Slovene declension

This page describes the declension of nouns, adjectives and pronouns in Slovene. For information on Slovene grammar in general, see Slovene grammar.
This article follows the tonal orthography. For the conversion into pitch orthography, see Slovene national phonetic transcription.
Nouns are declined for six cases and three numbers. Adjectives and most pronouns additionally decline for three genders.
There are six cases (the Slovene names are given in brackets):
Traditionally, the cases are given in the order above. They are also usually numbered accordingly: the nominative case is the first case, the genitive the second, and so on.
The nouns are usually listed and sorted by their nominative singular form, but declension is defined by the genitive singular form. For this reason, genitive singular form is commonly written with the nominative. Where it is not otherwise noted, the second form is in genitive singular form.
Vocative (zvalnik or vokativ) was used with the original endings in Slovene up to the 18th century by, for example Janez Svetokriški, but has now received the endings of the nominative case. Some words, however, kept the vocative form, such as oče (instead of the nominative *otь̀cь) 'father'. Colloquially, vocative endings are still present, but the current use is taken from Croatian.
While having the same endings, it is still tonemically different from the nominative case, always having circumflex accent, but because of its similarity with nominative, it is often omitted from declension tables or is considered a special case of nominative, called 'addressive nominative' (ogovorni imenovalnik) in Slovene literature.
Slovene has three numbers:
There is, however, an exception to that rule. Plural is used instead of dual for nouns that represent things that usually come in pairs (such as body parts, socks, twins, and parents), except if one wants to stress that the noun relates to both parts and after words that signify a pair (such as oba 'both', etc. ):
A noun in Slovene can have one of the following three genders:
Native speakers usually identify a gender by placing a demonstrative pronoun tisti 'that' in front of it. Since some nouns can only have a singular form and some only a plural form (extremely rarely also only dual, such as ribi 'pisces'), both singular and plural endings must be remembered. Note that the feminine singular and neuter plural endings are the same so the number must be determined first.
Non-native speakers in most cases determine try to determine gender from the ending of a noun in nominative singular.
Declensions are divided differently in international and Slovene literature. In Slovene literature, the declensions are defined by the ending in genitive singular, but in international literature, the nouns are often divided by the stem (the same way as in Proto-Slavic), which are more numerous. Thus, they can be considered as a subdivision of the declension. The stem declensions that are a subdivision of the main declension are a result of a stem lengthening alteration (premena), or is a subpattern (podvzorec).
There are four different noun declension for every gender in Slovene and two for the adjectives. Besides the name, the identifying ending (ending in genitive singular) is written:
Masculine:
Feminine:
Neuter:
Adjective:
There are four different accentual types:
In first masculine, second feminine and first adjectival declension, accentual types affect the endings in some cases.
Some words can also change accent from fixed to mixed in one number or in only one case. These nouns follow accent changes of the fixed type, except where they change to mixed type (they follow mixed accentuation). Some nouns can also change the accentuation after certain prepositions. These forms are always circumflex (for example, primẹ̑r, accusative singular primẹ̑r, but after na, it changes into na prȋmer).
There is a three-stage and two-stage comparison in Slovene.
The three-stage comparison has the following degrees:
The two-stage declension has the following degrees:
Masculine nouns and adjectives are divided between animate and inanimate nouns.
Animate nouns are nouns that represent a living or mythological being (Francọ̑z 'French', rȁk 'crab', dȗh 'ghost') and words that originally had that meaning, but have a different one now (vipȃvec (a type of wine), francọ̑z 'monkey wrench', Oriọ̑n 'Orion'). In this category are also card names and suits, and some names of cars and mushrooms, such as as 'ace', pȋk 'club', gọ̑lf (Golf, a Volkswagen car), and gobȃn 'bolete'. The word duh is animate when it means 'ghost' or 'mentality'. Some diminutives are animate, even if they represent an inanimate object (for example, stolček 'little chair' ). Names of space objects that are named after gods are either animate or inanimate (e. g. Merkur 'Mercury')
This distinction is also applied to all words that modify the noun, such as adjectives, determiners and the like. Thus, adjectives in the masculine accusative singular will have either the form of the nominative (no ending or -i), or the form of the genitive (-ega).
The declensions for nouns, nominal pronouns, and nominalized adjectives can be split by gender, as gender and declension pattern coincide. The dual and plural are not distinguished in the genitive and locative cases of nouns; the plural form is used for the dual as well. For neuter nouns, the nominative and accusative forms are always the same, in all numbers.
Nominal and nominalized pronouns also follow this inflection patterns, however most of them are irregular. For irregularities among pronouns, see the pronouns section.
First masculine declension follow nouns whose genitive singular ending is -a (korȃk korȃka), -u (mọ̑st mostȗ), and the noun dan (dȃn dnẹ̑). The vast majority of masculine nouns are declined following this inflection pattern. It is so common that masculine nouns following the second (and some following the third and the fourth) can be declined following the pattern of the first.
Masculine nouns are further divided between animate and inanimate nouns. This difference is only significant for the accusative singular.
The standard declension of first masculine declension is the o-stem declension. O-stem nouns are divided between "hard" and "soft" stems, see the main Slovene grammar article for the meaning of these terms.
Proper names ending in -e normally follow this declension like the noun otročȅ 'kid', adding the infix -t- before the endings. For example, Zvọ̑ne Zvọ̑neta (a male name). This declension also follow some other nouns ending in -e if it represents hypocoristicity (fantȅ fantẹ́ta 'boy, immature man'). The noun oče 'father' also follows this declension.
