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.

Grammatical categories[]

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):

Nominative (imenovalnik or nominativ)
Genitive (rodilnik or genitiv)
Dative (dajalnik or dativ)
Accusative (tožilnik or akuzativ)
Locative (mestnik or lokativ)
Instrumental (orodnik or instrumental)

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. However, the accusative is sometimes identical to the nominative and sometimes identical to the genitive. Therefore, this article lists the accusative between the nominative and genitive.

Slovene has three numbers:

Singular (ednina), which refers to one object.
Dual (dvojina), which refers to a pair of objects.
Plural (množina), which refers to more than two objects.

A noun in Slovene can have one of the following three genders:

Masculine (moški); divided further into animate (accusative singular equals genitive) and inanimate (accusative singular equals nominative).
Feminine (ženski)
Neuter (srednji)

Nouns[]

The declensions for nouns can be split by gender, as gender and declension pattern normally coincide. However, some nouns of one gender follow the declension of another gender, so this is not an absolute rule. 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.

The gender of a noun can usually be determined from the final vowel in the nominative singular:

Masculine nouns typically end in a consonant, although a few end in a vowel.
Feminine nouns usually end in -a; these are the "a-stem" nouns. A number of feminine nouns end in a consonant; these are "i-stem" and "v-stem" nouns.
Neuter nouns end in -o or -e.

Every declensional class has a small subset of nouns following the so-called "mobile accent" paradigm. These nouns have the accent on the ending in some of the forms, in particular in the genitive singular, and some of the endings may also be different. The mobile paradigms were inherited from Common Slavic, where they were more numerous. In modern Slovene, they are best treated as irregular because there are relatively few of them, but the declensional patterns are usually still regular enough to consider them as cohesive subclasses. Many nouns with mobile accent are commonly used, which has helped to preserve them.

Masculine o-stem nouns[]

Most masculine nouns follow the same inflection pattern, termed "o-stem" nouns. O-stem nouns are divided between "hard" and "soft" stems, see the main Slovene grammar article for the meaning of these terms.

Masculine nouns are further divided between animate and inanimate nouns. This difference is only significant for the accusative singular.

For inanimate nouns, the accusative singular is identical to the nominative singular. For example, stȍl "chair", genitive singular stóla, accusative singular stȍl.
For animate nouns, the accusative singular is identical to the genitive singular. For example, fȁnt "boy", genitive singular fánta, accusative singular fánta.

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 -ni), or the form of the genitive (-ega).

Masculine o-stem endings
	Singular	Dual	Plural	Singular	Dual	Plural
	Hard declension			Soft declension
Nominative	-	-a	-i	-	-a	-i
Accusative	nom or gen	-a	-e	nom or gen	-a	-e
Genitive	-a	-ov	-ov	-a	-ev	-ev
Dative	-u	-oma	-om	-u	-ema	-em
Locative	-u	-ih	-ih	-u	-ih	-ih
Instrumental	-om	-oma	-i	-em	-ema	-i

A few nouns ending in -elj have a stem in -eljn- rather than dropping the fill vowel. For example, nágelj "carnation", genitive singular nágeljna.
If the stem of a noun ends in -rj-, the nominative singular ends only in -r. For example, redár "security guard at a public event", genitive singular redárja.
Some nouns have the ending -je in the nominative plural instead of -i. This is a remnant of the Common Slavic masculine i-stem inflection, which was mostly lost in Slovene except for this ending. For example: študȅnt "student", nominative plural študéntje, gospọ̑d "sir, lord", nominative plural gospọ̑dje, kmȅt "farmer", nominative plural kmẹ́tje, etc. Usually, the regular form is also allowed, or even preferred.
In the 19th century the ending -i was often used in the dative/locative singular instead of -u. For example, nominative óče "father", dative/locative očẹ́ti. Nowadays this ending is considered archaic or dialectal.

A relatively small number of masculine nouns have a nominative singular ending in a vowel. These can be declined in various ways, depending on the individual noun.

Those ending in -o (and rarely -e) decline as regular masculine o-stems with simply an additional vowel in the nominative singular (and accusative, if inanimate). In the other forms, the ending replaces this vowel. For example, kȋno "cinema", genitive singular kȋna; Čȋle "Chile", genitive singular Čȋla. Personal names ending in -o (which are fairly common) decline in this way.
Those ending in -i or -u (primarily loanwords), as well as all words ending in a stressed vowel, add -j- after the stem when endings are attached, and therefore decline as soft o-stems. For example, Vȋšnu "Vishnu", genitive singular Vȋšnuja; apartmȃ "apartment", genitive singular apartmȃja.
Those ending in -a usually decline as feminine a-stems (accusative -o, genitive -e), but can optionally also decline as regular o-stems. For example, vọ̑jvoda "duke", genitive singular vọ̑jvode / vọ̑jvoda. If declined as feminine a-stems, these nouns do not show animacy themselves (since the nominative, accusative and genitive singular all have their own distinct forms), but adjectives and other modifying words will still show animacy as appropriate.
Proper names ending in -e normally follow the neuter declension like the noun otročȅ, adding the infix -et- before the endings. For example, Zvọ̑ne, genitive singular Zvọ̑neta. Despite declining as neuters, these nouns still show animacy, so the accusative singular follows the genitive.

Masculine o-stem nouns with stem accent[]

The basic and most common accentual type has accent on the same syllable throughout the stem. In circumflex stems, the accent is the same in all forms. In acute stems, the locative singular, genitive dual/plural, locative dual/plural and instrumental plural can optionally have a circumflex accent.

