ям / дам

The Irregular Verbs Ям and Дам

Level 2Sounds Like âm i dam

Only the аз form is short: ям, дам. Every other form adds д: Какво ядеш? (What are you eating?), Ще ти дам книгата (I will give you the book).

How It Works

1. The present forms.

  • ям, ядеш, яде, ядем, ядете, ядат
  • дам, дадеш, даде, дадем, дадете, дадат

Do not treat them as third-conjugation verbs like чакам, чакаш: the forms are ядеш and дадеш, not endings in -аш.

2. Other important forms.

  • Past (aorist): ядох, яде, яде, ядохме, ядохте, ядоха and дадох, даде, даде, дадохме, дадохте, дадоха. See the aorist.
  • Commands: яж, яжте and дай, дайте. See irregular imperatives.
  • Л-participle: ял, яла, яли and дал, дала, дали: Ял ли си? (Have you eaten?)

3. Same spelling, different tense. Яде and даде can be present or past. Stress and context tell them apart: present ядѐ, past я̀де. Words like вчера or сега make the meaning clear.

4. Дам is perfective. It names one complete act of giving, so it appears after ще, да, ако or когато: Ще ти дам ключа. For an action happening now or a habit, use its imperfective partner давам: Сега ти давам парите.

5. The same pattern in related verbs. Verbs built on these two follow them: изям, изядеш (eat up); продам, продадеш (sell); предам, предадеш (hand over); създам, създадеш (create).

Examples (6)

  1. Какво ядеш?

    What are you eating?

  2. Ще ти дам книгата.

    I will give you the book.

    Дам is perfective and follows ще.

  3. Децата ядат сладолед в парка.

    The children are eating ice cream in the park.

  4. Вече ядох, благодаря.

    I have already eaten, thank you.

    Ядох is the aorist (simple past) of ям.

  5. Можеш ли да ми дадеш ключа?

    Can you give me the key?

  6. Яж, докато е топло!

    Eat while it is warm!

    Яж is the irregular command form of ям.

Common Mistakes

  • Adding д to the аз form.

    Аз ядам хляб.
    Аз ям хляб.

    Only the аз form is short: ям. The д appears in the other persons: ядеш, яде.

  • Building the past like an -ам verb.

    Вчера ях риба.
    Вчера ядох риба.

    The past keeps the д stem: ядох, like четох from чета.

  • Using perfective дам for an action happening now.

    Сега ти дам парите.
    Сега ти давам парите.

    Дам cannot stand alone for "now". Use the imperfective давам, or keep дам after ще or да.

How It Connects

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ям / дамLevel 2The Irregular Verbs Ям and Дам

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The irregular verbs build on the first conjugation.

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Patterns that build on this one.

Words in This Pattern

ямдам