щом
As Soon as and Since with Щом
Щом пристигна, ще ти се обадя. (As soon as I arrive, I will call you.) Щом не искаш, не идвай. (Since you don't want to, don't come.)
How It Works
1. "As soon as." The second action follows the first immediately.
- Future: Щом пристигна, ще ти се обадя. The verb after щом is a present form, usually perfective (see the perfective present in dependent clauses). Do not put ще after щом in this meaning.
- Past, one event: Щом свърши работа, тя се прибра вкъщи. (As soon as she finished work, she went home.)
- Past, repeated events: with the imperfect, щом means "whenever": Щом валеше, оставахме вкъщи. (Whenever it rained, we stayed at home.) Compare the imperfect for past habits.
2. "Since, given that." Here щом starts from a fact and draws a conclusion:
- Щом не искаш, не идвай. (Since you don't want to, don't come.)
- Щом е толкова скъпо, няма да го купя. (Since it is so expensive, I won't buy it.)
- A very common short reply: Добре, щом казваш. (All right, if you say so.)
In this meaning any tense can follow, including the future: Щом ще вали, вземи чадър. (Since it is going to rain, take an umbrella.) The rain is presented as a known fact, not as a moment in time.
3. Close relatives. For time, когато is the neutral "when", and като is another common choice. For reasons, понеже and тъй като give a cause, while щом leans toward "if that is the case, then ..."
4. Commas. A clause with щом is separated by a comma, wherever it stands: Ще ти се обадя, щом пристигна. See commas before subordinate clauses.
Examples (6)
- Щом пристигна, ще ти се обадя.
As soon as I arrive, I will call you.
Future time: the present-tense perfective пристигна, not ще пристигна.
- Щом свърши работа, тя се прибра вкъщи.
As soon as she finished work, she went home.
- Щом валеше, оставахме вкъщи.
Whenever it rained, we stayed at home.
With the imperfect, щом describes a repeated past situation.
- Щом не искаш, не идвай.
Since you don't want to, don't come.
- Щом е толкова скъпо, няма да го купя.
Since it is so expensive, I won't buy it.
- Добре, щом казваш.
All right, if you say so.
Common Mistakes
Leaving out ще in the main clause about the future.
Щом пристигна, ти се обадя.Щом пристигна, ще ти се обадя.A perfective present such as обадя cannot stand alone as a main verb. The future is shown in the main clause with ще, which also gives the short pronouns ти се a word to lean on.
Leaving out the comma between the clauses.
Ще ти се обадя щом пристигна.Ще ти се обадя, щом пристигна.A щом clause is a subordinate clause, so standard writing separates it with a comma.
How It Connects
Learn This First
As soon as and since build on time and reason clauses.
Related Patterns
- като + Time ClauseTime Clauses with Като
Another common word that starts time clauses.
Level 3 - The Perfective Present
Explains the present perfective after щом for future events.
Level 3 - понежеBecause with Понеже
Gives a cause; щом instead builds on a known fact.
Level 3 - след катоAfter Clauses
Another way to order two actions in time.
Level 3 - акоReal Conditions with Ако
Щом in its reason meaning is close to "if that is so".
Level 2
Learn Next
Patterns that build on this one.
Words in This Pattern
Practice щом in Bubblegum
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