Editing Bulgarian language (section)

===Verbal morphology and grammar===
{{Main|Bulgarian verbs}}
A Bulgarian verb has many distinct forms, as it varies in person, number, voice, aspect, mood, tense and in some cases gender.

====Finite verbal forms====
Finite verbal forms are ''simple'' or ''compound'' and agree with subjects in person (first, second and third) and number (singular, plural). In addition to that, past compound forms using participles vary in gender (masculine, feminine, neuter) and voice (active and passive) as well as aspect (perfective/aorist and imperfective).

====Aspect====
Bulgarian verbs express [[lexical aspect]]: perfective verbs signify the completion of the action of the verb and form past perfective (aorist) forms; imperfective ones are neutral with regard to it and form past imperfective forms. Most Bulgarian verbs can be grouped in perfective-imperfective pairs (imperfective/perfective: {{lang|bg|идвам/дойда}} "come", {{lang|bg|пристигам/пристигна}} "arrive"). Perfective verbs can be usually formed from imperfective ones by suffixation or prefixation, but the resultant verb often deviates in meaning from the original. In the pair examples above, aspect is stem-specific and therefore there is no difference in meaning.

In Bulgarian, there is also [[grammatical aspect]]. Three grammatical aspects are distinguishable: neutral, perfect and pluperfect. The neutral aspect comprises the three simple tenses and the future tense. The pluperfect is manifest in tenses that use double or triple auxiliary "be" participles like the past pluperfect subjunctive. Perfect constructions use a single auxiliary "be".

====Mood====
The traditional interpretation is that in addition to the four moods (наклонения {{IPA|/nəkloˈnɛnijɐ/}}) shared by most other European languages – [[indicative mood|indicative]] (изявително, {{IPA|/izʲəˈvitɛɫno/}}) [[imperative mood|imperative]] (повелително {{IPA|/poveˈlitelno/}}), [[subjunctive mood|subjunctive]] ({{lang|bg|подчинително}} {{IPA|/pottʃiˈnitɛɫno/}}) and [[conditional mood|conditional]] (условно, {{IPA|/oˈsɫɔvno/}}) – in Bulgarian there is one more to describe a general category of unwitnessed events – the [[inferential mood|inferential]] (преизказно {{IPA|/prɛˈiskɐzno/}}) mood. However, most contemporary Bulgarian linguists usually exclude the subjunctive mood and the inferential mood from the list of Bulgarian moods (thus placing the number of Bulgarian moods at a total of 3: indicative, imperative and conditional)<ref>Зидарова, Ваня (2007). Български език. Теоретичен курс с практикум, pp. 177–180</ref> and do not consider them to be moods but view them as verbial morphosyntactic constructs or separate [[grameme]]s of the verb class. The possible existence of a few other moods has been discussed in the literature. Most Bulgarian school grammars teach the traditional view of 4 Bulgarian moods (as described above, but excluding the subjunctive and including the inferential).

====Tense====
There are three grammatically distinctive positions in time – present, past and future – which combine with aspect and mood to produce a number of formations. Normally, in grammar books these formations are viewed as separate tenses – i. e. "past imperfect" would mean that the verb is in past tense, in the imperfective aspect, and in the indicative mood (since no other mood is shown). There are more than 40 different tenses across Bulgarian's two aspects and five  moods.

In the indicative mood, there are three simple tenses:
*''Present tense'' is a temporally unmarked simple form made up of the verbal stem and a complex suffix composed of the [[thematic vowel]] {{IPA|/ɛ/}}, {{IPA|/i/}} or {{IPA|/a/}} and the person/number ending ({{lang|bg|пристигам}}, {{IPA|/priˈstigɐm/}}, "I arrive/I am arriving"); only imperfective verbs can stand in the present indicative tense independently;
*''Past imperfect'' is a simple verb form used to express an action which is contemporaneous or subordinate to other past actions; it is made up of an imperfective or a perfective verbal stem and the person/number ending ({{lang|bg|пристигах}} {{IPA|/priˈstiɡɐx/}}, {{lang|bg|пристигнех}} {{IPA|/priˈstiɡnɛx/}}, 'I was arriving');
*''Past aorist'' is a simple form used to express a temporarily independent, specific past action; it is made up of a perfective or an imperfective verbal stem and the person/number ending ({{lang|bg|пристигнах}}, {{IPA|/priˈstiɡnɐx/}}, 'I arrived', {{lang|bg|четох}}, {{IPA|/ˈtʃɛtox/}}, 'I read');

