Present perfect tense in Bulgarian
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Hide1. When to use the Present perfect tense
The present simple tense in Bulgarian is used to talk about:
an action thet happened in a non-specific time in the past, the results of which are evident in or affect the present.
| Бил съм в Канада. | Bila sum v Kanada. | I have been un Canada. |
| Купила съм хляб. | Kupila sum hlyab. | I have bought bread. |
| Чела съм тази книга. | Chela sum tazi kniga. | I have read this book. |
In most cases the Bulgarian perfect tense is translated into English by the use of the present perfect tense (I have played)
Unlike in English, we can use the present perfect in Bulgarian when the time of the action is specified. In those cases it is translated into English by using past simple tense:
| Виждал/а ли си го днес? | Vizhdal/а li si go dnes? | Did you see him today? |
| Бил/а си в магазина тази седмица? | Bil/а li si v magazina tazi sedmitza? | Did you go to the supermarket this week? |
| Купил/а ли си захар вчера? | Kupil/а li si zahar vchera? | Did you buy sugar yesterday? |
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2. Signal words
With this tense we only tell that something have happened or we have done something, but we don´t specify when. The event happened at some point in the past but the information "when it happened" is missing or not important. However, there are some time markers that will help you use this tense correctly:
| Някога | Nyakoga | Ever |
| Никога | Nikoga | Never |
Explore the following examples:
| Някога била/а ли си в Куба? | Nyakoga bil/a li si v Kuba? | Have you ever been in Cuba? |
| Никога не съм/а била в КУба? | Nikoga ne sym bil/a v Kuba? | I have never been in Cuba? |
3. Formation and verb conjugation
The present perfect tense is formed by using the present tense of the verb "to be" and the past participle of the main verb.
СЪМ (to be) + ходил/правил/живял (past partisiple)
the verb "СЪМ" ("to be") is usually placed before the pst prtisiple but if there is no other word before the past simple participle "СЪМ" ("to be") goes after it.
Аз съм ходила = Ходила съм.
| + | + | - | - |
|---|---|---|---|
| Аз съм ходил/а | I have walked | Аз не съм ходил/а | I have not walked |
| Ти си ходил/а | You have walked | Ти не си ходил/а | You have not walked |
| Той е ходил/а | He has walked | Той не е ходил/а | He has not walked |
| Ние сме ходили | We have walked | Ние не сме ходили | We have not walked |
| Вие сте ходили | You have walked | Вие не сте ходили | You have not walked |
| Те са ходили | They have wlaked | Те не са ходили | They have not walked |
Ask questions using Present perfect tense
In Bulgaran language we use the question word "ли" to convert the sentence into a question.
+ | + | - | - |
|---|---|---|---|
| Бил/а ли съм? | Have I been? | Не съм ли бил/а? | Have I not been? |
| Бил/а ли си? | Have you been? | Не си ли бил/а? | Have you not been? |
| Бил/а ли е? | Has he been? | Не е ли бил/а? | Has he not been? |
| Били ли сме? | Have we been? | Не сме ли били? | Have we not been? |
| Били ли сте? | Have you been? | Не сте ли били? | Have you not been? |
| Били ли са? | Have they been? | Не са ли били? | Have they not been? |
4. Conjugation of reflexive verbs
The word order of the reflexive verbs in the present perfect tense requires special attention - in 3rd person singular the reflexive participle "СЕ" is placed before the verb while in all other forms it come after it.
| + | + | - | - |
|---|---|---|---|
| Аз съм се върнал/а | I have returned | Аз не съм се върнал/а | I have not returned |
| Ти си се върнал/а | You have returned | Ти не си се върнал/а | You have returned |
| Той/тя се е върнал/а | He/she has returned | Той/тя не се е върнал | He/she has returned |
| Ние сме се върнали | We have returned | Ние не сме се върнали | We have returned |
| Вие сте се върнали | You have returned | Вие не сте се върнали | You have returned |
| Те са се върнали | They have returned | Те не са се върнали | They have returned |