One of the first things you’ll notice when you start learning Bulgarian is that we don’t have a separate word for “the”.

In English, Spanish, French, and German, the definite article comes before the word (e.g., The car, La casa, Der Mann).

In Bulgarian, the definite article is a suffix.

This means we attach “the” to the end of the word.

If you’re just starting out, this concept might seem strange.

Bulgarian is unique among Slavic languages (along with Macedonian) because it does this. While Russian and Polish have no definite articles at all, Bulgarian puts them at the back.

For example:

• Woman = Zhena
• The woman = Zhenata

It sounds simple enough, but because Bulgarian has genders, the ending changes depending on whether the word is masculine, feminine, or neuter.

Don’t worry, though. Once you learn the pattern, it becomes second nature.

Masculine nouns (the tricky part)

Let’s start with the hardest one first. Once you understand the masculine nouns, the rest is easy.

Masculine nouns in Bulgarian usually end in a consonant.

The tricky part is that masculine nouns have two forms of the definite article: the full article and the short article.

When to use the full article (-ът / -ят)

You use the full article when the noun is the subject of the sentence. This means the noun is the one doing the action.

• Hard ending: Add -ът
• Soft ending: Add -ят (usually for words ending in -тел or -ар)

When to use the short article (-а / -я)

You use the short article when the noun is the object of the sentence. This means the action is happening to the noun, or it follows a preposition (like “with”, “to”, “for”).

• Hard ending: Add -а
• Soft ending: Add -я

Here is a table to visualize it:

Examples in context

Let’s look at a sentence where one masculine noun is the subject and another is the object.

The man (subject) sees the bus (object).

In this case, “man” gets the full article (-ът) and “bus” gets the short article (-а).

If we swap them around so the bus is doing the action (maybe hitting the man), the endings swap too:

Important note on regional variations:

In colloquial, spoken Bulgarian, you will often hear people pronouncing the full article (-ът) exactly like the short article (-а). Many native speakers do not pronounce the “t” at the end clearly in casual conversation. However, when writing, you must follow the grammar rule strictly.

Feminine nouns

Good news! Feminine nouns are much simpler. You don’t have to worry about subjects or objects here.

Most feminine nouns in Bulgarian end in -а or -я. To say “the”, you simply attach -та to the end.

• Woman: Жена (Zhena) -> Жената (Zhenata)
• Water: Вода (Voda) -> Водата (Vodata)
• Street: Улица (Ulitsa) -> Улицата (Ulitsata)

There is a small group of feminine nouns that end in a consonant (like night, bone, blood). For these, we still add -та.

• Night: Нощ (Nosht) -> Нощта (Noshtta) (Note the double ‘t’)
• Blood: Кръв (Krav) -> Кръвта (Kravta)

Neuter nouns

Neuter nouns are just as easy as feminine ones. Neuter nouns usually end in -о or -е.

To make them definite (“the”), you simply add -то.

• Child: Дете (Dete) -> Детето (Deteto)
• Dog: Куче (Kuche) -> Кучето (Kucheto)
• Coffee: Кафе (Kafe) -> Кафето (Kafeto)
• Sea: Море (More) -> Морето (Moreto)

Plural nouns

When you are dealing with plural nouns, the gender rules change slightly.

1. If the plural ends in -и or -е:

Add -те.

• The men: Мъже (Muzhe) -> Мъжете (Muzhete)
• The women: Жени (Zheni) -> Жените (Zhenite)
• The students: Ученици (Uchenitsi) -> Учениците (Uchenitsite)

2. If the plural ends in -а or -я (usually neuter plurals):

Add -та.

• The children: Деца (Detsa) -> Децата (Detsata)
• The dogs: Кучета (Kucheta) -> Кучетата (Kuchetata)

The rule for adjectives

This is the final rule you need to know, and it is very important.

In Bulgarian, the definite article (“the”) always attaches to the first word of the noun phrase.

If you have a noun by itself, the article goes on the noun.

• The cat = Kotkata

But if you add an adjective (describing word) before the noun, the article jumps from the noun to the adjective.

• The big cat
  • Big = Голяма (Golyama)
  • Cat = Котка (Kotka)
  • Result = Голямата котка (Golyamata kotka)

Notice that kotka lost its article, and golyama gained it.

Here are a few more examples:

(Note: Since “friend” is masculine, the adjective “good” takes the masculine full article -ят because it is the subject).

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Learning Bulgarian definite articles takes a little practice, especially getting used to the “Subject vs. Object” rule for masculine words.

Here is a quick cheat sheet:

• Masculine Subject: add -ът / -ят
• Masculine Object: add -а / -я
• Feminine: add -та
• Neuter: add -то
• Plural: add -те (or -та for some neuter plurals)
• Adjectives: The article always moves to the first word!

If you make a mistake with the masculine full/short article while speaking, don’t stress. Most Bulgarians will understand you perfectly, as the pronunciation is very similar.