Some historic Greek names, such as Ksenofọ̑n 'Xenophon' and Ȃjas 'Ajax the Great', also follow this inflection pattern, however, it is also common to already have a t-stem in nominative singular (Ksenofọ̑n/Ksenofọ̑nt Ksenofọ̑nta, Ȃjas/Ajant Ajanta).
In speech or in writing of lower register, nouns that have the ending -o in nominative singular, such as Márko (a male name) and sȋnko 'little son' also follow this inflection pattern (Márko Márkota, sȋnko sȋnkota). In dialectal speeches this also happens to proper nouns ending in -a, such as Míha and Lúka, and the a is in some dialects changed to e (Míha Míhata/Míheta, Lúka Lúkata/Lúketa), although in some dialects these words can be lengthened with another consonant, for example, with n in Carinthian dialects (Márko Márkona, Lúka Lukana).
A few nouns ending in -elj have a stem ending in -eljn- rather than dropping the fill vowel. For example, nágelj nágeljna 'carnation' and Fráncelj Fránceljna (a male name). These nouns can be also declined normally (nágelj náglja, Fráncelj Fránclja), however, that is less common.
Some Latin names ending in -o can also follow this inflection pattern, such as Kȃto Katọ̑na 'Cato', but the n can be already added in nominative singular (Kȃton Katọ̑na).
Nouns with a stem whose pronunciation ends in /-ɾ/ or a vowel (not to be confused with a noun having a vowel ending in nominative singular) have an added -j- when an ending is attached, such as tȃksi tȃksija 'taxi' and redár redárja 'security guard at a public event'.
There are exceptions, though. Monosyllabic words follow the o-stem declension (mȋr mirȗ 'peace'), except cār cārja 'tsar', and similarly also stȃr (old way of measuring cereal), júr 'bolete, 1000 units of currency', and fȃr 'priest'. Nouns derived from verbs, such as gȏvor 'speech', vȋr 'source', and prodȍr 'penetration' also follow o-stem declension. The same is true for nouns that have a fill vowel followed by /ɾ/, such as vẹ̑ter vẹ̑tra 'wind' and blȃgor blȃgra 'well-being'. Compound nouns that contain a non-j-stem noun (such as dvogȏvor dvogȏvora 'dialogue' and pȍdodbȍr pȍdodbóra 'subcommittee') are also excluded, except for names that end in -mir, such as Vlȃdimir (a male name) and Čȓtomir, which can be declined either way (Vlȃdimir Vlȃdimira/Vlȃdimirja, Čȓtomir Čȓtomira/Čȓtomirja). Some nouns that end in -r and silent -e can also be declined either way (Tesnière Slovene pronunciation: [tɛnˈjɛ́ːɾ] 'Tesnière' Tesnièra Slovene pronunciation: [tɛnˈjɛ́ːra]/Tesnièrja [tɛnˈjɛ́ːrja], Shakespeare Slovene pronunciation: [ˈʃéːkspiɾ] Shakespeara Slovene pronunciation: [ˈʃéːkspira]/Shakespearja [ˈʃéːkspirja]) 'Shakespeare. Some nouns, such as Madžȃr 'Hungar', sẹ́ver 'north', and Alžir 'Algiers', also follow the o-stem declension. Note that in loanwords, the vowel can be written differently than expected, such as Disney [ˈdíːzni] Disneyja [ˈdíːznija]'Disney' (but Broadway Slovene pronunciation: [ˈbróːdvɛj] Broadwaya [ˈbróːdveja] 'Broadway'). Note that Latin and Greek words can have an ending that ends with a consonant in nominative singular, but they are still j-stem nouns (Ovidius Ovidija 'Ovid').
Nouns ending in non-silent -r or a vowel plus a silent consonant also follow this declension, but the /j/ is only pronounced and not written: (Dumas [diˈmáː] Dumasa [diˈmáːja]) 'Dumas'.
First masculine declension has many alternations:
Circumflex nouns have circumflex accent in all cases, however, the acute accent changes considerably.
Mobile accent nouns transfer the stress to the following syllable in all cases but nominative, vocative, and accusative (if the same as nominative) singular.
Short ending vowels are always circumflex while long ending ones follow the same pattern as mixed accent nouns that have circumflex accent in nominative singular and when the accent is on the stem, the accent is long and acute. There is a slight difference between soft and hard stems in genitive dual/plural, because soft declension only allows short circumflex accent whereas hard declension allows long acute and short circumflex.
For the mixed accent nouns with long accent, many different factors determine the accent. The accent is usually circumflex, except in these cases:
Here are declensions for some mixed accent nouns, but keep in mind that they have several different changes and only relevant forms are written:
Mixed accent nouns with short accent follow the same pattern as ending accent nouns (including the difference bətween soft and hard stems), except in nominative and vocative (and accusative if the same as nominative) singular, and dative and instrumental dual, where the accent is on the stem and acute if long:
Second masculine declension follow nouns whose genitive singular ending is -e (slúga slúge), except the noun dan (dȃn dnẹ̑).
Second masculine declension has the same endings as first feminine declension, however, not all alterations apply here. Animate and inanimate nouns are not declined differently, but the words that modify the noun still have those distinctions.
All nouns following the second masculine declension can also follow first masculine declension, but keeping the ending in nominative singular. They can also be feminized in dual and plural, following first feminine declension (essentially, the endings do not change).
Second masculine declension follow only fixed accent nouns. These can be circumflex or acute.
