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.

PrepositionsSlovene
andin Audio
abovenad Audio
underpod Audio
beforepred Audio
afterpo Audio
in front ofpred Audio
behindza Audio
far fromdaleč od Audio
nearblizu Audio
inv Audio
insidenotri Audio
outsidezunaj Audio
withz Audio
withoutbrez Audio
abouto Audio
betweenmed Audio
buttoda Audio
forza Audio
fromiz/od Audio
todo Audio

Preposition Grammar Rules

The following examples use prepositions in different ways and places to demonstrate how they behave in a sentence.

Prepositions + RulesSlovene
I eat without a knife
[preposition + noun]
jem brez noža Audio
she lives near the church
[verb + preposition]
ona živi blizu cerkve Audio
he is taller than her
[adjective + preposition]
on je večji od nje Audio
he came with his small dog
[preposition + pronoun]
prišel je s svojim majhnim psom Audio
can you come with me?
[preposition + pronoun]
lahko pridete z mano? Audio

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 + RulesSlovene
I understand you
[affirmative form]
razumem vas Audio
I don't understand you
[negation + verb]
ne razumem vas Audio
this is not the correct word
[negation + adjective]
to ni pravilna beseda Audio
don't leave me
[imperative negation]
ne zapusti me Audio
no problem
[negation + noun]
ni problema Audio

Negative SentencesSlovene
I don't speak French
[negation + present tense]
ne govorim francosko Audio
she didn't visit Germany
[negation + past tense]
ona ni obiskala nemčije Audio
he cannot see us
[negative modal verb]
on nas ne more videti Audio
can't she play chess?
[interrogative negation]
ali ona ne zna igrati šaha? Audio
we will not come late
[negation + future tense]
ne bomo prišli prepozno Audio

Questions in Slovene

Now let's learn how to ask questions (interrogative). Such as: what, why, can you ...? Here are some common examples:

EnglishSlovene
how?kako? Audio
what?kaj? Audio
who?kdo? Audio
why?zakaj? Audio
where?kje? Audio

More of the interrogative form, now in a sentence:

Questions + RulesSlovene
where do you live?
[interrogative + verb]
kje živite? Audio
does she speak Chinese?
[interrogative verb]
ali ona govori kitajsko? Audio
how much is this?
[interrogative preposition]
koliko je to? Audio
can I help you?
[interrogative modal verb]
vam lahko pomagam? Audio
what is your name?
[interrogative preposition]
kako vam je ime? Audio

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:

AdverbsSlovene
nowzdaj Audio
yesterdayvčeraj Audio
todaydanes Audio
tonightnocoj Audio
tomorrowjutri Audio
soonkmalu Audio
quicklyhitro Audio
slowlypočasi Audio
togetherskupaj Audio
veryzelo Audio
almostskoraj Audio
alwaysvedno Audio
usuallyobičajno Audio
sometimesvčasih Audio
rarelyredko Audio
nevernikoli Audio

The following examples use the adverbs in different ways and places to demonstrate how it behaves in a sentence.

Adverbs + RulesSlovene
do you understand me now?
[pronoun + adverb]
me zdaj razumete? Audio
I need help immediately
[noun + adverb]
takoj rabim pomoč Audio
she is very intelligent
[adverb + adjective]
ona je zelo inteligentna Audio
I will always love you
[verb + adverb]
vedno te bom ljubil Audio
can we learn German together?
[adverb in a question]
se lahko skupaj učimo nemščino? Audio

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 PronounsSlovene
Ijaz Audio
youti Audio
heon Audio
sheona Audio
wemi Audio
theyoni/one Audio

Object PronounsSlovene
memene Audio
youtebe Audio
himnjega Audio
hernjo Audio
usnas Audio
themnjih Audio

Possessive PronounsSlovene
mymoj Audio
yourtvoj Audio
hisnjegov Audio
hernjen Audio
ournaš Audio
theirnjihov Audio

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 PronounsSlovene
I am your friend
[1st pronoun + verb]
jaz sem tvoj prijatelj Audio
you speak very fast
[2nd pronoun + adverb]
ti govoriš zelo hitro Audio
he has three dogs
[3rd pronoun + verb]
on ima tri pse Audio
she can speak German
[3rd pronoun + verb]
ona govori nemško Audio
we will not come late
[1st plural pronoun]
ne bomo prišli prepozno Audio
they bought milk and bread
[3rd plural pronoun]
kupili so mleko in kruh Audio

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 PronounsSlovene
can you tell me your name?
[1st object pronoun]
mi lahko poveste vaše ime? Audio
I will give you money
[2nd object pronoun]
dal vam bom denar Audio
she wrote him a letter
[3rd object pronoun]
napisala mu je pismo Audio
they visited her yesterday
[3rd object pronoun]
obiskali so jo včeraj Audio
can she help us?
[1st pl. object pronoun]
nam lahko ona pomaga? Audio
he gave them food
[3rd pl. object pronoun]
on jim je dal hrano Audio

Possessive PronounsSlovene
my name is Maya
[1st possessive pronoun]
moje ime je maya Audio
your brother lives here
[2nd possessive pronoun]
tvoj brat živi tukaj Audio
her mother cooks for us
[3rd possessive pronoun]
njena mati kuha za nas Audio
his hobby is reading books
[3rd possessive pronoun]
njegov hobi je branje knjig Audio
our dream is to visit Paris
[1st pl. possessive pronoun]
naše sanje so, da obiščemo pariz Audio
their house is not far
[3rd pl. possessive pronoun]
njihova hiša ni daleč Audio

One more thing you need to know is the demonstrative pronouns. They're very easy to learn.

Demonstrative PronounsSlovene
this is my houseto je moja hiša Audio
that restaurant is fartista restavracija je daleč Audio
these apples are deliciousta jabolka so okusna Audio
those stars are shinyte zvezde so sijoče Audio

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!

Slovene Phrases       Slovene Phrases

Slovene Vocabulary       Slovene Vocabulary


Inspirational Quote: First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do. Epictetus

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