из- for Doing Completely

Doing Something Completely with Из-

Level 5Sounds Like predstavka iz

пия → изпия (drink → drink up), ям → изям (eat → eat up). With motion, из- means out: изляза (go out).

How It Works

1. Completely, all of it. Пих кафе (I drank coffee) but Изпих кафето (I drank up the coffee). Also ям → изям (eat up), чистя → изчистя (clean thoroughly), горя → изгоря (burn down), пера → изпера (wash clothes). For some verbs, из- is simply the usual way to form the perfective; see aspect pairs formed with a prefix.

2. Out of. With verbs of motion and moving things, из- means out: изляза (go out), извадя (take out), изхвърля (throw out), изпратя (send off). See prefixed verbs of motion.

3. One short burst. With sounds, из- can mean a single sudden action: Телефонът иззвъня (The phone rang once), извикам (cry out).

4. The new verb is perfective. It names a whole, finished action. In the present tense it appears only after words like да, като or ако: Като изпия кафето, ще тръгна (When I finish my coffee, I'll leave). For ongoing or repeated actions, use the imperfective partner with a suffix: изпивам, изяждам, излизам. See secondary imperfectives and the perfective present.

5. Irregular verbs keep their pattern. Изям conjugates like ям: изям, изядеш, изяде; past изядох.

6. Spelling. The prefix is always written из-, even where it sounds like [ис] before a voiceless consonant: изпратя, изход, изказвам.

Examples (6)

  1. Детето изпи цялото мляко.

    The child drank up all the milk.

  2. Кой изяде последното парче торта?

    Who ate the last piece of cake?

  3. Излязох от къщи в седем часа.

    I left home at seven o'clock.

  4. Трябва да изпера тези дрехи.

    I need to wash these clothes.

  5. Извади ключовете от чантата.

    Take the keys out of the bag.

  6. Старата къща изгоря за един час.

    The old house burned down in an hour.

Common Mistakes

  • Using the perfective verb for an action happening now.

    Сега изпия кафето си.
    Сега пия кафето си.

    Изпия is perfective, so it cannot describe an ongoing action in a main clause. Use the imperfective пия.

  • Spelling the prefix as ис-.

    Испратих писмото вчера.
    Изпратих писмото вчера.

    Bulgarian always writes the prefix as из-, even when it sounds like [ис].

How It Connects

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

из- for Doing CompletelyLevel 5Doing Something Completely with Из-

Learn This First

Из- needs prefixed aspect pairs.

Words in This Pattern

из-