Editing Bulgarian language (section)

===Nominal morphology===
{{Main|Bulgarian nouns}}
Nouns and adjectives have the [[grammatical category|categories]] [[grammatical gender]], [[grammatical number|number]], [[grammatical case|case]] (only [[vocative case|vocative]]) and [[definite article|definiteness]] in Bulgarian. Adjectives and adjectival pronouns agree with nouns in number and gender. Pronouns have gender and number and retain (as in nearly all [[Indo-European languages]]) a more significant part of the case system.

====Nominal inflection====
=====Gender=====
There are three grammatical genders in Bulgarian: ''masculine'', ''feminine'' and ''neuter''. The gender of the noun can largely be inferred from its ending: nouns ending in a consonant ("zero ending") are generally masculine (for example, {{lang|bg|град}} {{IPA|/ɡrat/}} 'city', {{lang|bg|син}} {{IPA|/sin/}} 'son', {{lang|bg|мъж}} {{IPA|/mɤʃ/}} 'man'; those ending in&nbsp;–а/–я (-a/-ya) ({{lang|bg|жена}} {{IPA|/ʒɛˈna/}} 'woman', {{lang|bg|дъщеря}} {{IPA|/dɐʃtɛrˈja/}} 'daughter', {{lang|bg|улица}} {{IPA|/ˈulitsɐ/}} 'street') are normally feminine; and nouns ending in&nbsp;–е,&nbsp;–о are almost always neuter ({{lang|bg|дете}} {{IPA|/dɛˈtɛ/}} 'child', {{lang|bg|езеро}} {{IPA|/ˈɛzɛro/}} 'lake'), as are those rare words (usually loanwords) that end in&nbsp;–и,&nbsp;–у, and&nbsp;–ю ({{lang|bg|цунами}} {{IPA|/tsuˈnami/}} '[[tsunami]]', {{lang|bg|табу}} {{IPA|/tɐˈbu/}} 'taboo', {{lang|bg|меню}} {{IPA|/mɛˈnju/}} 'menu'). Perhaps the most significant exception from the above are the relatively numerous nouns that end in a consonant and yet are feminine: these comprise, firstly, a large group of nouns with zero ending expressing quality, degree or an abstraction, including all nouns ending on&nbsp;–ост/–ест -<nowiki/>{ost/est} ({{lang|bg|мъдрост}} {{IPA|/ˈmɤdrost/}} 'wisdom', {{lang|bg|низост}} {{IPA|/ˈnizost/}} 'vileness', {{lang|bg|прелест}} {{IPA|/ˈprɛlɛst/}} 'loveliness', {{lang|bg|болест}} {{IPA|/ˈbɔlɛst/}} 'sickness', {{lang|bg|любов}} {{IPA|/ljuˈbɔf/}} 'love'), and secondly, a much smaller group of irregular nouns with zero ending which define tangible objects or concepts ({{lang|bg|кръв}} {{IPA|/krɤf/}} 'blood', {{lang|bg|кост}} {{IPA|/kɔst/}} 'bone', {{lang|bg|вечер}} {{IPA|/ˈvɛtʃɛr/}} 'evening', {{lang|bg|нощ}} {{IPA|/nɔʃt/}} 'night'). There are also some commonly used words that end in a vowel and yet are masculine: {{lang|bg|баща}} 'father', {{lang|bg|дядо}} 'grandfather', {{lang|bg|чичо}} / {{lang|bg|вуйчо}} 'uncle', and others.

The plural forms of the nouns do not express their gender as clearly as the singular ones, but may also provide some clues to it: the ending {{lang|bg|–и}} (-i) is more likely to be used with a masculine or feminine noun ({{lang|bg|факти}} {{IPA|/ˈfakti/}} 'facts', {{lang|bg|болести}} {{IPA|/ˈbɔlɛsti/}} 'sicknesses'), while one in {{lang|bg|–а/–я}} belongs more often to a neuter noun ({{lang|bg|езера}} {{IPA|/ɛzɛˈra/}} 'lakes'). Also, the plural ending {{lang|bg|–ове}} {{IPA|/ovɛ/}} occurs only in masculine nouns.

