Slovene declension
In Slovene, nouns, which are used to define a person, place, or a thing, as well as adjectives, which describe the attributes of a noun, are declined for 6 cases and 3 numbers (singular, dual, and plural). This section presents an overview of the declension of nouns in Slovene. Further information about the grammar of the Slovene language should be sought in the article Slovene grammar.
Introduction
Case
In Slovene, the function of a noun in a sentence is marked using different cases, and hence endings. There are a total of 6 different cases (The Slovene names are given in brackets):
- Nominative (imenovalnik or nominativ)
- Genitive (rodilnik or genitiv)
- Dative (dajalnik or dativ)
- Accusative (tožilnik or akuzativ)
- Locative (mestnik or lokativ)
- Instrumental (orodnik or instrumental)
In Slovene it is traditional to refer to the cases by the numbered location in the above list. Thus, the nominative case is referred to as 1, while the locative case is referred to as 5.
Number
Slovene possesses 3 numbers:
- Singular, which refers to one of an object
- Dual, which refers to a pair of objects
- Plural, which refers to more than 2 objects.
Most nouns contain distinct forms for each of the cases.
Gender
A noun in Slovene can have one of the following three genders:
- Masculine
- Feminine
- Neuter
An adjective on the other hand has different forms for each gender.
Common phonological changes
In the declension of nouns and adjectives, certain predictable sound changes occur in the base form (root).
- Fill Vowel: Under certain circumstances, an -e-, which is pronounced as a schwa-sound, may be inserted between two consonants that occur at the end of a word. This occurs commonly in many nouns in the nominative singular case and in feminine and neuter nouns in the genitive plural and dual cases. For example, the nominative case igra (game) has a genitive plural form of iger. In the combination, -consonant + j, the fill vowel is an -i-. For example, ladja (boat) has a genitive plural of ladij.
- Preglas: Nouns whose roots end in C, Č, Ž, Š, or J change the following -o- of the ending into an -e-. Thus, for example, the ending -ov becomes -ev for nouns whose roots end in the above letters. The following 2 sets of words can be compared: korak/korakom (step) and stric/stricem (uncle).
Declensions
There are 4 basic declension patterns for nouns, with a single pattern for the declension of adjectives. An example of each with a model noun is given below. It should be noted that there are many exceptions, not all of which have been given. The endings in the following tables are marked in bold.
Feminine declension
First declension
This declension consists of nouns that end in -a. Most of the nouns are feminine with the exception of a few masculine nouns such as vojvoda (duke), which can be declined either as an -a noun or as a regular masculine noun. The model noun for this declension is lipa, lime (or linden) tree.
| Number | ||||
| Case | Singular | Dual | Plural | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative (1) | lipa | lipi | lipe | |
| Genitive (2) | lipe | lip | lip | |
| Dative (3) | lipi | lipama | lipam | |
| Accusative (4) | lipo | lipi | lipe | |
| Locative (5) (pri/o) | lipi | lipah | lipah | |
| Instrumental (6) (z) | lipo | lipama | lipami | |
A fill vowel may be added in the genitive plural and dual cases. For example, vožnja (fare) - voženj, igra (game) - iger, ladja (ship) - ladij.
Second
This declension consists of feminine nouns that end in a consonant. The model noun for this declension is perut, the wing of a bird.
| Number | ||||
| Case | Singular | Dual | Plural | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative (1) | perut | peruti | peruti | |
| Genitive (2) | peruti | peruti | peruti | |
| Dative (3) | peruti | perutma | perutim | |
| Accusative (4) | perut | peruti | peruti | |
| Locative (5) (pri/o) | peruti | perutih | perutih | |
| Instrumental (6) (z) | perutjo | perutma | perutmi | |
The following exceptions should be noted:
- In the instrumental singular case, nouns, which have a fill vowel in the nominative singular form, have an ending in -ijo. Likewise, these same nouns insert an -i- in the instrumental plural and dual, as well as the instrumental plural. For example, pesem (a song) has an instrumental singular form of pesmijo, a dative/instrumental dual form of pesmima, and an instrumental plural of pesmimi.
