Slovene Grammar
Welcome to the 8th lesson about Slovene grammar. We will first learn about prepositions, negation, questions, adverbs, and pronouns including: personal, object and possessive pronouns.
We will start with prepositions. In general, they are used to link words to other words. For example: I speak Slovene and English the preposition is [and] because it connects both words Slovene and English. The following is a list of the most used prepositions in Slovene.
| Prepositions | Slovene |
|---|
| and | in  |
| above | nad  |
| under | pod  |
| before | pred  |
| after | po  |
| in front of | pred  |
| behind | za  |
| far from | daleč od  |
| near | blizu  |
| in | v  |
| inside | notri  |
| outside | zunaj  |
| with | z  |
| without | brez  |
| about | o  |
| between | med  |
| but | toda  |
| for | za  |
| from | iz/od  |
| to | do  |
Preposition Grammar Rules
The following examples use prepositions in different ways and places to demonstrate how they behave in a sentence.
| Prepositions + Rules | Slovene |
|---|
I eat without a knife [preposition + noun] | jem brez noža 
|
she lives near the church [verb + preposition] | ona živi blizu cerkve 
|
he is taller than her [adjective + preposition] | on je večji od nje 
|
he came with his small dog [preposition + pronoun] | prišel je s svojim majhnim psom 
|
can you come with me? [preposition + pronoun] | lahko pridete z mano? 
|
Negation in Slovene
Now let's learn how to make a negative sentence (negation). For example: Saying no, I can't, I don't ... The following examples use negation in different ways and places to demonstrate how they behave in a sentence.
| Negation + Rules | Slovene |
|---|
I understand you [affirmative form] | razumem vas 
|
I don't understand you [negation + verb] | ne razumem vas 
|
this is not the correct word [negation + adjective] | to ni pravilna beseda 
|
don't leave me [imperative negation] | ne zapusti me 
|
no problem [negation + noun] | ni problema 
|
| Negative Sentences | Slovene |
|---|
I don't speak French [negation + present tense] | ne govorim francosko 
|
she didn't visit Germany [negation + past tense] | ona ni obiskala nemčije 
|
he cannot see us [negative modal verb] | on nas ne more videti 
|
can't she play chess? [interrogative negation] | ali ona ne zna igrati šaha? 
|
we will not come late [negation + future tense] | ne bomo prišli prepozno 
|
Questions in Slovene
Now let's learn how to ask questions (interrogative). Such as: what, why, can you ...? Here are some common examples:
| English | Slovene |
|---|
| how? | kako?  |
| what? | kaj?  |
| who? | kdo?  |
| why? | zakaj?  |
| where? | kje?  |
More of the interrogative form, now in a sentence:
| Questions + Rules | Slovene |
|---|
where do you live? [interrogative + verb] | kje živite? 
|
does she speak Chinese? [interrogative verb] | ali ona govori kitajsko? 
|
how much is this? [interrogative preposition] | koliko je to? 
|
can I help you? [interrogative modal verb] | vam lahko pomagam? 
|
what is your name? [interrogative preposition] | kako vam je ime? 
|
Adverbs in Slovene
It's time to learn the adverbs in Slovene. But what is an adverb? In general, adverbs modify verbs and adjectives. For example: You speak fast. The adverb is [fast] because it describes the verb and answers the question how do you speak?. Here is a list of the most common ones:
| Adverbs | Slovene |
|---|
| now | zdaj  |
| yesterday | včeraj  |
| today | danes  |
| tonight | nocoj  |
| tomorrow | jutri  |
| soon | kmalu  |
| quickly | hitro  |
| slowly | počasi  |
| together | skupaj  |
| very | zelo  |
| almost | skoraj  |
| always | vedno  |
| usually | običajno  |
| sometimes | včasih  |
| rarely | redko  |
| never | nikoli  |
The following examples use the adverbs in different ways and places to demonstrate how it behaves in a sentence.
| Adverbs + Rules | Slovene |
|---|
do you understand me now? [pronoun + adverb] | me zdaj razumete? 
|
I need help immediately [noun + adverb] | takoj rabim pomoč 
|
she is very intelligent [adverb + adjective] | ona je zelo inteligentna 
|
I will always love you [verb + adverb] | vedno te bom ljubil 
|
can we learn German together? [adverb in a question] | se lahko skupaj učimo nemščino? 
|
Pronouns in Slovene
We're almost done! This time we will learn the pronouns in Slovene. In general, a pronoun can be used instead of a noun. For example instead of saying my teacher speaks 3 languages, you can use the pronoun he, and say he speaks 3 languages. Here is a list of the most common ones:
| Personal Pronouns | Slovene |
|---|
| I | jaz  |
| you | ti  |
| he | on  |
| she | ona  |
| we | mi  |
| they | oni/one  |
| Object Pronouns | Slovene |
|---|
| me | mene  |
| you | tebe  |
| him | njega  |
| her | njo  |
| us | nas  |
| them | njih  |
| Possessive Pronouns | Slovene |
|---|
| my | moj  |
| your | tvoj  |
| his | njegov  |
| her | njen  |
| our | naš  |
| their | njihov  |
I think it's better to put the above example in a sentence to better assist you. The following examples use pronouns in different ways and places to demonstrate how they behave in a sentence. We will start with the personal pronouns.
| Personal Pronouns | Slovene |
|---|
I am your friend [1st pronoun + verb] | jaz sem tvoj prijatelj 
|
you speak very fast [2nd pronoun + adverb] | ti govoriš zelo hitro 
|
he has three dogs [3rd pronoun + verb] | on ima tri pse 
|
she can speak German [3rd pronoun + verb] | ona govori nemško 
|
we will not come late [1st plural pronoun] | ne bomo prišli prepozno 
|
they bought milk and bread [3rd plural pronoun] | kupili so mleko in kruh 
|
The object pronoun is used as a target by a verb, and usually come after that verb. For example: I gave him my book. The object pronoun here is him. Here are more examples:
| Object Pronouns | Slovene |
|---|
can you tell me your name? [1st object pronoun] | mi lahko poveste vaše ime? 
|
I will give you money [2nd object pronoun] | dal vam bom denar 
|
she wrote him a letter [3rd object pronoun] | napisala mu je pismo 
|
they visited her yesterday [3rd object pronoun] | obiskali so jo včeraj 
|
can she help us? [1st pl. object pronoun] | nam lahko ona pomaga? 
|
he gave them food [3rd pl. object pronoun] | on jim je dal hrano 
|
| Possessive Pronouns | Slovene |
|---|
my name is Maya [1st possessive pronoun] | moje ime je maya 
|
your brother lives here [2nd possessive pronoun] | tvoj brat živi tukaj 
|
her mother cooks for us [3rd possessive pronoun] | njena mati kuha za nas 
|
his hobby is reading books [3rd possessive pronoun] | njegov hobi je branje knjig 
|
our dream is to visit Paris [1st pl. possessive pronoun] | naše sanje so, da obiščemo pariz 
|
their house is not far [3rd pl. possessive pronoun] | njihova hiša ni daleč 
|
One more thing you need to know is the demonstrative pronouns. They're very easy to learn.
| Demonstrative Pronouns | Slovene |
|---|
| this is my house | to je moja hiša  |
| that restaurant is far | tista restavracija je daleč  |
| these apples are delicious | ta jabolka so okusna  |
| those stars are shiny | te zvezde so sijoče  |
I hope you learned a lot about the Slovene grammar in this lesson. If you have any question about this lesson please contact me here. The next lesson is below, have fun!
Inspirational Quote: First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do. Epictetus |