Grammar reference

The Slovenian alphabet has 25 letters. There is no q, w, x or y; they only appear in foreign names and borrowed words such as "Wi-Fi" (Slovenian writes taksi for "taxi").

Most letters sound much as they do in English. These are the ones to learn carefully:

1. R can act as a vowel. Between two consonants, r carries the syllable by itself, with a very short "uh" sound before it: trg (square) sounds like "tuhrg", and vrt (garden) like "vuhrt".

2. V sometimes sounds like w. At the end of a word or before another consonant, v softens to a short "w" or "u" sound: nov (new) sounds like "now", and avto (car) like "au-to".

Stress can fall on any syllable and is not marked in writing. Listen to the audio and copy what you hear.

Choose the greeting by the time of day and by how well you know the person.

Slovenian has two words for "you" when talking to one person:

• ti: informal, for friends, family, children and people your own age in casual settings.
• vi: formal, for strangers, older people, officials, and anyone you call gospod or gospa.

The verb changes too: Kako si? (to a friend) but Kako ste? (formal). Vi is also simply the plural "you" for a group of people.

When in doubt, start with vi. A Slovenian will tell you if you can switch to ti.

There are no words for "a" or "the" in Slovenian, so Inženir sem simply means "I'm an engineer".

The little word sem ("I am") likes to sit in second place in the sentence, so both of these are natural:

• Inženir sem. / Sem inženir. I'm an engineer.
• Iz Anglije sem. / Sem iz Anglije. I'm from England.

Add jaz ("I") only when you want to stress it: Jaz sem Mojca, "I'm Mojca" (as opposed to someone else).

Most job titles have a feminine form. The common patterns are:

After iz ("from"), place names change their ending. You'll learn the full rule (the genitive case) in Unit 6; for now, learn the two simple patterns:

• Names ending in -a change -a → -e: Slovenija → iz Slovenije.
• Names ending in a consonant add -a: London → iz Londona.

Look at the last letter of the noun in its dictionary form:

An adjective takes the same gender as its noun. The basic (masculine) form usually ends in a consonant; add -a for feminine and -o for neuter:

lep hotel · lepa hiša · lepo mesto

The adjective can also come after the verb: Hotel je star. "The hotel is old."

• Kdo je to? Who is this? (To je Peter.)
• Kaj je to? What is this? (To je kava.)
• Kakšen je hotel? What's the hotel like? (Hotel je nov.)

Kakšen agrees like an adjective: kakšen hotel, kakšna hiša, kakšno mesto.

Slovenian has three numbers: singular (one), dual (exactly two) and plural (three or more). Pronouns also show gender in the dual and plural. A mixed group of men and women uses the masculine form.

Because every form of biti is different, the pronoun is usually left out: Sem Ana. "I'm Ana." Use the pronoun only for emphasis or contrast: Jaz sem iz Kopra, on je iz Celja.

Put ali at the start of a statement to make a yes/no question:

• Ste iz Slovenije. You're from Slovenia. → Ali ste iz Slovenije? Are you from Slovenia?

In everyday speech, ali is often shortened to a, or dropped altogether: A ste iz Slovenije? / Ste iz Slovenije?

Short answers repeat the verb: Ja, sem. "Yes, I am." Ne, nisem. "No, I'm not."

Learn 0–10 by heart. For 11–19, add -najst to the unit: tri → trinajst, pet → petnajst. Just two of them are slightly shortened: enajst (11) and dvanajst (12).

The tens are the units plus -deset ("ten"), except dvajset (20) and sto (100).

For any number in between, say the unit + in + the ten, written as one word:

• 21 enaindvajset (one-and-twenty)
• 35 petintrideset (five-and-thirty)
• 99 devetindevetdeset (nine-and-ninety)

In Slovenian you are a certain number of years old, and star ("old") agrees with the person:

• Koliko si star? How old are you? (to a man)
• Koliko si stara? How old are you? (to a woman)
• Koliko ste stari? How old are you? (formal)

Answer with star / stara sem + the number + let:

• Star sem trideset let. I'm thirty. (a man)
• Stara sem petindvajset let. I'm twenty-five. (a woman)

In casual conversation, the number alone is enough: Dvaindvajset.

Look at the gender, then add the ending:

Adjectives take matching endings, and biti follows the number: sta for two, so for three or more.

