# Bulgarian:  да знам/да знае



## Jason_2_toi

Which is correct?

Бих искал да знам

или 
бих искал да знае?


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## Panceltic

Assuming you want to say "I would like to know", then "*Бих* искал да *знам*" is the correct form (for a male speaker; a woman would say "*Бих* искал*а* да *знам*").

"*Би* искал да *знае*" means "He would like to know".


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## Jason_2_toi

Thanks. And what about: you would like to know, wouldn't you?

Биш искал/искала да знае, нали?

?


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## Panceltic

No, that would be "*Би* искал(а) да *знаеш*, нали?" - "искал" if you speak to a man, "искала" to a woman. These are informal forms. If speaking with respect, or to more than one person, you should say "*Бихте* *искали* да *знаете*, нали?"


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## Jason_2_toi

Thanks. I will have more questions later (not today). Hope I don't overtax peoples' patience.


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## Panceltic

You're welcome. That's alright, the forum is here to help


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## Gerry905

Jason, you can also say _Бих искал(а) да *зная*._ which is also correct. 
Maybe you heard "зная" and thought it was "знае".


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## Panceltic

Yes, зная is another form of знам.


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## Jason_2_toi

Panceltic said:


> Yes, зная is another form of знам.


Thanks, I think that's likely what happened!
Доста сложно!
And, if I'm not mistaken, all the Slavic languages have these complicated endings.
Also, which would be better, зная or знам? Or are both equally OK?


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## Panceltic

You are right, the Slavic verbs conjugation abounds with scores of different endings, Bulgarian being the most notorious offender!


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## Jason_2_toi

Here's another!

Ще отида утре на София.
Ще отивам утре на София.

Какъв вариант е правилно?


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## Panceltic

As far as I know, both forms (зная and знам) are correct and acceptable. But I am not a native speaker so somebody who speaks Bulgarian will have to confirm this.


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## Jason_2_toi

Panceltic said:


> You are right, the Slavic verbs conjugation abounds with scores of different endings, Bulgarian being the most notorious offender!


Oh, no!


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## Panceltic

About отида/отивам, this is a question of imperfect and perfect verbs. Every Slavic verb (well, almost every one of them) can exist in two aspects: the imperfect and the perfect aspect. Both forms can look quite different to each other, as in this example.

In a nutshell, the imperfect aspect is used for talking about something that happens regularly, or that is still in progress at the time of speaking. The perfect aspect is used for talking about something that is done and considered finished, or happens quickly (is not taking a lot of time). This is a big simplification of the aspect system, if you're further interested, there is a lot of stuff about this all over the internet. A rough English translation would be along the lines of "be going" vs "go" or "be talking" vs "talk".

So, отида is the perfect aspect and отивам is the imperfect aspect of the verb "to go, to leave".

The correct preposition is в, so "Ще отида утре в София" would be the most correct option (in my opinion, Bulgarians are welcome to disagree and correct me!).


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## Panceltic

Also, your final question should read "Кой вариант е правилният?"


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## Jason_2_toi

Thanks again!


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## Gerry905

Jason_2_toi said:


> Also, which would be better, зная or знам? Or are both equally OK?


Yes, they are both OK.



Panceltic said:


> You are right, the Slavic verbs conjugation abounds with scores of different endings, Bulgarian being the most notorious offender!


I agree! 



Jason_2_toi said:


> Ще отида утре *в* София.


You used the wrong preposition. As far as _отивам_ and _отида_ are concerned, Panceltic is right - it is a question of imprefect and perfect verbs and his explanation is quite good.


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## Christo Tamarin

Jason_2_toi said:


> Which is correct?
> 
> Бих искал да знам
> 
> или
> бих искал да знае?


Both are correct but have different meaning.

Бих искал да знам (да зная): I would like to know. (I would like that I know.)
Бих искал да знаe: I would like that (s)he knows.


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## Panceltic

That's correct, of course. Combining various forms we can make sentences meaning I/you/he/she/we/they would like that I/you/he/she/we/they know


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## Jason_2_toi

Panceltic said:


> Also, your final question should read "Кой вариант е правилният?"


Is that because вариант is masculine, or maybe neuter?
What about език? Какъв език говори тои?


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## Panceltic

Yes, _вариант_ is a masculine noun. I replaced _какъв_ (what kind of) in your original sentence with _кой_ (which one) which is more appropriate for this question.

_Правилно_ is the adverb (correctly, properly, rightly), so I replaced it with the adjective _правилен_ (correct, proper, right). However, in this case the adjective takes a definite ending (because you're asking which one of the two is _the_ right one) so it becomes _правилният_.

_Език_ is also a masculine noun, so your sentence is almost correct. In Bulgarian, _to speak a language_ translates into _to speak on a language_ so you have to use the preposition _на_ - На какъв език говори той? Don't forget that _и_ and _й_ are two different letters and are not interchangeable (just to add to the confusion, there is a third one _ѝ_ which sees a very limited use).


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## Jason_2_toi

So does every verb have a perfect and an imperfect form?

По-късно аз ще ям/ще яд*** рибата.

По-късно ние ще яд***/ще яд*** рибата.

По-късно те ще яд***/ще яд*** рибата.


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## Panceltic

No, there are some verbs that only have one form - for example _to be_, even in English one would never say _to be being_; or _to have_. I cannot think of any others right now, sorry.

_Ям_ is actually the imperfect aspect. So _По-късно (аз) ще ям рибата_ means _Later, I will eat the fish but not necessarily finish it_. That is, _I will be eating the fish_.

The perfect form of _ям_ is _изям_ so the sentence would be _По-късно (аз) ще изям рибата_.

You can omit _аз_ (and all other personal pronouns) because it is clear from the ending of the verb that you are talking about yourself.

The conjugation goes like this:

(аз) ям / изям
(ти) ядеш / изядеш
(той / тя / то) яде / изяде
(ние) ядем / изядем
(вие) ядете / изядете
(те) ядат / изядат


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## Jason_2_toi

Thanks!

The perfect form of _ям_ is _изям_ so the sentence would be _По-късно (аз) ще изям рибата_.

I'm guessing this could also mean
I'll eat up the fish later.


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## Panceltic

Yes, you are right. For example: Сега ям рибата, но ще я изям по-късно. (I'm eating the fish now, but I'll eat it up later)


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## DarkChild

Panceltic said:


> Yes, you are right. For example: Сега ям рибата, но ще я изям по-късно. (I'm eating the fish now, but I'll eat it up later)


You're correct, but this sentence would be better if instead of изям, you say доизям. Which means I will eat up the remainder.


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## Panceltic

Thank you, I didn't know that verb


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