Third masculine declension follow nouns whose genitive singular (or in any other case) ending is a null ending (-). This includes all letters, as well as some other words, such as nebọ́digatrẹ́ba 'menace', jȍj/jọ̑j 'oh', and čačačȃ 'Cha-cha-cha'. There are, however, only a handful of words that feel natural to be declined this way; for many of them, it is preferred to be declined following the first masculine declension. Alternations of the first declension must then be applied, and since all consonant letters are usually pronounced as consonant + ə̏, all letters, except for X [ˈíːks] and Y [ˈíːpsilɔn] must follow the j-stem version of the first declension (K K-ja). Exceptions are F, L, M, N, R, S, and Š, which can also be pronounced [ˈɛ́f], [ˈɛ́l], [ˈɛ́m], [ˈɛ́n], [ˈɛ́ɾ], [ˈɛ́s], and [ˈɛ́ʃ], respectively and can therefore follow the o-stem version (F F-ja/F-a), and the pronunciacion changes accordingly. Although there is a hyphen between the letter and j, keep in mind that j ist still part of the stem, not the ending.
Words declined this way always have fixed accent, which is the same throughout, no matter if it is circumflex or acute, long or short. The only exception is vocative, where the accent is circumflex.
Fourth masculine declension follow nouns whose genitive singular ending is -ega. The nouns following this declension were derived from an adjective, and are therefore nominalized adjectives. They are derived from the definite forms of the adjective, hence the ending -i in nominative singular. This declension also differentiates between animate and inanimate nouns in the same way as the first one. The declension is the same as declension for masculine adjectives.
Some masculine nominalized adjectives, mostly proper nouns, are declined using first male declension. In addition, most of them have a null ending - in nominative singular, only rarely do they have an ending -i. Examples include Mẹ̑den Mẹ̑dena 'Meden', Raztrẹ̑sen Raztrẹ̑senega 'Raztresen', tráven trávna 'April, May' etc.
Names in other languages ending in [-ski] (or similarly look like definite adjectives) that are from non-Slavic languages are declined using the first declension (Tedẹ̑schi Tedẹ̑schija 'Tedeschi, McClọ̑sky McClọ̑skyja 'McClosky', Kreisky Kreiskyja/Kreiskega 'Kreisky') and those from Slavic languages are declined using the fourth declension (Vranȋtzky Vranȋtzkega 'Vranitzky', Hradẹ̑tzky Hradẹ̑tzkega 'Hradetzky' etc.
These nouns decline the same way as definite masculine forms of adjectives following the first adjectival declension do. Therefore, only fixed and ending accentual types exist. For accent changes when nominalizing, see § Accent of nominalized adjectives.
First feminine declension follow nouns whose genitive singular ending is -e (lípa lípe), except if genitive plural has an ending -ih (dežȗrna genitive plural dežȗrnih), those follow the fourth feminine declension. Those ending in [-əu̯] and nouns máti 'mother' and hčȋ 'daughter' also follow this declension. In plural, genitive case has a null ending (víle vȋl 'pitchfork').
The first feminine declension is the most common pattern for feminine nouns. There is no distinction between hard and soft stems (the declension used in modern Slovene was historically the soft one and the merge happened in Alpine Slavic).
The standard declension of first feminine declension is the a-stem declension.
This declension subtype follow only the nouns máti 'mother' and hči 'daughter'. They have a different stem in nominative singular than in other cases and numbers. (mati matere, hči hčere). There are also minor changes to the endings in singular.
A small number of feminine nouns belongs to the feminine v-stem declension, with the ending -əv (in which the -ə- is a fill vowel). These inflect as r-stems, but with the i-stem instrumental singular ending -ijo and have a null ending in nominative singular. Many nouns in this group can colloquially also inflect as regular a-stems, with the nominative singular ending in -va and accusative and instrumental singular in -vo.
Only few nouns have their stems lengthend with -n, except in nominative singular. The most common example is Jȗno (Jȗno Junọ̑ne), which can also be declined following the third feminine declension (Juno Juno 'Juno') or as an a-stem noun (Junọ̑na Junọ̑ne). The endings are the same as for a-stem nouns. N-stem declension did not exist in Proto-Slavic (at least not for feminine nouns) and it evolved later.
Mobile accent nouns are very rare and are always circumflex:
These nouns are short and circumflex, except if the accent is long; then they follow the same pattern as mixed accent nouns, but genitive dual/plural is circumflex if there is a null ending. The pattern is the same for words of which stems do not have a vowel and words which have the optional stress before the meglȁ → mègla shift.
These nouns can only be acute in nominative singular, but the stressed endings are acute, except genitive case, where both forms are allowed and in instrumental singular, where it is acute. In genitive dual/plural, they usually have an ending -a or -i, but if they do not, the vowel is acute, or acute or circumflex if it is a fill vowel /a/. All words can also have fixed accent, but nouns that in genitive dual/plural have a null ending have the same form as in the mixed accent.
The second feminine declension is less common. It is used primarily by the widely-productive abstract-noun suffix -ost, but a fair number of other nouns (mostly of Common Slavic origin) also follow it. The endings, however, are different if the noun follows the mixed or ending-accentual type or if the accent is always on the stem.
These nouns can be either circumflex or acute in nominative singular, but all of them are circumflex in all other forms:
There are two subtypes. The first one is not purely ending accent as it has accent on the stem in dative and locative singular and appears if a long fill vowel is stressed in nominative singular. In that case, the e and o accented on the stem are open-mid. The other form is present if the short fill vowel is stressed in nominative singular.
These nouns can only be circumflex and follow the same pattern as ending-accent nouns with long as a fill vowel. If the accent is on e or o in dative singular, the vowels are open-mid.