Possessives take the gender of the owned thing. Peter says moja hiša because hiša is feminine, and Ana says moj avto because avto is masculine.

Ta means "this" (near you) and tisti means "that" (further away). Both agree with the noun:

Kateri / katera / katero asks which one out of several:

• Katera knjiga je tvoja? – Ta. Which book is yours? – This one.

Kakšen / kakšna / kakšno (from Unit 1) asks what it is like:

• Kakšna je knjiga? – Zanimiva. What's the book like? – Interesting.

You already have everything you need to describe your family:

• To je moj brat. This is my brother.
• To sta moja starša. These are my (two) parents. (dual)
• Moja sestra je učiteljica. My sister is a teacher.
• Moja družina je majhna / velika. My family is small / big.

Remember that the possessive agrees with the person you're talking about: moj oče, moja mama, moji otroci.

Take the infinitive (delati), drop -ti, and add the endings. For -am verbs the stem ends in -a:

Put these words at the start of the sentence to say when something happens:

Same endings, different vowel. The infinitive doesn't always show which group a verb belongs to, so learn the "I" form with each new verb (the vocabulary notes show it).

These everyday verbs have short, irregular forms. In the "they" form you'll hear both the longer and the shorter version.

Days are written with a small letter. To say "on Monday", use v + the day. Masculine days stay the same; feminine days change -a → -o:

Some verbs come with se ("oneself"): učiti se (to study), umiti se (to wash), sprehajati se (to go for a walk). Se stays the same for every person:

• učim se, učiš se, uči se, učimo se…

Like sem, the little word se likes second place in the sentence:

• Učim se. I'm studying. (verb first, se second)
• Zvečer se učim. In the evening I study.
• Potem se umijem. Then I wash.

Slovenian says "I gladly swim" rather than "I like swimming": rad + verb. Rad agrees with the person:

• Rad plavam. I like swimming. (a man)
• Rada plavam. I like swimming. (a woman)
• Radi plavamo. We like swimming.

To say you don't like something: Ne plavam rad. or Nerad plavam.

vedno (always) → pogosto (often) → včasih (sometimes) → redko (rarely) → nikoli (never)

Nikoli always needs ne in front of the verb. Two negatives don't cancel out in Slovenian:

• Nikoli ne kadim. I never smoke.

Two handy patterns:

• Kje je …? Where is …? Kje je izhod? Where is the exit?
• Kje dobim …? Where can I get …? Kje dobim taksi?

And the answers you'll hear most often:

Ask Koga? (whom?) for people and animals, Kaj? (what?) for things.

• Feminine -a → -o: soba → Imam sobo.
• Neuter: no change: mesto → Vidim mesto.
• Masculine things: no change: hotel → Iščem hotel.
• Masculine people and animals add -a: brat → Vidim brata.

Adjectives follow the noun:

• feminine: nova soba → novo sobo
• neuter and masculine things: no change: nov hotel → nov hotel
• masculine people: -ega: nov prijatelj → novega prijatelja

Prepositions like za (for) also take the accusative: darilo za mamo, soba za dve noči.

Most of what you need at reception fits a few patterns:

Put ne directly in front of the verb:

• Govorim slovensko. → Ne govorim slovensko.
• Wifi dela. → Wifi ne dela.

Three verbs have their own one-word negatives:

Put the question word first: Kje je postaja? Kdaj je zajtrk? Zakaj ne dela?

Notice the difference between kje (where something is) and kam (where something is going):

• Kje si? Where are you?
• Kam greš? Where are you going?

• Women's names and other words in -a add -in: Ana → Anin, mama → mamin.
• Men's names and other masculine words add -ov, or -ev after c, č, š, ž, j: Peter → Petrov, Marko → Markov, Matej → Matejev, oče → očetov.

Then the ending agrees with the owned thing, like any adjective:

The three meals are zajtrk (breakfast), kosilo (lunch, the main meal, often around 1–3 pm) and večerja (dinner). To say what you have:

• Za zajtrk jem jogurt. For breakfast I have yogurt.
• Za kosilo imamo juho in ribo. For lunch we're having soup and fish.

Food words are objects here, so they're in the accusative: juha → juho, riba → ribo, and for animals piščanec → piščanca.

The friendliest way to order is Rad bi … (a man) / Rada bi … (a woman) plus the thing you want in the accusative: Rada bi kavo. "I'd like a coffee."

