B1 Expressions & Patterns 1 min read متوسط

Impersonal Expressions of Emotion/Feeling

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Grammar Rule in 30 Seconds

In Bulgarian, you don't 'be' a feeling; the feeling 'is to you' using short pronouns.

  • Use an adverb or noun for the feeling (e.g., 'студено', 'срам').
  • Add a short dative pronoun (ми, ти, му) for most states: 'Студено ми е'.
  • Use short accusative pronouns (ме, те, го) for fear or shame: 'Срам ме е'.
❄️/😊 + 👤 (Short Pronoun) + е (is)

Dative vs. Accusative Impersonal Pronouns

Person Dative (Most Feelings) Accusative (Fear/Shame)
I
ми (Студено ми е)
ме (Срам ме е)
You (sing.)
ти (Студено ти е)
те (Срам те е)
He/It
му (Студено му е)
го (Срам го е)
She
ѝ (Студено ѝ е)
я (Срам я е)
We
ни (Студено ни е)
ни (Срам ни е)
You (pl.)
ви (Студено ви е)
ви (Срам ви е)
They
им (Студено им е)
ги (Срам ги е)

Meanings

A construction where the person experiencing an emotion or physical state is not the grammatical subject, but an indirect or direct object.

1

Physical/General States

Used for physical sensations like cold, heat, or general boredom/interest.

“Скучно ми е тук.”

“Топло ми е.”

2

Strong Psychological States

Used for deep emotions like shame, fear, or pity.

“Срам ме е от постъпката ми.”

“Страх ме е от тъмното.”

Reference Table

Reference table for Impersonal Expressions of Emotion/Feeling
Form Structure Example
Affirmative (Dative)
Adverb + Dative Pronoun + е
Скучно ми е.
Negative (Dative)
Не + Dative Pronoun + е + Adverb
Не ми е скучно.
Question (Dative)
Adverb + ли + Dative Pronoun + е?
Скучно ли ти е?
Affirmative (Accusative)
Noun + Accusative Pronoun + е
Страх ме е.
Negative (Accusative)
Не + Accusative Pronoun + е + Noun
Не ме е страх.
Short Answer
Dative Pronoun + е
Ми е. (Yes, I am)

طيف الرسمية

رسمي
Бих желал да отбележа, че ми е скучно.

Бих желал да отбележа, че ми е скучно. (Expressing boredom)

محايد
Скучно ми е.

Скучно ми е. (Expressing boredom)

غير رسمي
Тъпо ми е.

Тъпо ми е. (Expressing boredom)

عامية
Скука ми е, брат.

Скука ми е, брат. (Expressing boredom)

The Impersonal Feeling Map

Feeling

Dative (ми)

  • Студено Cold
  • Скучно Bored
  • Лошо Sick/Bad

Accusative (ме)

  • Срам Shame
  • Страх Fear
  • Гнус Disgust

Personal vs. Impersonal

Personal (Trait)
Аз съм весел I am a cheerful person
Impersonal (State)
Весело ми е I feel cheerful right now

Which Pronoun to Use?

1

Is it Fear or Shame?

YES
Use Accusative (ме, те...)
NO
Use Dative (ми, ти...)

Common Adverbs for Feelings

🌡️

Physical

  • • Студено
  • • Топло
  • • Горещо
🎭

Emotional

  • • Мъчно
  • • Весело
  • • Тъжно
سجّل مجاناً لقراءة الشرح الكامل

أمثلة حسب المستوى

1

Студено ми е.

I am cold.

2

Топло ми е.

I am warm.

1

Скучно ми е вкъщи.

I am bored at home.

2

Добре ми е тук.

I feel good here.

1

Срам ме е да попитам.

I am ashamed to ask.

2

Мъчно ми е за старата къща.

I feel sad about the old house.

1

Дожаля ми за бездомното куче.

I felt pity for the stray dog.