Third feminine declension follow nouns whose genitive singular (or in any other case) ending is a null ending (-). This declension follow surnames of women (but those ending in -a can also follow first feminine declension), female names, which do not have an ending -a or -e in nominative singular (except most of the Latin and Greek names), such as Kȃrin, Ȋnes, and KȊti, acronyms that keep the feminine gender of the word(s) they represent and do not end in an unstressed a (SAZȖ SAZU 'Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts' and ZDA ZDȂ) 'USA', diminutives of female names and common nouns ending in -i (Ȃni Ȃni (a female name), Mȃlči Mȃlči (a female name), mȃmi mȃmi 'mommy', bȃbi bȃbi 'granny'), and some other words, such as spẹ̄cies spẹ̄cies.
Words declined this way always have fixed accent, which is the same throughout, no matter if it is circumflex or acute, long or short. The only exception is vocative, where the accent is circumflex.
Fourth feminine declension follow nouns whose genitive singular ending is -e and genitive dual/plural is -ih. The nouns following this declension were derived from an adjective, and are therefore nominalized adjectives. The declension is the same as declension for definite feminine adjectives.
This declension does not seem to have any alterations.
These nouns decline the same way as definite masculine forms of adjectives following the first adjectival declension. Therefore, only fixed- and ending-accentual types exist. For accent changes when nominalizing, see § Accent of nominalized adjectives.
The vast majority of neuter nouns follow the first neuter declension. This declension follow nouns whose genitive singular ending is -a. These can have in nominative singular ending -o (following hard o-stem declension), -e (following soft o-stem declension), or a null ending (following one of the other declension subtypes), but in these cases, the stem ends in -e or -o.
The neuter o-stem declension closely resembles its masculine counterpart. The nominative and accusative always have the same form, however, with endings that differ from the masculine nouns. The genitive dual/plural has no ending like in the feminine a-stems. The neuter o-stems are divided between "hard" and "soft" stems, like the masculines.
A small group of neuter nouns follow the neuter n-stem, neuter s-stem or neuter t-stem declensions. These use the same endings as the o-stems (except in nominative and accusative singular), but there is an additional consonant infix (-n-, -s-, -t-) that is present in all forms except the nominative/accusative singular. The n-stem and t-stem are soft in nominative/accusative singular, while in most s-stem nouns, the stem -e before the infix changes into -o. Since these nouns in nominative/accusative singular already end in -e/-o, there is a null ending.
Note that all these nouns have the same accent on dative and locative forms with ending in -i.
Acute nouns that are stressed on an open-mid vowel in nominative singular, diminutives ending in -ce in nominative singular, plurale tantum, and noun jájce are, if composed of two syllables, acute in nominative/genitive plural or allow both if the stressed vowel is open-mid. If the noun is composed of more than three syllables, then they allow both accents no matter the stressed vowel. Those that are acute or open-mid vowel in nominative/accusative plural (except close-mid vowel in nouns that can also be declined with an open-mid vowel) are circumflex or acute in genitive and locative dual/plural, and instrumental plural, except if the stressed vowel is open-mid (in that case the accent is circumflex in genitive dual/plural) or if the stem ends in -č or -r followed or preceded by at least one other consonant; these are circumflex in genitive and locative dual/plural, and instrumental plural. Dative plural is in all nouns accented the same as nominative plural. The accent in dual is either that of the singular or that of the plural form:
These nouns are always acute in nominative singular, but can either be circumflex or acute in genitive singular. The circumflex stay circumflex in all other cases while acute ones further decline as fixed accent nouns which have short circumflex accent in nominative singular and are acute in genitive singular:
These nouns always have short accent, except in dative and instrumental singular, where the accent is the same (but acute if long) as their fixed accent counterparts (if the stem has a fill vowel, then the noun can also be declined as a fixed accent noun), or is long circumflex (acute according to Slovenski pravopis) open-mid o or long circumflex (acute according to Slovenski pravopis) closed-mid e if the stem does not have a vowel. Long vowel is also the fill vowel a in genitive dual/plural and if nouns have special ending in plural and some dual cases. These are dative plural ending is -ẹ̑m instead of -om / -em, locative dual/plural ending -ẹ́h instead of -ih, instrumental plural -mí / -ẹ̄mi instead of -i, and dative and instrumental dual ending is -ẹ̑ma instead of -oma / -ema. Nouns, where the accent is not on the last syllable in genitive dual/plural, allow both accents in that case.
Mixed accent nouns are always circumflex, except open-mid e and o allow both accents. Slovenski pravopis dictates that also closed-mid e and o allow both accents, but the Dictionary of Slovene written language does not. The same rules also apply to dative and genitive forms ending in -i, not written below due to simplicity.
Second neuter declension follow nouns whose genitive singular ending is -e. In modern Slovene, only pronouns jȁz 'I', tȋ 'you', and se(be), which is a reflexive personal pronoun are considered to follow this declension. Therefore, for the accent, endings, and alternations, see those three pronouns in the pronouns section.
Third neuter declension follow nouns whose genitive singular (or in any other case) ending is a null ending (-). This declension follow all nominalized cardinal numerals (when expressed with a number or a word) and verbs that are used as a noun (dóbro jẹ́sti dóbrega jẹ́sti 'eat well', but only a handful of other words, such as domȃ in the phrase ljubo doma kdor ga ima 'home sweet home'. This declension does not seem to have any alterations.
These accents can only have fixed accent, which does not change, except the acute accent changes into circumflex in vocative.
Fourth neuter declension follow nouns whose genitive singular ending is -ega. The nouns following this declension were derived from an adjective, and are therefore nominalized adjectives. The declension is the same as declension for neuter adjectives. Most of these nouns are geographical names and only have a singular form. This declension also differentiates between hard and soft stems, but only in nominative and accusative singular.
This declension does not seem to have any alterations.
These nouns decline the same way as definite feminine forms of adjectives following the first adjectival declension do. Therefore, only fixed and ending accentual types exist. For accent changes when nominalizing, see § Accent of nomnalized adjectives.