Shorter options are fine too:

• Kavo, prosim. A coffee, please.
• Zame sok. A juice for me.

The waiter will usually ask Kaj boste? or Izvolite? when you sit down, and Še kaj? afterwards.

Use the short form in most sentences. Like sem and se, it goes in second place:

• Slišim te. I hear you. · Zdaj te slišim. Now I hear you.
• Ali me poznaš? Do you know me?

Use the long form for emphasis or contrast, and after prepositions:

• Tebe vidim, njega pa ne. I can see you, but not him.
• To je za mene. This is for me. (often shortened to zame)

The first verb is conjugated; the second stays in the infinitive:

• Hočem jesti. I want to eat.
• Moram delati. I have to work.
• Znam kuhati. I know how to cook.
• Želimo plačati. We'd like to pay. (polite)

Lahko works differently. It never changes, and the main verb is conjugated:

• Lahko kuham. I can cook.
• Lahko plačamo s kartico? Can we pay by card?

Both take the accusative when they mean "to / into". As a rough guide:

• v for buildings and enclosed spaces you go into, and for most cities and countries.
• na for events, activities, open places, institutions, and some places by tradition.

Ask about one thing with Koliko stane …? and about several with Koliko stanejo …?

• Koliko stane kilogram krompirja? How much is a kilo of potatoes?
• Koliko stanejo jagode? How much are the strawberries?

The price works like the numbers you know: en evro, dva evra, tri / štiri evre, and from five up evrov: pet evrov, deset evrov.

Ask Koga? / Česa? (of whom? / of what?). The endings are short:

• Quantities: liter mleka, kos sira, skodelica kave, steklenica vode
• Amount words: veliko časa (lots of time), malo denarja (little money), dovolj sladkorja (enough sugar)
• Prepositions: brez (without), iz (from / out of), od (from), do (until / to), blizu (near) kava brez sladkorja, iz Ljubljane, do ponedeljka

When a verb is made negative, its accusative object becomes genitive:

Je + nominative means "there is". Ni + genitive means "there isn't any":

• Mleko je. There's milk. → Ni mleka. There's no milk.
• Imamo kruh. → Ni kruha. There's no bread.
• Ni časa. There's no time. · Ni problema. No problem.

The short pronouns look the same in the genitive: Nimamo ga. (it, masculine), Nimamo je. (it, feminine).

Masculine nouns add -ov (or -ev after c, č, š, ž, j). Feminine and neuter nouns just drop their ending:

The form of the noun depends on the number (only the last word of the number counts for 1–4, so 21–24 behave like 5+):

Diminutives make something small, or sound cute and friendly. The most common endings:

• Lahko plačam s kartico? Can I pay by card?
• Samo z gotovino. Cash only.
• Imate drobiž? Do you have change?
• Prices are said as euros + cents: tri evre dvajset (€3.20), osem evrov petdeset (€8.50).

A colour takes the gender of the noun it describes: bel avto, bela hiša, belo vino.

Ask Kakšne barve je …? It literally means "of what colour is …?". Barve is the genitive of barva, so learn it as a set phrase. The answer agrees with the thing:

• Kakšne barve je majica? Modra.
• Kakšne barve je avto? Bel.
• Kakšne barve je jabolko? Zeleno.

After imam, iščem and vzamem (the accusative), feminine colours end in -o: Iščem modro majico. Vzamem rdečo. Masculine things don't change: Vzamem siv pulover.

Useful questions when you call about an ad:

• Masculine and neuter: add -u: hotel → v hotelu, mesto → v mestu
• Feminine: -a → -i: hiša → v hiši, Ljubljana → v Ljubljani

Adjectives take -em (masculine and neuter) or -i (feminine):

Pri + locative means "at someone's place" or "near / by":

• pri Ani (at Ana's), pri starših (at my parents'), pri zdravniku (at the doctor's)
• pri nas (at our place, in our country)

Kje? (where is it?) → locative. Kam? (where to?) → accusative.

