# Bulgarian: можал / можел / могъл



## marco_2

[Mod note: separate question split from this thread]

Thank you very much, so I was right. I've got one more, similar question:
*можал *is _минало свършено деятелно причастие,_
*можел *is _минало несвършено деятелно причастие,_
So what about *могъл*? Is it correct and when should I use it?


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## Hachi25

_Могъл _and _можал _are the same thing, the only difference is that the form _могъл _is older (but not archaic) and . Apart from that, they are interchangeable.


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## DarkChild

Могъл is used with compound tenses. You can't really say би можал, but би могъл.

When in doubt, use могъл.


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## Hachi25

Can't you?

_Канелов със своите кавалеристи би можал да помогне и да върне талигата._
Source


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## DarkChild

Your example is from the 1890s.


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## Hachi25

_Френски сам не знаеше много и в българския език не бе можал да се отърве от прилепското си наречие._
Source; year: 1969

Трябва да съм бил на към 16, лятна ваканция и тъкмо бях приключил с всичко от Карл Май и Дюма, до което бях можал да се докопам — буден младеж, който си мисли че има литературен вкус.
Source; date: 1 юли 2013

_С молив и с химикал, колкото съм можал._
Source; date: September 1, 2013

_Колко сме можали, помогнали сме, всеки ден си оставаме по някоя стотинка, никога не сме минали, да минеш покрай касичката и да не оставиш, това е срамота._
Source; date: 13 февруари 2014

_Облекли сме се прилично, погрижили сме се, колкото сме можали за външността и поведението си, нека уважим собственото си усилие, както и това на други хора край нас._
Source; date: November 11, 2015

I hope you'll find these examples more satisfying. I'm not saying it's not rare (or at least more rare then compound tenses with _могъл_), but they can be used and are being used.


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## DarkChild

Facebook posts are hardly satisfying examples. Not to mention that there are grammatical and punctuation mistakes in some of them.

The truth is that these sound awkward and plain wrong. And съм можал sounds OK, but би можал is just ridiculous. So, yes, they are used, just like many other things, but that doesn't make them right or appropriate.

So, again, when in doubt, use Могъл. Unless you want to sound like an idiot.


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## Hachi25

I'm sorry, but so far your arguments haven't been acceptable.

First of all, although I could argue that Facebook posts can be used as a valid source to find out what is used in a language, only one out of five examples was taken from there. However, grammatical and punctuation mistakes are not the topic of this discussion; we are discussing the usage of a specific form, not how (il)literate people are.

Also, you cannot first say that the form _можал _cannot be used with compound tenses and then add that _съм можал_ sounds OK. Both are compound verb forms (and _съм можал _actually is a tense unlike _би можал_), so why exactly is _би можал _considered _ridiculous_, but _съм можал _is not?

And, finally, using expressions like _ridiculous_ or _to sound like an idiot_ are not arguments. What they are is exactly the opposite - the lack of proper argumentation. A proper one would be for you to demonstrate who, where, when and why decided that the form _можал _cannot be used with compound verb forms. If you provide this information (a valid source would be needed, of course), I will back down and admit that I was taught wrong two years back in Veliko Tarnovo. Until then we have the dictionary which clearly states that both forms (_могъл _and _можал_) are the same thing, mean the same thing, and therefore can be used interchangeably, which is the answer to the original question in this thread. Everything else is just pure linguistic prescription without need or reasoning, and I won't be dragged into that.


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## DarkChild

[...]
 I'm not a linguist. I tell you what sounds OK and what doesn't. [...]

Mod note: Let's be nice.


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## rusita preciosa

Mod note: Let's end here - the OP will decide for him/herself. The thread is now closed.


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