Grammar Rule in 30 Seconds
Shift your perspective: when reporting what others said, change 'I' to 'he/she', 'here' to 'there', and 'now' to 'then' to match your current reality.
- Change personal pronouns to match the speaker: 'Аз' (I) becomes 'той/тя' (he/she).
- Shift place adverbs away from the original speaker: 'Тук' (here) becomes 'там' (there).
- Adjust time to the reporting moment: 'Днес' (today) becomes 'онзи ден' or 'тогава' (then).
Pronoun and Adverb Mapping Table
| Category | Direct Speech (Immediate) | Indirect Speech (Remote) | English Translation |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Personal Pronoun
|
аз (I)
|
той / тя (he / she)
|
I → He/She
|
|
Personal Pronoun
|
ние (we)
|
те (they)
|
We → They
|
|
Possessive Pronoun
|
мой (my)
|
негов / неин (his / her)
|
My → His/Her
|
|
Place Adverb
|
тук (here)
|
там (there)
|
Here → There
|
|
Time Adverb
|
днес (today)
|
същия ден (that day)
|
Today → That day
|
|
Time Adverb
|
утре (tomorrow)
|
следващия ден (next day)
|
Tomorrow → Next day
|
|
Time Adverb
|
вчера (yesterday)
|
предишния ден (previous day)
|
Yesterday → Previous day
|
|
Demonstrative
|
този (this)
|
онзи (that)
|
This → That
|
Meanings
The process of adjusting deictic words (words whose meaning depends on context like 'I', 'here', 'now') when converting direct speech into indirect speech to maintain logical consistency.
Personal Pronoun Shift
Changing first and second person pronouns to third person to reflect that the reporter is talking about someone else.
“Иван каза: „Аз съм гладен“ → Иван каза, че той е гладен.”
Spatial Adverb Shift
Moving the 'location' of the action from the speaker's 'here' to the reporter's 'there'.
“„Ела тук“, каза тя. → Тя му каза да отиде там.”
Temporal Adverb Shift
Updating time references so they relate to the moment of reporting rather than the original moment of speaking.
“„Ще се видим днес“, каза той. → Той каза, че ще се видят в същия ден.”
Reference Table
| Form | Structure | Example |
|---|---|---|
|
Affirmative
|
Subject + каза, че + [Shifted Clause]
|
Той каза, че е там.
|
|
Negative
|
Subject + не каза, че + [Shifted Clause]
|
Тя не каза, че ще дойде на следващия ден.
|
|
Question
|
Subject + попита дали + [Shifted Clause]
|
Той попита дали тя е била там.
|
|
Command
|
Subject + каза на [Person] да + [Verb]
|
Той му каза да отиде там.
|
|
Possessive
|
Subject + каза, че [Possessive] + ...
|
Тя каза, че нейната кола е там.
|
|
Plural Shift
|
Subject + казаха, че те + ...
|
Те казаха, че те са готови.
|
正式程度
Той заяви, че се е намирал на посоченото място. (Reporting someone's location)
Той каза, че е бил там. (Reporting someone's location)
Вика, че бил там. (Reporting someone's location)
Оня разправя, че се е мотал там. (Reporting someone's location)
The Deictic Shift
Person
- аз → той/тя I → he/she
- ние → те we → they
Place
- тук → там here → there
- насам → натам this way → that way
Time
- днес → същия ден today → that day
- сега → тогава now → then
Direct vs. Indirect Perspective
Decision Tree for Shifting
Is the speaker 'I'?
Is the location 'here'?
Is the time 'today'?
Common Time Shifts
Past
- • вчера → предишния ден
- • онзи ден → два дни преди това
Future
- • утре → следващия ден
- • вдругиден → след два дни
按水平分级的例句
Той каза: „Аз съм добре“.
He said: 'I am well'.
Той каза, че той е добре.
He said that he is well.
Тя каза: „Аз уча“.
She said: 'I am studying'.
Тя каза, че тя учи.
She said that she is studying.
„Тук е топло“, каза Петър.
'It is warm here,' said Peter.
Петър каза, че там е топло.
Peter said that it is warm there.
„Това е моята книга“, каза тя.
'This is my book,' she said.
Тя каза, че това е нейната книга.