These take the genitive, which you already know:

• poleg kopalnice (next to the bathroom), zraven okna (next to the window)
• blizu centra (near the centre)

After a preposition you always use the long form of the pronoun:

Masculine and neuter take -ih, feminine -ah. Adjectives always take -ih:

Most adjectives add -ejši: nov → novejši, svetel → svetlejši. Many short ones add -ši (sometimes with a sound change), and a few are irregular:

Use kot + nominative, or od + genitive:

• Ljubljana je večja kot Maribor. · Ljubljana je večja od Maribora.
• Najlepše mesto v Sloveniji. The most beautiful town in Slovenia.

Full hours: Ura je ena, dve, tri, štiri, pet … (It's one, two, three, four, five…).

For half hours, use pol + the next hour in the genitive:

Use ob + the locative of the number:

biti (present) + l-participle. Make the participle by replacing -ti with -l, then add the ending for gender and number:

Most verbs are regular (govoriti → govoril, brati → bral, piti → pil). Learn these:

The auxiliary (sem, si, je…) goes in second place, after the first word or phrase:

• Včeraj sem delal. · Delal sem včeraj. · Jaz sem delal včeraj.

When there are several short words, they always come in this order: sem / si / je… → se → ga / jo:

• Učil sem se. I was studying.
• Gledal sem jo. I watched it.

• Negative: use nisem, nisi, ni…: Nisem delal. Včeraj nisem bil doma.
• Questions: Ali si jedel? or just Si jedel?
• Short answers: Ja, sem. / Ne, nisem. (just the auxiliary)

Link the events of your day with these words:

• najprej (first) → potem (then) → nato (after that) → na koncu (in the end)

To ask how something was: Kako je bilo? The answer often uses the neuter: Bilo je lepo / zanimivo / naporno. "It was nice / interesting / tiring."

The genitive pronouns look almost like the accusative ones you know. The only difference is her: je / nje instead of jo / njo.

• Someone isn't there: Ni ga. He isn't here. · Ni je. She isn't here. · Ni jih. They aren't here.
• After a negative verb: Ne vidim je. I can't see her.
• After genitive prepositions: brez tebe (without you), od njega (from him), do nje (to her)

Most calls follow the same script. Here are the phrases for each stage:

The dative answers Komu? "to whom? for whom?". On the phone you'll hear its short pronouns all the time:

• Mu lahko kaj sporočim? Can I give him a message?
• Ji povem. I'll tell her.

Compare them with the accusative pronouns you know. The full set comes in lesson 3.

The dative marks the person who receives something:

• Dam knjigo bratu. I give the book to my brother.
• Kupim šal mami. I buy Mum a scarf.

The endings:

• Masculine and neuter: add -u: brat → bratu, Peter → Petru, dekle → dekletu
• Feminine: -a → -i: mama → mami, sestra → sestri

Adjectives and words like moj and ta take -emu (masculine and neuter) or -i (feminine):

In the plural, the dative ends in:

• -om for masculine and neuter nouns (-em after c, č, j, š, ž): bratom, prijateljem
• -am for feminine nouns: sestram
• -im for adjectives: dobrim prijateljem, starim staršem

K + dative means "to someone's place" or "towards". Before words starting with k- or g- it becomes h:

• Jutri grem k babici. Tomorrow I'm going to Grandma's.
• Grem k zdravniku. I'm going to the doctor's.
• Zvečer grem h Gregorju. In the evening I'm going to Gregor's.

Like the accusative and genitive, the dative has short and long pronouns.

• Short forms are the default. Like all short words, they go in second place: Ali mi lahko pomagaš? Can you help me?
• Long forms are for emphasis, contrast, one-word answers and after prepositions: Tebi vedno. "For you, always." · Grem k njej. I'm going to her place.

These verbs put the person in the dative:

• pomagati (to help): Pomagam mu. I help him.
• verjeti (to believe): Verjamem ti. I believe you.
• zaupati (to trust): Ne zaupam jim. I don't trust them.
• odgovoriti (to answer): Zakaj mi ne odgovoriš? Why don't you answer me?
• telefonirati (to phone): Telefoniram ji. I'm phoning her.
• dati, reči, povedati, pokazati (give, say, tell, show): Pokažem vam stanovanje.

Even "thank you" is dative: Hvala ti! / Hvala vam!

The thing you like is the subject; the person who likes it is in the dative:

• Všeč mi je jazz. I like jazz. (lit. jazz is pleasing to me)
• Ali ti je všeč Ljubljana? Do you like Ljubljana?
• Ani je všeč stanovanje. Ana likes the flat.

