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. Please check out our main menu here for more lessons: homepage. The next lesson is below, have fun!