Language/Slovenian/Grammar/Past-Tense
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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.
Other Lessons
- The subjunctive mood and modal verbs
- Conjunctions
- Nouns
- Negation
- Possessive Pronouns
- Give your Opinion
- Conjugation
- How to Use Have
- Present Tense
- Questions
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