- In the dative and locative dual and plural, monosyllabic nouns, whose stress falls on the ending, have an -e- inserted between the root and the ending. For example, stvar (a thing) has the following endings: dative dual: stvarema; dative plural: stvarem; locative dual and plural: stvareh.
- Some nouns drop the schwa (-e-) that occurs in the nominative case (fill vowel). For example, nominative singular bolezen (illness) has the genitive singular bolezni.
- The noun, kri (blood), has a different stem (krv-) for all but the nominative and accusative singular. Thus, kri, krvi, krvi, kri, krvi, krvjo.
- Feminine nouns, that end in -ev in the nominative singular, such as breskev (peach), lestev (ladder), žetev (harvest) have the following peculiarities in their declension:
- The root drops the -e- of -ev in all other cases.
- In the instrumental singular, the ending is -ijo.
- In the genitive singular the ending is -e.
- In the dual and plural, these nouns follow the declension of the feminine -a nouns.
- These nouns could also be declined as -a with the above changes.
Third
This declension consists of all indeclinable feminine nouns. The form in all cases is the same. The model noun for this declension is mami, or mummy (a nickname for mother).
| Number | ||||
| Case | Singular | Dual | Plural | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative (1) | mami | mami | mami | |
| Genitive (2) | mami | mami | mami | |
| Dative (3) | mami | mami | mami | |
| Accusative (4) | mami | mami | mami | |
| Locative (5) (pri/o) | mami | mami | mami | |
| Instrumental (6) (z) | mami | mami | mami | |
Fourth
This declension pattern consists of feminine adjectival noun (posamostaljeni pridevnik). These nouns are declined as a regular feminine adjective.
Irregular Feminine Nouns
The following nouns have an irregular declension pattern: gospa (lady, madam), hči (daughter), and mati (mother) in the singular. In the plural and dual mati and hči follow, the -a stem pattern.
| Case | mati | hči |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative (1) | mati | hči |
| Genitive (2) | matere | hčere |
| Dative (3) | materi | hčeri |
| Accusative (4) | mater | hčer |
| Locative (5) (pri) | materi | hčeri |
| Instrumental (6) (s/z) | materjo | hčerjo |
| Case | Singular | Dual | Plural |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative (1) | gospa | gospe | gospe |
| Genitive (2) | gospe | gospe | gospe, gospa |
| Dative (3) | gospe | gospema | gospem |
| Accusative (4) | gospo | gospe | gospe |
| Locative (5) (pri) | gospe | gospeh | gospeh |
| Instrumental (6) (z) | gospo | gospema | gospemi |
Masculine declensions
First
The model noun for this declension is korak, (a step).
| Number | ||||
| Case | Singular | Dual | Plural | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative (1) | korak | koraka | koraki | |
| Genitive (2) | koraka | korakov | korakov | |
| Dative (3) | koraku | korakoma | korakom | |
| Accusative (4) | korak | koraka | korake | |
| Locative (5) (pri/o) | koraku | korakih | korakih | |
| Instrumental (6) (s) | korakom | korakoma | koraki | |
The following points should be born in mind:
- Animate nouns, that is nouns representing living things take the genitive ending in the accusative case. Some other inanimate nouns also obey this rule. Thus, fant (a boy) has an accusative of fanta
- Nouns whose roots end in C, Č, Ž, Š, J are subject to preglas. The letter -o- of the endings is replaced by an -e-. Thus, stric (an uncle) has the instrumental form stricem. .
- Some monsyllabic nouns have the ending -u instead of -a in genitive singular. For example, grad (a castle) has a genitive singular of gradu.
- In the plural and dual forms, monosyllabic nouns, often have an -ov- added before the endings. Thus, zid (wall) - zidova - zidovi.
- Nouns taken from other languages may have the ending -o or -e in nominative singular. For example, avto (car) or finale.
