Ways to say it
| Bulgarian | Romanization (Wiktionary) | Note |
|---|---|---|
| разби́рам | razbíram | imperfective |
| разбера́ | razberá | perfective |
The verb is used to express the act of grasping the meaning of something. Depending on the context, you may use the imperfective form to describe a continuous state of understanding or the perfective form to describe a completed realization.
Which one should you use?
The form разби́рам is imperfective and is used for the ongoing process of understanding or for habitual understanding. In contrast, the perfective form разбера́ describes a completed action of understanding. To express that you understood something in the past as a completed action, the most common form is the past tense разбрах.
How does it change in a sentence?
To say 'I understand' in the present tense, use the form разбирам. For a completed action in the past, use the past tense form разбрах.
How do you pronounce it?
razbíram
Did you know?
- There is a common Bulgarian expression разбира се, which literally means 'it understands itself' but is used to mean 'of course'.
- The root of разбирам comes from the verb бирам, which means 'to choose' or 'to pick'. To understand something in Bulgarian is conceptually similar to picking the correct meaning out of many options.
- The verb разбирам can also mean 'to distinguish' or 'to make out' a sound. For example, if a radio signal is weak, a speaker might say they cannot разбирам the words.
Examples in context
- Разбирам ли те правилно?Do I understand you correctly?
- Да, разбираш ме перфектно.Yes, you understand me perfectly.
Example conversation
Two colleagues are discussing a project at the office.
- Димитър DimitarМария, виж този нов план.Mariya, vizh tozi nov plan.Mariya, look at this new plan.
- Мария MariyaНе разби́рам напълно тези стъпки.Ne razbiram napulno tezi stapki.I don't fully understand these steps.
- Димитър DimitarЩе ти обясня всичко сега.Shte ti obyasnya vsichko sega.I will explain everything to you now.
- Мария MariyaБлагодаря, Димитър, така е по-ясно.Blagodarya, Dimitar, taka e po-yasno.Thank you, Dimitar, it is clearer this way.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “understand” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