In the indicative there are also the following compound tenses:
*''Future tense'' is a compound form made of the particle {{lang|bg|ще}} {{IPA|/ʃtɛ/}} and present tense ({{lang|bg|ще уча}} {{IPA|/ʃtɛ ˈutʃɐ/}}, 'I will study'); negation is expressed by the construction {{lang|bg|няма да}} {{IPA|/ˈɲamɐ dɐ/}} and present tense ({{lang|bg|няма да уча}} {{IPA|/ˈɲamɐ dɐ ˈutʃɐ/}}, or the old-fashioned form {{lang|bg|не ще уча}}, {{IPA|/nɛ ʃtɛ ˈutʃɐ/}} 'I will not study');
*''Past future tense'' is a compound form used to express an action which was to be completed in the past but was future as regards another past action; it is made up of the past imperfect of the verb {{lang|bg|ща}} {{IPA|/ʃtɤ/}} ('will'), the particle {{lang|bg|да}} {{IPA|/dɐ/}} ('to') and the present tense of the verb (e.g. {{lang|bg|щях да уча}}, {{IPA|/ʃtʲax dɐ ˈutʃɐ/}}, 'I was going to study');
*''Present perfect'' is a compound form used to express an action which was completed in the past but is relevant for or related to the present; it is made up of the present tense of the verb съм {{IPA|/sɤm/}} ('be') and the past participle (e.g. {{lang|bg|съм учил}} {{IPA|/sɤm ˈutʃiɫ/}}, 'I have studied');
*''Past perfect'' is a compound form used to express an action which was completed in the past and is relative to another past action; it is made up of the past tense of the verb съм and the past participle (e.g. {{lang|bg|бях учил}} {{IPA|/bʲax ˈutʃiɫ/}}, 'I had studied');
*''Future perfect'' is a compound form used to express an action which is to take place in the future before another future action; it is made up of the future tense of the verb съм and the past participle (e.g. {{lang|bg|ще съм учил}} {{IPA|/ʃtɛ sɐm ˈutʃiɫ/}}, 'I will have studied');
*''Past future perfect'' is a compound form used to express a past action which is future with respect to a past action which itself is prior to another past action; it is made up of the past imperfect of {{lang|bg|ща}}, the particle {{lang|bg|да}} the present tense of the verb съм and the past participle of the verb (e.g. {{lang|bg|щях да съм учил}}, {{IPA|/ʃtʲax dɐ sɐm ˈutʃiɫ/}}, 'I would have studied').

The four perfect constructions above can vary in aspect depending on the aspect of the main-verb participle; they are in fact pairs of imperfective and perfective aspects. Verbs in forms using past participles also vary in voice and gender.

There is only one simple tense in the [[imperative mood]], the present, and there are simple forms only for the second-person singular, -и/-й (-i, -y/i), and plural, -ете/-йте (-ete, -yte), e.g. уча {{IPA|/ˈutʃɐ/}} ('to study'): {{lang|bg|уч'''и'''}} {{IPA|/oˈtʃi/}}, sg., {{lang|bg|уч'''ете'''}} {{IPA|/oˈtʃɛtɛ/}}, pl.; {{lang|bg|играя}} {{IPA|/ˈiɡrajɐ/}} 'to play': {{lang|bg|игра'''й'''}} {{IPA|/iɡˈraj/}}, {{lang|bg|игра'''йте'''}} {{IPA|/iɡˈrajtɛ/}}. There are compound imperative forms for all persons and numbers in the present compound imperative ({{lang|bg|да играе}}, {{IPA|da iɡˈrae/}}), the present perfect compound imperative ({{lang|bg|да е играл}}, {{IPA|/dɐ ɛ iɡˈraɫ/}}) and the rarely used present pluperfect compound imperative ({{lang|bg|да е бил играл}}, {{IPA|/dɐ ɛ bil iɡˈraɫ/}}).

