B1 · Mittelstufe Kapitel 37

The Renarrative Mood: Reporting Others' Words

3 Gesamtregeln
1 Min.
Regeln in diesem Kapitel Schnelle Übung

Chapter in 30 Seconds

Master the art of reporting information without taking personal responsibility for its truth.

  • Identify the unique Bulgarian Renarrative Mood.
  • Form the Renarrative Present Tense for daily reporting.
  • Conjugate the Renarrative Past Imperfect for past events.
Report the news, not the truth.

Was du lernen wirst

Discover the unique Bulgarian Renarrative (or Indirect) Mood, used to report information without personal endorsement. This chapter is key for indirect speech.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this chapter, you will be able to:

  1. 1
    By the end you will be able to: Retell a story you heard from a friend using the Renarrative Mood correctly.

Tipps & Tricks (3)

🎯

The 3rd Person Test

If you can add 'Apparently' to the English translation, you should probably drop the 'е/са' in Bulgarian.
frontend.learn_grammar.from_rule: Introduction to the Renarrative Mood (Преизказно наклонение)
🎯

The 'No-Is' Check

Whenever you write a sentence in the renarrative, look at the 3rd person. If you see 'е' or 'са', delete them immediately! This is the most common error.
frontend.learn_grammar.from_rule: Renarrative Present Tense
💡

Listen for 'бил'

Whenever you hear 'бил', 'била', or 'били', pay close attention—the speaker is reporting hearsay!
frontend.learn_grammar.from_rule: Renarrative Past Imperfect Tense

Wichtige Vokabeln (5)

чувам to hear твърдя to claim явно apparently уж allegedly бил was (renarrative)

Real-World Preview

coffee

Gossiping at the cafe

Review Summary

  • Indicative -> Hearsay Context
  • бил + adjective/noun
  • Stem + л/ла/ло/ли

Häufige Fehler

You cannot use the renarrative for your own actions. Since you were there, use the indicative past.

Wrong: Аз бил в магазина.
Richtig: Аз бях в магазина.

Do not include the auxiliary verb 'е' in the present renarrative. It is redundant.

Wrong: Той е бил гладен.
Richtig: Той бил гладен.

The renarrative past imperfect replaces the -ше ending with the -л suffix. Don't double up endings.

Wrong: Той четялше.
Richtig: Той четял.

Next Steps

You have conquered one of the most unique features of the Bulgarian language. Keep listening to news and conversations to see it in action!

Listen to a news report and identify phrases in the renarrative.

Continue to: The Passive Voice: When the Subject Receives

Schnelle Übung (9)

Correct the mistake in this renarrative sentence.

Find and fix the mistake:

Мария е била много изненадана, когато чула новината.

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: Мария била
The auxiliary 'е' must be removed for the renarrative mood.

frontend.learn_grammar.from_rule: Renarrative Present Tense

Fill in the blank with the correct renarrative form of 'съм' for the 1st person.

Аз ___ бил много послушно дете, казват родителите ми.

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: съм
In the 1st person, the auxiliary 'съм' is kept.

frontend.learn_grammar.from_rule: Renarrative Present Tense

Choose the correct sentence.

Which sentence correctly reports hearsay?

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: Той работел.
Renarrative imperfective is the correct form for hearsay.

frontend.learn_grammar.from_rule: Renarrative Past Imperfect Tense

Choose the correct renarrative form for: 'They say he is working.'

Той ___ в момента.

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: работел
We drop the 'е' in the 3rd person renarrative.

frontend.learn_grammar.from_rule: Renarrative Present Tense

Correct the error.

Find and fix the mistake:

Аз работел.

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: Аз съм бил работел.
1st person needs the auxiliary.

frontend.learn_grammar.from_rule: Renarrative Past Imperfect Tense

Fill in the blank for the 1st person: 'I [apparently] was very tired.'

Аз ___ бил много уморен.

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: съм
The 1st person still requires the auxiliary 'съм'.

frontend.learn_grammar.from_rule: Introduction to the Renarrative Mood (Преизказно наклонение)

Fill in the correct renarrative form.

Той ___ (работя) в офиса.

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: работел
Renarrative imperfective for 3rd person.

frontend.learn_grammar.from_rule: Renarrative Past Imperfect Tense

Choose the correct renarrative form for: 'He [apparently] wrote a book.'

Той ___ книга.

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: писал
In the 3rd person renarrative, we drop the auxiliary 'е'.

frontend.learn_grammar.from_rule: Introduction to the Renarrative Mood (Преизказно наклонение)

Correct the sentence: 'Те са отишли на море (I heard).'

Find and fix the mistake:

Те са отишли на море.

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: Те отишли на море.
Drop 'са' for the 3rd person plural renarrative.

frontend.learn_grammar.from_rule: Introduction to the Renarrative Mood (Преизказно наклонение)

Score: /9

Häufige Fragen (6)

Dropping them is the grammatical signal that you didn't see the event. If you keep them, you are using the Perfect Tense, which implies you are sure of the fact or see its result.
Only if you don't remember the event (e.g., 'I was a very quiet baby' -> 'Аз съм бил много тихо бебе') or if you are being sarcastic.
Because in Bulgarian, the presence of 'е' or 'са' in the 3rd person signals the Perfect tense (witnessed or resultative). Dropping it is the specific grammatical marker for 'I am reporting what I heard'.
No. If you saw it, use the Indicative (e.g., Той дойде). Using the renarrative for witnessed events sounds like you are lying or have lost your memory.
It's the only way to correctly report hearsay in Bulgarian without sounding like you witnessed the event yourself.
Use it for news, gossip, storytelling, or whenever you are repeating information from someone else.
Vorheriges Kapitel
Relative Clauses: Adding Detail with 'Който'
Nächstes Kapitel
The Passive Voice: When the Subject Receives
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