	Singular	Dual	Plural	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	korȃk	korȃka	korȃki	kováč	kováča	kováči
Accusative	korȃk	korȃka	korȃke	kováča	kováča	kováče
Genitive	korȃka	korȃkov	korȃkov	kováča	kovāčev	kovāčev
Dative	korȃku	korȃkoma	korȃkom	kováču	kováčema	kováčem
Locative	korȃku	korȃkih	korȃkih	kovāču	kovāčih	kovāčih
Instrumental	korȃkom	korȃkoma	korȃki	kováčem	kováčema	kovāči

Some acute-accented nouns appear with an anomalous nominative singular form. This form has a short accent rather than an acute accent, or, if the stem has more than one syllable, has an acute accent one syllable to the left relative to the other forms. In addition, the locative singular allows for an optional circumflex accent, as does the dative singular when preceded by the preposition k/h.

	Singular	Dual	Plural	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	brȁt	bráta	brátje / bráti	rázred	razrẹ́da	razrẹ́di
Accusative	bráta	bráta	bráte	rázred	razrẹ́da	razrẹ́de
Genitive	bráta	brātov	brātov	razrẹ́da	razrẹ̄dov	razrẹ̄dov
Dative	brátu / k brātu	brátoma	brátom	razrẹ́du / k razrẹ̄du	razrẹ́doma	razrẹ́dom
Locative	brātu	brātih	brātih	razrẹ̄du	razrẹ̄dih	razrẹ̄dih
Instrumental	brátom	brátoma	brāti	razrẹ́dom	razrẹ́doma	razrẹ̄di

Masculine o-stem nouns with mobile accent[]

A number of masculine o-stem nouns have a mobile accent paradigm. These have a circumflex accent on the stem in most singular forms, but a circumflex accent on the ending in the genitive singular. The locative dual/plural has a special acute-accented ending -ẹ́h, while the other dual and plural endings are circumflex accented. The genitive dual/plural has no ending, and acute accent on the stem.

	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	mọ̑ž	možȃ	možjẹ̑
Accusative	možȃ	možȃ	možẹ̑
Genitive	možȃ	mọ́ž	mọ́ž
Dative	mọ̑žu	možẹ̑ma	možẹ̑m
Locative	mọ̑žu	možẹ́h	možẹ́h
Instrumental	mọ̑žem	možẹ̑ma	možmí

Few mobile o-stems follow the pattern of mož exactly. Instead, most follow mož in the singular, but have an accented infix -ȏv- with an open-mid vowel in the dual and plural, and regular unaccented endings. In the genitive dual/plural, it is acute-accented -óv with no further ending. Only hard stems allow for the -ȏv- infix; soft stems never have it and therefore there is no soft alternative *-ȇv-.

There are two possibilities for the genitive singular ending, -ȃ or -ȗ. The former reflects the Common Slavic mobile o-stems, while the latter is a remnant of the u-stem inflection, which has otherwise disappeared in Slovene. The infix -ȏv- in the plural also originates from the old u-stems.

	Singular	Dual	Plural	Singular	Dual	Plural
	Genitive singular in -ȃ			Genitive singular in -ȗ
Nominative	svẹ̑t	svetȏva	svetȏvi	grȃd	gradȏva	gradȏvi
Accusative	svẹ̑t	svetȏva	svetȏve	grȃd	gradȏva	gradȏve
Genitive	svetȃ	svetóv	svetóv	gradȗ	gradóv	gradóv
Dative	svẹ̑tu	svetȏvoma	svetȏvom	grȃdu	gradȏvoma	gradȏvom
Locative	svẹ̑tu	svetȏvih	svetȏvih	grȃdu	gradȏvih	gradȏvih
Instrumental	svẹ̑tom	svetȏvoma	svetȏvi	grȃdom	gradȏvoma	gradȏvi

A fair number of nouns combine different types of fixed-accent and mobile-accent forms:

Nouns with stem accent in the singular, i.e. with an unaccented genitive singular ending, but the -ȏv- infix in the dual and plural. These often have optional dual/plural forms with stem accent and no infix. For example krẹ̑s, genitive singular krẹ̑sa, nominative plural kresȏvi or krẹ̑si.
Some ending-accented forms in the plural with no -ȏv- infix, like those of mož. These are usually rare, stylistically marked or used only in fixed phrases.
zọ̑b follows mož in the plural, optionally also in the dual and singular.
lȃs follows mož in the plural, has stem accent in the dual, and allows both in the singular, with the genitive singular lasȗ or lȃsa.
vọ̑z either follows mož in the plural or has the -ȏv- infix, has only forms with the infix in the dual, and mobile accent in the singular.

Masculine o-stem nouns with ending accent[]

When there is an ending, it receives a short accent. Where the ending has multiple syllables, it has an acute accent and an open-mid vowel. In the genitive dual/plural, both accents are possible.

	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	pȅs	psȁ	psȉ
Accusative	psȁ	psȁ	psȅ
Genitive	psȁ	psȍv, psóv	psȍv, psóv
Dative	psȕ	psóma	psȍm
Locative	psȕ	psȉh	psȉh
Instrumental	psȍm	psóma	psȉ

Feminine a-stem nouns[]

The feminine a-stem 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). This declension can also be used for masculine nouns in -a.

Feminine a-stem endings
	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	-a	-i / -e	-e
Accusative	-o	-i / -e	-e
Genitive	-e	-	-
Dative	-i	-ama	-am
Locative	-i	-ah	-ah
Instrumental	-o	-ama	-ami

Feminine a-stem nouns with stem accent[]

The basic and most common accentual type has accent on the same syllable throughout the stem. In circumflex stems, the accent is the same in all forms. In acute stems, the instrumental singular and the genitive dual/plural have a circumflex accent.

