A0 Perguntas 1 min read Fácil

Asking 'What is this?' (Какво е това?)

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Pratique

Grammar Rule in 30 Seconds

To ask 'What is this?' in Bulgarian, simply use 'Какво е това?' which literally translates to 'What is that?'

  • Use 'Какво' (What) at the start of the sentence for identification.
  • Add the verb 'е' (is) to link the question to the object.
  • End with 'това' (this/that) to point to the item.
Какво (What) + е (is) + това (this/that) = ?

3. Basic Question Structure

Interrogative Verb Demonstrative Translation
Какво
е
това
What is this?
Какво
е
това
What is that?

Meanings

This structure is used to identify objects or abstract concepts by asking for their name or definition.

1

Identification

Asking for the identity of an object.

“Какво е това?”

“Какво е това в ръката ти?”

Reference Table

Reference table for Asking 'What is this?' (Какво е това?)
Form Structure Example
Question
Какво + е + това?
Какво е това?
Answer
Това + е + [Noun]
Това е книга.
Negative
Това + не + е + [Noun]
Това не е книга.
Plural
Какво + са + това?
Какво са това?
Past
Какво + беше + това?
Какво беше това?
Future
Какво + ще + бъде + това?
Какво ще бъде това?

Espectro de formalidade

Formal
Бихте ли ми казали какво е това?

Бихте ли ми казали какво е това? (General)

Neutro
Какво е това?

Какво е това? (General)

Informal
Какво е това?

Какво е това? (General)

Gíria
К'во е т'ва?

К'во е т'ва? (General)

The 'What' Question Map

Какво?

Objects

  • ябълка apple
  • кола car

Concepts

  • идея idea
  • план plan
Cadastre-se grátis para ler a explicação completa

Exemplos por nível

1

Какво е това?

What is this?

2

Какво е това в чантата?

What is that in the bag?

3

Какво е това на масата?

What is that on the table?

4

Какво е това, моля?

What is that, please?

1

Не знам, какво е това?

I don't know, what is that?

2

Кажи ми, какво е това?

Tell me, what is that?

3

Виж, какво е това?

Look, what is that?

4

Чудя се, какво е това.

I wonder what that is.

1

Можеш ли да ми кажеш какво е това?

Can you tell me what that is?

2

Интересно, какво е това?

Interesting, what is that?

3

Не разбирам какво е това.

I don't understand what that is.

4

Обясни ми какво е това.

Explain to me what that is.

1

Бихте ли пояснили какво е това?

Could you clarify what that is?

2

Никой не знае какво е това.

Nobody knows what that is.

3

Странно е какво е това.

It's strange what that is.

4

Трябва да разберем какво е това.

We must understand what that is.

1

Въпросът е какво е това всъщност.

The question is what that actually is.

2

Няма яснота какво е това.

There is no clarity on what that is.

3

Остава загадка какво е това.

It remains a mystery what that is.

4

Не е очевидно какво е това.

It is not obvious what that is.

1

Следва да се установи какво е това.

It remains to be established what that is.

2

Няма консенсус какво е това.

There is no consensus on what that is.

3

Въпросът какво е това е фундаментален.

The question of what that is is fundamental.

4

Недоумявам какво е това.

I am bewildered as to what that is.

Fácil de confundir

Asking 'What is this?' (Какво е това?) vs Кой vs Какво

Learners mix up 'who' and 'what'.

Asking 'What is this?' (Какво е това?) vs Това vs Онова

Learners don't know when to use 'this' vs 'that'.

Asking 'What is this?' (Какво е това?) vs Какво vs Как

Learners mix up 'what' and 'how'.

Erros comuns

✗

Какво това?

✓

Какво е това?

Missing the verb 'е'.
✗

Кой е това?

✓

Какво е това?

Using 'who' for an object.
✗

Какво е този?

✓

Какво е това?

Using masculine gender for an unknown object.
✗

Какво е то?

✓

Какво е това?

Using 'it' instead of 'this'.
✗

Какво са това?

✓

Какво е това?

Using plural verb for singular object.
✗

Какво е онова?

✓

Какво е това?

Using 'that over there' when 'this' is meant.
✗

Какво е това тук?

✓

Какво е това?

Redundant 'here'.
✗

Какво е това нещо?

✓

Какво е това?

Redundant 'thing'.
✗

Какво е това, което е?

✓

Какво е това?

Over-complicating the sentence.
✗

Какво е това, моля ви?

✓

Какво е това?

Politeness markers are fine, but keep it simple.
✗

Какво е това, дето го виждам?

✓

Какво е това?

Too colloquial.

Padrões de frases

Какво е ___?

Това е ___.

Не знам какво е ___.

Можеш ли да ми кажеш какво е ___?

Real World Usage

Market constant

Какво е това?

Texting very common

К'во е т'ва?

Job Interview occasional

Бихте ли пояснили какво е това?

Travel very common

Какво е това?

Food Delivery common

Какво е това ястие?

Classroom very common

Какво е това?

Cadastre-se grátis para ver todos os exemplos
💡

Keep it simple

Don't overthink the grammar. Just use 'Какво е това?' for everything.
⚠️

Don't use 'Кой'

Remember 'Кой' is for people. Using it for objects sounds very strange.
🎯

Listen to locals

Listen to how they say it. It's often very fast: 'Kvo-e-tva'.
💬

Be polite

Adding 'моля' (please) makes you sound much more respectful.

