по

Along, Around and by with По

Level 3Sounds Like po

По means along or all over a surface: по улицата, по света. It also means by or on a channel: по телефона, по телевизията.

How It Works

1. Along, across, all over.

  • Вървим по улицата. (We are walking along the street.)
  • Искам да пътувам по света. (I want to travel around the world.)
  • Книгите бяха разхвърляни по пода. (The books were scattered all over the floor.)

Compare в (inside), на (on, at a place) and през (through): на улицата is a location, while по улицата is movement along it.

2. By a means of communication.

  • Говорих с нея по телефона. (I spoke with her on the phone.)
  • Гледах мача по телевизията. (I watched the match on TV.)
  • Изпратих писмото по пощата. (I sent the letter by post.)

3. Other common uses you will meet:

  • A subject or field: учител по математика (a maths teacher), урок по пеене.
  • Each, with numbers: Всеки получи по две ябълки. (Everyone got two apples each.)
  • Fixed phrases: по време на (during), по мое мнение (in my opinion).

4. По or по-? The preposition по is written as a separate word. With a hyphen, по- makes comparatives: по-добре (better). A third use, the prefix по- for doing something for a while, is joined to the verb: поседя.

Examples (6)

  1. Вървим по улицата.

    We are walking along the street.

  2. Искам да пътувам по света.

    I want to travel around the world.

  3. Говорих с нея по телефона.

    I spoke with her on the phone.

  4. Гледах мача по телевизията.

    I watched the match on TV.

    По + the channel, with the article.

  5. Книгите бяха разхвърляни по пода.

    The books were scattered all over the floor.

    По shows spreading over a surface.

  6. Изпратих писмото по пощата.

    I sent the letter by post.

Common Mistakes

  • Using на for a TV or radio channel, as in English on TV.

    Гледах мача на телевизията.
    Гледах мача по телевизията.

    For something seen or heard through a channel, Bulgarian uses по. На телевизията means at the TV station.

  • Writing the comparative по- as a separate word.

    Тук е по добре.
    Тук е по-добре.

    Comparative по- is hyphenated with adjectives and adverbs such as по-добре. Before verbs, nouns and some phrases, comparative по̀ is written separately; unaccented separate по can also be a preposition.

How It Connects

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

поLevel 3Along, Around and by with По

Learn This First

По follows the basic prepositions.

Words in This Pattern

по