When a noun composed of two or more words, sometimes all words are declined as they would be if alone, but there are additional rules.
If all parts of a proper nouns grammatically match then all of them are declined, such as Ivan Cankar Ivana Cankarja 'Ivan Cankar' and Mokro Polje Mokrega Polja 'Mokro Polje'. The exception are surnames of females, which in most cases follow third declensions and have the same ending in all cases (Majda Vrhovnik Majde Vrhovnik 'Majda Vrhovnik'), but surnames following female declensions (usually ending in -a) can be also declined following the original declension (Ana Kopriva Ane Kopriva/Ane Koprive 'Ana Kopriva'). If both females and males with the same surname are mentioned, the surname is declined following original declension if the last name listed is male and follow the exception if the last name listed is female, but both first names are declined as they would normally: Pino in Pia Mlakar → Pina in Pie Mlakar (last listed first name is female) and Pia in Pino Mlakar → Pie in Pina Mlakarja (last listed first name is male). In combination of two names, such as Šmarje - Sap 'Šmarje–Sap' and Gozd - Martuljek 'Gozd Martuljek', both nouns are declined (Šmarje - Sapa, Gozda - Martuljka).
If a part of the composed noun does not grammatically match, it usually follows third declensions, such as Hotel Turist (hotel named "Turist") Hotela Turista, except in some rare cases, such as Založba Lipa (publishing house named "Lipa") Založbe Lipe. If the first part of a compound loanword is considered an adjective or is considered not to be able to stan by itself, then this part also follows third declensions, such as Downing Street Downing Streeta 'Down Street', Kon Tiki Kon Tikija 'Kon Tiki', Monte Carlo Monte Carla 'Monte Carlo', U Tant U Tanta 'U Thant', Mao Cetung Mao Cetunga 'Mao Zedong', but some can be declined following the usual declension or the third, such as Rio de Janeiro Ria de Janeira/Rio de Janeira 'Rio de Janeiro'. Some of these names can also be shortened to only the first word, which in that case follows the usual declension Rio Ria 'Rio de Janeiro' and Mao Maa 'Mao'. Compound loanword nouns with unusual endings for their gender or number follow third declensions: Pickwick Papers Pickwick Papers 'Pickwhick Papers', École des Hautes Études École des Hautes Études 'École des Hautes Études'. Part of nouns, called predimki in Slovene (lit. forenames), part between the name and surname, which was originally usually an article, also follow third declensions: fra Bartolo fra Bartola, Dos Passos Dos Passosa. Some other common words that fall into this category are also van, von, de, Don, O', Las, Los, La, and M'.
When a common noun has a proper noun as a modifier, the proper noun in some cases follows the usual declension and sometimes the third: mesto Ljubljana mesta Ljubljane (the city of Ljubljana), reka Soča reke Soče (the Soča river), as opposed to kraj Mostec kraja Mostec (the town of Mostec), gostilna Gorjanc gostilne Gorjanc (a restaurant named "Gorjanc"). Some can be declined both ways, such as podjetje Iskra podjetja Iskra/podjetja Iskre (Iskra company).
In those cases, all words are declined as usual, such as črno zlato črnega zlata 'coal' and človek žaba človeka žabe, nominative plural ljudje žabe 'frogman', except when they are part of the same word written apart where the first part follows third declensions, such as vikend hiša 'holiday cottage' vikend hiše and žiro račun 'deposit account' žiro računa. In these cases, writing words together is favored (vikendhiša, žiroračun)
Nouns that are not fully integrated in Slovene (are not fully vernacularized) are split into two categories: quoted (citatne) and semi-quoted (polcitatne), depending on how much they are integrated.
All parts of masculine semi-quoted nouns are usually declined following the usual inflection pattern, which is either first, second, or fourth masculine declension, but some that have an unusual ending follow the third masculine declension: [[Sympathetic nervous system|nervus sympathicus]] nervusa sympathicusa, but [[curriculum vitae|curriculum vitae]] curriculuma vitae. Feminine semi-quoted nouns ending in -a in nominative singular are declined following the first feminine declension and others follow the third: [[alma mater|alma mater]] alme mater and [[Smilax aspera|Smilax aspera]] Smilax aspere.
Quoted nouns are declined as originally in the language they were borrowed from: [[alma mater|alma mater]] almae matris, [[curriculum vitae|curriculum vitae]] curriculi vitae, [[first lady|first lady]] first lady, nominative plural first ladies. This declension is always stylistically marked.
Neuter nouns are either masculinized or feminized across a large part of the Slovene-speaking territory. Masculinization occurs in Upper Carniolan, Lower Sava Valley, Central Savinja, Horjul, Škofja Loka, Poljane, Selca, Črni Vrh, Ebriach, North Pohorje-Remšnik, and Mežica dialects, Kranjska Gora subdialect, and in parts of Rosen Valley, Juan Valley, Lower Carniolan, Central Styrian, and South Pohorje dialects. It is most commonly present in singular, and less in dual and plural. Masculinization varies from nouns binding with masculine forms of adjectives to completely change the declension, such as in Lower Sava Valley dialect. In that case nouns following the first neuter declension change to following first masculine, those following second neuter to following second masculine declension those following the third neuter to third masculine and those following fourth neuter to fourth masculine. Masculinized nouns following first declension have in genitive dual/plural a null ending, which is also present in some other masculine nouns. Mixed and mobile accentual type generally turns into fixed. Those following fourth declension have a null ending in nominative singular. The t-, s-, and n-stem nouns usually have the long stem in all cases.
