Slovene verbs

In Slovene, the verbs are conjugated for 3 persons and 3 numbers. There are 4 tenses (present, past, pluperfect, and future), 3 moods (indicative, imperative, and conditional) and 2 voices (active and passive). Verbs also have 4 participles and 2 verbal nouns (infinitive and supine). Not all combinations of the above are possible for every case. Further information about the grammar of the Slovene language can be found in the article Slovene grammar.

Classification of verbs

The Slovene verb can be classified based on the forms of the present and infinitive into 6 different conjugation patterns:
# First conjugation in -a-, for example, oddati (to let, rent)
# Second conjugation in -ni-, for example, venite (to fade/wilt)
# Third conjugation in -je-, for example, biti (to beat) compare with the first person singular present indicative form "bijem"
# Fourth conjugation in -e-, for example, risati (to cut wood) compare with the first person singular present indicative form "risem"
# Fifth conjugation in -i-, for example, hoditi (to walk)
# Sixth conjugation which consists of all the irregular verbs, such as "biti" (to be).

As well, verbs can be classified based on their transitivity ("Glagolska prehodnost") and aspect ("Glagolski vid"). Many verbs in Slovene can be both transitive and intransitive depending on their use in a sentence. However, all reflexive verbs, which are marked by the participle "se" (one self) are intransitive.

As in all Slavic languages, Slovene verbs are classified based on their aspect into 2 categories: perfective ("dovršni") verbs, which represent a completed action, and imperfective ("nedovršni") verbs, which represent a continued action. For example, the

concept of "jumping" is expressed in the 2 different aspects is "skakati", which has an imperfective aspect and can roughly be translated as "to be jumping (continuously)", and "skočiti", which has a perfective aspect and can roughly be translated as "to jump (once)". In Slovene, this difference in aspects is found in all tenses and voices.

Voice

In Slovene, a verb can be used in 2 different voices: active ("tvornik ")and passive ("trpnik"). Only the active voice maintains a complete conjugation pattern for all the tenses. In Slovene, the passive voice is formed by using the verb "biti" (to be), appropriately conjugated, and the passive past participle in "-en" of the main verb or for reflexive verbs it is formed by adding "-se" to the end of a verb. Except for reflexive verbs, the passive voice is rarely used. An example of the passive voice is "Izvoljen je bil za člana Kraljeve družbe" (He was elected a fellow of the Royal Society). However, this is more commonly stated, using the active voice, as "Izvolili so ga za člana Kraljeve družbe" (They elected him a fellow of the Royal Society).

Verb mood and tense

Slovene has 3 verb moods:
# Indicative mood, which is used to state a fact or opinion
# Imperative mood, which is used to give commands
# Conditional mood, which is used to state possibilities or wishes, for example, "If only I knew that..."

Of the moods, only the indicative has a complete set of verb forms.

In Slovene, there are four tenses:
# the pluperfect (past perfect) tense (predpreteklik), which considers events that occurred before a given event already in the past.
# the preterite (past simple) tense (preteklik), which considers events that occurred in the past.
# the present tense (sedanjik), which considers events that are occurring.
# the future tense (prihodnjik), which considers events that will occur.

Indicative mood

The indicative mood is used to state facts or opinions. It has separate forms for all 4 tenses.

Present tense

The present tense has 2 different meanings:
# For imperfective verbs, it has present meaning.
# For perfective verbs, it has a future meaning expressing a desire to care out the action. For example , "To kravo prodam", ("I want to sell the cow") compared with the future tense 'To kravo bom prodal' ('I will sell the cow").

In Slovene, the present tense can be formed in 2 different manners:
* Athematic conjugation: an s is inserted in certain cases. This is a remnant of the original athematic conjugation.
* Thematic conjugation: The “normal” conjugation for a verb.

In some dialects, the differences between the 2 groups are blurred and verbs of one group are conjugated based on the other group. This is considered incorrect in the standard literary language.

The personal endings for the present indicative are:

(1)Indicates that the participle must agree with the subject of the sentence.

(1)Indicates that the participle must agree with the subject of the sentence.

(1)Indicates that the participle must agree with the subject of the sentence.

Compound verbs whose ending is vedeti have imperatives in -vej. Thus, for example, povej, povejte from povedeti (to say).

(1) Indicates that the participle must agree with the subject of the sentence.

(1)Indicates that the participle must agree with the subject of the sentence.

In the future, there also exist forms with an inserted -de between the stem bo- and the ending. For example, bodem for bom. The negative form of the verb, (to not be), is formed by attaching ni to the present indicative forms.

References

* De Bray, R. G. A. "Introduction to Slavonic Languages". London, 1951.

External links