Language/Slovenian/Grammar/Nouns,-articles-and-gender

Slovenian → Grammar → Nouns, articles and gender

As a Slovenian language teacher for over 20 years, I am excited to introduce the basics of Slovenian noun decline, articles, and gender to my students. These elements are essential to understanding Slovenian grammar and speaking the language correctly. In this lesson, you will learn the different cases and how to decline adjectives to match the gender and case of the noun. You will also learn when to use which case and how to use articles in different situations.

After mastering this lesson, these related pages might interest you: Conjugation of verbs in the past tense & Adjective Agreement.

Noun declension

Slovenian has six cases, each with different endings depending on the gender of the noun. The six cases are:

• Nominative (kdo/kaj) - Who/what the subject is
• Genitive (koga/česa) - Whose/what
• Dative (komu/čemu) - To/for whom/what
• Accusative (koga/kaj) - Whom/what the object is
• Locative (o kom/o čem) - About whom/what
• Instrumental (s kom/s čim) - With whom/what

The gender of the noun can be either masculine, feminine, or neutral. Each gender has its own declension pattern, which consists of endings added to the noun stem.

Masculine nouns

Masculine nouns usually end in a consonant in the nominative singular form. They have four different declension patterns depending on whether they end in a hard, soft, or sibilant consonant, or if they end in a vowel. For example:

Slovenian	Pronunciation	English
avto	['aʋtɔ]	car
sin	[sìːn]	son
gospod	[gɔspɔd]	mister / sir
drevo	['drɛʋɔ]	tree

Here is the declension pattern for the masculine noun "avto" (car) for each case:

	Singular	Plural
Nominative	avto	avti
Genitive	avta	avtov
Dative	avtu	avtom
Accusative	avto	avte
Locative	o avtu	o avtih
Instrumental	z avtom	z avti

Note that the endings change depending on the case and whether the noun is singular or plural. For example, when using the noun in the genitive case (to show possession), the ending changes to "a" in the singular and "ov" in the plural.

Feminine nouns

Feminine nouns usually end in "a" in the nominative singular form. They have two declension patterns, depending on whether they have a hard or soft stem consonant. For example:

Slovenian	Pronunciation	English
hiša	['xìːʃa]	house
knjiga	['knjìːga]	book

Here is the declension pattern for the feminine noun "hiša" (house) for each case:

Singular	Plural
Nominative	hiša	hiše
Genitive	hiše	hiš
Dative	hiši	hišam
Accusative	hišo	hiše
Locative	o hiši	o hišah
Instrumental	z hišo	z hišami

Note that the endings change depending on the case and whether the noun is singular or plural. For example, when using the noun in the genitive case (to show possession), the ending changes to "e" in the singular and "ov" in the plural.

Neutral nouns

Neutral nouns usually end in "o" in the nominative singular form. They have one declension pattern, which applies to all neutral nouns. For example:

Slovenian	Pronunciation	English
mesto	['mèːstɔ]	city/town
okno	['oːknɔ]	window

Here is the declension pattern for the neutral noun "mesto" (city) for each case:

Singular	Plural
Nominative	mesta
Genitive	mest
Dative	mestom
Accusative	mesta
Locative	o mestih
Instrumental	z mesti

Note that the neuter declension does not show gender differentiation between the singular and the plural.

Articles

Articles are used to indicate the gender and number of the noun. Slovenian has two articles, the definite article "the" and the indefinite article "a/an".

Definite article

The definite article is used when referring to a specific noun. The definite article is declined like an adjective, according to the gender and case of the noun that it precedes.

Gender	Singular	Plural
Masculine	ta avto	ti avti
Feminine	ta hiša	te hiše
Neutral	to mesto	ta mesta

Note that the definite article changes according to the gender of the noun. In addition, the definite article is declined the same way as an adjective in relation to the gender, number, and case of the noun. For example, when using the definite article with the masculine noun "avto" (car) in the genitive case (to show possession), the ending changes to "ega" in the singular and "ih" in the plural.

Indefinite article

The indefinite article is used when referring to a non-specific noun. The indefinite article is "en" for masculine nouns, "ena" for feminine nouns, and "eno" for neutral nouns. The indefinite article is not declined.

Gender	Singular	Plural
Masculine	en avto	avti
Feminine	ena hiša	hiše
Neutral	eno mesto	mesta

Note that the indefinite article does not change according to the case or number of the noun.

Adjectives

Adjectives in Slovenian must agree with the gender, case, and number of the noun. In other words, the endings of adjectives change depending on the gender, case, and number of the noun they modify. The following table shows how adjectives change according to the gender, case, and number of the noun:

Gender	Case	Number	Adjective ending
Masculine	Nominative	Singular	-i
	Plural	-i
Genitive	Singular	-ega
	Plural	-ih
Dative	Singular	-emu
	Plural	-im
Accusative	Singular	-ega
	Plural	-e
Locative	Singular	-em
	Plural	-ih
Instrumental	Singular	-im
	Plural	-imi
Feminine	Nominative	Singular	-a
	Plural	-e
Genitive	Singular	-e
	Plural	-ih
Dative	Singular	-i
	Plural	-im
Accusative	Singular	-o
	Plural	-e
Locative	Singular	-i
	Plural	-ih
Instrumental	Singular	-o
	Plural	-imi
Neutral	Nominative	Singular	-o
	Plural	-a
Genitive	Singular	-ega
	Plural	-ih
Dative	Singular	-emu
	Plural	-im
Accusative	Singular	-o
	Plural	-a
Locative	Singular	-em
	Plural	-ih
Instrumental	Singular	-im
	Plural	-imi

Note that adjectives change according to the gender, case, and number of the noun they modify. The masculine plural and feminine plural forms are identical, so you can tell the gender of the noun by the ending of the adjective. The neutral plural form is different, ending in "-a" for plural nouns.

Summary

To summarize, Slovenian has six cases (nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, locative, and instrumental) and three genders (masculine, feminine, neutral). Nouns must be declined according to their gender and case, and adjectives must agree with the gender, case, and number of the noun they modify.

Other Lessons

• Conjugation of verbs in the past tense
• How to Use Be
• Negation
• Pronouns
• Future Tense
• How to Use Have
• Questions
• Conditional and future tense
• Adverbs and prepositions