=====Number=====
Two numbers are distinguished in Bulgarian–[[Grammatical number|singular]] and [[plural]]. A variety of plural suffixes is used, and the choice between them is partly determined by their ending in singular and partly influenced by gender; in addition, irregular declension and alternative plural forms are common. Words ending in {{lang|bg|–а/–я}} (which are usually feminine) generally have the plural ending {{lang|bg|–и}}, upon dropping of the singular ending. Of nouns ending in a consonant, the feminine ones also use {{lang|bg|–и}}, whereas the masculine ones usually have {{lang|bg|–и}} for polysyllables and {{lang|bg|–ове}} for monosyllables (however, exceptions are especially common in this group). Nouns ending in {{lang|bg|–о/–е}} (most of which are neuter) mostly use the suffixes {{lang|bg|–а, –я}} (both of which require the dropping of the singular endings) and {{lang|bg|–та}}.

With [[cardinal number]]s and related words such as {{lang|bg|няколко}} ('several'), masculine nouns use a special count form in {{lang|bg|–а/–я}}, which stems from the Proto-Slavonic [[dual grammatical number|dual]]: {{lang|bg|два/три стола}} ('two/three chairs') versus {{lang|bg|тези столове}} ('these chairs'); cf. feminine {{lang|bg|две/три/тези книги}} ('two/three/these books') and neuter {{lang|bg|две/три/тези легла}} ('two/three/these beds'). However, a recently developed language norm requires that count forms should only be used with masculine nouns that do not denote persons. Thus, {{lang|bg|двама/трима ученици}} ('two/three students') is perceived as more correct than {{lang|bg|двама/трима ученика}}, while the distinction is retained in cases such as {{lang|bg|два/три молива}} ('two/three pencils') versus {{lang|bg|тези моливи}} ('these pencils').

=====Case=====
{{Main|Bulgarian grammar#Case system|l1=Case system of Bulgarian}}
Cases exist only in the [[personal pronoun|personal]] and some other [[pronoun]]s (as they do in many other modern [[Indo-European languages]]), with [[nominative case|nominative]], [[accusative case|accusative]], [[dative case|dative]] and [[vocative case|vocative]] forms. Vestiges are present in a number of phraseological units and sayings. The major exception are [[vocative case|vocative]] forms, which are still in use for masculine (with the endings -е, -о and -ю) and feminine nouns (-[ь/й]о and -е) in the singular.

=====Definiteness (article)=====
In modern Bulgarian, definiteness is expressed by a [[definite article]] which is postfixed to the noun, much like in the [[Scandinavian languages]] or [[Romanian language|Romanian]] (indefinite: {{lang|bg|човек}}, 'person'; definite: {{lang|bg|човек'''ът'''}}, "''the'' person") or to the first nominal constituent of definite noun phrases (indefinite: {{lang|bg|добър човек}}, 'a good person'; definite: {{lang|bg|добри'''ят''' човек}}, "''the'' good person"). There are four singular definite articles. Again, the choice between them is largely determined by the noun's ending in the singular.<ref>{{lang|bg|Пашов, Петър (1999) Българска граматика. Стр. 73–74.}}</ref> Nouns that end in a consonant and are masculine use –ът/–ят, when they are [[grammatical subject]]s, and –а/–я elsewhere. Nouns that end in a consonant and are feminine, as well as nouns that end in –а/–я (most of which are feminine, too) use –та. Nouns that end in –е/–о use –то.

The plural definite article is –те for all nouns except for those whose plural form ends in –а/–я; these get –та instead. When postfixed to adjectives the definite articles are –ят/–я for masculine gender (again, with the longer form being reserved for grammatical subjects), –та for feminine gender, –то for neuter gender, and –те for plural.

====Adjective and numeral inflection====
Both groups agree in gender and number with the noun they are appended to. They may also take the definite article as explained above.

====Pronouns====
{{Main|Bulgarian pronouns}}
Pronouns may vary in gender, number, and definiteness, and are the only parts of speech that have retained case inflections. Three cases are exhibited by some groups of pronouns – nominative, accusative and dative. The distinguishable types of pronouns include the following: personal, relative, reflexive, interrogative, negative, indefinite, summative and possessive.