In general, the conjugation of regular verbs in Slovene is quite simple to remember and apply, especially in the Present Tense, as it follows a straight forward pattern.
Irregular verbs on the other hand are a little bit more tricky and it needs some practice and memorizing.
| An easy way to remember verbs conjugation in Slovene is to memorize the “jaz” form and simply change the ending accordingly. — Regular verbs ending with -ti, such as kuhati (to cook), -ti becomes -m, ∴ jaz kuham. — Irregular verbs, such as bati se (to be afraid), the ending is same as with regular verbs, but the first part differs from its infinitive form, ∴ jaz se bojim. |
Biti (sem) and Imeti (imam)
Two of the most basics verbs that we usually learnt during the early stage of learning Slovene is biti (to be) and imeti (to have). And they are irregular.
Verbs ending with –ovati or –evati
Verbs ending with -ovati, the “ova” always becomes “uje“.
- potrebovati (potrebujem) – to need
- potovati (potujem) – to travel
- svetovati (svetujem) – to advise
And 95% of the verbs ending with –evati, the “eva” also becomes “uje“.
- končevati (končujem) – to finish
- vključevati (vključujem) – to include
Verbs ending with –či
A common ending for irregular verbs is –či. Most frequently, the “č” of the “či” is kept and, the “i” is replaced by “e“.
- reči (rečem) – to say
- teči (tečem) – to run
- vleči (vlečem) – to pull
- obleči se (oblečem se) – to get dressed
- peči (pečem) – to bake
Another possible ending, but less frequent is the “č” of the “či” becomes “ž” but the “i” is also replaced by “e“.
- vreči (vržem) – to throw
- preseči (presežem) – to exceed
- leči (ležem) – to lie down
Verbs ending with -sati
With some verbs ending with –sati, the “sa” becomes “še“. (Notice how the s changes into š.)
- pisati (pišem) – to write
- plesati (plešem) – to dance
- risati (rišem) – to draw
Irregular verbs are used everyday
Some of verbs that we frequently use everyday are also irregular, but fortunately, most of you should already be familiar with them:
- iti (grem) – to go,
- jesti (jem) – to eat,
- piti (pijem) – to drink,
- brati (berem) – to read and
- vedeti (vem) – to know.
Some verbs you might not be as familiar with, but it would be a good idea to know about them:
- najti (najdem) – to find
- iskati (iščem) – to look for
- živeti (živim) – to live
- moči (morem) – to be able to
- hoteti (hočem) – to want
- pasti (padem) – to fall
- spati (spim) – to sleep
The list of irregular verbs can go on for a while and it’s probably too much to learn everything at once. Although, with time, perseverance and practice, it will become easier.
As mentioned in previous post, one of my favorite reference for verbs is Slovenski Glagol by Rada Lečič and it also includes an nice list of irregular verbs in the Present Tense.
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.
Anna in Slovenia 