The [[conditional mood]] consists of five compound tenses, most of which are not grammatically distinguishable. The present, future and past conditional use a special past form of the stem би- (bi – "be") and the past participle ({{lang|bg|бих учил}}, {{IPA|/bix ˈutʃiɫ/}}, 'I would study'). The past future conditional and the past future perfect conditional coincide in form with the respective indicative tenses.

The [[subjunctive mood]] is rarely documented as a separate verb form in Bulgarian, (being, morphologically, a sub-instance of the quasi-[[infinitive]] construction with the particle да and a normal finite verb form), but nevertheless it is used regularly. The most common form, often mistaken for the present tense, is the present subjunctive ({{lang|bg|[по-добре] да отида}} {{IPA|(ˈpɔdobrɛ) dɐ oˈtidɐ/}}, 'I had better go'). The difference between the present indicative and the present subjunctive tense is that the subjunctive can be formed by ''both'' perfective and imperfective verbs. It has completely replaced the infinitive and the supine from complex expressions (see below). It is also employed to express opinion about ''possible'' future events. The past perfect subjunctive ({{lang|bg|[по добре] да бях отишъл}} {{IPA|(ˈpɔdobrɛ) dɐ bʲax oˈtiʃɐl/}}, 'I'd had better be gone') refers to ''possible'' events in the past, which ''did not'' take place, and the present pluperfect subjunctive ({{lang|bg|да съм бил отишъл}} {{IPA|/dɐ sɐm bil oˈtiʃɐl/}}), which may be used about both past and future events arousing feelings of incontinence,{{clarify|date=May 2019}}<!-- inability to control one's bodily functions?--> suspicion, etc.

The [[grammatical mood|inferential mood]] has five pure tenses. Two of them are simple – ''past aorist inferential'' and ''past imperfect inferential'' – and are formed by the past participles of perfective and imperfective verbs, respectively. There are also three compound tenses – ''past future inferential'', ''past future perfect inferential'' and ''past perfect inferential''. All these tenses' forms are gender-specific in the singular. There are also conditional and compound-imperative crossovers. The existence of inferential forms has been attributed to Turkic influences by most Bulgarian linguists.{{citation needed|date=August 2015}}<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Bubenik|first=Vit|date=August 1995|title=Development of Aspect from Ancient Slavic to Bulgaro-Macedonian|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DapxAAAAQBAJ|journal=Historical Linguistics 1995|volume=1|pages=29|isbn=9789027283986|via=Google Books}}</ref> Morphologically, they are derived from the [[#Tense|perfect]].

====Non-finite verbal forms====
Bulgarian has the following [[participle]]s:
*''Present active participle'' (сегашно деятелно причастие) is formed from imperfective stems with the addition of the suffixes –ащ/–ещ/–ящ (чет'''ящ''', 'reading') and is used only attributively;
*''Present passive participle'' (сегашно страдателно причастие) is formed by the addition of the suffixes -им/аем/уем (чет'''им''', 'that can be read, readable');
*''Past active aorist participle'' (минало свършено деятелно причастие) is formed by the addition of the suffix –л– to perfective stems (че'''л''', '[have] read');
*''Past active imperfect participle'' (минало несвършено деятелно причастие) is formed by the addition of the suffixes –ел/–ал/–ял to imperfective stems (чет'''ял''', '[have been] reading');
*''Past passive aorist participle''' (минало свършено страдателно причастие) is formed from aorist/perfective stems with the addition of the suffixes -н/–т (прочете'''н''', 'read'; уби'''т''', 'killed'); it is used predicatively and attributively;
*''Past passive imperfect participle''' (минало несвършено страдателно причастие) is formed from imperfective stems with the addition of the suffix –н (прочита'''н''', '[been] read'; убива'''н''', '[been] being killed'); it is used predicatively and attributively;
*''[[Adverbial participle]]'' (деепричастие) is usually formed from imperfective present stems with the suffix –(е)йки (чете'''йки''', 'while reading'), relates an action contemporaneous with and subordinate to the main verb and is originally a Western Bulgarian form.