The verb agrees with the thing you like, not with you:

Many feelings work the same way: the person who feels it is in the dative, and the verb is always je ("it is"):

• Dolgčas mi je. I'm bored.
• Žal mi je. I'm sorry.
• Vroče mi je. I'm hot.
• Kako ti gre? How's it going? (lit. how does it go for you?)

In the past, use the neuter: Bilo mi je dolgčas. I was bored.

When a sentence has a dative and an accusative pronoun, the dative comes first: "to whom", then "what".

• Dam mu ga. I'll give it to him.
• Posodim ti jo. I'll lend it to you. (the book: knjiga → jo)
• Pošljem vam jih. I'll send them to you.

Here is the complete order of the short words in second place:

sem / si / smo / ste / so → se → dative → accusative → je

Slovenian says "the head hurts me". The body part is the subject, and the person is in the accusative (me, te, ga, jo, nas, vas, jih):

• Boli me glava. I have a headache.
• Kaj vas boli? What hurts? (a doctor to a patient)
• Ali te boli zob? Does your tooth hurt?

With a plural body part, use bolijo: Bolijo me noge. My legs hurt.

In the past, the participle agrees with the body part: Bolel me je zob. Bolela me je glava. Boleli so me zobje.

A few body words have unusual plurals. Note that oči is feminine and usta only exists in the plural:

Symptoms come in five patterns:

• imam + accusative: Imam vročino. Imam gripo.
• boli me + body part: Boli me grlo.
• dative + je: Slabo mi je. · Vrti se mi.
• adjective: Prehlajen / prehlajena sem. · Bolan / bolna sem.
• a verb: Kašljam. Kiham.

To say how long, use že + the time + the present tense:

• Že tri dni kašljam. I've been coughing for three days.
• Že en teden sem bolna. I've been ill for a week.

Doctors give instructions in the polite imperative. You'll learn to form it in Unit 12; for now, just recognise these:

• Sedite, prosim. Please sit down.
• Odprite usta. Open your mouth.
• Globoko dihajte. Breathe deeply.
• Ostanite doma. Stay at home.
• Pijte veliko tekočine. Drink plenty of fluids.

• Imperfective verbs (pisati, brati, piti) describe an action in progress, a habit, or just the activity in general.
• Perfective verbs (napisati, prebrati, popiti) describe one complete action with a result.

Compare:

• Včeraj sem pisal pismo. Yesterday I was writing a letter. (maybe not finished)
• Včeraj sem napisal pismo. Yesterday I wrote the letter. (it's done)

Many perfectives just add a prefix (na-, pre-, po-). Others look quite different.

• Right now: imperfective. Kaj delaš? – Pišem.
• Regularly, often, every day: usually imperfective. Sirup jemljem trikrat na dan.
• Done once, with a result: perfective. Danes sem ga že vzela.
• A promise or a plan: perfective in the present tense. Jutri ti prinesem piškote. "I'll bring you biscuits." You've been doing this since Pokličem te kasneje.

All of these are followed by an infinitive:

Smeti goes like this: smem, smeš, sme, smemo, smete, smejo. Its past participle is smel / smela.

Treba je never changes for the person. To say who needs to, add a dative:

• Treba je počivati. You need to rest. (people in general)
• Ni mi treba delati. I don't have to work.
• Ali vam je treba plačati? Do you have to pay?

In the past:

• Moral sem počivati. I had to rest.
• Nisem smel kaditi. I wasn't allowed to smoke.
• Treba je bilo čakati. We had to wait. (lit. it was necessary)
• Ni bilo treba plačati. There was no need to pay.

Doctors and pharmacists give advice with the modals from the last lesson, using the polite vi form:

• Treba je več spati. You need to sleep more.
• Morate jesti več sadja in zelenjave. You must eat more fruit and vegetables.
• Ne smete kaditi. You mustn't smoke.
• Ni vam treba jemati antibiotikov. You don't need to take antibiotics.

Health talk mixes cases for the person. Here's a summary of the patterns in this unit and the last one:

The instrumental answers S čim? (by what? with what?) and S kom? (with whom?). With transport and company, it always follows z / s:

• Masculine and neuter: add -om (-em after c, č, j, š, ž): z vlakom, z avtom, z letalom, s prijateljem
• Feminine: -a → -o: z ladjo, z mamo

Adjectives and words like moj take -im (masculine and neuter) or -o (feminine):

• Kako pridem do Pirana? How do I get to Piran? (do + genitive)
• Koliko časa traja vožnja? How long does the journey take?
• Kje moram prestopiti? Where do I have to change?
• Vlak ima zamudo. The train is late.
• Grem peš. I'm walking.