- The nouns mož (husband or man), zob (tooth) and las (hair) have the ending -je in nominative plural instead of -i: možje, zobje, lasje. Some allow either form. For example, fant (boy), gost (guest), škof (bishop). These same nouns also have a genitive plural and dual without any endings.
- For masculine nouns with the fill vowel, -e-, in the nominative singular case, drop this letter in all other cases. Thus, vrelec (thermal spring) has genitive singular vrelca.
- Some nouns add to their stem -j- (if the nominative ends in -r), -t- (if for proper nouns ending in -e) or -n- (if the nominative ends in -lj) in all other cases. Thus, redar (security guard at a public event) - redarja; Zvone - Zvoneta; nagelj (carnation) - nageljna.
- The noun otrok (child) has a nominative plural of otroci and a locative dual of octrocih.
- The noun človek (human) has a different stem in the plural and in the genitive and locative dual. ljud-. Thus: in the plural, ljudje - ljudi - ljudem - ljudi - pri ljudeh - z ljudmi; in the dual: človeka - ljudi - človekoma - človeka - pri ljudeh - s človekoma (dual).
Second
This declension pattern is identical to the feminine first declension. Most nouns in this group can also be declined as a masculine first declension noun. The model noun for this declension is vojvoda, duke.
| Number | ||||
| Case | Singular | Dual | Plural | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative (1) | vojvoda | vojvodi | vojvode | |
| Genitive (2) | vojvode | vojvod | vojvod | |
| Dative (3) | vojvodi | vojvodama | vojvodam | |
| Accusative (4) | vojvodo | vojvodi | vojvode | |
| Locative (5) (pri/o) | vojvodi | vojvodah | vojvodah | |
| Instrumental (6) (z) | vojvodo | vojvodama | vojvodami | |
The 2 possible forms for the nouns Luka (Luke, a name) are:
- Nominative: Luka
- Genitive: Luke or Luka
- Dative: Luki or Luku
- Accusative: Luko or Luka
- Locative: pri Luki or pri Luku
- Instrumental: z Luko or z Lukom
Third
The model noun for this declension is H2O, or any other acronym or symbol.
| Number | ||||
| Case | Singular | Dual | Plural | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative (1) | H2O | H2O | H2O | |
| Genitive (2) | H2O | H2O | H2O | |
| Dative (3) | H2O | H2O | H2O | |
| Accusative (4) | H2O | H2O | H2O | |
| Locative (5) (pri/o) | H2O | H2O | H2O | |
| Instrumental (6) (z) | H2O | H2O | H2O | |
All acronyms and symbols belong to this declension, but they may also be declined as per the first masculine declension, with an obligatory hyphen (-).
Thus, for the noun ATP (meaning adenozin trifosfat, adenosine triphosphate):
- Nominative: ATP
- Genitive: ATP or ATP-ja
- Dative: ATP or ATP-ju
- Accusative: ATP or ATP
- Locative: pri ATP or pri ATP-ju
- Instrumental: z ATP or z ATP-jem
Fourth
This declension pattern consists of masculine adjectival noun (posamostaljeni pridevnik). These nouns are declined as a regular masculine adjective.
Irregular masculine nouns
The most common irregular masculine noun is dan (day). Its declension pattern is given below.
| Number | ||||
| Case | Singular | Dual | Plural | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative (1) | dan | dni, dneva | dnevi | |
| Genitive (2) | dne, dneva | dni | dni | |
| Dative (3) | dne, dnevu | dnema, dnevoma | dnem, dnevom | |
| Accusative (4) | dan | dni, dneva | dni, dneve | |
| Locative (5) (pri/o) | dne, dnevu | dneh, dnevih | dneh, dnevih | |
| Instrumental (6) (z) | dnem, dnevom | dnema, dnevoma | dnemi, dnevi | |
Neuter declensions
First
The model noun for this declension is mesto, city.
| Number | ||||
| Case | Singular | Dual | Plural | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative (1) | mesto | mesti | mesta | |
| Genitive (2) | mesta | mest | mest | |
| Dative (3) | mestu | mestoma | mestom | |
| Accusative (4) | mesto | mesti | mesta | |
| Locative (5) (pri/o) | mestu | mestih | mestih | |
| Instrumental (6) (z) | mestom | mestoma | mesti | |
The following points should be born in mind:
- Nouns whose roots end in C, Č, Ž, Š, J are subject to preglas. The letter -o- of the endings is replaced by an -e-. Thus, sonce (sun) has the instrumental form soncem. .
