Sixth Sklon – Instrumental

Slovene has 6 grammatical cases, known as skloni – and to learn properly, it is good to know when to use which.

I suggest that you be familiar with the First Sklon – Nominative, Fourth Sklon – Accusative, Second Sklon – Genitive and Fifth Sklon – Locative before starting the sixth sklon.

The sixth sklon, also known as orodnik or instrumental in Slovene, is the “Instrumental” case. The orodnik sklon is always used with a preposition.

Here’s the table for the Sklon 6, Instrumental (I travel with…)

SKLON 6	(m) NOV_ AVTOBUS_	(ž) NOVA LADJA	(s) NOVO LETALO
(E) Potujem z	novim avtobusom	novo ladjo	novim letalom
(D) Potujem z	novima avtobusoma	novima ladjama	novima letaloma
(M) Potujem z	novimi avtobusi	novimi ladjami	novimi letali

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

As you can see, in Instrumental, many endings are the same or very similar. Refer to the colors:

• the masculine form and neutral form are exactly the same,
• the dual masculine, feminine and neutral form all ends with a,
• the plural masculine, feminine and neutral form all ends with i and
• the dual and plural feminine form differs from the masculine/neutral form by an a.

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

SKLON 6	(m)	(ž)	(s)
(E)	–IM –OM*	-O -O	–IM –OM*
(D)	–IMA –OMA*	–IMA –AMA	–IMA –OMA*
(M)	–IMI –I	–IMI –AMI	–IMI –I

Reminder: * is the famous bracket (c, č, š, ž j) where the o changes into e.

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When to use the sixth sklon

The sixth sklon is always used with a preposition.

1. the preposition s and z when it means with (if it means from, then it is the second sklon).
   For example, I am talking (with who/what?) with Anna → Pogovarjam se (s kom / s čim?) z Anno⁶. I go with bicycle → Grem s kolesom⁶.

   The preposition s is used before words starting with C, Č, F, H, K, P, S, Š, T and z is used for the rest.

2. following specific preposition
   • the “cubic directions” for location: pred (in front), za (behind), nad (above), pod (below) and med (in between) | i.e. The cat is under the table → Maček je pod mizo⁶.
     

     The prepositions med (in between, during) and pred (in front, before) can be used either for location or time frame.

The use of the sixth sklon is rather simple to understand. On the other hand, remembering the table ending is more problematic as they are longer.

❗ Be careful with the prepositions as some prepositions can be used with more than just one sklon!

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Prepositions are big indicators of skloni. One trick I like to use is to underline prepositions to pinpoint them – it helps me learn which sklon is being use, then I use ^exponential to mark the sklon of a noun. With time and practice, such analysis became an automate and I find t very useful. Hope that trick can help you too!

Prepositions can be confusing at some point – just remember in which situations they are used. If you have any questions, comments – don’t hesitate and leave me a message!

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.