Bulgarian - Basic Vocabulary

Bulgarian is written in Cyrillic – the script was developed in the First Bulgarian Empire over a thousand years ago. The modern Bulgarian alphabet has 30 letters and is very consistent: words are pronounced as they are spelled.

Bulgarian is unusual among Slavic languages because it has almost no noun cases, which makes basic sentences much easier to build. Instead, it does something only Bulgarian and Macedonian do among Slavic languages: it attaches the word “the” to the end of the noun.

🔢

Numbers

🎨

Colors

🦁

Animals

👥

People

📦

Objects

🍽️

Food

🕒

Time

🏃

Verbs

✨

Adjectives

🔗

Connectors

👨‍💼

Professions

1. Numbers

Learn to count and express quantities with basic numerals, cardinal and ordinal numbers, and numerical expressions

нула

nula

zero

един

edin

one

два

dva

two

три

tri

three

четири

chetiri

four

пет

pet

five

шест

shest

six

седем

sedem

seven

осем

osem

eight

девет

devet

nine

десет

deset

ten

единадесет

edinadeset

eleven

дванадесет

dvanadeset

twelve

тринадесет

trinadeset

thirteen

четиринадесет

chetirinadeset

fourteen

петнадесет

petnadeset

fifteen

шестнадесет

shestnadeset

sixteen

седемнадесет

sedemnadeset

seventeen

осемнадесет

osemnadeset

eighteen

деветнадесет

devetnadeset

nineteen

двадесет

dvadeset

twenty

тридесет

trideset

thirty

четиридесет

chetirideset

forty

петдесет

petdeset

fifty

шестдесет

shestdeset

sixty

седемдесет

sedemdeset

seventy

осемдесет

osemdeset

eighty

деветдесет

devetdeset

ninety

100

сто

sto

hundred

хиляда

hilyada

thousand

милион

milion

million

2. Colors

Explore basic and advanced colors, shades, and descriptive terms for talking about the visual world around you

⚪

бял

byal

white

⚫

черен

cheren

black

🔴

червен

cherven

red

🔵

син

sin

blue

🟡

жълт

zhălt

yellow

🟢

зелен

zelen

green

🟣

лилав

lilav

purple

🟤

кафяв

kafyav

brown

🟠

оранжев

oranzhev

orange

🌸

розов

rozov

pink

⭐

златен

zdaten

gold

🌑

сребърен

srebrăn

silver

☁️

сив

siv

grey

3. Animals

Discover vocabulary for domestic pets, farm animals, wild creatures, and exotic species from around the world

🐶

куче

kuche

dog

🐱

котка

kotka

cat

🐴

кон

kon

horse

🐮

крава

krava

cow

🐷

свиня

svinya

pig

🐦

птица

ptitsa

bird

🐟

риба

riba

fish

🐭

мишка

mishka

mouse

🦊

лисица

lisitsa

fox

🐇

заек

zaek

rabbit

🐻

мечка

mechka

bear

🐼

панда

panda

🐨

коала

koala

🐘

слон

slon

elephant

🐢

костенурка

kostenurka

turtle

🦒

жираф

zhiraf

giraffe

🦆

патица

patitsa

duck

🕷️

паяк

payak

spider

4. People

Learn words for immediate and extended family members, relationships, and terms for describing different types of people

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦

семейство

semeystvo

family

🧔

мъж

mŭzh

man

👩

жена

zhena

woman

👦

момче

momche

boy

👧

момиче

momiche

girl

👶

дете

dete

child

👨‍🦳

баща

bashta

father

👩‍🦳

майка

mayka

mother

👴

дядо

dyado

grandfather

👵

баба

baba

grandmother

🧑‍🦰

брат

brat

brother

👩‍🦱

сестра

sestra

sister

🧑

приятел

priyatel

friend

👥

хора

hora

people

🙋

човек

chovek

person

5. Objects

Build vocabulary for everyday items, household objects, tools, and common things you encounter in daily life

🏠

къща

kushta

house

🏢

сграда

sgrada

building

🏫

училище

uchilishte

school

🏪

магазин

magazin

store

🛣️

път

pŭt

road

🌆

град

grad

city

🌳

дърво

dŭrvo

tree

💧

вода

voda

water

☀️

слънце

slŭntse

sun

☁️

облак

oblak

cloud

📚

книга

kniga

book

🖊️

писалка

pisalka

pen

📱

телефон

telefon

phone

🔑

ключ

klyuch

key

🚗

кола

kola

car

6. Food

Master vocabulary for meals, snacks, beverages, cooking ingredients, and different types of cuisine from various cultures

