The report addresses the issue of the place and essential role of different types of competencies in the context of teaching Bulgarian language and literature at the primary stage of basic education. The exposition presents various theories regarding language acquisition and examines different types of competencies, with attention paid to the key ones. It emphasizes that competencies are also linked to a person's behavior - not isolated knowledge or skills in themselves, but those that are adequate for specific learning situations and necessary for achieving high results in particular educational activities or in a specific professional role. In this sense, the formation of competencies is related both to the accumulation of knowledge and to the development of certain skills and abilities in a person from early childhood, with a pursuit of knowledge and continuous personal improvement in a spiritual sense.