	Singular	Dual	Plural	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	slȗžba	slȗžbi	slȗžbe	lípa	lípi	lípe
Accusative	slȗžbo	slȗžbi	slȗžbe	lípo	lípi	lípe
Genitive	slȗžbe	slȗžb	slȗžb	lípe	lȋp	lȋp
Dative	slȗžbi	slȗžbama	slȗžbam	lípi	lípama	lípam
Locative	slȗžbi	slȗžbah	slȗžbah	lípi	lípah	lípah
Instrumental	slȗžbo	slȗžbama	slȗžbami	lȋpo	lípama	lípami

Feminine a-stem nouns with mobile accent[]

Some a-stem nouns have declensions with mobile accent, usually as rarer alternatives to the more common fixed-accent forms described above. These nouns have the accent on the ending in all forms except the nominative, dative and locative singular. The stem has an acute accent and an open-mid vowel. The endings of the nominative and accusative dual differ slightly from those of the fixed-accent nouns, having -ẹ̑ instead of -i.

The genitive dual/plural can either end in -ā, or have no ending. In the latter case, the stem vowel is acute accented with a close-mid vowel. It is not fully predictable which of the two genitive plural forms a given noun will use. Statistically, most nouns having open-mid vowels in the nominative singular will have the -ā ending, while other nouns will have the endingless form with stem accent, but there are exceptions, such as nóga "leg", genitive plural nọ́g. A few nouns have stressed -á- as a fill vowel before the final consonant in the genitive plural, like óvca "sheep", genitive plural ovác.

	Singular	Dual	Plural	Singular	Dual	Plural
	Gen. plural in -ā			Gen. plural no ending
Nominative	góra	gorẹ̑	gorẹ̑	nóga	nogẹ̑	nogẹ̑
Accusative	gorọ̑	gorẹ̑	gorẹ̑	nogọ̑	nogẹ̑	nogẹ̑
Genitive	gorẹ̄	gorā	gorā	nogẹ̄	nọ́g	nọ́g
Dative	góri	gorȃma	gorȁm	nógi	nogȃma	nogȁm
Locative	góri	gorȁh	gorȁh	nógi	nogȁh	nogȁh
Instrumental	gorọ́	gorȃma	gorȃmi	nogọ́	nogȃma	nogȃmi

Feminine a-stem nouns with ending accent[]

Some nouns have the accent on all endings. The single-syllable endings have a short accent, or sometimes optionally the same accent as in the mobile paradigm. The genitive dual/plural always has the ending -ā, with either acute or circumflex accent.

	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	stezȁ	stezȉ / stezẹ̑	stezȅ / stezẹ̑
Accusative	stezȍ / stezọ̑	stezȉ / stezẹ̑	stezȅ / stezẹ̑
Genitive	stezȅ / stezẹ̄	stezā	stezā
Dative	stezȉ	stezȃma	stezȁm
Locative	stezȉ	stezȁh	stezȁh
Instrumental	stezȍ / stezọ́	stezȃma	stezȃmi

Feminine i-stem nouns[]

The feminine i-stem 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.

Feminine i-stem endings
	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	-	-i	-i
Accusative	-	-i	-i
Genitive	-i	-i	-i
Dative	-i	-ma / -ema	-im / -em
Locative	-i	-ih / -eh	-ih / -eh
Instrumental	-jo	-ma / -ema	-mi

Nouns with a fill vowel get an additional i before some endings, namely the instrumental singular (-ijo), dative and instrumental dual (-ima) and instrumental plural (-imi).

Feminine i-stem nouns with stem accent[]

In circumflex stems, the accent is usually the same in all forms. Rarely, the nominative singular has a short vowel, e.g. nȉt, stem nȋt-.

	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	perȗt	perȗti	perȗti
Accusative	perȗt	perȗti	perȗti
Genitive	perȗti	perȗti	perȗti
Dative	perȗti	perȗtma	perȗtim
Locative	perȗti	perȗtih	perȗtih
Instrumental	perȗtjo	perȗtma	perȗtmi

In acute stems, the accentuation depends on accent position. If the accent is before the final syllable of the stem, it is acute throughout, but optionally circumflex in the instrumental singular. With accent on the final syllable of the stem, the circumflex is required in the instrumental singular, and a number of other forms also allow a circumflex accent.

	Singular	Dual	Plural	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	stárost	stárosti	stárosti	lúč	lúči	lúči
Accusative	stárost	stárosti	stárosti	lúč	lúči	lúči
Genitive	stárosti	stárosti	stárosti	lúči	lūči	lūči
Dative	stárosti	stárostma	stárostim	lúči	lūčma	lúčim
Locative	stárosti	stárostih	stárostih	lúči	lūčih	lūčih
Instrumental	stārostjo	stárostma	stárostmi	lȗčjo	lūčma	lūčmi

Some circumflex-accented nouns appear with an anomalous nominative/accusative singular form. This form has an acute accent one syllable to the left relative to the other forms, and an open-mid vowel. For example, senóžet, stem senožẹ̑t-

Feminine i-stem nouns with mobile accent[]

Nouns with mobile accent are common among the i-stem nouns. The stem-accented forms are the nominative singular with circumflex accent, and the dative and locative singular with acute accent and an open-mid vowel. The other forms have the accent on the ending.

	Singular	Dual	Plural	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	stvȃr	stvarȋ	stvarȋ	kọ̑st	kostȋ	kostȋ
Accusative	stvȃr	stvarȋ	stvarȋ	kọ̑st	kostȋ	kostȋ
Genitive	stvarí	stvarī	stvarī	kostí	kostī	kostī
Dative	stvári	stvarẹ̄ma	stvarẹ̄m	kósti	kostẹ̄ma	kostẹ̄m
Locative	stvári	stvarẹ́h	stvarẹ́h	kósti	kostẹ́h	kostẹ́h
Instrumental	stvarjọ́	stvarẹ̄ma	stvarmí	kostjọ́	kostẹ̄ma	kostmí

Feminine i-stem nouns with ending accent[]

The accent is short and on the last syllable in all forms. The instrumental singular optionally allows an acute accent.