After z / s, use these pronouns. The first form is the everyday one; the second is a little more formal:

• Masculine and neuter: -i: s prijatelji, z brati, z otroki
• Feminine: -ami: s prijateljicami, s sestrami
• Adjectives: -imi: z dobrimi prijatelji, z mojimi sestrami

bom, boš, bo… + the l-participle. The participle agrees with the subject, just as in the past:

• Jutri bom delal. I'll work tomorrow. (a man) · Jutri bom delala. (a woman)
• Ana bo prišla ob osmih. Ana will come at eight.
• Kaj boste počeli? What will you do? · Bomo videli. We'll see.

For "to be", use bom on its own: Jutri bom doma. Bo lepo vreme?

• Negative: ne bom: Ne bom šel. I won't go.
• Questions: (Ali) boš prišla? Will you come?
• Short answers: Bom. / Ne bom.

Useful time words: jutri, pojutrišnjem (the day after tomorrow), naslednji teden (next week), čez en teden (in a week), kmalu (soon).

Weather sentences have no subject. In the past and future, the participle is neuter:

To say in a season, use these adverbs:

To say where something is (Kje?), these five prepositions take the instrumental:

Just like v and na, these prepositions change case with movement. Where to (Kam?) takes the accusative; where (Kje?) takes the instrumental:

• Mačka gre pod stol. The cat goes under the chair.
• Mačka je pod stolom. The cat is under the chair.

With two or more people, se can mean "each other". Remember the dual for couples:

"In love with" is v + accusative, as if you fall into love with someone:

• Zaljubljen sem v Ano. I'm in love with Ana.
• Zaljubila se je v sodelavca. She fell in love with a colleague.

Bi never changes. The participle shows who, just as in the past:

• Jaz bi šel. / Jaz bi šla. I would go.
• Mi bi šli. We would go.
• Kaj bi naredil? What would you do?
• Negative: ne bi: Ne bi šel. I wouldn't go.

Bi is one of the short words in second place, and it goes first in the group, before se and pronouns:

• Rad bi se učil. I'd like to study.
• Dal bi ti ga. I'd give it to you.

• Could you…? Bi mi lahko pomagali? Could you help me?
• Would you mind…? Bi lahko odprli okno? Could you open the window?
• Invitations: Bi šla z mano v kino? Would you go to the cinema with me?
• Wishes: Rad bi … I'd like to… · Raje bi … I'd rather…

Real (it could happen): če + the present or future, and the present or future in the main clause:

• Če bo jutri lepo vreme, gremo na izlet. If the weather's nice tomorrow, we'll go on a trip.
• Če imaš čas, greva na kavo. If you've got time, let's go for a coffee.

Imagined (a daydream, or not true): če bi + l-participle, and bi + l-participle in the main clause:

• Če bi imel denar, bi kupil hišo. If I had money, I'd buy a house.
• Če bi bila bogata, bi potovala okoli sveta. If I were rich, I'd travel around the world.

Start from the present-tense "I" form and drop -m:

• -am verbs add -j: delam → delaj!, počakam → počakaj!
• Other verbs swap the ending for -i: govorim → govori!, pišem → piši!, pokličem → pokliči!
• -jem verbs keep just the -j: pijem → pij!, obujem → obuj!

Then add endings for other people: vi (and polite) -te, mi ("let's") -mo, midva ("let's", two people) -va.

A few common verbs are irregular:

"Should" is the conditional of morati, "would have to":

• Moral bi več spati. You should sleep more.
• Ne bi smela biti ljubosumna. You shouldn't be jealous.
• Lahko bi ga poklicala. You could call him.

The same advice can be strong or gentle:

• Direct: Pogovori se z njim! Talk to him!
• Softer: Moraš se pogovoriti z njim. You have to talk to him.
• Gentler: Morala bi se pogovoriti z njim. You should talk to him.
• Gentlest: Na tvojem mestu bi se pogovorila z njim. If I were you, I'd talk to him.

