In English, we have only one definite article (the). We use it to refer to specific objects or concepts, such as “the book I am reading.” In Bulgarian, the definite article changes according to the gender of the noun in question (check out my post on the gender of Bulgarian nouns). It also changes depending on whether or not the noun is plural.

The key thing to know is that, in Bulgarian, the definite article is attached to the end of the noun (unless you’re using adjectives or demonstrative pronouns, but that’s a matter for another post). For masculine nouns, there are additional factors to consider. You can read about them in my post on the definite article and masculine nouns in Bulgarian.

Singular feminine nouns

Unlike with masculine nouns, we don’t need to consider whether the noun in question is the subject or the object of the sentence. We form the article in the same way. For singular feminine nouns, we simply add –та to the end of the word. Here are some examples:

• вода (water) becomes водата (the water)
• книга (book) becomes книгата (the book)
• радост (joy) becomes радостта (the joy)
• диня (watermelon) becomes динята (the watermelon)
• маруля (lettuce) becomes марулята (the lettuce)

Plural feminine nouns

We first need to make the noun plural before we add the article: that is, we don’t pluralise the definite form of the singular but instead add the definite article to the plural. If you’re unsure about how to do this, you should read my post on the plural of feminine nouns in Bulgarian.

All you have to do to add the definite article to a feminine plural is add –те to the end, as below:

• води (waters) becomes водите (the waters)
• книги (books) becomes книгите (the books)
• радости (joys) becomes радостите (the joys)
• дини (watermelons) becomes дините (the watermelons)
• марули (lettuces) becomes марулите (the lettuces)

This ending is exactly the same for masculine plurals ending in –и, which should help to remember it.