A2 · Elementary Chapter 29

Telling Time, Dates & Seasons

6 Total Rules
1 min
Rules in This Chapter Quick Practice

Chapter in 30 Seconds

Master the Bulgarian clock and calendar to navigate your daily life with confidence and precision.

  • Tell time using formal and informal structures.
  • Formulate dates and use ordinal numbers correctly.
  • Combine time expressions with appropriate Bulgarian prepositions.
Master your schedule, own your time in Bulgarian.

What You'll Learn

Deepen your understanding of telling time, expressing dates, and talking about seasons. This chapter covers more advanced time-related vocabulary and structures.

Learning Objectives

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

  1. 1
    By the end you will be able to: Schedule a dinner meeting with a friend in Bulgarian.

Tips & Tricks (4)

💡

Drop the 'Часът е'

In casual conversation, just say the numbers. 'Пет и десет' is more natural than 'Часът е пет и десет'.
frontend.learn_grammar.from_rule: Telling the Time (Колко е часът?)
💡

The '-ти' Rule

Most numbers from 4 to 31 just add '-ти' to become ordinals. Easy to remember!
frontend.learn_grammar.from_rule: Expressing Dates (Дати)
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Check the noun

Always look at the noun before choosing the ordinal ending.
frontend.learn_grammar.from_rule: Ordinal Numbers (Редни числителни)
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The 'V' Rule

If you are talking about a day of the week or an hour, 90% of the time the answer is 'в'.
frontend.learn_grammar.from_rule: Prepositions with Time Expressions

Key Vocabulary (6)

час hour/o'clock дата date първи first преди before сутрин morning продължителност duration

Real-World Preview

coffee

Meeting a Friend

Review Summary

  • Часът е [number].
  • [Ordinal] [Month].
  • първи, втори, трети...
  • В [time].
  • сутрин/вечер
  • За [duration].

Common Mistakes

Dates require ordinal numbers, not cardinal ones.

Wrong: Днес е едно май.
Correct: Днес е първи май.

Use the definite article for parts of the day.

Wrong: В осем часа сутрин.
Correct: В осем часа сутринта.

The noun following 'два' must be in the plural form.

Wrong: За два час.
Correct: За два часа.

Next Steps

You have done an amazing job navigating the complexities of time. Keep practicing your schedule daily!

Write your daily schedule in Bulgarian

Continue to: Prepositions for Abstract Concepts

Quick Practice (10)

Choose the correct preposition for an ongoing action.

Живея в Пловдив ___ три месеца.

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: от
Since the person still lives there, 'от' is required.

frontend.learn_grammar.from_rule: Expressing Duration (Продължителност)

Choose the correct ordinal for May 1st.

Днес е ___ май.

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: първи
Dates use masculine ordinal numbers.

frontend.learn_grammar.from_rule: Expressing Dates (Дати)

Fill in the missing preposition for a specific date.

Роден съм ___ десети юни.

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: на
Use 'на' for specific calendar days.

frontend.learn_grammar.from_rule: Expressing Dates (Дати)

What is the correct way to say 2:00?

Часът е...

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: два часа
'Час' is masculine, so we use 'два'.

frontend.learn_grammar.from_rule: Telling the Time (Колко е часът?)

Fill in the blank for 11:40.

Дванайсет ___ двайсет.

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: без
Use 'без' for minutes past 30.

frontend.learn_grammar.from_rule: Telling the Time (Колко е часът?)

Correct the mistake: 9:50 -> 'Девет без десет'.

Find and fix the mistake:

Девет без десет.

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: Десет без десет
You must use the next hour with 'без'.

frontend.learn_grammar.from_rule: Telling the Time (Колко е часът?)

How do you ask 'What time is it?' formally?

___ колко е часът?

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: Извинете,
'Извинете' (Excuse me) is the formal way to start the question.

frontend.learn_grammar.from_rule: Telling the Time (Колко е часът?)

Correct the mistake in the sentence.

Find and fix the mistake:

Срещата е през пети март.

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: на пети март
'През' is for months, 'на' is for specific days.

frontend.learn_grammar.from_rule: Expressing Dates (Дати)

Fill in the preposition for approximate time.

Ще бъда там ___ осем часа.

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: към
'Към' means 'around' or 'towards'.

frontend.learn_grammar.from_rule: Prepositions with Time Expressions

Correct the mistake in the sentence.

Find and fix the mistake:

Чакам те за два часа.

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: Чакам те от два часа.
Ongoing waiting requires 'от'.

frontend.learn_grammar.from_rule: Expressing Duration (Продължителност)

Score: /10

Common Questions (6)

No, in casual speech you can just say the time like пет и половина. Часът е is more formal or used for emphasis.
It is always два часа because час is a masculine noun.
Because they refer to the masculine noun ден (day). Even if you don't say the word 'day', it is grammatically implied.
Only if the month name is the very first word in a sentence. Otherwise, always use lowercase.
Look at the noun it modifies. If it ends in a consonant, it's usually masculine. If it ends in -а/-я, it's feminine. If it ends in -о/-е, it's neuter.
Use it when you are talking about a specific, known item. If it's indefinite, don't use it.
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Impersonal Constructions: It Is...
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Prepositions for Abstract Concepts
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