Horoscopes use the future and the polite vi: Ta teden boste spoznali …

Each language has a noun (slovenščina) and an adverb (slovensko):

• With govoriti, znati, razumeti, brati use the adverb: Govorim slovensko. Ne razumem nemško.
• Everywhere else use the noun: Slovenščina je lep jezik. Kako se reče v angleščini?

To say how you find something, use the dative and a neuter adverb, as in Dolgčas mi je:

• Kaj ti je najtežje? What do you find hardest?
• Slovnica mi je težka, izgovarjava pa lahka. I find the grammar hard, but the pronunciation easy.
• Najlažje mi je brati. Reading is easiest for me.

Here are all six cases of a hard stem (jezik) and a soft stem (učitelj, ending in c, č, j, š or ž). Soft stems take -em where hard stems take -om.

Adjectives and words like moj, ta, ves follow the same pattern for every masculine noun:

The plural of jezik and učitelj, and the dual of jezik. Soft stems again take -e- where hard stems take -o-:

• Many short nouns add -ov- in the plural: sin → sinovi, grad → gradovi, most → mostovi. The endings that follow are regular: sinov, sinovom, sinove…
• A few take -je in the nominative only: brat → bratje, zob → zobje. The other cases are regular: bratov, z brati.

These phrases will get you through any lesson:

Da bi + the l-participle says why you do something. The participle agrees with the person, as always:

• Učim se slovensko, da bi dobil boljšo službo. … so that I can get a better job.
• Delam, da bi kupila stanovanje. I work so that I can buy a flat.
• Grem v Ljubljano, da bi obiskal prijatelje. I'm going to Ljubljana to visit friends.

Compare plain da ("that"), which uses the normal tense: Mislim, da je to res. "I think that's true."

Ko joins two parts of a sentence. Kdaj asks a question:

• Kdaj prideš? When are you coming?
• Ko pridem domov, skuham večerjo. When I get home, I cook dinner.
• Ko sem bila mlada, sem živela v Londonu. When I was young, I lived in London.

For the future, use the future in both parts (just like če):

• Ko bom opravila izpit, bom iskala službo. When I've passed the exam, I'll look for a job.

Here's učiti se in every form you've learned, for a woman speaking:

Most region names are adjectives (Gorenjska = "the upper land"). So "in Gorenjska" is na + the adjective's locative, -em:

Countries ending in -ska behave like regions: na Hrvaškem, na Madžarskem, na Slovaškem. Other countries take v: v Italiji, v Avstriji, v Sloveniji.

For directions, use na + locative: na severu (in the north), na jugu, na vzhodu, na zahodu. "Towards" is na sever, na jug…

Mejiti na + accusative means "to border": Slovenija meji na Italijo.

The regular pattern, shown with hiša. Adjectives take -e, -i, -o in the singular and the same plural endings as masculine adjectives (novih, novim, novimi).

Feminine nouns ending in a consonant take -i in most cases. Words like pesem, cerkev and ljubezen lose their e before the ending.

When talking about customs, Slovenian often uses ti for "you" in general, just like English: Ko prideš, se sezuješ. "When you arrive, you take your shoes off."

Vikanje (saying vi) is for strangers, older people, customers and anyone in a formal setting. Tikanje (saying ti) is for friends, family, children and, increasingly, colleagues. The older or more senior person usually offers ti: Lahko me tikaš.

With polite vi, verbs and participles are plural, even for one person: Ste že bili v Ljubljani? "Have you been to Ljubljana?"

Grandma speaks to Klemen with ti. A cookbook addresses the reader with vi:

Se + a verb describes how things are generally done, like the English passive:

• Kako se naredijo žganci? How are žganci made?
• Žganci se kuhajo pol ure. Žganci are cooked for half an hour.
• Moka se strese v vodo. The flour is poured into the water.

The verb agrees with the thing being made: žganci is plural, so naredijo.

Quantities take the genitive: liter vode, štiristo gramov moke, ščepec soli (a pinch of salt).

"Bigger than" can be said two ways:

• kot + nominative: Slovenija je manjša kot Hrvaška.
• od + genitive: Slovenija je manjša od Hrvaške.

Multiples use -krat: dvakrat večji (twice as big), trikrat manjši (three times smaller).