2

Не ми се вярва, че това се случва.

I can't believe this is happening.

1

Стана ми болно от думите му.

I felt hurt/pained by his words.

2

Дощя ми се да тръгна веднага.

I felt a sudden urge to leave immediately.

1

Някак си ми е неловко от цялата ситуация.

Somehow I feel awkward about the whole situation.

سهل الخلط

Impersonal Expressions of Emotion/Feeling مقابل Personal vs Impersonal

Learners use 'Аз съм' for everything.

Impersonal Expressions of Emotion/Feeling مقابل Dative vs Accusative

Using 'ми' for fear/shame.

أخطاء شائعة

✗

Аз съм студено.

✓

Студено ми е.

Literal translation from English 'I am cold' is incorrect.
✗

Аз съм скучно.

✓

Скучно ми е.

Means 'I am a boring person' instead of 'I am bored'.
✗

Ми е студено.

✓

Студено ми е.

Short pronouns cannot start a sentence in standard Bulgarian.
✗

Не студено ми е.

✓

Не ми е студено.

The negative particle 'не' must come before the pronoun.
✗

Страх ми е.

✓

Страх ме е.

Fear takes the Accusative pronoun, not Dative.
✗

Студено ми.

✓

Студено ми е.

Forgetting the verb 'to be' (е) in Dative constructions.
✗

Срам ми е.

✓

Срам ме е.

Shame takes Accusative.
✗

Мъчно ме е.

✓

Мъчно ми е.

Sadness/missing someone takes Dative.
✗

Беше ми страх.

✓

Страх ме беше.

Incorrect word order and pronoun in the past tense.
✗

Жал ме е за него.

✓

Жал ми е за него.

Pity (Жал) usually takes Dative, though Accusative is heard in dialects, Dative is standard.

أنماط الجُمل

___ ми е, защото ___.

Не ме е страх от ___.

Стана ми ___ , когато ___.

Real World Usage

Texting a friend constant

Скучно ми е, да излезем?

At the doctor very common

Лошо ми е и ми се гади.

Job Interview occasional

Малко ми е притеснено.

سجّل مجاناً لرؤية جميع الأمثلة
💡

The 'Is' Rule

Always include 'е' (is) when using 'ми' (dative). You can often drop it with 'ме' (accusative) in speech.
⚠️

Don't say 'Аз съм'

If you say 'Аз съм горещо', people might think you are calling yourself 'hot' (sexy) rather than feeling hot!
🎯

Word Order

Put the feeling first to emphasize the feeling, or the pronoun first (if not starting the sentence) to emphasize the person.

Smart Tips

Stop! Don't use 'Аз съм'. Use 'Скучно ми е'.

Аз съм скучен. → Скучно ми е.

Remember the 'sandwich': Не + Pronoun + Verb.

Ми не е топло. → Не ми е топло.

Switch to 'ме' instead of 'ми'.

Страх ми е. → Страх ме е.

النطق

STU-de-no mi e

Clitic Stress

Short pronouns (ми, ме) are never stressed. Stress falls on the adverb.

Statement

Студено ми е. ↘

Falling intonation at the end of the sentence.

احفظها

وسيلة تذكّر

Think: 'To me it is...' for Dative, and 'It scares me' for Accusative.

ربط بصري

Imagine a cloud of 'Cold' floating above you and raining down 'to you' (Dative). Imagine 'Fear' grabbing you directly (Accusative).

Rhyme

Студено ми е, скучно ми е, но не ме е страх!

Story

Ivan is in a cold room (Студено му е). He sees a ghost and is scared (Страх го е). He realizes it's just a curtain and feels silly (Смешно му е).

Word Web

ми еме естуденострахсрамскучно

تحدٍّ

Write three sentences about how you feel right now using 'ми е' and one using 'ме е'.

ملاحظات ثقافية

Bulgarians are very expressive about physical states. Complaining that 'it's hot' or 'it's cold' is a common social lubricant.