	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	debȅr	debrȉ	debrȉ
Accusative	debȅr	debrȉ	debrȉ
Genitive	debrȉ	debrī	debrī
Dative	debrȉ	debrimȁ	debrȉm
Locative	debrȉ	debrȉh	debrȉh
Instrumental	debrijȍ / debrijọ́	debrimȁ	debrimȉ

Feminine v-stem nouns[]

A small number of feminine nouns belongs to the feminine v-stem declension, with the ending -ev (in which the -e- is a fill vowel). These inflect as a-stems, but with the i-stem instrumental singular ending -ijo. Many nouns in this group can also inflect as regular a-stems, with the nominative singular ending in -va and accusative and instrumental singular in -vo.

Accentually, this group is identical to the a-stems.

	Singular	Dual	Plural	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	brẹ̑skev	brẹ̑skvi	brẹ̑skve	cẹ́rkev	cẹ́rkvi	cẹ́rkve
Accusative	brẹ̑skev	brẹ̑skvi	brẹ̑skve	cẹ́rkev	cẹ́rkvi	cẹ́rkve
Genitive	brẹ̑skve	brẹ̑skev	brẹ̑skev	cẹ́rkve	cẹ̑rkev	cẹ̑rkev
Dative	brẹ̑skvi	brẹ̑skvama	brẹ̑skvam	cẹ́rkvi	cẹ́rkvama	cẹ́rkvam
Locative	brẹ̑skvi	brẹ̑skvah	brẹ̑skvah	cẹ́rkvi	cẹ́rkvah	cẹ́rkvah
Instrumental	brẹ̑skvijo	brẹ̑skvama	brẹ̑skvami	cẹ̑rkvijo	cẹ́rkvama	cẹ́rkvami

Neuter o-stem nouns[]

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.

Neuter o-stem endings
	Singular	Dual	Plural	Singular	Dual	Plural
	Hard declension			Soft declension
Nominative	-o	-i	-a	-e	-i	-a
Accusative	-o	-i	-a	-e	-i	-a
Genitive	-a	-	-	-a	-	-
Dative	-u	-oma	-om	-u	-ema	-em
Locative	-u	-ih	-ih	-u	-ih	-ih
Instrumental	-om	-oma	-i	-em	-ema	-i

Neuter o-stem nouns with stem accent[]

In circumflex stems, the accent is the same in all forms. Acute stems have acute accent in the singular, but circumflex in the plural, and allow both accents in the dual forms not shared with the plural.

	Singular	Dual	Plural	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	sọ̑nce	sọ̑nci	sọ̑nca	kopíto	kopīti	kopȋta
Accusative	sọ̑nce	sọ̑nci	sọ̑nca	kopíto	kopīti	kopȋta
Genitive	sọ̑nca	sọ̑nc	sọ̑nc	kopíta	kopȋt	kopȋt
Dative	sọ̑ncu	sọ̑ncema	sọ̑ncem	kopítu	kopītoma	kopȋtom
Locative	sọ̑ncu	sọ̑ncih	sọ̑ncih	kopítu	kopȋtih	kopȋtih
Instrumental	sọ̑ncem	sọ̑ncema	sọ̑nci	kopítom	kopītoma	kopȋti

Some acute-accented neuter nouns have an acute accent in the plural. There are three general accentuation patterns in this case.

	Plural	Plural	Plural
Nominative	kọ́la	pljúča	gēsla
Accusative	kọ́la	pljúča	gēsla
Genitive	kọ́l	pljȗč	gȇsel
Dative	kọ́lom	pljúčem	gēslom
Locative	kọ́lih	pljȗčih	gēslih
Instrumental	kọ́li	pljȗči	gēsli

The following nouns have one of these patterns in the plural:

Diminutives in -ce (e.g. črẹ́vce) and the noun jájce. These decline in the plural like either kọ́la or pljúča.
Various plurale tantum nouns, including the first two exemplified above. Others decline like either kọ́la or pljúča, but vráta declines only like kọ́la, jẹ́tra only like pljúča.
Nouns with an open-mid vowel. These all decline like gésla.
Nouns of the above type, with an optional close-mid vowel in the plural. ọ́kna declines like kọ́la, rẹ́bra like pljúča, stẹ̑gna has circumflex throughout, rešẹ̄ta allows both in all forms.

Neuter o-stem nouns with mobile accent[]

A small number of neuter nouns have a mobile accent paradigm. These have a circumflex accent on the endings in the nominative, accusative and genitive singular, but circumflex on the root in all other cases. The dative and locative singular may have an open-mid vowel; in this case, it can be either acute or circumflex.

	Singular	Dual	Plural	Singular
Nominative	blagọ̑	blȃgi	blȃga	srebrọ̑
Accusative	blagọ̑	blȃgi	blȃga	srebrọ̑
Genitive	blagȃ	blȃg	blȃg	srebrȃ
Dative	blȃgu	blȃgoma	blȃgom	srẹ̑bru / srēbru
Locative	blȃgu	blȃgih	blȃgih	srẹ̑bru / srēbru
Instrumental	blȃgom	blȃgoma	blȃgi	srẹ̑brom

The noun dŕva / drvȁ "fire wood, fuel wood" (plurale tantum) can have either stem accent or a special mobile accent. In the latter case, the nominative/accusative plural is drvȁ, genitive plural drvȁ, locative plural drvẹ́h, instrumental plural drvmí.

