Aspect
Bulgarian verbs express lexical aspect (вид). The verbs are either of imperfective (глаголи от несвършен вид) or perfective (глаголи от свършен вид) aspect. The former describe actions in progress (uncompleted actions) and the latter whole completed actions (actions which have a beginning and an end). So in Bulgarian an English verb is usually translated by two verbs (or sometimes by even three, see below). Perfective verbs can be usually formed from imperfective ones by suffixation or prefixation, but when prefixes (or very rarely suffixes) are used the resultant verb often deviates in meaning from the original. It is better to learn the pairs of verbs by heart because there are not any strict rules and irregularities are very common. Nevertheless many verbs can be grouped according to their stem change:
| Perfective | Imperfective | Perfective | Imperfective | Perfective | Imperfective |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| предложа | предлагам | отговоря | отговарям | кажа | казвам |
| изложа | излагам | изговоря | изговарям | накажа | наказвам |
| сложа | слагам | преговоря | преговарям | предскажа | предсказвам |
| възложа | възлагам | договоря | договарям | докажа | доказвам |
The verbs from one pair are of different conjugations, for example кажа is from the first conjugation and казвам from the third.
In the past imperfect and the present tense perfective verbs cannot stand alone in an independent clause, in these tenses such verbs are used only in subordinate clauses.
Read more about this topic: Bulgarian Verbs
Famous quotes containing the word aspect:
“Cleopatra’s nose: had it been shorter, the whole aspect of the world would have been altered.”
—Blaise Pascal (1623–1662)
“One ... aspect of the case for World War II is that while it was still a shooting affair it taught us survivors a great deal about daily living which is valuable to us now that it is, ethically at least, a question of cold weapons and hot words.”
—M.F.K. Fisher (1908–1992)
“These are the soul’s changes. I don’t believe in ageing. I believe in forever altering one’s aspect to the sun. Hence my optimism.”
—Virginia Woolf (1882–1941)