Verbal Nouns in -ние

Level 4Sounds Like otglagolni sʺŝestvitelni na -nie

Many Bulgarian nouns ending in -ние come from verbs: реша → решение (decision), обясня → обяснение (explanation), движа се → движение (movement).

How It Works

1. Common examples. Many of these nouns are among the most frequent words in the language:

  • реша → решение (decision, solution)
  • обясня → обяснение (explanation)
  • предложа → предложение (suggestion, offer; also sentence)
  • упражня → упражнение (exercise)
  • събера → събрание (meeting)
  • обещая → обещание (promise)
  • движа се → движение (movement, traffic)

2. Gender and forms. They follow the neuter nouns in -ие: това решение (this decision), решението (the decision), решения (decisions), решенията (the decisions).

3. -ние versus -не. Compare with verbal nouns in -не:

  • решение: the decision or solution you reach. Взех решение. (I made a decision.)
  • решаване: the process of solving. Решаването на задачата отне час. (Solving the problem took an hour.)

The -не nouns can be made from almost any imperfective verb. The -ние nouns are a fixed set, so learn each one as a word and check the dictionary instead of creating new ones.

4. Style. -ние nouns are very common in news, instructions and official texts, where nouns often replace verbs. See nominal style. Many are also everyday words: мнение (opinion) and желание (wish).

Tip: learn each noun with its usual preposition: решение за (a decision about), предложение за (a proposal for), обяснение за (an explanation of).

Examples (6)

  1. Взех трудно решение.

    I made a difficult decision.

  2. Имам едно предложение.

    I have a suggestion.

  3. Благодаря за обяснението.

    Thank you for the explanation.

    Обяснение + the neuter article -то.

  4. Движението в центъра е много натоварено.

    The traffic in the centre is very heavy.

  5. Събранието започва в десет.

    The meeting starts at ten.

  6. Направете упражнения три и четири.

    Do exercises three and four.

    The plural of упражнение is упражнения.

Common Mistakes

  • Using the -не activity noun when you mean the result.

    Взех трудно решаване.
    Взех трудно решение.

    With the intended meaning "I made a difficult decision", use решение, the result. Решаване names the process of solving.

  • Treating an -ние noun as feminine.

    Тази решение е добра.
    Това решение е добро.

    Nouns in -ние are neuter, so demonstratives and adjectives take neuter forms.

  • Adding -ета in the plural.

    Имам две предложениета.
    Имам две предложения.

    Nouns in -ие form the plural with -ия: предложение → предложения.

How It Connects

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

Verbal Nouns in -ниеLevel 4

Learn This First

Verbal nouns in -ние follow those in -не.

Words in This Pattern

-ение