Feminization of neuter nouns occurs in eastern Carinthian, northern Styrian, and many Panonian dialects. Feminization is the most common in plural, but is also very common in singular in dual. Similarly to masculinization, nouns following the first neuter declension change to following the first feminine, those following the second neuter to second feminine, those following the third neuter to third feminine and those following fourth neuter to fourth feminine. Mobile and mixed accentual type generally turn into fixed. The t-, s-, and n-stem nouns usually have the short stems in all cases, which is furthermore shortened, without the last o/e. The accent also changes accordingly to one syllable before, if the final o/e was accented.
Adjective declension is simpler than noun declension, as there are only two different inflection patterns. The first declension is the same as fourth noun declension for each case, while the second adjective declension is the same as third noun declensions (have a null ending in all cases). Adjectives can have all four accentual types. Adjectives can be compared in two ways, having three degrees of comparison in the first comparison (positive, comparative, superlative) and the second having two (positive and elative) and can be declined either by affixes or by adding other an adverb before it.
Declension of adjectival pronouns and irregular numerals is detailed in the pronouns and irregular numerals section.
Adjectives in Slovene distinguish between indefinite and definite meanings. They correspond in meaning to the distinction between the English indefinite article a, referring to an unknown thing, and the definite article the, referring to a known thing. The definite form is also used in fixed noun phrases, where the combination of adjective and noun are to be understood as a single concept. Apart from that, they are also used under the following conditions:
The corresponding interrogative word for indefinite adjectives is kākšen and for definite adjectives katẹ̄ri for definite adjectives. Thus, definite forms behave like relational adjectives, which already mostly have an -i ending.
Definite adjectives have an ending -i in nominative and vocative singular. All other forms are usually the same for regular adjectives, acting as both indefinite and definite adjective, but adjectives that do not have fixed accent and some irregular adjectives change the stem or the accent, so all forms are differentiated.
For some adjectives, however, there are more differences between the indefinite and definite declensions:
In addition, not all adjectives have definite and indefinite form. Adjectives ending in -ov/-ev (bratov, borovničev) or -in (sestrin), adjectival pronouns, and adjectives and numerals ending in -i (slovenski, kmečki, neki, kateri) are (except some pronouns) definite by meaning, but only those ending in -i decline as definite adjectives, others decline as indefinite forms.
Most of the adjectives follow the first declension, which changes the endings when declined. These adjectives, when nominalized, follow fourth declensions. The endings can be split into three groups of cases:
The accusative singular is different if the adjective stays directly before the noun or not. In the latter case, masculine form allows only genitive ending, feminine only accusative and neuter allows both endings.
The masculine accusative singular before the adjective is like either the nominative or the genitive, as in masculine nouns. Which form is used depends on which form the accompanying noun uses, which in turn depends on whether the noun is animate or inanimate.
Adjectives do not nearly change the accent as much when declined as nouns, however there are six different ways that can happen:
Adjectives with mobile accent are acute in nominative singular masculine form and can be either circumflex or acute in feminine form. Circumflex ones change the accent in other forms the same way as fixed-accented adjectives that are acute in masculine and circumflex in feminine, and acute ones are always acute. The only exception is definite form of vélik, vẹ̑liki and acts as a fixed accent adjective.
Ending accents are usually stylistically marked and are circumflex when the ending is stressed, but the stem is acute (except fill vowels). The definite form is accented on the stem and o, e are close-mid, except if it does not have a vowel. Definite forms have fixed accent. If the stem does not have a vowel, then the first syllable is accentuated and acute if long. Some speakers can also accentuate indefinite forms the same as definite.
There are two different ways mixed accent adjectives are declined, with short or long stress on endings, most of them following the first way.
The first way can have, along with the fixed accentuation, the ending accented only in nominative and vocative singular neuter form, accusative singular feminine and neuter form, and nominative and vocative dual and plural in all forms. However, some of these accents are stylistically marked:
Moreover, in nominative and accusative dual in feminine and neuter form these adjectives can also have a stylistically marked ending -ẹ̑ in addition to the usual -i. They follow one of the fixed accent tone changes if the accent is on the stem. If the feminine nominative singular form is acute, then other accents are acute. If it is circumflex, then it is circumflex in all forms. The endings are always circumflex. Defnite forms have fixed accent that is the same as "other" forms. The exceptions are mlȃd when meaning 'offspring' or 'young people/animals', sȃm, dȏlg, and stȁr when it is nominalized or in collocations. These forms are always circumflex.
The second way with short accents is that the accent is on the stem only in nominative singular, and on the ending in all other forms. All adjectives following this pattern can also have fixed accent, and can only have fixed accent in definite forms. The ending is always short circumflex and definite form is acute.
These adjectives decline as mobile accent adjectives, but also have the ending-accentuated forms of the adjectivves following the first way of mixed accentual type.
Some adjectives, especially the ones derived recently from loanwords (bẹ̑ž 'beige', instȃnt 'instant', rọ̑za 'pink' – derived from Italian rosa or German rosa) decline without changing the endings. When nominalized, they usually decline following third declensions. These adjectives also don't differentiate between definite and indefinite forms and the ending does not change when not followed by noun.
The accent is always fixed and does not change, except in vocative, where acute changes into circumflex.
Cardinal numerals from five onward can be declined both ways. Smaller numbers (up to 100) are usually declined using first declension (pẹ̑t pétih/pẹ̑t 'five'), and bigger (1000 and onwards) using second declension (milijọ̑n milijọ̑n/milijọ̑nih 'million'). Declining big numbers using first declension is really uncommon. Noun nȉč 'zero' can also be declined both ways. If the numeral is composed of more words, only the last one follows first declension (stọ̑ pẹ̑t, stọ̑ pétih 'one hundred five'). When all numerals are written with a number, they always follow second declension.
