Locative for Beginners in Slovenian

SlovenianSlovenian A1

Welcome to our Slovenian grammar course for beginners! Today we`re going to talk about the Locative Case - "Mestnik" in Slovenian grammar.
Before reading the article, we recommend you to read the lessons about Nominative, Genitive, Dative, Accusative and Instrumental.

The Locative Case, or "Mestnik," as it`s commonly known, is primarily used with prepositions, hence the name. Nouns in this case answer the questions: kje? (where), o kom? (about whom), o čim? (about what). Here are the instances in which this occurs:

- With prepositions "v," "na," "ob," "po," and "pri," answering the question kje? (where).
Examples:
Šola je (kje) v centru v centru (The school is (where) in the center);
Mi smo (kje) na hribu (We are (where) on the hill);
Stoimo (kje) pri hiši (We stand (where) next to the house);
Potujemo (kje) po Sloveniji (We travel (where) through Slovenia);
Sprehajamo se (kje) ob reki (We take walks (where) by the river).

- With the preposition "po," answering the question kdaj? (when).
Example:
(kdaj) Po službi grem v supermarket (After work, I go to the supermarket).

- With the preposition "o," answering the questions o kom? (about whom), o čim? (about what).
Example:
Povedal bom (o čim) o potovanju (I will talk (about what) about the trip).


Singular

Now, let`s take a look at the endings of nouns and adjectives in the singular:
(O) Velikem psu - About the big dog (masculine);
(O) Dobrem filmu - About the good movie (masculine);
(O) Moji prijateljici - About my friend (feminine);
(O) Zanimivi stvari - About the interesting thing (feminine);
(O) Nedeljskem kosilu - About the Sunday lunch (neuter);
(O) Športnem igrišču - About the sports field (neuter).

In the masculine and neuter genders, both nouns ("-u") and adjectives ("-em") have the same endings. In the feminine gender, both adjectives and nouns have the endings "-i."


Dual / Plural

In the dual and plural forms, the endings of the locative case are the same for both nouns and adjectives. So, let`s present them in a single table:
(O) Velikih psih - About the big dogs (masculine);
(O) Dobrih filmih - About the good movies (masculine);
(O) Mojih prijateljicah - About my friends (feminine);
(O) Zanimivih stvareh - About the interesting things (feminine);
(O) Nedeljskih kosilih - About the Sunday lunches (neuter);
(O) Športnih igriščih - About the sports fields (neuter).

Just like in the singular, in the dual and plural forms, nouns have the same endings "-ih." The same ending applies to adjectives. However, nouns in the feminine gender have endings "-ah" or "-eh".


So we have completed a series of articles on cases in Slovenian. We hope that the information has been presented fairly clearly and structured. If you don`t understand something we are always able to read again the article about Nominative and other cases.
Anyway, you should understand the key features of Slovenian cases, and we look forward to seeing you in our next lessons. Happy language learning and good luck!