🍎

ябълка

yabŭlka

apple

🍌

банан

banan

banana

🍞

хляб

hlyab

bread

🧀

сирене

sirene

cheese

🥩

месо

meso

meat

🥛

мляко

mlyako

milk

☕

кафе

kafe

coffee

🍵

чай

chay

tea

💧

вода

voda

water

🍺

бира

bira

beer

🍷

вино

vino

wine

🍽️

храна

hrana

food

🍳

яйце

yaytse

egg

🍚

ориз

oriz

rice

🥕

зеленчуци

zelenchutsi

vegetables

7. Time

Learn to express time concepts including days of the week, months, seasons, clock times, and temporal expressions

☀️

ден

den

day

🌙

нощ

nosht

night

⏰

час

chas

hour

🗓️

седмица

sedmitsa

week

📅

месец

mesets

month

🗓️

година

godina

year

🗓️

понеделник

ponedelnik

Monday

🗓️

вторник

vtornik

Tuesday

🗓️

сряда

sryada

Wednesday

🗓️

четвъртък

chetvărtŭk

Thursday

🗓️

петък

petŭk

Friday

🗓️

събота

sŭbota

Saturday

🗓️

неделя

nedelya

Sunday

🌅

сутрин

sutrin

morning

🌆

вечер

vecher

evening

🕛

сега

sega

now

🔜

скоро

skoro

soon

🕒

време

vreme

time

8. Verbs

Essential action words and verbs for describing activities, states of being, and both physical and mental actions

🗣️

говоря

govorya

to speak

🚶

ходя

hodya

to walk

🏃

бягам

byagam

to run

🍽️

ям

yam

to eat

🍷

пия

piya

to drink

😴

спя

spya

to sleep

📖

чета

cheta

to read

✍️

пиша

pisha

to write

👀

виждам

vizhdam

to see

👂

чувам

chuvam

to hear

💭

мисля

mislya

to think

🤔

знам

znam

to know

❤️

обичам

obicham

to love

👍

харесвам

haresvam

to like

👋

идвам

idvam

to come

🚪

отварям

otvaryam

to open

🔒

затварям

zatvaryam

to close

💡

уча

ucha

to learn

➕

давам

davam

to give

💸

купувам

kupuvam

to buy

9. Adjectives

Expand your descriptive vocabulary with words for qualities, characteristics, emotions, and properties of things

😊

щастлив

shtastliv

happy

😢

тъжен

tŭzhen

sad

😠

ядосан

yadosan

angry

👍

добър

dobŭr

good

👎

лош

losh

bad

⬆️

голям

golyam

big

⬇️

малък

malŭk

small

🆕

нов

nov

new

🕰️

стар

star

old

💯

много

mnogo

many

🤏

малко

malko

few

🥵

горещ

goresht

hot

🥶

студен

studen

cold

💪

силен

silen

strong

👶

слаб

slab

weak

✨

красив

krasiv

beautiful

👹

грозен

grozen

ugly

✅

правилен

pravilen

correct

❌

грешен

greshen

wrong

⚡

бърз

bŭrz

fast

10. Connectors

Master conjunctions, transitions, and linking expressions to connect ideas and create more complex, flowing sentences

➕

and

➡️

но

but

👉

или

ili

🤔

защото

zashto

because

👉

така че

taka che

🤨

въпреки това

văpreki tova

however

🤔

следователно

sledovatelno

therefore

➕

също

sŭshto

also

🕒

когато

kogato

when

🤔

ако

ako

🕒

преди

predi

before

🕒

след

sled

after

🕒

от

since

🕒

докато

dokato

while

11. Professions

Learn vocabulary for various careers, occupations, and professional roles across different industries and sectors

👨‍🏫

учител

uchitel

teacher

🧑‍⚕️

лекар

lekar

doctor

👩‍💻

инженер

inzhener

engineer

👨‍🍳

готвач

gotvach

chef

🧑‍🌾

фермер

fermer

farmer

👮

полицай

politsay

police officer

🧑‍🎨

художник

khudozhnik

artist

🧑‍💼

офис служител

ofis sluzhitel

office worker

🔬

учен

uchen

scientist

🛒

продавач

prodavach

salesperson

Tips for learning Bulgarian

“The” goes at the end
To say “the”, add an ending to the noun: куче (dog) becomes кучето (the dog), and книга (book) becomes книгата (the book). Learn each noun's gender and you'll know which ending to use.
Master the letter ъ
In Bulgarian, ъ is a full vowel, similar to the “u” in “but”. You'll see it in everyday words like къща (kushta, house), мъж (man) and слънце (sun).
щ is “sht”
The letter щ is pronounced “sht” in Bulgarian (not “shch” as in Russian), as in къща and баща (bashta, father).
Mind the head gestures
Traditionally, Bulgarians nod to mean “no” and shake their head to mean “yes” – the opposite of most countries. Say да (yes) or не (no) out loud to avoid confusion.

Your Bulgarian Journey Starts Now!

Congratulations! You've just learned over 200 essential Bulgarian words. This list is a fantastic starting point, but remember that consistency is key to true fluency.

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