Pronouns, and a song about our relationship

When I first arrived in Bulgaria, I heard this song on the radio.
http://vbox7.com/play:b7cfe3a5
Not only is it catchy, it's also a great way to learn Bulgarian! Especially those pesky personal pronouns.

Here are the lyrics with a line by line translation:

Светлините движат се по мойто тяло
The lights turn themselves around my body.
виждам в погледа ти всичко отначало
I see in your gaze everything from the beginning.

Notice that ти? It literally means "to you." So погледа ти means "the gaze to you" or "your gaze"

доближавам те и вече ти говоря
I approach you and you are speaking already.

Notice that те? It means "you." So доближавам те means "I approach you." So where in Bulgarian we have one word that means "you as the direct object of a verb" (те) and another that means "you as the indirect object of a verb" (ти), which also happens to be used to form the possessive.

чуваш ли ме, запомни ме.
Do you hear me? Remember me!
And here is another pronoun! ме means "me as the direct object"


Не играй с мен на топло и студено
Don't play hot and cold with me
And what is this мен? мен is the indirect object. So we have "запомни ме," or "remember me" and "играй с мен" or "play with me"
няма нищо между нас забранено
There is nothing forbidden between us.
And here is нас. This is the indirect object pronoun for "us." A good rule of thumb is to notice the preposition. Notice it? You have ме "me," but с мен "with me" and между нас "between us."
питай ме направо ще ти отговоря
Ask me directly and I will explain to you.
ти means "to you". Notice how when you use the indirect object pronoun you don't even need to use a preposition? So you have ти отговоря or "I explain to you."
чуваш ли ме, запомни ме.
Do you hear me, remember me!


Тайните си мога да ти кажа
They can say my secrets to you
There's ти again. So ти кажа means "say to you." But what is this other thing, си? Even more fun, that's what it is. си is the indirect object reflexive pronoun. You can't translate into English except as a long and complicated phrase like "to one's own." So Тайните си are "the secrets to oneself." In other words they could be anyone's secrets depending on context, but in this case, they are probably mine, since someone can tell them to you.
миналото си ще ти разкажа
They will reveal my past to you.
By the way we don't know who "they" are, because there are no subject pronouns here.
полудявам като си до мене
I'm going crazy like you are to me.
Here we have another form of the indirect version of me. до мене means "to me". What is the difference between до мене and с мен? Nothing. The singers just needed an extra syllable.
чуваш ли, чуваш ли, чуваш ли ме
Do you hear do you hear do you hear me?


Now, Bulgarian speakers are probably shouting at me by now, "but you are ignoring the difference between short and long form." Hold your horses, I'm getting there.

Няма смисъл от излишни думи
There are no thoughts about useless words
бариери няма помежду ни
There are no barriers in between us
между ни means "between us" BUT! What about между нас? That also means "between us" right? So kvo, as they say, sta? Well между нас uses the so-called "long form" of the first person plural indirect object pronoun (whew). While ни is the short form. Do they mean something different? Well, you can use the short form to form possessives Тайните ни means "our secrets." But in other situations, you can take your pick. In this case, the singer just needed to make the song rhyme.
не губи дори минута време
It doesn't lose even a minute of time
чуваш ли, чуваш ли, чуваш ли ме
Do you hear do you hear do you hear me?

Помниш ли името ми, пазиш ли номера ми
Do you remember my name, are you keeping my number?
името ми and номера ми are literally "name to me" and "number to me"
още ли искаш от мен да ме чуеш да ме видиш
Do you still want from me? You should hear me, you should see me.
от мен or "from me" uses the indirect long form, while да ме чуеш or "how about you hear me" uses the direct form.
Помниш ли името ми, пазиш ли номера ми
Do you remember my name, do you keep my number?
губиш ли времето ми думите ми чуваш ли
Do you waste my time, do you hear my words?
чуваш ли, чуваш ли, чуваш ли ме
чуваш ли, чуваш ли, чуваш ли ме


Времето за теб и мен тиктака
The time for you and me goes tick tock
"за теб и мен" is "for you and me." Would these be direct or indirect? Also, does your language have a special verb that means "to go tick tock"? That's right. It doesn't.
до кога ще трябва да те чакам
Until when do I have to wait for you?
"те чакам" or "wait for you" is confusing, until you realize that in Bulgarian, the verb "to wait" takes no preposition. So the object here is direct, and we use те, not ти.
бързам да те имам близо до мене
I hurry so that I can have you close to me.
We have те and до мене here. Which one is direct?
чуваш ли ме, запомни ме.
Do you hear me? Remember me!


Гледай ме когато не говоря
Look at me when I'm not speaking.
нужно ли е пак да ти повторя
Do you need me to repeat it to you?
for those of you looking for the "you" in "do you need", the direct translation would be more like "is needed?" There's no pronoun there.
полудявам като си до мене
I'm going crazy like you are to me.
чуваш ли, чуваш ли, чуваш ли ме


Помниш ли името ми, пазиш ли номера ми
още ли искаш от мен да ме чуеш да ме видиш
Помниш ли името ми, пазиш ли номера ми
губиш ли времето ми думите ми чуваш ли
чуваш ли, чуваш ли, чуваш ли ме
чуваш ли, чуваш ли, чуваш ли ме (х2)

чуваш ли, чуваш ли, чуваш ли ме
чуваш ли, чуваш ли, чуваш ли ме

And the rest you should be able to figure out!

So, in review, for every kind of person, Bulgarian has four pronouns, where English may have two or only one. These are.

I, me, to me, to-me(short)
Аз, ме, мен, ми
You, you, to you, to-you
Те, те, теб, ти
He, him, to him, to-him
Той, го, него, му
She, her, to her, to-her
Тя, я, нея, й
It, it, to it, to-it
То, го, него, му
Oneself, oneself, to oneself, to-oneself
X, се, севеси, си (there is no way to use oneself as the subject)
We, us, to us, to-us
Ние, ни, нас, ни
Y'all, y'all, to y'all, to-y'all
Вие, ви, нас, ви
They, them, to them, to-them
Те, им, тях, им

Notice how it establishes a nice pattern through I, you, he, she, and oneself, and then just sort of gives up when we get to plural pronouns?
"Те, им, тях, им" Bulgarian? It's like you're not trying any more.

See you all next time (I hope), and until then, bydite awesome.