She said that it was her book.
„Ще дойда утре“, обеща той.
'I will come tomorrow,' he promised.
Той обеща, че ще дойде на следващия ден.
He promised that he would come the next day.
„Сега нямам време“, каза Мария.
'I don't have time now,' said Maria.
Мария каза, че тогава е нямала време.
Maria said that she didn't have time then.
„Вчера видях твоя брат тук“, каза той.
'Yesterday I saw your brother here,' he said.
Той каза, че предишния ден е видял брат ми там.
He said that the previous day he had seen my brother there.
„Тези хора ще ни помогнат“, вярваше тя.
'These people will help us,' she believed.
Тя вярваше, че онези хора ще им помогнат.
She believed that those people would help them.
„Едва ли ще успеем да приключим проекта до днес“, отбеляза мениджърът.
'We will hardly manage to finish the project by today,' the manager noted.
Мениджърът отбеляза, че едва ли ще успеят да приключат проекта до същия ден.
The manager noted that they would hardly manage to finish the project by that same day.
„Тук, в това малко селце, времето е спряло“, пише авторът.
'Here, in this small village, time has stopped,' the author writes.
Авторът пише, че там, в онова малко селце, времето е било спряло.
The author writes that there, in that small village, time had stopped.
„Ако бяхте дошли по-рано, щяхте да заварите и него тук“, подметна тя иронично.
'If you had come earlier, you would have found him here too,' she remarked ironically.
Тя подметна иронично, че ако са били отишли по-рано, са щели да заварят и него там.
She remarked ironically that if they had gone earlier, they would have found him there too.
„Ние сме длъжни да защитим интересите си тук и сега“, заявиха политиците.
'We are obliged to protect our interests here and now,' the politicians declared.
Политиците заявиха, че те са длъжни да защитят интересите си там и в онзи момент.
The politicians declared that they were obliged to protect their interests there and at that moment.
容易混淆
Learners often mix the two, creating 'Frankenstein' sentences like 'Той каза, че аз съм тук' (meaning him).
Learners think they only need to shift pronouns if they use the special 'reported' mood.
In Bulgarian, 'come' is centered on the speaker. In indirect speech, the center moves.
常见错误
Той каза: „Аз съм тук“ → Той каза, че аз съм тук.
Той каза, че той е там.
Тя каза: „Аз уча“ → Тя каза, че аз уча.
Тя каза, че тя учи.
Той каза, че ще дойде тук.
Той каза, че ще отиде там.
Мария каза, че това е моята чанта.
Мария каза, че това е нейната чанта.
Той каза вчера, че ще дойде утре.
Той каза вчера, че ще дойде на следващия ден.
Тя каза, че сега е заета.
Тя каза, че тогава е била заета.
Журналистът каза, че днес има протести.
Журналистът каза, че в същия ден е имало протести.
句型
[Person] каза, че [Shifted Pronoun] е [Shifted Adverb].
Те ми казаха, че ще [Verb] на [Shifted Time Adverb].
Тя попита дали [Shifted Pronoun] сме видели [Possessive] [Noun].
Според него, [Shifted Time] е било [Adjective].
Real World Usage
Той писа, че ще е там след 5 минути.
Министърът заяви, че тогава не е знаел за проблема.
Мениджърът каза, че моето CV му е харесало.
Казахте, че храната ще е тук (now 'there') преди половин час!
Свидетелят твърди, че е видял обвиняемия там.
Тя постна, че нейната почивка е била страхотна.
The Camera Rule
Watch the 'Today'
The 'L' ending
Possessive Power
Smart Tips
Immediately check if the next pronoun matches the subject of 'каза'.
Use 'предишния' or 'следващия' instead of 'вчера' or 'утре'.
Use 'да' instead of 'че' and shift the pronoun to the object case.
Use the 'L-participle' (бил, имало) to protect yourself from being wrong.
发音
Intonation of 'че'
The word 'че' is usually unstressed and links quickly to the following pronoun.
Stress on shifted adverbs
Words like 'тогава' and 'там' often receive more emphasis to highlight the shift in time/place.
Reporting Intonation
Той каза, ↘ че е там. ↘
Falling intonation at the end of the reported clause indicates a completed statement.
