The Perfect in News and Biographies

Level 5Sounds Like perfekt v novini i biografii

Министърът е подал оставка. (The minister has resigned.) The perfect states a past fact as a result that matters now.

How It Works

1. Form. The perfect is built from съм and the л-participle: подал е, заявил е, завършила е. See the present perfect.

2. In the news. A reporter who learned a fact from others, rather than seeing it, often states it in the perfect: Министърът е подал оставка (The minister has resigned), Президентът е заявил, че ще подпише закона (The president has stated that he will sign the law). The aorist Министърът подаде оставка is also common and presents the event as a definite fact that the writer vouches for. See aorist versus perfect.

3. In biographies. Encyclopedias, CVs and short life stories give events in the perfect: Завършил е право в Софийския университет (He graduated in law from Sofia University). Birth is different: е роден (was born) is the passive with съм, built from the past passive participle роден, not from the л-participle: Иван Вазов е роден през 1850 г. в Сопот (Ivan Vazov was born in Sopot in 1850). A longer biography that tells a story may switch to the aorist.

4. Keep е. In the third person, the form with е is a neutral statement. Without е, the verb becomes a reported form: Министърът подал оставка (The minister has resigned, they say). Headlines sometimes use it to pass on a claim without vouching for it. The same forms with е can also express a conclusion; see conclusive forms.

5. The position of е. Е is a short form, so it cannot start a sentence: Министърът е подал оставка or Подал е оставка, never Е подал.... Short pronouns follow the same rule; see placement of short pronouns.

Examples (6)

  1. Министърът е подал оставка.

    The minister has resigned.

  2. Президентът е заявил, че ще подпише закона.

    The president has stated that he will sign the law.

  3. Според полицията шофьорът е карал с превишена скорост.

    According to the police, the driver was speeding.

    The reporter did not see this, so the perfect fits.

  4. Иван Вазов е роден през 1850 г. в Сопот.

    Ivan Vazov was born in Sopot in 1850.

    Роден is the past passive participle, so е роден is the passive with съм (was born), not the perfect. Biographies pair it with perfect forms such as завършил е.

  5. Завършила е медицина в Пловдив и е работила десет години в Германия.

    She graduated in medicine in Plovdiv and worked in Germany for ten years.

  6. Пожарът е започнал около два часа през нощта.

    The fire started at around two in the morning.

Common Mistakes

  • Using the imperfect participle to build the perfect.

    Президентът е заявял, че ще подпише закона.
    Президентът е заявил, че ще подпише закона.

    The perfect uses the aorist participle in -л: заявил. Forms like заявял belong only to reported and inferred forms.

  • Starting the sentence with е.

    Е подал оставка министърът.
    Министърът е подал оставка.

    Е is a short form and never comes first. Put the subject or the participle before it.

How It Connects

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The Perfect in News and BiographiesLevel 5

Learn This First

The perfect in news follows aorist versus perfect.

Words in This Pattern