искам да + Another Person's Verb

Wanting Someone Else to Act

Level 2Sounds Like iskam da + drugo lice

Bulgarian has no want you to. Keep искам да and give the next verb the other person's ending: Искам да дойдеш. (I want you to come.)

How It Works

1. Same person or another person. Compare these pairs:

  • Искам да дойда. (I want to come.) Искам да дойдеш. (I want you to come.)
  • Искаме да останем. (We want to stay.) Искаме да останете. (We want you to stay.)

2. The ending tells you who acts. This is why the ending matters so much:

  • Мама иска да учи. (Mom wants to study.)
  • Мама иска да уча. (Mom wants me to study.)
  • Мама иска да учим. (Mom wants us to study.)

3. Useful offers. A question with искаш ли and your own ending makes a friendly offer: Искаш ли да ти помогна? (Do you want me to help you?) Искате ли да ви покажа? (Would you like me to show you?) Compare offers with да ... ли.

4. Aspect. For one complete action, the verb after да is usually perfective: дойдеш, помогна, прочетем. See perfective verbs after да.

5. Short pronouns. A short pronoun that belongs to the second verb goes between да and that verb: Искам да ми кажеш истината. (I want you to tell me the truth.)

Tip: the same pattern works with искам да in every tense (Исках да дойдеш., I wanted you to come.) and with other verbs of wishing, such as предпочитам да (I prefer you to). Verbs of asking are different: моля names the person as an object, as in Моля те да дойдеш. (I ask you to come.)

Examples (6)

  1. Искам да дойдеш на рождения ми ден.

    I want you to come to my birthday party.

    Дойдеш has the ти ending, so "you" are the one who comes.

  2. Мама иска да уча повече.

    Mom wants me to study more.

    Иска is about Mom, but уча has the аз ending.

  3. Искаш ли да ти помогна?

    Do you want me to help you?

  4. Не искам да се тревожиш.

    I don't want you to worry.

  5. Учителят иска да прочетем текста до утре.

    The teacher wants us to read the text by tomorrow.

  6. Искаме да останете още малко.

    We want you to stay a little longer.

Common Mistakes

  • Copying English "want you to" with an object pronoun.

    Искам те да дойдеш.
    Искам да дойдеш.

    Bulgarian does not put the other person before да as an object. The ending of дойдеш already says "you".

  • Giving the second verb the wrong person when you mean someone else.

    Мама иска да учи повече.
    Мама иска да уча повече.

    If you mean "Mom wants me to study", the second verb needs the аз ending уча. Without an explicitly different subject, учи is usually read as Mom studying herself; third-person verb endings alone do not identify who studies.

How It Connects

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

искам да + Another Person's VerbLevel 2Wanting Someone Else to Act

Learn This First

Wanting someone else to act builds on искам да.

Words in This Pattern

искам