Using 'Мъчно ми е' (I feel heavy/sad) is a deep way to express missing someone, more common than the simple 'Липсваш ми'.

These constructions stem from Old Church Slavonic dative of interest/experience.

بدايات محادثة

“

Студено ли ти е?

“

Скучно ли ти е на работа?

“

Срам ли те е да говориш пред хора?

مواضيع للكتابة اليومية

Опиши как се чувстваш днес.
Спомни си момент, в който те беше срам.
Какво те плаши най-много?

أخطاء شائعة

Incorrect

صحيح

Incorrect

صحيح

Incorrect

صحيح

Incorrect

صحيح

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Test Yourself

Choose the correct pronoun for 'fear'. اختيار متعدد

Страх ___ е.

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: ме
'Страх' (fear) always takes the accusative pronoun 'ме'.
Complete the sentence for 'I am cold'.

Студено ___ е.

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: ми
Physical states like cold take the dative 'ми'.
Correct the mistake in the negative sentence. Error Correction

Find and fix the mistake:

Ми не е скучно.

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: Не ми е скучно.
'Не' must come before the short pronoun.
Match the feeling to the pronoun type. Match Pairs

Match each item on the left with its pair on the right:

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: 1-Acc, 2-Dat, 3-Acc, 4-Dat
Shame and Fear are Accusative; Boredom and Heat are Dative.

Score: /4

تمارين تطبيقية

4 exercises
Choose the correct pronoun for 'fear'. اختيار متعدد

Страх ___ е.

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: ме
'Страх' (fear) always takes the accusative pronoun 'ме'.
Complete the sentence for 'I am cold'.

Студено ___ е.

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: ми
Physical states like cold take the dative 'ми'.
Correct the mistake in the negative sentence. Error Correction

Find and fix the mistake:

Ми не е скучно.

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: Не ми е скучно.
'Не' must come before the short pronoun.
Match the feeling to the pronoun type. Match Pairs

1. Срам, 2. Скучно, 3. Страх, 4. Топло

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: 1-Acc, 2-Dat, 3-Acc, 4-Dat
Shame and Fear are Accusative; Boredom and Heat are Dative.

Score: /4

الأسئلة الشائعة (6)

Yes, but it's more formal. 'Студено ми е' is much more common in daily speech.

It's a historical remnant. Some emotions are viewed as 'striking' the person (Accusative), others as 'being to' the person (Dative).

In the present tense with Dative, yes. With Accusative, it's often dropped: 'Страх ме е' vs 'Страх ме'.

Use 'беше' instead of 'е': 'Студено ми беше'.

It can mean 'I feel sick' or 'I feel bad/guilty' depending on context.

Yes, but you still need the short pronoun: 'На Иван му е студено'.

Scaffolded Practice

1

1

2

2

3

3

4

4

Mastery Progress

Needs Practice

Improving

Strong

Mastered

سجّل مجاناً للتدريب

In Other Languages

Spanish high

Me da vergüenza / Me gusta

Spanish often uses 'dar' (to give) while Bulgarian uses 'to be'.

French low

J'ai froid / J'ai peur

French is personal (I have), Bulgarian is impersonal (To me is).

German high

Mir ist kalt

German word order is stricter.

Japanese moderate

Samui desu (寒い です)

Japanese doesn't use a pronoun like 'to me' in the basic form.

Arabic none

Ash'uru bi... (أشعر بـ)

Arabic is much more direct and personal.

Learning Path

Prerequisites

Previous
Impersonal Expressions of Obligation (Длъжен съм)
Next
Impersonal Expressions with 'Да' Clauses

Related Grammar Rules

A1

Common Imperative Expressions
A0

Greetings (Поздрави)
A0

Farewells (Довиждане)
A0

Basic Courtesy Phrases (Моля, Благодаря)
A1

Responding to Questions (Отговори)
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