Foreigner ->  foreigners — chuzhdenets -> chuzhdentsi (чужденец->чужденци). Do you see how that last “e” disappeared? That’s what I mean when say they sometimes change.
• To the word “bridge” – most (мост), we add “-ove” (-ове) and it becomes “bridges” – most-ove (мостове).

They can also have changes when the nouns become plural, like this:

• Wind -> winds — vyatŭr -> vetrove (вятър->ветрове).

And, though I don’t want to scare you, but that is not all. There are a few other cases where you have to add endings like “-е” (-e), “-а”(-a), “-я”(-ya), or “-ища”(-ishta) to make the plural forms:

• To the word “king” – kral (крал), we add “-e” (-е) and it becomes “kings” – kral-e (крале);
• To the word “foot” – krak (крак), we add “-a” (а) and it becomes “feet” – krak-a (крака);
• To the word “brother” – brat (брат), we add “-ya” (я) and it becomes “brothers” – brat-ya (братя);
• To the word “dream” – sun (сън), we add “-ishta” (-ища) and it becomes “dreams” – sun-ishta (сънища);

There’s one more thing to know about masculine nouns. Nouns that end in a consonant and refer to inanimate objects have a second plural form. This is used when you’re using them with a numeral or after the words kolko (колко) – “how many” and nyakolko (няколко) – “several”. To form this, just add the endings “-a” (а) or “-ya” (я) to the noun:

• Three chairs – tri stol-a (три стола)
• Two juices – dva sok-a (два сока)
• How many people – kolko chovek-a (колко човека)
• Several children – nyakolko dets-a (няколко деца)

Feminine Noun Endings

With feminine nouns, rules are a little different and easier. You only have to replace the “-a” (-a) or “-я” (-ya) with “-и” (-i). For example:

• In the word “woman” – zhena (жена), we replace “-a” (-a) with “-i” and it becomes “women” – zhen-i (жени).
• In the word “land” – zemya (земя), we replace “-я” (-ya) with  “-i” and it becomes “lands” – zem-i (земи).

Neuter Noun Endings

When it comes to plural form, neutral nouns tend to add different endings to create their plurals.
If the noun ends with “–o” (-o), ” –це”(-tse), or “–ще”(-shte), we replace with “–a”(-a):

• Iin the word “playground”  – igrishte (игрище), we replace the “e” (е) in “–ще”(-shte) with “–a”(-a) and it becomes “playgrounds” – igrisht-a (игрища).

If nouns ending with “-ие” (-ie), we replace the final “-e” (-e)  with “-я” (-ya):

• In the word “notification” – izvestie (известие) we replace “-e” (-e)  with “-я” (-ya) and it becomes “notifications” – izvestiya (известия).

If the nouns ending with “–e”(-e), “–че”(-che), “–ле”(-le), or if they are foreign words ending in “– и”(-i), “–у”(-u), or “–ю”(-yu), we add “–тa”(-ta):

• To the word “boy” – momche (момче), we add “–тa”(-ta) and it becomes “boys” – momche-ta (момчета).
• To the word “tulip” – lale (лале), we add “–тa”(-ta) and it becomes “tulips” – lale-ta (лалета).

There are, of course, exceptions to these rules, and some nouns can be irregular, so the best way to get used to these changes is through practice and exposure to the language. Reading Bulgarian texts and speaking can help you. If you don’t have someone to practice with, the Ling app is a great way to get some practice in with a 15-minute program. It offers comprehensive lessons and exercises that cater to different learning styles, making it a great tool for mastering foreign language.

How Do You Say Noun In Bulgarian?

In Bulgarian, a noun is called “съществително” (sŭshtestvitelno).

Expanding Your Bulgarian Vocabulary

Building a strong vocabulary is the key to becoming a fluent speaker, and that’s why we’ve put together a list of some common nouns, grouped by everyday activities and themes, to help you on your way!

Everyday Activities

English word	Bulgarian word	Pronunciation
Water	вода	Voda
Bread	хляб	Hlyab
Beans	боб	Bob
Let’s have dinner together!	Нека вечеряме заедно!	Neka vecheryame zaedno!
Are you hungry?	Гладен/гладна ли си	Gladen *for masculine and neuter nouns*/ gladna *feminine nouns* li si?
What are you cooking?	Какво готвиш?	Kakvo gotvish?

Places And Objects

English word	Bulgarian word	Pronunciation
Bus	автобус	Avtobus
Street	улица	Ulitsa
Beach	плаж	Plazh
Where is the beach?	Къде е плажа?	Kude e plazha?
You can find ice cream on this street.	По тази улица можете да откриете сладолед.	Po tazi ulitsa mozhete da namerite sladoled.
Do you have sun cream?	Имаш ли плажно масло?	Imash li plazhno maslo?

You can also look at some weather vocabulary, or even words for body parts, if you want to learn more.

FAQs About Bulgarian Nouns

Are There Grammatical Cases In Bulgarian?

Bulgarian doesn’t have a grammatical case officially, but we can say there are two left from the past: Nominative (the main form of the word) and Vocative case. The vocative form is used when addressing a person or a thing, or when we specify an actionable object.

In the first case, to the masculine nouns we add “-е”(-e), “-о”(-o), or “-ю”(-yu). Take a look back to the previous example, my friend – priyatel-yu (приятелю). 

To the feminine nouns, we can add “-о”(-o), “-е”(-e), “йо”(ĭo), or “ьо”(ĭo). For example, in English, there isn’t a difference between the word “aunt” and the address “aunt,” in Bulgarian, in the second case we have to add “ьо”(ĭo), like “aunt” – lelya (леля) -> “aunt” – lel-ĭo (лельо).

How Are Bulgarian Nouns Affected By Definite And Indefinite Articles?

In Bulgarian, the definite article goes right at the end of the noun rather than being a separate word. Let’s take “woman” – zhena (жена) as a sample. To say “the woman,” we have to add the article at the end, like zhena-ta (жената).

Do Bulgarian Nouns Change Form Based On Their Role In A Sentence?

Yes, Bulgarian nouns can change their form based on the role in a sentence, primarily through case usage. The nominative case is used for subjects, and the accusative case is used when we want to point to an object that is affected by the action. However, the Bulgarian case system is a bit simpler than in other Slavic languages.

In Summary

Mastering Bulgarian nouns is a key step in learning the Bulgarian language. Understanding their gender, number, and usage will help you build a solid foundation for further study. Regular practice, exposure to native speakers, and using tools like the Ling app will help you become more confident in your language skills. Happy learning!