The Reported Aorist

Level 4Sounds Like preizkazno minalo svʺršeno vreme

Тя замина вчера presents the event as an ordinary fact without overt report marking. Тя заминала вчера says you were told. The reported aorist is the л-participle with no е: Той написал книга. (He wrote a book, they say.)

How It Works

1. Three ways to tell one event. Bulgarian chooses the verb form by how you know:

  • Слънцето изгря. The indicative aorist presents the sunrise as a fact; it does not prove the speaker saw it.
  • Слънцето е изгряло. I can tell: it is light outside.
  • Слънцето изгряло. Reported: someone told me.

2. Forming it. Use the same participle as in the perfect: чел, писал, купил, дошъл, видял. Add -а, -о, -и for feminine, neuter and plural subjects: тя дошла, детето дошло, те дошли.

3. No е in the third person. The missing auxiliary is what marks the report: Той заминал (reported) versus Той е заминал (the perfect or an inference). In the first and second person the auxiliary stays, so ти си заминал can be either one (see the first and second person).

4. Events versus background. The reported aorist tells completed events. For ongoing or repeated actions and states, use the reported present and imperfect. The two participles differ for verbs like чета: Вчера чел цял ден (He read all day yesterday, reportedly) versus Когато му се обадили, четял (He was reading when they called him). For many verbs, such as чакам and имам, the two participles are the same.

5. Passing on past events. When you pass on a completed past event that someone told you about, as after каза, че or според, the renarrative makes the reporting stance explicit: Според Иван тя заминала вчера. Indicative замина can also occur with explicit attribution when the speaker presents the event as an ordinary fact. When the result matters now, the perfect with е is also possible: Каза, че е заминала. (He said she has left.)

Examples (6)

  1. Той написал книга за детството си.

    He wrote a book about his childhood, reportedly.

    Написал with no е: the speaker is passing this on.

  2. Тя заминала вчера за Варна.

    She left for Varna yesterday, I hear.

    Заминала agrees with тя.

  3. Казват, че кметът подал оставка.

    They say the mayor has resigned.

    A piece of news passed on from others.

  4. Според свидетелите колата минала на червено.

    According to the witnesses, the car went through a red light.

    After според, this reported form explicitly marks the speaker’s reporting stance; an indicative is not automatically forbidden by the attribution.

  5. Децата изяли цялата торта, преди гостите да дойдат.

    The children ate the whole cake before the guests came, reportedly.

    Изяли is plural. The verb after да stays in the present.

  6. Отборът ни загубил с два на нула.

    Our team lost two-nil, apparently.

    The speaker did not watch the match.

Common Mistakes

  • Using the imperfect participle for a single completed event.

    Вчера той напишел писмо.
    Вчера той написал писмо.

    Напишел is the imperfect participle of a perfective verb and appears only in dependent clauses, such as after ако. A completed event takes the ordinary participle написал.

  • Keeping the indicative aorist when the intended stance is explicitly renarrative.

    Според Иван тя замина вчера.
    Според Иван тя заминала вчера.

    Замина does not claim eyewitness knowledge and can occur with според Иван. Use заминала when the intended meaning overtly marks the statement as a report.

  • Forgetting that the participle agrees with the subject.

    Мария заминал вчера.
    Мария заминала вчера.

    Мария is feminine, so the participle ends in а.

How It Connects

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The Reported AoristLevel 4

Learn This First

The reported aorist applies third-person reported forms.

Words in This Pattern