Slovene Nouns with Special Declension

An interesting concept about Slovene nouns is its declension. As we know, nouns are divided into three genders (masculine, feminine and neuter) and three grammatical numbers (singular, dual and plural). There are six “general” skloni, which are applied to most nouns. Some exceptions are declined by genders. And some nouns are even more special and have their own declension.

Here’s a list of some special nouns that falls into the last category. Blue marks the “roots”, red marks the “regular endings” and green marks the difference.

Dan – Day

Dan is a noun that is used on a daily basis and it is masculine. Some declension has two versions – a short and a long, and both are correct. The longer version, dan becomes dnev and it follows the general endings.

dan	(E) *ednina*	(D) *dvojina*	(M) *množina*
*Sklon 1*	dan	dneva	dveni
*Sklon 2*	dneva / dne	dni / dnevov	dni / dnevov
*Sklon 3*	dnevu	dnema / dnevoma	dnem / dnevom
*Sklon 4*	dan	dneva / dni	dni / dneve
*Sklon 5*	dnevu	dneh / dnevih	dneh / dnevih
*Sklon 6*	dnevom / dnem	dnema / dnevoma	dnevi / dnemi

Človek – Man

Človek is a very interesting masculine noun as its singular and plural form are very different. With človek, it follows the normal declension, while with ljudi, it doesn’t.

človek	(E) *ednina*	(D) *dvojina*	(M) *množina*
*Sklon 1*	človek	človeka	ljudje
*Sklon 2*	človeka	ljudi	ljudi
*Sklon 3*	človeku	človekoma	ljudem
*Sklon 4*	človeka	človeka	ljudi
*Sklon 5*	človeku	ljudeh	ljudeh
*Sklon 6*	človekom	človekoma	ljudmi

Gospa – Lady

The noun gospa is feminine and quite funny noun because despite the six declensions and three grammatical numbers, the variation is slight. You might notice, when the regular ending should be -i, it is –e.

gospa	(E) *ednina*	(D) *dvojina*	(M) *množina*
*Sklon 1*	gospa	gospe	gospe
*Sklon 2*	gospe	gospa	gospa
*Sklon 3*	gospe	gospema	gospem
*Sklon 4*	gospo	gospe	gospe
*Sklon 5*	gospe	gospeh	gospeh
*Sklon 6*	gospo	gospema	gospemi

Otrok – Child

Most endings for the masculine noun otrok follow the general declension, but there is a little deviation.

otrok	(E) *ednina*	(D) *dvojina*	(M) *množina*
*Sklon 1*	otrok	otroka	otroci
*Sklon 2*	otroka	otrok	otrok
*Sklon 3*	otroku	otrokoma	otrokom
*Sklon 4*	otroka	otroka	otroke
*Sklon 5*	otroku	otrocih	otrocih
*Sklon 6*	otrokom	otrokoma	otroki

Hči – Daughter

Hči is another special feminine noun, where hči becomes hčer. Some endings follow the general declension, but not entirely.

hči	(E) *ednina*	(D) *dvojina*	(M) *množina*
*Sklon 1*	hči	hčeri	hčere
*Sklon 2*	hčere	hčera / hčer	hčera / hčer
*Sklon 3*	hčeri	hčerama	hčeram
*Sklon 4*	hčer	hčeri	hčere
*Sklon 5*	hčeri	hčerah	hčerah
*Sklon 6*	hčerjo	hčerama	hčerami

Mati – Mother

Mati is the noun for mother and it is obviously feminine, even if it does not end with -a. Endings are the same as in general but mati becomes mater. (Bonus: mami means mommy and is never declined.)

mati	(E) *ednina*	(D) *dvojina*	(M) *množina*
*Sklon 1*	mati	materi	matere
*Sklon 2*	matere	mater	mater
*Sklon 3*	materi	materama	materam
*Sklon 4*	mater	materi	matere
*Sklon 5*	materi	materah	materah
*Sklon 6*	materjo	materama	materami

Other nouns also have special declension, but the only difference is that some are only plural nouns.

Oko – Eye and Oči – Eyes

Oko is the singular form for eye and it is neuter – but it can be dual, plural. While oči is the plural form for eyes and feminine – but it is only plural. Why there are two versions? I have no idea. (If any of you know, please tell me! An example of the use would be:

Imam rdeče oko. (I have one red eye.)
Imam suhi očesi (I have two dry eyes).
Krompir ima tri očesa (The potato has three eyes.)

Imate zdrave oči. (You have healthy eye – a healthy pairs of eyes.)

oko	(E) *ednina*	(D) *dvojina*	(M) *množina*
*Sklon 1*	oko	očesi	očesa
*Sklon 2*	očesa	očes	očes
*Sklon 3*	očesu	očesoma	očesom
*Sklon 4*	oko	očesi	očesa
*Sklon 5*	očesu	očesih	očesih
*Sklon 6*	očesom	očesoma	očesi

oči	(M) *množina*
*Sklon 1*	oči
*Sklon 2*	oči
*Sklon 3*	očem
*Sklon 4*	oči
*Sklon 5*	očeh
*Sklon 6*	očmi

Tla – Floors

Tla, which means floors, is neuter and always plural.

tla	(M) *množina*
*Sklon 1*	tla
*Sklon 2*	tal
*Sklon 3*	tlom
*Sklon 4*	tla
*Sklon 5*	tleh
*Sklon 6*	tlemi / tli

Other nouns that you might want to check out : uho (ear), drva (wood)…

I know it is a lot of different “special endings” at once, but you don’t need to memorize them perfectly at once. Take your time, get familiar with them, and just by knowing that those nouns are “special” in Slovene, is already a big step! If you have any questions, don’t hesitate and contact me!

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