Bulgarian has something that most European languages lack: special verb forms showing that you are not a witness to the event but are passing it on from other people's words.
- Той пише книга. – He is writing a book. (I saw it with my own eyes.)
- Той пишел книга. – He is writing a book, apparently. (I was told, but I don't guarantee it.)
- Той бил писал книга. – He has supposedly written a book. (I was told, and I don't really believe it.)
When it is used
- in fairy tales: „Имало едно време един цар…“ (“Once upon a time there was a tsar…”) None of us was there.
- in gossip: „Съседката се била развела.“ (“The neighbour has apparently got divorced.”)
- in doubt and irony: „Той бил най-добрият шофьор в града!“ (“He's supposedly the best driver in town!”) – meaning he isn't.
The forms
The renarrated forms are built from the past active participle: пишел, четял, бил, ходел (wrote, read, was, went). In the third person the auxiliary verb drops out: той ходел (he went, reportedly), but аз съм ходел (I went, reportedly).
Between us
Learned linguists argue about whether this is a separate mood or “evidentiality”. Bulgarian grandmothers settled the argument in practice long ago: every sentence that begins with “Казват, че…” (“They say that…”) ends with “ама аз не съм го казала” (“but I never said it”).