Neuter o-stem nouns with ending accent[]

When there is an ending, it receives a short accent. Where the ending has multiple syllables, it has either an acute or circumflex accent and an open-mid vowel.

	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	zlȍ	zlȉ	zlȁ
Accusative	zlȍ	zlȉ	zlȁ
Genitive	zlȁ	zȅl	zȅl
Dative	zlȕ	zlōma	zlȍm
Locative	zlȕ	zlȉh	zlȉh
Instrumental	zlȍm	zlōma	zlȉ

Some nouns of this type may have long vowels in endings and other minor irregularities:

dnȍ "bottom": genitive dual/plural dnȍv / dnóv, rarely dán, locative dual/plural optionally dnẹ́h.
tlȁ "floor, ground, soil" (plurale tantum): genitive plural tál, locative plural tlẹ́h, instrumental plural tlẹ̑mi / tlí.

Neuter n-, s- and t-stem nouns[]

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, but there is an additional consonant infix (-en-, -es-, -et-) that is present in all forms except the nominative/accusative singular. The n-stem and t-stem nouns have a nominative/accusative singular in -e, while the s-stem nouns have -o or -e depending on whether the preceding stem is hard or soft.

Accentually, they are the same as regular o-stems, but the shorter nominative/accusative singular form can have different accentuation. If the stem is acute and the final vowel is accented, it may be either shortened (as in deklȅ) or shifted to the preceding syllable, which receives an acute accent and may have either a close-mid or an open-mid vowel (vréme, sẹ́me). Such nouns allow for a circumflex accent in the dative and locative singular.

	Singular	Dual	Plural	Singular	Dual	Plural	Singular	Dual	Plural
	n-stem			s-stem			t-stem
Nominative	imẹ̑	imẹ̑ni	imẹ̑na	telọ̑	telẹ̑si	telẹ̑sa	deklȅ	deklẹ́ti	deklẹ̑ta
Accusative	imẹ̑	imẹ̑ni	imẹ̑na	telọ̑	telẹ̑si	telẹ̑sa	deklȅ	deklẹ́ti	deklẹ̑ta
Genitive	imẹ̑na	imẹ̑n	imẹ̑n	telẹ̑sa	telẹ̑s	telẹ̑s	deklẹ́ta	deklẹ̑t	deklẹ̑t
Dative	imẹ̑nu	imẹ̑noma	imẹ̑nom	telẹ̑su	telẹ̑soma	telẹ̑som	deklẹ̄tu	deklẹ̄toma	deklẹ̑tom
Locative	imẹ̑nu	imẹ̑nih	imẹ̑nih	telẹ̑su	telẹ̑sih	telẹ̑sih	deklẹ̄tu	deklẹ̑tih	deklẹ̑tih
Instrumental	imẹ̑nom	imẹ̑noma	imẹ̑ni	telẹ̑som	telẹ̑soma	telẹ̑si	deklẹ́tom	deklẹ̄toma	deklẹ̑ti

črevọ̑ (stem črevẹ̑s-) loses the infix in the plural: črẹ́va. It is accentuated in the plural like either kọ́la or pljúča of the o-stems.
nebẹ́sa, a plurale tantum, is accentuated like either kọ́la or pljúča of the o-stems.

Indeclinable nouns[]

Acronyms and symbols generally do not decline, and have the same form in all cases and numbers. They may also be declined as the masculine soft declension, with a hyphen and j added before the ending.

Thus, for the noun NLP "UFO":

	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	NLP	NLP / NLP-ja	NLP / NLP-ji
Accusative	NLP	NLP / NLP-ja	NLP / NLP-ji
Genitive	NLP / NLP-ja	NLP / NLP-jev	NLP / NLP-jev
Dative	NLP / NLP-ju	NLP / NLP-jema	NLP / NLP-jem
Locative	NLP / NLP-ju	NLP / NLP-jih	NLP / NLP-jih
Instrumental	NLP / NLP-jem	NLP / NLP-jema	NLP / NLP-ji

Substantivized adjectives[]

Adjectives may occasionally be used as nouns. They are declined as the original adjective.

Irregular nouns[]

The most common irregular masculine noun is dȃn "day". Many forms have two stems, a shorter one with only the consonants dn-, and a longer one dnẹ̑v-. The longer stem declines as a regular o-stem, while the shorter one has a unique set of endings not shared with any other noun.

	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	dȃn	dnẹ̑va, dnȋ	dnẹ̑vi
Accusative	dȃn	dnẹ̑va, dnȋ	dnẹ̑ve, dnȋ
Genitive	dnẹ̑va, dnẹ̑	dnẹ̑vov, dní	dní, dnẹ̑vov
Dative	dnẹ̑vu	dnẹ̑voma, dnẹ̑ma	dnẹ̑vom, dnẹ̑m
Locative	dnẹ̑vu	dnẹ̑vih, dnẹ́h	dnẹ̑vih, dnẹ́h
Instrumental	dnẹ̑vom, dnẹ̑m	dnẹ̑voma, dnẹ̑ma	dnẹ̑vi, dnẹ̑mi

The masculine noun člóvek "human, person" is suppletive. In the plural, the stem ljud- is used, which follows the mobile-accent i-stem declension.

	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	člóvek	človẹ́ka	ljudjẹ̑
Accusative	človẹ́ka	človẹ́ka	ljudȋ
Genitive	človẹ́ka	ljudí	ljudí
Dative	človẹ́ku	človẹ́koma	ljudẹ̑m
Locative	človẹ́ku	ljudẹ́h	ljudẹ́h
Instrumental	človẹ́kom	človẹ́koma	ljudmí

The feminine noun gospá "lady, madam" has acute accent on all the endings.