Indefinite numerals ending in -o and collective numerals ending in -o or -e can also decline both ways: kọ̄liko, kọ̄likih/kọ̄liko; petẹ̑ro, petẹ̑rih/petẹ̑ro.
Adverbs formed from adjectives have an ending in -o for hard stems and -e for soft stems. If not otherwise noted, adverbs keep the same tone as the adjective in nominative singular neuter form (the second form in the given examples below). Adverbs formed from fixed and mobile accent adjectives keep accent on the stem, those derived from ending accent nouns or from those following the second form of mixed accents (with short accents on ending) have the accent on the ending, which is long circumflex for hard stems and short circumflex for soft stems. Adverbs formed from mobile and mixed or only mixed nouns following the first pattern (with long accents on endings) can have the accent either on the stem or the ending. If the ending accent was stylistically marked in neuter nominative singular form, it is not marked, just less common.
Adjectives ending in -ski, -ški, or -čki also have a stylistically marked form ending in -i.
For all adjectives, comparative, superlative and elative are formed periphrastically, using the adverbs bȍlj 'more', nȁjbolj/nȃjbolj 'most', and prevȅč 'too (much)' or many other adverbs similar in meaning, respectively. For some adjectives, especially more basic or old ones, the comparative and superlative can also be formed with affixes. These can still be compared periphrastically, but the form with affixes is usually favored.
There are three affixes used to form the comparative: -ši, -ji and -ejši. Which one is used depends in a large part on the shape of the adjective's stem, although these are not hard rules and there are some exceptions. The superlative is formed from the comparative by prefixing nȁj- / nȃj- to it. Elative is formed from positive prefixng prȅ- to it. Elative can be formed periphrastically by all adjectives. If adjective can be compared periphrastically, this form is favored.
Adjectives ending in -ȁt (bradȁt), -ast (kọ́drast), -ȁv/-ȃv/-av (klepetȁv), -ən (láčen), participles and colors are usually compared periphrastically, but there are exceptions as some can also be compared with affixes, which are not favored. (bẹ́l → bȍlj bẹ́l/belȇjši).
Compared adjectives declines as either always acute or always circumflex fixed accent adjectives. Some adjectives lack positive and elative form; these are then sorted in dictionaries by the comparative.
The suffix -ši is used with one-syllable adjectives ending in b, d or p, preceded by a vowel or /ər/. After a vowel, d becomes j, and after r it disappears altogether. The suffix is also used with adjectives ending in -ok or -ek, which is dropped in the comparative, and along with the previous changes, t also changes to j and other consonants are iotated.
The suffix -ji is used with one-syllable adjectives ending in g, h or k. In the comparative, these change to their palatalised variants ž, š and č respectively. The suffix is also used with adjectives ending in -ok or -ek preceded by one of these consonants. Again, the suffix is dropped and the final consonant is iotated. The stem is always circumflex, the only exception is the last example.
The suffix -ejši is used in all other cases, including one-syllable adjectives ending in more than one consonant or adjectives with more than one syllable. Some adjectives keep the accent on the stem, and is then the same as the stem accent in nominative singular neuter form, or the suffix may be circumflex accented -ȇjši with an open-mid vowel. The latter case is more typical for ending and mixed accent adjectives while the first form is more typical for fixed and mobile accent adjectives.
Adverbs compare the same way as adjectives do, but the š in the ending can be omitted, except in -ši (not preceded by j), and final i in the ending turns into e. Those declined with suffix -je, which have č, š, or ž before the ending can also have ending -e. Only the ending -ȇj(š)e allows accent on the ending, in other forms only fixed accent remains. The accent also changes the same way as with adjectives, the three exceptions are the last two examples, where comparative allows both accents.
Nominalized adjectives and adverbs that form a collocation with a preposition (such as od mlȃdega) 'since chiildhood'(lit. since young) are always circumflex if disyllabic and have accent on the first syllable in definite masculine nominative singular form. When nominalized nouns are a proper noun, then they are also circumflex. Otherwise, they keep accent the same.
Pronouns declined and therefore detailed here can be either nominal or adjectival and follow one of the respective declensions, although many of them are heavily irregular; these are detailed here.
Nominal pronouns, apart from personal pronouns are of two types; first are used to refer to people and are masculine gender, and other are used for everything else and are neuter gender. Exception are nominal pronouns which are the same gender as the noun they represent.
Personal pronouns have in some cases up to four forms. The accusative, genitive and dative forms have stressed and unstressed forms; the stressed forms are used when particular emphasis is needed. The accusative also has a form used when preceded by a monosyllabic preposition, skọ̑zi 'through' (which is changed to skọ̑z-), or v 'in' (which is changed into vȃ-) that is combined with the preposition, such as na 'on' + me 'me', which are combined into nȃme 'on me' and v 'in, into' + te 'you', which are combined into vȃte 'into you'. Stressed combining form also exist, however they are considered archaic and do not actually combine with the preposition (for example, na mẹ́ 'on me'). Instead of combining forms, usual stressed forms can also be used.
Different forms are in the table below written as unstressed / streesed / combining / stressed combining. Note that not all pronouns have all expected forms in each case and number.
The first and second person singular pronouns are very irregular, and follow their own declension (second neuter declension). The nominative forms of the dual and plural have different forms for the genders, depending on who is speaking or who is being spoken to. In the case of the dual, the nominative developed from literally "we two" and "you two", although the other cases were inherited from Common Slavic. The combining forms exist only in singular.
The reflexive pronouns are used to refer back to the subject or to some other word, and have only a single set of forms for all three numbers, which inflect like the first- and second-person singular pronouns. There is no nominative form.
