Slovenian ⋙ Slovenian A1

Welcome to our Slovenian grammar course for beginners! Today we will talk about Slovene numerals and the features that distinguish them from numerals in other Slavic languages.

Slovenian numerals have a unique charm, arising from their manner of forming decimal numbers. Take, for instance, the number 21. If we translated it directly from Slovenian to English, it would give the phrase "one and twenty" a very nice linguistic form, don't you think? This feature finds its roots in the historical influence of German on Slovene. You see, in German, numerals are constructed in a similar manner. And Slovene people decided to use the same way.

Numbers 0-10

Throughout our lesson we are going to show both cardinal and ordinal numerals. Let us embark on this numerical journey, starting with the first ten.

Digit	Number (Sl.)	Ordinal (Sl.)
0	nič zero
1	en ena eno	prvi
2	dva dve	drugi
3	tri	tretji
4	štiri	četrti
5	pet	peti
6	šest	šesti
7	sedem	sedmi
8	osem	osmi
9	devet	deveti
10	deset	deseti

Numbers 11-20

Moving on, numbers from eleven to twenty:

Digit	Number (Sl.)	Ordinal (Sl.)
11	enajst	enajsti
12	dvanajst	dvanajsti
13	trinajst	trinajsti
14	štirinajst	štirinajsti
15	petnajst	petnajsti
16	šestnajst	šestnajsti
17	sedemnajst	sedemnajsti
18	osemnajst	osemnajsti
19	devetnajst	devetnajsti
20	dvajset	dvajseti

Numbers 21-29

Numbers that are greater than 20 look different (this has already been discussed above). Let's see how they form:

Digit	Number (Sl.)	Ordinal (Sl.)
21	enaindvajset	enaindvajseti
22	dvaindvajset	dvaindvajseti
23	triindvajset	triindvajseti
24	štiriindvajset	štiriindvajseti
25	petindvajset	petindvajseti
26	šestindvajset	šestindvajseti
27	sedemindvajset	sedemindvajseti
28	osemindvajset	osemindvajseti
29	devetindvajset	devetindvajseti

The principle is simple: the units are written first, followed by the conjunction "in" (meaning "and" in English), and then the tens. Please note that these Slovenian numbers are written in one word.

Numbers 30-90

Using this principle, you can make numbers from 21 to 99. All you need is to remember the names of the tens:

Digit	Number (Sl.)	Ordinal (Sl.)
30	trideset	trideseti
40	štirideset	štirideseti
50	petdeset	petdeseti
60	šestdeset	šestdeseti
70	sedemdeset	sedemdeseti
80	osemdeset	osemdeseti
90	devetdeset	devetdeseti

Numbers 100-1000

Numbers that encompass hundreds are combinations of hundreds, tens, and units. As we've already delved into the realms of tens and units, the time is ripe to venture into the hundreds:

Digit	Number (Sl.)	Ordinal (Sl.)
100	sto	stoti
200	dvesto	dvestoti
300	tristo	tristoti
400	štiristo	štiristoti
500	petsto	petstoti
600	šeststo	šeststoti
700	sedemsto	sedemstoti
800	osemsto	osemstoti
900	devetsto	devetstoti
1000	tisoč	tisoči

The principle is somewhat similar to that of the tens and units. For instance:

Another example:

If you wish to use thousands, don't worry! Simply insert the desired digit and the word tisoč (meaning "thousand") ahead of the numeral:

Summary

If you understand the principle of forming numbers, then now you have everything you need to use them in everyday speech.
Enjoy the charm of Slovenian numerals and remember that language is a journey of discovery! We are waiting for you in the next lesson, where we will talk about asking questions in Slovenian. Good Luck!