	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	gospá	gospẹ́	gospẹ́
Accusative	gospọ́	gospẹ́	gospẹ́
Genitive	gospẹ́	gospá	gospá
Dative	gospẹ́	gospẹ́ma	gospẹ́m
Locative	gospẹ́	gospẹ́h	gospẹ́h
Instrumental	gospọ́	gospẹ́ma	gospẹ́mi

The feminine nouns máti "mother" and hčȋ "daughter" follow the a-stem paradigm, but have irregular nominative and accusative singular forms, and the instrumental singular ending -jo of the i-stems.

	Singular	Singular
Nominative	máti	hčí
Accusative	máter	hčẹ̑r
Genitive	mátere	hčẹ̑re
Dative	máteri	hčẹ̑ri
Locative	máteri	hčẹ̑ri
Instrumental	máterjo	hčẹ̑rjo

The feminine noun krȋ "blood" follows the mobile-accent i-stem declension, but replaces the final -v with -i in the nominative and accusative singular.

	Singular
Nominative	krȋ
Accusative	krȋ
Genitive	krvȋ
Dative	kȓvi
Locative	kȓvi
Instrumental	krvjọ́

A few masculine nouns show the effects of the Slavic second palatalisation in some of the plural forms:

otrȍk: nominative plural otróci, locative plural otrọ̄cih.
vȏlk: nominative plural volcjẹ̑. But this form is rare, the usual nominative plural is volkȏvi.

A few neuter s-stem nouns show the effects of the Slavic first palatalisation in the forms with the infix -es-:

The noun okọ̑ "eye" has the stem očẹ̑s-. It also has a shorter plural stem oč- when referring to human eyes. This stem is feminine rather than neuter, and follows the mobile i-stem declension.
The noun uhọ̑ "ear" has the stem ušẹ́s-, with a change in accent type. The genitive plural allows both accents.
The noun igọ̑ "yoke" has the stem ižẹ̑s-.

Adjectives[]

Adjective declension is simpler than noun declension, as there is only one set of endings. The endings can be split into three groups of cases:

The nominative and accusative, which are like the o-stems of masculine and neuter nouns, and the a-stems of feminine nouns. Like in nouns, a distinction is made between hard and soft stems, but this is only relevant for the neuter nominative/accusative singular, which has -o for hard stems and -e for soft stems.
The other feminine singular cases, which also follow the a-stems of nouns.
The remaining cases, which have endings unique to adjectives. These are the same for all three genders in the dual and plural.

The masculine accusative singular 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.

Adjective endings
	Singular			Dual			Plural
	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	-	-a	-o / -e	-a	-i / -e	-i	-i	-e	-a
Accusative	nom or gen	-o	-o / -e	-a	-i / -e	-i	-e	-e	-a
Genitive	-ega	-e	-ega	-ih			-ih
Dative	-emu	-i	-emu	-ima			-im
Locative	-em	-i	-em	-ih			-ih
Instrumental	-im	-o	-im	-ima			-imi

Adjectives with stem accent[]

Adjectives with a circumflex accent mostly have the same accent in all forms. Some adjectives such as surȍv have a short accent in the masculine nominative singular but circumflex in the other forms.

	Singular			Dual			Plural
	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	vesẹ̑l	vesẹ̑la	vesẹ̑lo	vesẹ̑la	vesẹ̑li	vesẹ̑li	vesẹ̑li	vesẹ̑le	vesẹ̑la
Accusative	nom or gen	vesẹ̑lo	vesẹ̑lo	vesẹ̑la	vesẹ̑li	vesẹ̑li	vesẹ̑le	vesẹ̑le	vesẹ̑la
Genitive	vesẹ̑lega	vesẹ̑le	vesẹ̑lega	vesẹ̑lih			vesẹ̑lih
Dative	vesẹ̑lemu	vesẹ̑li	vesẹ̑lemu	vesẹ̑lima			vesẹ̑lim
Locative	vesẹ̑lem	vesẹ̑li	vesẹ̑lem	vesẹ̑lih			vesẹ̑lih
Instrumental	vesẹ̑lim	vesẹ̑lo	vesẹ̑lim	vesẹ̑lima			vesẹ̑limi

Adjectives with an acute accent on a non-final syllable of the stem also have the same accent in all forms. With acute accent on the final syllable of the stem, there are some more differences. Some have an anomalous masculine nominative singular form:

Short accent, with an open-mid vowel in the stem: zelȅn, stem zelén-.
Circumflex: mlȃd, stem mlád-.
Either circumflex or acute: klečẹ̄č, stem klečẹ́č-.
Acute accent one syllable to the left, with an open-mid vowel: débel, stem debẹ́l-.

A number of adjectives require or allow a circumflex accent in the feminine nominative singular. Such adjectives allow both accent types in the other feminine singular forms. The acute is used mostly in attributive position, while the circumflex appears in predicative position.

Circumflex required in feminine nominative singular, optional in other feminine singular forms: príden, sȉt, bógat, feminine nominative singular prȋdna, sȋta, bogȃta, feminine singular stem prīdn-, sīt-, bogāt-, stem of remainder prídn-, sít-, bogát-.
Circumflex optional in all feminine singular forms: blázen, feminine singular stem blāzn-, stem of remainder blázn-.

Because both the masculine and feminine nominative singular can have anomalous accentuation in adjectives with stem accent, it is the neuter nominative singular form that determines the accentuation of the rest of the forms.

Adjectives with ending accent[]

A short accent appears on the last syllable of all forms.

