DIRECT AND INDIRECT OBJECT PRONOUNS

DIRECT AND INDIRECT OBJECT PRONOUNS – ЛИЧНИТЕ МЕСТОИМЕНИЯ КАТО ПРЯКО И НЕПРЯКО ДОПЪЛНЕНИЕ

You have already learned one set of pronouns, called the subject pronouns. As the name implies, subject pronouns are the pronouns to substitute the subject of the sentence.

Example:

Maria enters in the room. She enters in the room.

Maria is the subject in the sentence – Who does the action? She enters.

When the pronoun acts as direct or indirect object, a different set of pronouns is used.

You see Maria. You see her.

You are the subject – Who does the action? – You see.

Maria is the direct object – Who do you see? – Her.

You talk to Maria. You talk to her.

You are the subject – Who does the action? – You talk.

Maria is the indirect object – To whom do you talk – to her

So, when the pronoun replacing the name Maria acts like a subject it is she. When it is acts like a direct object it becomes her. When it is acts like an indirect object it becomes to her.

Let's see how it works in Bulgarian.

Иван учи английски. Той учи английски.	Who does the action? - Ivan
Ivan studies English. He studies English.	Subject (S)

Мария познава Иван. Мария го познава.	Whom does Maria know? - Ivan
Maria knows Ivan. Maria knows him.	Direct object (DO)

Мария учи с Иван. Тя учи с него.	With whom does she study? - Ivan
Maria studies with Ivan. She studies with him.	Indirect object (IO)

Here are the subject pronouns, the direct object and the indirect object pronouns side by side:

Subject pronouns	English Equivalent	DO Pronouns long form	DO Pronouns short form	IO Pronouns long form	IO Pronouns short form	English Equivalent
аз	I	мене / мен¹	ме	на мене/ на мен¹	ми	me
ти	you	тебе / теб¹	те	на тебе/ на теб¹	ти	you (familiar)
той	he	него²	го²	на него	му²	him
тя	she	нея	я	на нея	й³	her
то	it	него²	го²	на него²	му²	it
ние	we	нас	ни	на нас	ни	us
вие / Вие⁴	you-all, you(formal)	вас / Вас⁴	ви / Ви⁴	на вас на Вас⁴	ви Ви⁴	you-all, you (formal)
те	they	тях	ги	на тях	им	them

1. Both forms are considered correct, but мене and тебе are more often used in the colloquial language.

2. The form for masculine coincides with the form for neuter gender.

3. The IO pronoun й is always spelled with a written stress to be told from the conjunction и (and).

4. When the pronouns вие, ви, вас mean you (formal), they are spelled with capital letter. See subject pronouns.

As you can see, the DO and IO pronouns have long and short forms. The short forms are used much more often, but there are cases in which it is necessary to use the long forms.

1. If you want to put an emphasis on the DO or IO pronoun

DO pronoun - short form

Аз виждам Иван.	Аз го виждам.
I see Ivan.	I see him.

DO pronoun – long form

Аз виждам Иван (а не Мария).	Aз виждам него (не нея).
I see Ivan (not Maria).	I see him (not her).

IO pronoun – short form

Мария говори на Иван.	Мария му говори.
Maria talks to Ivan.	Maria talks to him .

IO pronoun – long form

Мария говори на Иван, не на Яна.	Мария говори на него, не на нея.
Maria talks to Ivan, not to Yana.	Maria talks to him, not to her .

2. When the DO pronouns stands after a preposition

Мария се разхожда с Иван.	Тя се разхожда с него.
Maria takes a walk with Ivan.	She takes a walk with him.
Има пейка под дървото.	Има пейка под него.
There is a bench under the tree.	There is a bench under it.

Attention: You can never use the short form of the DO pronouns with a preposition!

1

The short forms of the DO and IO pronouns stand before the verb.

Аз го гледам, той ми се усмихва.

I look at him.	He smiles at me.
DO		IO

Аз му говоря, той ме слуша.

I talk to him.		He listens to me.
IO	DO

The only exception is when the subject in the sentence is omitted.

Аз го гледам.	Гледам го.	I look at him.	DO
Мария ми говори.	Говори ми.	She speaks to me.	IO

1

When you have both a direct object pronoun and an indirect object pronoun in the same sentence, the indirect object pronoun comes first.

Той продава книгата на Милена. Той й я продава.

He sells the book to Milena. He sells it to her.
IO pronoun: й (на нея, на Милена)

DO pronoun: я (нея, книгата)

Майката разказва приказки на децата. Тя им ги разказва.

The mother tells stories to the children. She tells them to them.

IO pronoun: им (на тях, на децата)

DO pronoun: ги (тях, приказките)

In sentences with two verbs, the pronouns should be placed immediately before the verb to which they refer.

I want to tell it to you.
Искам да ти го кажа.

You need to send it to them.
Трябва да им го изпратиш.