Bulgarian modal verbs

Modal verbs indicate modality, for example - ability, likelihood, obligation. They give us more information about the function of the main verb.

Lesson outline

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1.The modal verbs in the Bulgarian language
2.How to link two verbs
3.The verb "Трябва" / Must
4.The verb "Обичам"/ To love
5.The negative form
6.Exercises
6.1.Fill in the correct form of modal verb
6.2.Fill in the missing form of the modal verbs

The modal verbs in the Bulgarian language

Modal verb	Transcription	English
Мога	moga	can
Искам	iskam	want
Трябва	trybva	must/have to
Обичам	obicham	love

Трябва, мога и искам can be used both with perfect and imperfect verbs. Обичам can only be used with imperfect verbs.

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How to link two verbs

We can link two verbs only using the participle "да" . In this case both of the verbs are conjugated accordingly.

Аз мога	да	рисувам.	I can draw.
Ти можеш	да	рисуваш.	You can draw.
Той/тя/то може	да	рисува.	He/she/it can draw.
Ние можем	да	рисуваме.	We can draw.
Вие можете	да	рисувате	You can draw.
Те могат	да	рисуват.	They can draw.

If the two verbs refer to different subjects they do not agree in person and number:

Аз искам	да	отидеш ти.	I want you to come.
Той иска	да	го напрвая аз.	He wants me to make it.
Те искат	да	дойде той.	They want him to come.

Usually, the second verb is in perfect form. However, we can aslo use the imperfect form for continuous actions, actions that are not finished, or actions that will be reapeated many times.

Искам	да	купувам цветя всеки ден.	I want to buy flowers everyday.
Трябва	да	купувам хляб.	I have to buy bread.
Мога	да	рисувам.	I can draw.
Обичам	да	скачам.	I love jumping.

The verb "Трябва" / Must

This is the only verb in the Bulgarian language that does not change in person and number. It can be translated in English with must/have to/should/ought to.

Bulgarian	Transcription	English
Трябва да купя домати.	Trybva da kupya domati.	I have to buy tomatoes.
Не трябва да говориш така.	Ne trybva da govorish taka.	You shouldn't talk like this.
Той трябва да гледа децата.	Toi trybva da gleda decata.	He has to watch the children.

The verb "Обичам"/ To love

This verb is only used with imperfect verb.

Обичам	да	пея.	I love singing.
Обичам	да	рисувам.	I love drawing.
Обичам	да	танцувам.	I love dancing.

The negative form

We construct the negtive form by adding "Не" before the verb.

Не искам	да	ям.	I don't want to eat.
Не мога	да	карам колело.	I cannot ride a bicyle.
Не трябва	да	говориш така.	You shouldn´t talk like this.
Не обичам	да	ме лъжат.	I don't like lying to me.