记住它
记忆技巧
Remember the '3 T's': Target (Person), Territory (Place), and Time. All three must move away from you!
视觉联想
Imagine a stage. Direct speech is the actor talking to the audience. Indirect speech is a narrator standing off-stage, pointing at the actor and telling the story from a distance.
Rhyme
When 'I' becomes 'he' and 'here' becomes 'there', your reported speech shows you really care!
Story
Ivan is in a box labeled 'HERE' and 'NOW'. When you report his words, you step outside the box and point at him, saying 'HE was THERE THEN'.
Word Web
挑战
Look at the last text message you received. Try to say it out loud in Bulgarian as if you are telling a third person what was said, shifting all pronouns and adverbs.
文化笔记
Bulgarian journalists almost exclusively use indirect speech with the renarrative mood to avoid legal liability for 'claiming' something as fact.
In villages, reporting what 'they' said is a social art form, often involving heavy use of shifted pronouns to keep track of multiple characters.
In Bulgarian business culture, reporting a superior's words requires very precise temporal shifts to ensure deadlines are not misunderstood.
Bulgarian indirect speech structures evolved from Old Church Slavonic, which used a mix of direct quotation and early 'че' (that) constructions.
对话开场白
Какво ти каза шефът ти вчера?
Разкажи ми за последната клюка, която чу.
Какво обещаха политиците на последните избори?
Майка ти какво ти каза за празниците?
日记主题
常见错误
Test Yourself
Иван каза: „Аз съм уморен“. → Иван каза, че ___ е уморен.
Тя каза: „Ела тук“. → Тя му каза да отиде ___.
Find and fix the mistake:
Вчера той ми каза, че ще дойде утре.
Мария: „Това е моята книга“.
Direct: 'Сега уча'. Indirect: 'Той каза, че тогава учи'.
A: 'Ще бъда тук в 5'. B: 'Какво каза той?' C: 'Той каза, че ще бъде ___ в 5'.
Sort: [аз, маса, тук, днес, книга]
Match each item on the left with its pair on the right:
Score: /8
练习题
8 exercisesИван каза: „Аз съм уморен“. → Иван каза, че ___ е уморен.
Тя каза: „Ела тук“. → Тя му каза да отиде ___.
Find and fix the mistake:
Вчера той ми каза, че ще дойде утре.
Мария: „Това е моята книга“.
Direct: 'Сега уча'. Indirect: 'Той каза, че тогава учи'.
A: 'Ще бъда тук в 5'. B: 'Какво каза той?' C: 'Той каза, че ще бъде ___ в 5'.
Sort: [аз, маса, тук, днес, книга]
1. Вчера, 2. Днес, 3. Утре
Score: /8
常见问题 (8)
Not if you are still standing in the same place where the words were originally spoken. If you are still 'here', you can keep 'тук'.
It usually changes to 'те' (they), unless the reporter is part of the 'we' group.
No, you can use 'дали' for questions or 'да' for commands, but 'че' is the most common for statements.
That is the renarrative mood. It shows that you didn't see it yourself. Pronoun shifts happen in both cases.
Yes! If the day hasn't changed, 'днес' is still accurate.
It usually shifts to 'that' (онзи) if the object is no longer near the speaker.
It will sound like you are talking about yourself. It's a very common and sometimes funny mistake!
Not necessarily. Bulgarian focuses more on the mood (renarrative) than on moving tenses back in time.
Scaffolded Practice
1
2
3
4
Mastery Progress
Needs Practice
Improving
Strong
Mastered
In Other Languages
Reported Speech
Bulgarian uses the renarrative mood; English uses tense backshifting.
Estilo Indirecto
Spanish has no equivalent to the Bulgarian renarrative mood.
Discours Rapporté
French uses the conditional mood for future-in-the-past reporting.
Indirekte Rede
German's Konjunktiv I is strictly for reporting, similar in function to Bulgarian's renarrative.
引用 (In'yō)
Japanese reporting is much more 'direct' in its structure even when indirect.
الكلام المنقول (Al-kalam al-manqul)
Arabic maintains the original tense more often than English.
间接引语 (Jiànjiē yǐnyǔ)
No tense or mood changes, only pronoun and adverb changes.