	Singular			Dual			Plural
	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	temȅn	temnȁ	temnȍ	temnȁ	temnȉ	temnȉ	temnȉ	temnȅ	temnȁ
Accusative	nom or gen	temnȍ	temnȍ	temnȁ	temnȉ	temnȉ	temnȅ	temnȅ	temnȁ
Genitive	temnegȁ	temnȅ	temnegȁ	temnȉh			temnȉh
Dative	temnemȕ	temnȉ	temnemȕ	temnimȁ			temnȉm
Locative	temnȅm	temnȉ	temnȅm	temnȉh			temnȉh
Instrumental	temnȉm	temnȍ	temnȉm	temnimȁ			temnimȉ

Adjectives with mobile accent[]

Mobile-accented adjectives have stem accent in all cases but the nominative and accusative, so the mobility is only apparent in those cases. In these two cases, the accent matches the mobile o- and a-stems: the accent is on the stem in the masculine and feminine nominative singular, and on the ending with circumflex in the other forms. The feminine nominative/accusative dual allows for an alternative ending -ẹ̑.

Every mobile-accented adjective allows for a stem-accented declension as an alternative. The mobile accent is sometimes simply an alternative, other times it is rare or stylistically marked.

	Singular			Dual			Plural
	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	bẹ́l	bẹ́la	belọ̑	belȃ	belȋ / belẹ̑	belȋ	belȋ	belẹ̑	belȃ
Accusative	nom or gen	belọ̑	belọ̑	belȃ	belȋ / belẹ̑	belȋ	belẹ̑	belẹ̑	belȃ
Genitive	bẹ́lega	bẹ́le	bẹ́lega	bẹ́lih			bẹ́lih
Dative	bẹ́lemu	bẹ́li	bẹ́lemu	bẹ́lima			bẹ́lim
Locative	bẹ́lem	bẹ́li	bẹ́lem	bẹ́lih			bẹ́lih
Instrumental	bẹ́lim	bẹ́lo	bẹ́lim	bẹ́lima			bẹ́limi

Some mobile adjectives have anomalies in the masculine nominative singular form, like the stem-accented adjectives:

Short accent, with an open-mid vowel in the stem: gȍl, accented stem gól-.
Circumflex: mlȃd, accented stem mlád-.
Circumflex ȃ as a fill vowel: sladȃk, accented stem sládk-.

Acute-accented mobile adjectives never have a circumflex in the feminine singular forms. The accent of the feminine singular thus determines the accentuation of all other stem-accented case forms.

Definite adjectives[]

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.

For the majority of adjectives, the only distinction between indefinite and definite adjectives is in the masculine nominative singular, which has no ending if it is indefinite, but the special ending -i if it is definite. All other forms are the same, acting as both indefinite and definite adjective.

For some adjectives, however, there are more differences between the indefinite and definite declensions:

If the indefinite declension has acute accent, but circumflex accent in the feminine singular, the definite declension has acute accent throughout: prídni, síti, bogáti, blázni, feminine nominative singular prídna, síta, bogáta, blázna.
If the indefinite declension is mobile or end-accented, the definite declension has stem accent: bẹ́li, góli, tèmni.
Some acute-stem adjectives (e.g. stȁr) switch to circumflex accentuation in the definite declension: stȃri.
The adjective vélik (with stem velík-) has circumflex accent on the stem and a close-mid vowel in the definite declension: vẹ̑liki.

Comparison[]

Slovene adjectives have both comparative and superlative forms. For many adjectives, these are formed periphrastically, using the adverbs bȍlj "more" and nȁjbolj / nȃjbolj "most". For some adjectives, especially more basic or old ones, the comparative and superlative are formed with affixes.

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.

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. Acute stems are usually converted to circumflex.

lẹ̑p (stem lẹ́p-) → lẹ̑pši
slȁb (stem sláb-) → slȃbši
mlȃd (stem mlád-) → mlȃjši
hȗd (stem húd-) → hȗjši
gȓd (stem gŕd-) → gȓši
širȍk → šȋrši
krátek → krȃjši
tánek → tȃnjši

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. Acute stems are usually converted to circumflex.

drȃg (stem drág-) → drȃžji
tȋh (stem tíh-) → tíšji
blȃg (stem blág- or blȃg-) → blážji or blȃžji
strọ̑g (stem strọ́g- or strọ̑g-) → strọ̑žji
téžek → tẹ̑žji
globȍk → glọ̑blji

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. The stem may remain accented, or the suffix may be circumflex accented -ȇjši with an open-mid vowel.

nȍv (stem nóv-) → novȇjši
krȗt (stem krút- or krȗt-) → krútejši or krȗtejši
fȋn → finȇjši
gọ̑st (stem gọ́st-) → gostȇjši
pȏln (stem póln-) → pólnejši
grének → grenkȇjši
neváren → nevárnejši

Pronouns[]

Pronouns generally inflect like adjectives, although many do not have a definite form in the masculine nominative singular. Some pronouns are irregular; these are detailed here.

Personal pronouns[]

The first and second person pronouns are very irregular, and do not fit neatly into any other declensional category. 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. The accusative, genitive and dative forms of the singular have stressed and unstressed forms; the stressed forms are used when particular emphasis is needed. The possessive forms for each of the pronouns inflect like adjectives to match the noun they modify.

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.