The participles are inflected by gender, number, and definiteness, and are coordinated with the subject when forming compound tenses (see tenses above). When used in an attributive role, the inflection attributes are coordinated with the noun that is being attributed.

====Reflexive verbs====
Bulgarian uses [[reflexive verb]]al forms (i.e. actions which are performed by the [[Agent (grammar)|agent]] onto him- or herself) which behave in a similar way as they do in many other Indo-European languages, such as French and Spanish. The reflexive is expressed by the invariable particle '''''se''''',<ref group=note>Unlike in French and Spanish, where {{lang|fr|se}} is only used for the 3rd person, and other particles, such as {{lang|fr|me}} and {{lang|es|te}}, are used for the 1st and 2nd persons singular, e.g. {{lang|fr|je me lave}}/{{lang|es|me lavo}} – I wash myself.</ref> originally a [[clitic]] form of the accusative reflexive pronoun. Thus –
*''miya'' – I wash, ''miya se'' – I wash myself, ''miesh se'' – you wash yourself
*''pitam'' – I ask, ''pitam se'' – I ask myself, ''pitash se'' – you ask yourself
When the action is performed on others, other particles are used, just like in any normal verb, e.g. –
*''miya te'' – I wash you
*''pitash me'' – you ask me
Sometimes, the reflexive verb form has a similar but not necessarily identical meaning to the non-reflexive verb –
*''kazvam'' – I say, ''kazvam se'' – my name is ({{lit|I call myself}})
*''vizhdam'' – I see, ''vizhdame se'' – "we see ourselves" ''or'' "we meet each other"
In other cases, the reflexive verb has a completely different meaning from its non-reflexive counterpart –
*''karam'' – to drive, ''karam se'' – to have a row with someone
*''gotvya'' – to cook, ''gotvya se'' – to get ready
*''smeya'' – to dare, ''smeya se'' – to laugh
;Indirect actions
When the action is performed on an indirect object, the particles change to '''''si''''' and its derivatives –
*''kazvam si'' – I say to myself, ''kazvash si'' – you say to yourself, ''kazvam ti'' – I say to you
*''peya si'' – I am singing to myself, ''pee si'' – she is singing to herself, ''pee mu'' – she is singing to him
*''gotvya si'' – I cook for myself, ''gotvyat si'' – they cook for themselves, ''gotvya im'' – I cook for them
In some cases, the particle ''si'' is ambiguous between the indirect object and the possessive meaning  –
*''miya si ratsete'' – I wash my hands, ''miya ti ratsete'' – I wash your hands
*''pitam si priyatelite'' – I ask my friends, ''pitam ti priyatelite'' – I ask your friends
*''iskam si topkata'' – I want my ball (back)
The difference between transitive and intransitive verbs can lead to significant differences in meaning with minimal change, e.g. –
*''haresvash me'' – you like me, ''haresvash mi'' – I like you (lit. you are pleasing to me)
*''otivam'' – I am going, ''otivam si'' – I am going home
The particle ''si'' is often used to indicate a more personal relationship to the action, e.g. –
*''haresvam go'' – I like him, ''haresvam si go'' – no precise translation, roughly translates as "he's really close to my heart"
*''stanahme priyateli'' – we became friends, ''stanahme si priyateli'' – same meaning, but sounds friendlier
*''mislya'' – I am thinking (usually about something serious), ''mislya si'' – same meaning, but usually about something personal and/or trivial