Smart Tips

Point and say 'Какво е това?'.

Staring silently at the object. → Pointing and saying 'Какво е това?'.

Drop the 'това' if the object is obvious.

Какво е това? → Какво е?

Add 'Бихте ли ми казали' (Could you tell me).

Какво е това? → Бихте ли ми казали какво е това?

Use the slang 'К'во е т'ва?'.

Какво е това? → К'во е т'ва?

Pronúncia

KAK-vo

Stress

Stress the first syllable of 'Какво'.

Rising

Какво е това? ↑

Standard question intonation.

Memorize

Mnemônico

Think of 'KAK-vo' as 'CACK-ling' like a curious bird asking 'What is that?'

Associação visual

Imagine pointing at a mysterious box with a giant question mark hovering over it.

Rhyme

Какво е това? Tell me, what do you see? / Какво е това? It's a mystery to me!

Story

You walk into a bakery in Sofia. You see a strange pastry. You point at it and ask the baker 'Какво е това?'. The baker smiles and says 'Това е баница'. You now know the name of your favorite snack.

Word Web

Каквотоваенещовъпросиме

Desafio

Point to 5 objects in your room and ask 'Какво е това?' out loud.

Notas culturais

Bulgarians are very helpful. Asking this will almost always lead to a conversation.

Derived from Proto-Slavic *kъto (what).

Iniciadores de conversa

“

Какво е това на масата?

“

Какво е това в чантата ти?

“

Какво е това, което правиш?

“

Какво е това според теб?

Temas para diário

Write about 3 things you see in your room.
Describe a strange object you found.
Explain why you are curious about an object.
Reflect on the importance of asking questions.

Erros comuns

Incorrect

Correto

Incorrect

Correto

Incorrect

Correto

Incorrect

Correto

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Test Yourself

Fill in the blank.

___ е това?

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: Какво
Какво is the correct interrogative for objects.
Select the correct sentence. Múltipla escolha

Which is correct?

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: Какво е това?
The structure requires the verb 'е'.
Fix the sentence. Error Correction

Find and fix the mistake:

Кой е това? (pointing at a book)

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: Какво е това?
Use 'Какво' for objects.
Make it a question. Sentence Transformation

Това е ябълка.

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: Какво е това?
Standard question structure.
Is this true? True False Rule

'Какво' is used for people.

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: False
'Кой' is for people.
Complete the dialogue. Dialogue Completion

A: [?] B: Това е баница.

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: Какво е това?
Asking for identification.
Order the words. Sentence Building

е / това / Какво

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: Какво е това?
Correct word order.
Match the question to the answer. Match Pairs

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

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: Това е книга.
Answering with an object.

Score: /8

Exercicios praticos

8 exercises
Fill in the blank.

___ е това?

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: Какво
Какво is the correct interrogative for objects.
Select the correct sentence. Múltipla escolha

Which is correct?

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: Какво е това?
The structure requires the verb 'е'.
Fix the sentence. Error Correction

Find and fix the mistake:

Кой е това? (pointing at a book)

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: Какво е това?
Use 'Какво' for objects.
Make it a question. Sentence Transformation

Това е ябълка.

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: Какво е това?
Standard question structure.
Is this true? True False Rule

'Какво' is used for people.

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: False
'Кой' is for people.
Complete the dialogue. Dialogue Completion

A: [?] B: Това е баница.

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: Какво е това?
Asking for identification.
Order the words. Sentence Building

е / това / Какво

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: Какво е това?
Correct word order.
Match the question to the answer. Match Pairs

Какво е това?

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: Това е книга.
Answering with an object.

Score: /8

Perguntas frequentes (8)

No, use 'Кой е това?' for males or 'Коя е това?' for females.

It can mean 'this' or 'that' depending on context.

Only if you change the subject (e.g., 'Какво са тези?' for plural).

'Какво' means 'what', 'Как' means 'how'.

Yes, it is very common in casual speech.

No, it is a standard, polite way to ask for information.

Always use 'това' (neuter).

You could say 'Как се казва това?' (What is this called?).

Scaffolded Practice

1

1

2

2

3

3

4

4

Mastery Progress

Needs Practice

Improving

Strong

Mastered

Cadastre-se grátis para praticar

In Other Languages

Spanish high

¿Qué es esto?

Bulgarian uses one neuter 'това' for all cases.

French moderate

Qu'est-ce que c'est ?

Bulgarian is much more concise.

German high

Was ist das?

Bulgarian word order is more flexible.

Japanese low

これは何ですか？

Bulgarian is SVO/VSO, Japanese is SOV.

Arabic moderate

ما هذا؟

Bulgarian requires the verb 'е'.

Chinese low

这是什么？

Bulgarian puts the question word at the start.

Learning Path

Prerequisites

Previous
Forming Simple Sentences with 'Съм'
Next
Using 'Да' (Yes) and 'Не' (No)

Related Grammar Rules

A0

Asking 'How many?' (Колко?)
A1

Wh-Questions (Кой, Какво, Къде)
A1

Asking 'Whose is this?' (Чий е?)
A1

Asking 'Do you have?' (Имаш ли?)
A0

Asking 'How are you?' (Как си/сте?)
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