Eden izmed (feminine ena izmed) + the genitive plural means "one of":

• Plečnik je eden izmed najbolj znanih arhitektov.
• Garnbret je ena izmed najboljših športnic na svetu.

In speech, izmed is often dropped: eden najboljših.

These phrases introduce what you think, and let you agree or disagree:

Slovenian puts a comma before every word that starts a new clause: da, ki, ker, če, ko, čeprav, kjer, kar… There are no exceptions, even where English has no comma:

• Mislim*,** da imaš prav.* I think you're right.
• Ne vem*,** če bo prišel.* I don't know if he'll come.
• Povej mi*,** kje živiš.* Tell me where you live.

When ki is the subject of its clause, it stands alone:

• moški, ki pleše z nevesto the man who's dancing with the bride

Otherwise, add the short pronoun that shows the case. It agrees in gender and number with the noun ki refers to:

After a preposition, use kateri. It declines like an adjective, taking its gender and number from the noun and its case from the preposition:

• kjer = where (a place): mesto, kjer živim the town where I live
• kamor = where to: Berlin, kamor se je preselila Berlin, where she moved to
• kar = what, which, everything that:
  • Vse, kar imam rad, je tukaj. Everything I love is here.
  • To, kar praviš, je res. What you're saying is true.
  • Zamudil je, kar me je razjezilo. He was late, which made me angry.

Every one of these starts a new clause, so it takes a comma before it, and the short words (sem, se, ga…) come straight after it:

• ali … ali either … or: Ali greva junija ali pa ostaneva doma.
• ne … ne neither … nor, with a negative verb: Ne pijem ne kave ne čaja. (genitive after the negative)
• tako … kot both … and: tako mladi kot stari both young and old
• niti … niti not even … nor: Nimam niti časa niti denarja.

Naj bi + the l-participle reports something you've heard but can't vouch for. The news uses it all the time:

• Štajerci naj bi bili najbolj veseli. Štajerci are supposed to be the most cheerful.
• Jutri naj bi deževalo. It's supposed to rain tomorrow.
• Minister naj bi odstopil. The minister has reportedly resigned.

These phrases help you build an argument:

• Po eni strani …, po drugi strani pa … On the one hand…, but on the other…
• Res je, da …, vendar … It's true that…, but…
• Na primer … For example…
• Zato mislim, da … That's why I think that…
• …, kar je nekaj čisto drugega. …, which is something completely different.

Neuter nouns take the masculine endings in every case except the nominative and accusative. Those two are always the same as each other: -o / -e in the singular, -a in the plural.

A few common neuter nouns add a syllable in every case except the nominative and accusative singular:

Nekdo and nekaj simply add ne- to kdo and kaj: nekoga, nekomu, o nekom, z nekom; nečesa, nečemu, o nečem, z nečim.

In Slovenian, negative words always come with a negative verb. Two negatives don't cancel out; they reinforce each other:

• Nihče ne ve. Nobody knows.
• Nikogar ne poznam. I don't know anyone.
• Ničesar nisem videl. I didn't see anything.
• Nikoli ne pijem kave. I never drink coffee.
• Nikjer ga ni. He's nowhere to be found.

In the nominative and accusative, you know the rules: dva + dual, trije / štirje + plural, pet and up + genitive plural. In the other cases, the number and the noun simply share the same case:

• v dveh hišah, s tremi prijatelji, pred petimi leti

• ago: pred + instrumental: pred dvema letoma, pred tremi tedni, pred petimi minutami
• at (o'clock): ob + locative: ob dveh, ob treh, ob petih
• from … to: od / do + genitive: od dveh do štirih
• in (a period of time): v + locative: v treh dneh (in three days)

Ordinals are adjectives, so they agree with their noun: prvi dan, prva ulica, v tretjem nadstropju. In writing, Slovenian marks them with a dot: 1. maj, 25. junij.

• What's the date? Katerega je danes? → Danes je dvajseti junij.
• On a date: the genitive, with no preposition: petindvajsetega junija, prvega decembra. Written: 25. 6. or 25. junija.
• In a month: junija or v juniju.
• In a year: leta 1991 (said leta tisoč devetsto enaindevetdeset).
• Born: Rojen sem bil 3. avgusta. / Rojena sem bila 1. decembra.

Choose formal or informal, and stay consistent with vi or ti throughout:

Here are the singular endings of all three genders on one page: