Language/Slovenian/Grammar/Past-Tense

Slovenian → Grammar → 0 to A1 Course → Verbs and Tenses → Past Tense

In this lesson, you will learn how to form the past tense in Slovenian using the auxiliary verb 'biti' and past active participles. This is an important concept to master as the past tense is used frequently in everyday communication. By the end of this lesson, you should be able to understand and use the past tense confidently in your conversations and writing.

Don't miss the chance to check out these pages as you wrap up this lesson: Perfect tense & The subjunctive mood and modal verbs.

Formation of the Past Tense

In Slovenian, the past tense is formed by using the auxiliary verb 'biti' in the present tense followed by the past active participle of the main verb. The past active participle is the form of the verb that ends in '-l', '-la', '-lo', '-li', '-le', or '-la', depending on the gender and number of the subject. The past active participle is formed by taking the stem of the verb and adding the appropriate ending.

Example: Conjugation of 'Biti' in Present Tense

Before we can form the past tense, it's important to review the present tense conjugation of the auxiliary verb 'biti'. Below is the conjugation of 'biti' in the present tense for reference:

Person/Number	Slovenian	Pronunciation	English
1st person singular	sem	/semm/	I am
2nd person singular	si	/see/	you are (informal)
3rd person singular	je	/yeh/	he/she/it is
1st person plural	smo	/smoh/	we are
2nd person plural	ste	/steh/	you are (formal or plural)
3rd person plural	so	/soh/	they are

Example: Formation of Past Tense

To form the past tense, we use 'biti' in the present tense as an auxiliary verb followed by the past active participle of the main verb. Note that the past active participle changes based on the gender and number of the subject.

Here is an example with the verb 'vprašati' (to ask):

Person/Number	Slovenian	Pronunciation	English
1st person singular	sem vprašal/-a/-o	/semm vpruh-shahl/-ah/-oh/	I asked
2nd person singular	si vprašal/-a/-o	/see vpruh-shahl/-ah/-oh/	you asked (informal)
3rd person singular	je vprašal/-a/-o	/yeh vpruh-shahl/-ah/-oh/	he/she/it asked
1st person plural	smo vprašali/-e/-a	/smoh vpruh-shah-lee/-eh/-ah/	we asked
2nd person plural	ste vprašali/-e/-a	/steh vpruh-shah-lee/-eh/-ah/	you asked (formal or plural)
3rd person plural	so vprašali/-e/-a	/soh vpruh-shah-lee/-eh/-ah/	they asked

Note that the past active participle agrees in gender and number with the subject. For example, for the verb 'pisati' (to write), the past active participle for a singular masculine subject is 'pisal', for a singular feminine subject, it's 'pisala', for a singular neutral subject, it's 'pisalo', and for a plural subject, it's 'pisali'.

Irregular Past Active Participles

While most past active participles in Slovenian follow regular patterns of conjugation, there are a number of irregular past active participles that must be memorized.

Below are some of the most common irregular past active participles:

Infinitive	Past Active Participle	English Translation
biti	bil/-a/-o/-i/-e/-a	was/were
imeti	imel/-a/-o/-i/-e/-a	had
jesti	jedel/-a/-o/-i/-e/-a	ate
dati	dal/-a/-o/-i/-e/-a	gave
videti	videl/-a/-o/-i/-e/-a	saw
iti	šel/-a/-o/-i/-e/-a	went
narediti	naredil/-a/-o/-i/-e/-a	made

Note that while some of these past active participles have feminine and neutral forms, they are relatively uncommon in everyday speech and are often replaced by the masculine form.

Example Sentences

Here are some example sentences in Slovenian using the past tense:

• Včeraj sem jedel/-a/-o kosilo. (Yesterday, I ate lunch.)
• Pred dvema tednoma sem naredil/-a preizkus vožnje. (Two weeks ago, I took a driving test.)
• Lani smo bili/-e/-a na počitnicah na morju. (Last year, we were on vacation at the seaside.)
• Mama je dala/-a/-o očetu darilo za rojstni dan. (Mom gave dad a present for his birthday.)
• Pred leti sem videl/-a nenavadno ptico v parku. (Years ago, I saw an unusual bird in the park.)

Practice Exercises

To solidify your understanding of the past tense and past active participles, try these practice exercises:

• Conjugate the verb 'igrati' (to play) in the past tense for all six persons and numbers.
• Write three sentences in Slovenian using the past tense with different verbs.
• Identify the past active participle in the sentence: "Pred dvema tednoma sem videl/-a/-o malo deklico na sprehodu." ("Two weeks ago, I saw a little girl on a walk.")

Conclusion

In this lesson, you learned how to form the past tense in Slovenian using the auxiliary verb 'biti' and past active participles. You also learned about irregular past active participles and how to use the past tense in everyday communication. As you continue to practice speaking and writing in Slovenian, don't forget to use the past tense to describe events and actions that have already occurred. This will help you communicate more effectively and fluently with native speakers. Good luck with your studies!

Upon wrapping up this lesson, take a look at these related pages: How to Use Be & Comparative and Superlative Adjectives.

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

Other Lessons

• The subjunctive mood and modal verbs
• Conjunctions
• Nouns
• Negation
• Possessive Pronouns
• Give your Opinion
• Conjugation
• How to Use Have
• Present Tense
• Questions