Learn Bulgarian Grammar: A Beginner’s Guide for Foreigners

Asking Questions in Bulgarian

Once you’re comfortable building basic sentences, the next step is learning how to ask questions. Luckily, Bulgarian questions are often formed in a way that’s intuitive – especially if you already speak English.

There are two main types of questions:

• Yes–No questions (e.g. Are you hungry?)
• Wh- questions (e.g. What are you doing?, Where do you live?)

1. Yes–No Questions (Да–Не въпроси)

You don’t need to change the word order – just use rising intonation in speech, or a question mark in writing. You can also use the particle „ли“ after the verb.

• Ти говориш английски? (Ti govorish angliyski? – Do you speak English?)
• Говориш ли английски? (Govorish li angliyski? – Do you speak English?)
• Разбира ли тя? (Razbira li tya? – Does she understand?)

2. Wh- Questions (Въпросителни думи)

These start with question words and come at the beginning of the sentence.

Important: Only “Кой” (who) and “Какво” (what) change form depending on gender and number:

• Кой? / Коя? / Кое? / Кои? – Who? (masculine / feminine / neuter / plural)
  
  
• Какъв? / Каква? / Какво? / Какви? – What kind of? / What? (masculine / feminine / neuter / plural)

Examples:

• Как се казваш? (Kak se kazvash? – What’s your name?)
• Къде живееш? (Kade zhiveesh? – Where do you live?)
• Защо учиш български? (Zashto uchish balgarski? – Why are you learning Bulgarian?)

Summary

• Use rising intonation or „ли“ for yes/no questions.
• Start with a question word for wh-questions.
• You often don’t need the subject, because the verb form shows who is acting.
• Remember: “Кой” and “Какво” change depending on gender and number.