щ

The Letter Щ

Level 1Sounds Like bukvata ŝ

щ = ш + т = "sht": още (more), нощ (night), ще (will).

How It Works

Щ is one of the letters that stand for two sounds. It is always read [ʃt], like the "sht" in English "ashtray".

  • At the start of a word: щастие (happiness), щъркел (stork).
  • Inside a word: къща (house), още (more, still).
  • At the end of a word: нощ (night), вещ (thing).
  • In the future marker ще: Утре ще вали (It will rain tomorrow).

One exception: when ш ends one part of a word and т begins the next, both letters stay. The noun пустош (wasteland) plus the article -та gives пустошта.

If you know Russian, do not read щ as a long soft "shch". Bulgarian още sounds like "oshte".

Other letters that hold two sounds are я and ю. See also българска азбука.

Examples (5)

  1. Искаш ли още кафе?

    Do you want more coffee?

    Word by Word: Want-you (question) more coffee?

    Още is read "oshte".

  2. Лека нощ!

    Good night!

    Word by Word: Light night!

    Word-final щ in нощ still sounds "sht".

  3. Утре ще вали.

    It will rain tomorrow.

    Word by Word: Tomorrow will rains.

    The future marker ще is spelled with щ.

  4. Къщата е голяма.

    The house is big.

    Word by Word: House-the is big.

  5. Щастлив съм.

    I am happy.

    Word by Word: Happy (I) am.

Common Mistakes

  • Spelling the sound with two letters, ш and т.

    Лека ношт!
    Лека нощ!

    Inside a single word part, the sounds ш + т are always written with the one letter щ.

  • Writing the future marker as ште.

    Утре ште дойда.
    Утре ще дойда.

    The word ще is spelled with щ, even though it sounds like "shte".

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

щLevel 1The Letter Щ

Learn This First

Reading щ presupposes the Bulgarian alphabet.