- Some nouns have no ending in nominative singular, such as kolo (bicycle), ime (name), telo (body), and dekle (girl). These nouns extend their stem by -n-, -s- or -t- in all other cases and numbers (ime - imena, kolo - kolesa, dekle - dekleta).
- Nouns may insert a fill vowel (-e-/schwa or -i- before j) in the genitive dual and plural cases. For example: okno (window) - oken, veselje (happiness) - veselij.
- The nouns, oko (eyes) has a different plural forms when referring to human eyes. This form is oči, the dual form, which in the plural is declined as a second feminine declension plural noun. Furthermore, its stem is očes- for most of the nouns.
Fourth
This declension pattern consists of neuter adjectival noun (posamostaljeni pridevnik). These nouns are declined as a regular neuter adjectives. Certain town names also fall in this category.
Mass noun
In Slovene, mass nouns are either singular or plural.
Uncountable nouns used in the singular only can be split into three groups, denoting the following:
- matter (voda (water) (though plural when talking about rivers, lakes and seas), kri (blood), pesek (sand))
- groups (drevje (trees), mladina (youth), pohištvo (furniture))
- concepts (ljubezen (love), zdravje (health), mir (peace), znanje (knowledge))
Plural nouns are, for example, the following: pljuča (lungs), sani (sleigh), norice (smallpox), možgani (brain). In addition, normally the plural is used instead of the dual for body parts (roke (arms), ušesa (ears)), clothes (nogavice (socks)), devices (rolerji (rollerblades), and for biological pairs (starši (parents)), except when stressing that there are only two (or one).
It is permissible to use plural or dual forms for uncountable singular nouns when stressing the diversity or the number. (Obstaja več ljubezni. (Literally: 'There are more loves.') -- but this is better said "Obstaja več vrst ljubezni. (There are more types of love.))
Adjectives
The declension of adjectives is as follows:
| Number | ||||
| Case | Singular | Dual | Plural | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative (1) | dežurna | dežurni | dežurne | |
| Genitive (2) | dežurne | dežurnih | dežurnih | |
| Dative (3) | dežurni | dežurnima | dežurnim | |
| Accusative (4) | dežurno | dežurni | dežurne | |
| Locative (5) (pri/o) | dežurni | dežurnih | dežurnih | |
| Instrumental (6) (z) | dežurno | dežurnima | dežurnimi | |
| Number | ||||
| Case | Singular | Dual | Plural | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative (1) | dežurni | dežurna | dežurni | |
| Genitive (2) | dežurnega | dežurnih | dežurnih | |
| Dative (3) | dežurnemu | dežurnima | dežurnim | |
| Accusative (4) | dežurnega | dežurna | dežurne | |
| Locative (5) (pri/o) | dežurnem | dežurnih | dežurnih | |
| Instrumental (6) (z) | dežurnim | dežurnima | dežurnimi | |
For adjective, the ending given above for the accusative case is only used for nouns modifying animate nouns or for adjectival nouns. Otherwise, the nominative singular form is used. In order to form the indefinite adjective, no ending is used instead.
| Number | ||||
| Case | Singular | Dual | Plural | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative (1) | dežurno | dežurni | dežurna | |
| Genitive (2) | dežurnega | dežurnih | dežurnih | |
| Dative (3) | dežurnemu | dežurnima | dežurnim | |
| Accusative (4) | dežurno | dežurni | dežurna | |
| Locative (5) (pri/o) | dežurnem | dežurnih | dežurnih | |
| Instrumental (6) (z) | dežurnim | dežurnima | dežurnimi | |
In nominative and accusative singular, the ending is -e instead of -o for adjectives ending in c, č, ž, š and j ("preglas").
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