Picture this: You're having coffee with a Bulgarian friend. She asks "Какво правихте вчера?" (What did you do yesterday?) and you want to say more than just "Нищо" (Nothing). You want to tell her: "Отидох на пазара, купих домати и направих салата." (I went to the market, bought tomatoes and made a salad.) Welcome to the aorist — the past tense that unlocks storytelling in Bulgarian.
The aorist is one of Bulgarian's oldest grammatical features, inherited directly from Old Church Slavonic — the literary language created by Saints Cyril and Methodius in 9th-century Bulgaria. While most Slavic languages lost the aorist centuries ago, Bulgarian preserved it as an everyday workhorse tense. This makes Bulgarian grammar uniquely interesting: it shares features with ancient Greek and some Romance languages that other Slavic languages abandoned. Don't worry — the aorist is very learnable, with regular patterns that cover most verbs. Today's lesson gives you the endings, the key irregulars, and plenty of practice.
Section 1
What is the aorist?
When to use it and what it expresses.
Bulgarian has several past tenses, but the aorist is the one you need first. It expresses a completed action at a specific point in the past — equivalent to the English simple past: "I ate", "she left", "we arrived", "they found it".
💡 Three past tenses — but start with one
Bulgarian has the aorist (completed, specific past), the imperfect (ongoing/habitual past — Day 36), and the perfect (past with present relevance — rare at A2). For now, every past story you tell will use the aorist. It covers 80% of everyday past tense usage.
A quick rule for English speakers: if you can naturally say yesterday, last week, then, or this morning, the aorist is usually the tense you want.
| Time phrase | Bulgarian example | English | Audio |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yesterday | Вчера работих до шест. | Yesterday I worked until six. | |
| Last night | Снощи гледах филм. | Last night I watched a film. | |
| This morning | Тази сутрин пих кафе. | This morning I drank coffee. | |
| Then | После се прибрах вкъщи. | Then I went home. |
Section 2
Aorist endings — Group 1 verbs
Verbs like чета, гледам, чакам.
For many common verbs of the гледам / чакам / чета type, the aorist endings are: -х, zero ending, zero ending, -хме, -хте, -ха. Learn the whole pattern as a shape, not only the аз form.
| Person | чета → четох (read) | гледам → гледах (watch) | чакам → чаках (wait) |
|---|---|---|---|
| аз | чет-ох | гледа-х | чака-х |
| ти | чет-е | гледа | чака |
| той/тя/то | чет-е | гледа | чака |
| ние | чет-охме | гледа-хме | чака-хме |
| вие | чет-охте | гледа-хте | чака-хте |
| те | чет-оха | гледа-ха | чака-ха |
💡 Ти and той are identical in the aorist
Both ти and той/тя/то take the same ending in the aorist — the bare stem for Group 1 (-а verbs): гледа, чака, купи. This means context or a stated subject is needed to distinguish "you watched" from "he watched". This is one of the trickiest patterns at A2 — be aware.
| Verb | Aorist аз | Useful example | Audio |
|---|---|---|---|
| гледам | гледах | Вчера гледах български сериал. | |
| чакам | чаках | Чаках автобуса двадесет минути. | |
| питам | питах | Питах сервитьора за сметката. | |
| помагам | помагах | Помагах на приятелката си. | |
| играя | играх | Играх тенис в парка. | |
| чета | четох | Четох новините сутринта. |
Section 3
Aorist endings — Group 2 verbs
Verbs like говоря, работя, обичам.
Group 2 verbs (аз: -я in the present) use -и- as the aorist stem vowel, giving endings in -их, -и, -и, -ихме, -ихте, -иха.
| Person | говоря → говорих (speak) | работя → работих (work) | купя → купих (buy) |
|---|---|---|---|
| аз | говор-их | работ-их | куп-их |
| ти | говор-и | работ-и | куп-и |
| той/тя/то | говор-и | работ-и | куп-и |
| ние | говор-ихме | работ-ихме | куп-ихме |
| вие | говор-ихте | работ-ихте | куп-ихте |
| те | говор-иха | работ-иха | куп-иха |
| Verb | Aorist аз | Useful example | Audio |
|---|---|---|---|
| говоря | говорих | Говорих с лекаря по телефона. | |
| работя | работих | Работих от вкъщи вчера. | |
| купя | купих | Купих хляб и сирене. | |
| реша | реших | Реших да остана у дома. | |
| намеря | намерих | Намерих ключовете си. | |
| платя | платих | Платих с карта. |
Section 4
Essential irregular aorists
The most common verbs have irregular past forms — learn these by heart.
