Bulgarian

Pronoun

тоз • ‎(toz) m ‎(demonstrative)

1. (regional, nonstandard or poetic) Alternative form of този ‎(tozi); this, that, this one, that one, he

   Познаваш ли тоз човек?

   Poznavaš li toz čovék?

   Do you know this man?

   Много е умен тоз Петър.

   Mnogo e umen toz Petǎr.

   He’s very clever, Peter is.

Usage notes

Тоз and the other shortened demonstrative pronouns (таз, туй, тез, оназ, онуй, онез) are used in the Eastern Bulgarian dialects and are not considered standard. They can also be found in poetry (see quotations) where the number of syllables is important and these pronouns are one syllable shorter than their corresponding standard forms.

Quotations

• 1873, Hristo Botev, “Hadzhi Dimitar”, Nezavisimost (newspaper):

  […] / Тоз, който падне в бой за свобода, / той не умира […]

  Toz, kojto padne v boj za svoboda, / toj ne umira...

  "He who falls in freedom's fight / Dies not..."

• 1922, Hristo Smirnenski, “A Youth”, Worker's newspaper:

  Аз не зная защо съм на тоз свят роден […]

  Az ne znaja zašto sǎm na toz svjat roden...

  "I do not know why I was born into this world...

Related terms