този/тази/това/тези

This and These

Level 1Sounds Like tozi/tazi/tova/tezi

Choose the form by the noun: този град, тази жена, това дете, тези деца.

How It Works

  • Masculine: този град (this city)
  • Feminine: тази жена (this woman)
  • Neuter: това дете (this child)
  • Plural, every gender: тези деца, тези книги

To pick the right form, you need the noun’s gender. See род на съществителните.

No article. The noun after this has no article: тази книга, този град. See определителен член като наставка.

With an adjective. The adjective goes between them and agrees too: този нов телефон, тази хубава къща. See съгласуване на прилагателното.

Time words. тази сутрин (this morning), тази вечер (this evening), този месец (this month), това лято (this summer), тази година (this year).

This one. Without a noun, the form still matches what you mean: Кой телефон искате? — Този. (Which phone do you want? — This one.)

This or that? Този is also used for something near the person you are talking to, where English says that: Кой е този човек? (Who is that man?) For something farther away, use онзи.

In everyday speech you will also hear тоя, тая, туй, тия. They are informal; write the standard forms.

To introduce someone or name something, use the fixed pattern това е: Това е Иван.

Examples (6)

  1. Този град е много красив.

    This city is very beautiful.

    Word by Word: This city is very beautiful.

    Град is masculine, so the form is този.

  2. Тази жена е лекарка.

    This woman is a doctor.

    Word by Word: This woman is doctor.

    Жена is feminine, so the form is тази.

  3. Това дете е много умно.

    This child is very clever.

    Word by Word: This child is very clever.

    Дете is neuter, so the form is това.

  4. Тези деца играят навън.

    These children are playing outside.

    Word by Word: These children play outside.

    Тези is used for every plural.

  5. Тази вечер сме вкъщи.

    We are at home this evening.

    Word by Word: This evening we-are at-home.

  6. Кой телефон искате? — Този.

    Which phone do you want? — This one.

    Word by Word: Which phone you-want? — This.

    Този stands alone and still matches the masculine телефон.

Common Mistakes

  • Adding the article to the noun after this.

    Тази книгата е интересна.
    Тази книга е интересна.

    The demonstrative already makes the noun definite, so the noun takes no article.

  • Using тази with a neuter noun that ends in -е.

    Тази кафе е студено.
    Това кафе е студено.

    Кафе ends in -е, so it is neuter and takes това, not the feminine тази.

  • Using тази with a plural that ends in -а.

    Тази деца са тук.
    Тези деца са тук.

    Деца is plural. Every plural takes тези.

How It Connects

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

този/тази/това/тезиLevel 1This and These

Learn This First

Demonstratives build on това е and on agreement.

Words in This Pattern

този