The most frequent Bulgarian verbs — съм, ида/отида, дойда, взема, дам, кажа, видя — all have irregular aorists. These forms are so common that you will hear them constantly. Memorise them as vocabulary rather than trying to derive them from rules.
| Verb | Meaning | Аз (aorist) | Example | Audio |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| съм | be | бях | Вчера бях много уморен. | |
| имам | have | имах | Имах среща в три часа. | |
| отида | go | отидох | Отидох до аптеката. | |
| дойда | come | дойдох | Дойдох у дома късно. | |
| взема | take | взех | Взех такси след работа. | |
| дам | give | дадох | Дадох ключа на сестра ми. | |
| кажа | say / tell | казах | Казах истината веднага. | |
| видя | see | видях | Видях Мария на спирката. | |
| пия | drink | пих | Пих чай преди лягане. | |
| ям | eat | ядох | Ядох супа на обяд. |
Section 5
Time expressions for the aorist
The words that signal the aorist is needed.
| Bulgarian | Romanised | English | Audio |
|---|---|---|---|
| вчера | vchera | yesterday | |
| снощи | snoshti | last night | |
| миналата седмица | minalata sedmitsa | last week | |
| миналия месец | minaliya mesets | last month | |
| миналата година | minalata godina | last year | |
| преди три дни | predi tri dni | three days ago | |
| преди малко | predi malko | just now / a moment ago | |
| тогава | togava | then |
Section 6
Useful past-story phrases
Short chunks you will reuse constantly when speaking.
Section 7
Dialogue — talking about yesterday
A fuller conversation using the aorist naturally.
Какво направи вчера след работа?
Kakvo napravi vchera sled rabota?
What did you do yesterday after work?
Първо отидох до магазина, после се видях с приятел.
Parvo otidoh do magazina, posle se vidyah s priyatel.
First I went to the shop, then I met a friend.
Къде седнахте?
Kade sednahte?
Where did you sit down?
Седнахме в едно малко кафене в центъра и говорихме почти час.
Sednahme v edno malko kafene v tsentara i govorihme pochti chas.
We sat in a small cafe in the centre and talked for almost an hour.
После прибра ли се направо?
Posle pribra li se napravo?
Did you go straight home after that?
Не, минах през аптеката, взех лекарства и се прибрах към десет.
Ne, minah prez aptekata, vzeh lekarstva i se pribrah kam deset.
No, I stopped by the pharmacy, got some medicine, and got home around ten.
Section 8
Writing task
✏️ Writing task — Day 23
- Put these verbs into the aorist аз form: гледам, работя, казвам, отивам, виждам.
- Write 5 sentences about what you did yesterday using the aorist.
- Translate: "Yesterday she went to the doctor. He said she had flu. She took medicine and stayed at home."
- What is the difference between the aorist and the present tense? When do you use each?
Show answers
1. гледах, работих, казах, отидох, видях
2. Free answer — use вчера + aorist verbs: отидох, ядох, пих, видях, работих etc.
3. Вчера тя отиде при лекаря. Той каза, че има грип. Тя взе лекарство и остана вкъщи.
4. Present = ongoing/habitual: Работя в офис. Aorist = completed, specific past: Работих вчера.
Day 23 Quiz
8 questions · score 6+ to mark day complete
Question 1 of 8
What does the aorist express?
Question 2 of 8
"I watched" (гледам) in the aorist:
Question 3 of 8
"She spoke" (говоря) in the aorist:
Question 4 of 8
"We ate" (ям → irregular) in the aorist:
Question 5 of 8
"He went" (отида) — irregular aorist:
Question 6 of 8
"I was" (съм) — irregular aorist:
Question 7 of 8
Which time word signals the aorist?
Question 8 of 8
Ти and той/тя/то in the aorist for Group 1 verbs:
Day 23 Recap
Review before Day 24. Every point builds on the last.
| Topic | Key point | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Aorist = simple past | Used for completed actions at a specific time in the past. | Вчера отидох на пазара. |
| Group 1 endings | аз: -х · ти/той: stem · ние: -хме · вие: -хте · те: -ха | гледах/гледа/гледа/гледахме/гледахте/гледаха |
| Group 2 endings | аз: -их · ти/той: -и · ние: -ихме · вие: -ихте · те: -иха | говорих/говори/говори/говорихме/говорихте/говориха |
| Key irregulars | бях (was) · отидох (went) · дойдох (came) · взех (took) · казах (said) · видях (saw) | Learn these 6 first — most frequent |
| Ям/пия | ядох/яде/ядоха · пих/пи/пиха — both irregular | Very common in food/social contexts |
| Time words | вчера · снощи · миналата седмица · миналата година · преди X дни · тогава | These trigger the aorist automatically |
| 🌎 Culture | The aorist is inherited from Old Church Slavonic (9th century, Bulgaria) — most Slavic languages lost it, but Bulgarian kept it as an everyday tense | Links Bulgarian grammar to ancient Greek and Romance languages |