The third-person pronouns inflect similar to the fourth declensions, but irregularly. Like in the first- and second-person pronouns, the accusative is the same as the genitive, and the ending -ih in the dual forms is replaced with -iju. The nominative is formed from a different stem than the other cases. The combining forms in masculine and neuter singular have two different versions, the latter being used when combining with a preposition that does not end with a vowel, which are skozi "through" (skozenj), pred "in from of, before" (predenj), and čez "over, in a certain amount of time" (čezenj).
The subject in Slovene is often omitted when it consists only of personal pronouns, so use of them as a subject is not so common. As a subject, personal pronouns are used only in the following cases, which are the same as when a stressed form is used instead of the unstressed one:
The interrogative pronouns kdọ̄ 'who' and kāj 'what' have only singular forms, and have irregular stem changes. kaj also replaces the normal -g- in the genitive with -s-.
The relative pronouns kdọ̑r/kdȍr 'who, that' and kȁr 'which, that' inflect like kdo and kaj, but add -r to the end of each form, adding a fill vowel if necessary. The ending -j is also dropped.
Relative indefinite pronouns kdọ̑rkọ̑li/kdȍrkọ̑li 'whoever' and kȁrkọ̑li 'whatever' are declined as kdor and kar, but with a suffix at the end, which can also be a separate word (kdor koli, kar koli).
The pronouns nekdọ̄/nẹ̑kdo 'somebody' and nẹ̄kaj 'something' follow the declensions of kdo and kaj. Pronoun nekdo can also have a prefix pre-, which is declined the same: prenekdọ̄/prenẹ̑kdo 'quite a few people' prenekọ̄ga.
The pronouns nihčȅ/nȋhče 'nobody' and nȉč 'nothing' follow the declensions of kdor and kar, but the nominative and accusative are different. The pronoun nȋkdo is an archaic version of nihčȅ. The other forms are the same as nihče.
Integral pronoun vsȃkdo 'everyone' follows the declension of kdo, but vse 'everything' is irregular.
Manifold pronouns are formed by adding a prefix to the interrogative pronouns and are thus declined the same way. The prefix can be mȁrsi- 'quite a few', mnọ̑go- 'many' málo- 'few' or rẹ́dko- 'scarcely'; the last one can combine only with kaj. Prefixes malo and redko can also be written as a separate word (malo kaj, redko kdo).
These are kdọ́ 'someone arbitrary' and kȁj 'something arbitrary', which are written and declined the same as interrogative pronouns, but interrogative kaj has a different accent. An example sentence is Vzemi si kaj za jesti. 'Grab something to eat.'. The difference between these pronouns and indefinite pronouns is that one is not obliged to do anything. In the example sentence, the subject is not obliged to grab anything, but in the sentence Vzemi si nekaj za jesti, which would be translated the same, the subject is obliged to grab something.
Most of the adjectival pronouns are regular and follow first adjective declension. Pronouns that follow second declension are čȋgar, čigȃvər, kọ̑likor, ki, nȉč, and precȇj. Pronoun nobȅn has, the same as ȅn, a different definite nominal singular form when nominalized – nobȅden.
These pronouns are built from another pronoun by adding an undeclinable suffix -koli, -sibodi, -le, or -lele (kȃkršenkọ̑li, kȃkršensibọ́di, tákle, tȃlele). In these cases, the pronoun it consists of is declined as usual and the suffix is added at the end. Thus endings turn into infixes. (genitive singular masculine kȃkršnegakọ̑li, kȃkršnegasibọ́di, tákegale, tẹ̑galele). Pronouns ending in -sibodi can also be written in three words and those ending in -koli in two: kakršen si bodi, kakršen koli.
The demonstrative tȃ "this" inflects like an adjective, but -i- in the endings is replaced with -e-. Many of the forms have shortened alternatives, including cases of non-final short accents.
The word vȅs "all" and inflects much like tȃ, but it inflects as if it were a soft stem, having -e in the neuter nominative/accusative singular. All the accents are short, even those in a non-final syllable, where [ə] is pronounced.
Numeral ȅn 'one' and its derivatives have a definite form édən in nominative singular when nominalized, but others are the same. Numerals dvȃ 'two' and obȃ have -i- in endings replaced with -e- and numerals tríje 'three' and štírje 'four' have a different ending in nominative and accusative. Numeral tríje also changes the -i- in the ending to -e- in other cases. Other cardinal numerals have a null ending in all genders in nominative, vocative, and accusative (example pẹ̑t 'five'). Numeral stọ̑ (stem stót-) 'hundred' has a different form in nominative, vocative, and accusative, and open-mid vowel in numerals pẹ̑t (stem pét-) 'five', šẹ̑st (stem šést) 'six', sẹ̑dəm (stem sédm-) 'seven', ọ̑sem (stem ósm-) 'eight', devẹ̑t (stem devét-) 'nine', and desẹ̑t (stem desét-) 'ten' is changed to close-mid vowel in nominative. They also change the accent irregularly in nominative and accusative:
Note that this changes occur only when numerals follow first adjective declension. When following second declension, numerals have a nominative form throughout. For more information regarding which declension they follow, see section words that can follow both declensions.
There are many dialectal changes, with the most common being:
Many different endings can also appear in general colloquial speech:
There are also some obsolete styles of declension lost in modern Slovene:
In the southeastern part of Brda dialect, the modern vowel reduction was so developed that a new way of declining nouns was developed. Brda dialect lost the original tonal oppositions, but they developed them back in a new way, so more cases can be distinguished:
A similar thing also happens with i-stem nouns when the ending is -i.