Language/Slovenian/Grammar/Singular-and-Plural-Nouns

Slovenian → Grammar → 0 to A1 Course → Nouns and Pronouns → Singular and Plural Nouns

Introduction

In Slovenian grammar, nouns refer to people, places, things, or ideas, while pronouns are used to replace nouns to avoid repetition in sentences. In this lesson, we will focus on the formation of singular and plural nouns in Slovenian, including regular and irregular plural forms.

The Formation of Singular Nouns

In Slovenian, the singular form of a noun is usually formed by adding a suffix to the root word. The most common noun suffixes are:

Suffix	Usage	Example
-a	Used for feminine singular nouns ending in a consonant, -c, -k, -g, -h, -j, -o, -s, -š, -t, -x, or -z.	hiš<a style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;font-size: 90%;">a</a> (house), knjiž<a style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;font-size: 90%;">a</a> (book)
-o	Used for neuter singular nouns ending in a consonant, -c, -k, -g, -h, -j, -s, -š, -t, -x, or -z.	pism<a style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;font-size: 90%;">o</a> (letter), drev<a style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;font-size: 90%;">o</a> (tree)
-e	Used for masculine singular nouns ending in a consonant, -c, -k, -g, -h, -j, -o, -s, -š, -t, -x, or -z. Also used for some feminine nouns.	moški (man), mize (table)
-i/-j	Used for masculine singular nouns ending in -a, and some feminine singular nouns ending in a vowel.	stoli/j (chair), roki/j (hand)

Note: There are many exceptions to these rules, so it's important to learn the singular forms of nouns as you encounter them.

Here are some examples of singular nouns in Slovenian:

Singular Nouns	English Translation
pes	dog
knjiga	book
vlak	train
sladkor	sugar
mama	mother

The Formation of Plural Nouns

In Slovenian, there are two types of plural nouns: regular and irregular. Regular plural nouns are formed by adding a suffix to the root word, while irregular plural nouns have unique forms.

Regular Plural Nouns

The most common way to form regular plural nouns in Slovenian is to add -i/-ji or -e to the singular form of the word. Here are the general rules:

Singular form ending	Regular plural form ending	Example
-a	-e	knjig<a style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;font-size: 90%;">e</a> (books)
-o	-a	lista (leaves)
-e/-i	-i/-ji	prijatelji/j (friends)

Note: Nouns ending in -ij are usually formed by adding -i to the singular form.

Here are some examples of regular plural nouns in Slovenian:

Singular Noun	Plural Noun	English Translation
pes	psi	dogs
knjiga	knjige	books
prijatelj	prijatelji	friends
list	lista	leaves

Irregular Plural Nouns

Some Slovenian nouns have unique forms for the plural that do not follow the regular plural formation rules. Here are some examples:

Singular Noun	Plural Noun	English Translation
kruh	kruhi	loaves of bread
računalo	računalniki	computers
noga	noge	legs
krv	krvi	blood

Note: It's important to learn the plural forms of nouns as you encounter them.

Conclusion

In this lesson, we learned about the formation of singular and plural nouns in Slovenian, including regular and irregular plural forms. Remember that there are many exceptions to the rules, so it's important to learn the plural forms of nouns as you encounter them. In the next lesson, we will focus on personal pronouns in Slovenian.

Table of Contents - Slovenian Course - 0 to A1

• Course Presentation

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Greetings and Introductions

• Basic Greetings
• Introducing Yourself

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Nouns and Pronouns

• Singular and Plural Nouns
• Personal Pronouns
• Possessive Pronouns

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Numbers and Time

• Numbers 1-100
• Telling Time
• Days of the Week

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Verbs and Tenses

• Present Tense
• Past Tense
• Future Tense

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Food and Drink

• Common Foods
• Eating Out

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Adjectives and Adverbs

• Adjective Agreement
• Comparative and Superlative Adjectives
• Adverbs

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Travel and Transportation

• Modes of Transportation
• Asking for Directions

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Prepositions and Conjunctions

• Prepositions
• Conjunctions

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Hobbies and Free Time

• Common Hobbies
• Talking about Free Time

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Slovenian Customs and Traditions

• Holidays and Celebrations
• Traditional Food and Drink

Related Lessons

• Conjugation of verbs in the present tense
• Adverbs
• Conjugation
• Adverbs and prepositions
• Nouns, articles and gender
• Past Tense
• Pronouns and their use
• Conjugation of verbs in the past tense
• Questions
• The subjunctive mood and modal verbs