	Singular		Reflexive
	1st person	2nd person	Reflexive
Nominative	jȁz	tȋ	—
Accusative	méne (me)	tébe (te)	sébe (se)
Genitive	méne (me)	tébe (te)	sébe (se)
Dative	méni (mi)	tébi (ti)	sébi (si)
Locative	méni	tébi	sébi
Instrumental	menọ́j, mȃno	tebọ́j, tȃbo	sebọ́j, sȃbo
Possessive	mọ́j	tvọ́j	svọ́j
	Dual
Nominative	mȋdva m, mȇdve / mȋdve f, n	vȋdva m, vȇdve / vȋdve f, n
Accusative	náju (naju)	váju (vaju)
Genitive	náju (naju)	váju (vaju)
Dative	náma (nama)	váma (vama)
Locative	náju	váju
Instrumental	náma	váma
Possessive	nȃjin	vȃjin
	Plural
Nominative	mȋ m, mẹ̑ f, n	vȋ m, vẹ̑ f, n
Accusative	nȁs (nas)	vȁs (vas)
Genitive	nȁs (nas)	vȁs (vas)
Dative	nȁm (nam)	vȁm (vam)
Locative	nȁs	vȁs
Instrumental	nȃmi	vȃmi
Possessive	nȁš	vȁš

The third-person pronouns inflect similar to adjectives, but irregularly. Like in the first- and second-person pronouns, the accusative mostly normally 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. There are also unstressed forms for several of the cases.

	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Masculine	Feminine	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
	Singular			Dual		Plural
Nominative	ȍn	óna / onȃ	óno / onọ̑	ónadva / onȃdva	ónidve / onẹ̑dve	óni / onȋ	óne / onẹ̑	óna / onȃ
Accusative	njéga (ga)	njọ̄ (jo)	njéga (ga)	njíju (ju / jih)		njȉh (jih)
Genitive	njéga (ga)	njẹ́ (je)	njéga (ga)	njíju (ju / jih)		njȉh (jih)
Dative	njému (mu)	njēj / njȅj / njȉ (ji)	njému (mu)	njíma (jima)		njȉm (jim)
Locative	njém	njēj / njȅj / njȉ	njém	njíju		njȉh
Instrumental	njím	njọ̄	njím	njíma		njími
Possessive	njegóv, njegȍv	njẹ́n	njegóv, njegȍv	njún		njīhov

ta and ves[]

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.

	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Masculine	Feminine	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
	Singular			Dual		Plural
Nominative	tȃ	tȃ	tọ̑	tȃ	tí	tȋ	tȇ	tȃ
Accusative	nom or gen	tọ̑	tọ̑	tȃ	tȋ	tẹ̑	tẹ̑	tȃ
Genitive	tẹ̑ga / tegȁ	tẹ́	tẹ̑ga / tegȁ	tẹ̑h / tȅh		tẹ̑h / tȅh
Dative	tẹ̑mu / temȕ	tēj / tȅj / tȉ	tẹ̑mu / temȕ	tẹ̑ma / tȅma		tẹ̑m / tȅm
Locative	tẹ̑m / tȅm	tēj / tȅj / tȉ	tẹ̑m / tȅm	tẹ̑h / tȅh		tẹ̑h / tȅh
Instrumental	tẹ̑m / tȅm	tọ̑	tẹ̑m / tȅm	tẹ̑ma / tȅma		tẹ̑mi

The word vȅs "all" 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.

	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Masculine	Feminine	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
	Singular			Dual		Plural
Nominative	vȅs	vsȁ	vsȅ	vsȁ	vsȉ	vsȉ	vsȅ	vsȁ
Accusative	nom or gen	vsȍ	vsȅ	vsȁ	vsȉ	vsȅ	vsȅ	vsȁ
Genitive	vsȅga / vsegȁ	vsȅ	vsȅga / vsegȁ	vsȅh		vsȅh
Dative	vsȅmu / vsemȕ	vsȅj / vsȉ	vsȅmu / vsemȕ	vsȅma		vsȅm
Locative	vsȅm	vsȅj / vsȉ	vsȅm	vsȅh		vsȅh
Instrumental	vsȅm	vsȍ	vsȅm	vsȅma		vsȅmi

Interrogative, relative and negative pronouns[]

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-.

Nominative	kdọ̄	kāj
Accusative	kọ̄ga	kāj
Genitive	kọ̄ga	čẹ̄sa
Dative	kọ̄mu	čẹ̄mu
Locative	kọ̄m	čẹ̄m
Instrumental	kọ̄m	čīm

The pronouns nekdọ̄ / nẹ̑kdo "somebody" and nẹ̄kaj "something" follow the declensions of kdo and kaj.

Nominative	nekdọ̄ / nẹ̑kdo	nẹ̄kaj
Accusative	nekọ̄ga	nẹ̄kaj
Genitive	nekọ̄ga	nečẹ̄sa
Dative	nekọ̄mu	nečẹ̄mu
Locative	nekọ̄m	nečẹ̄m
Instrumental	nekọ̄m	nečīm

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.

Nominative	kdọ̑r / kdȍr	kȁr
Accusative	kọ̑gar	kȁr
Genitive	kọ̑gar	čẹ̑sar
Dative	kọ̑mur	čẹ̑mur
Locative	kọ̑mer	čẹ̑mer
Instrumental	kọ̑mer	čȋmer

The pronouns nihčȅ "nobody" and nȉč "nothing" follow the declensions of kdor and kar, but the nominative and accusative are different.

Nominative	nihčȅ	nȉč
Accusative	nikọ̑gar	nȉč
Genitive	nikọ̑gar	ničẹ̑sar
Dative	nikọ̑mur	ničẹ̑mur
Locative	nikọ̑mer	ničẹ̑mer
Instrumental	nikọ̑mer	ničȋmer

References[]

Toporišič, Jože (2000). Slovenska slovnica (in Slovenian). Maribor: Obzorja.
"Sheme za tonemski naglas". Slovarja slovenskega knjižnega jezika (PDF) (in Slovenian). Ljubljana. 2016. pp. 53–59.
Herrity, Peter (2000). Slovene: A Comprehensive Grammar. London, New York: Routledge.
Greenberg, Marc (2006). "A Short Reference Grammar of Standard Slovene". Kansas.