Fifth Sklon – Locative

The Slovene language has 6 grammatical cases – skloni. Each serves its own purpose, knowing how and when to use them is quite important when learning Slovene.

Before moving on to the fifth sklon, you should be familiar with the First Sklon – Nominative, Fourth Sklon – Accusative and Second Sklon – Genitive. They are the most commonly used cases. By knowing them well, you should be able to get by quite nicely!

But, we are perseverant learners, so let’s learn the fifth sklon!

The fifth sklon is also known as mestnik or lokativ in Slovene and it is the “Locative” case. The mestnik sklon is always used with a preposition.

Here’s the table for the Sklon 5, Locative (I am next to…)

SKLON 5	(m) NOV_ PRIJATELJ_	(ž) NOVA PRIJATELJICA	(s) NOVO LETALO
(E) Sem pri	novem prijatelju	novi prijateljici	novem letalu
(D) Sem pri	novih prijateljih	novih prijateljicah	novih letalih
(M) Sem pri	novih prijateljih	novih prijateljicah	novih letalih

Reminder:  (E) ednina/singular, (D) dvojina/dual, (M) množina/plural and (m) moški/masculine, (ž) ženski/feminine, (s) srednji/neutral.

❤ And here’s an simplified version of the endings, easier to remember :

SKLON 5	(m)	(ž)	(s)
(E)	–EM –U	-I-I	–EM –U
(D)	–IH –IH	–IH –AH	–IH –IH
(M)	–IH –IH	–IH –AH	–IH –IH

As you can see, many of the endings in Locative is the same. Refer to the colors:

• the masculine form and neutral form are exactly the same,
• the dual masculine/neutral form is the same as its plural form and
• the feminine dual and plural forms are the same.

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When to use the fifth sklon

The fifth sklon is always used with a preposition.

1. the preposition v and na  when it dictates a location, without movement or direction (otherwise, it will be the Fourth sklon)
   For example, I am (where?) in school → Sem (kje?) v šoli⁵. I am at lunch → Sem na kosilu⁵.

   For more information: The prepositions v and na – Fourth Sklon. — With city and country that ends with -ska, -ška, the ending in feminine singular is –em instead of -i. For example: I’m in Croatia → Sem na Hrvaškem.

2. following specific preposition
   • pri (next to) | i.e. I am next to (what? who?) the house / Anna → Sem pri (kom? čem?) hiši⁵ / Anni⁵(Yes, skloni apply to names as well!),
   • ob (at / by) | i.e. I have an appointment (when?) at one o’clock / every Monday → Imam sestanek⁴ (kdaj?) ob enih⁵* / ponedeljkih^5(M). I am sitting by the sea → Sedim ob morju⁵.
     

     *For more information: How to Say Dates and Times in Slovene.

   • po (around / after) | i.e. I travel around the World → Potujem po svetu⁵. Let’s go for coffee after class →  Gremo na kavo⁴ po pouku⁵.
   • o (about) | i.e. We’re talking about the Slovenia→ Pogovarjamo se o Sloveniji⁵.

Luckily with the fifth sklon, this is pretty much all you need to know about it! 🙂

Although, as you noticed, in Slovene, prepositions are important indicators (and hints) of which sklon to use, but BE CAREFUL:

Some prepositions can be used with more than just one sklon!

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Learning Slovene (or any language) can seem like a very big chunk at first, but the trick is to practise it as often as you can and to go step by step!

Questioning and looking for answers are also part of the learning process. So, if you have any questions, comments: don’t hesitate and contact me!

Update – here is my Cheat sheet “Table of Skloni “. More can be found under Learning Materials.

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Discover more Slovene “lessons” that might interest you: Slovene Numbers & Numerals, Slovene Nouns & Pronouns, Slovene Verbs, Slovene Adjectives, Slovene Syntax, Slovenian Idioms, Slovene Adverbs.

Let’s learn,
Anna.