Slovenian ⋙ Slovenian A1

Welcome to our Slovenian grammar course for beginners! In this lesson, we'll discuss the Slovene verb biti (to be), which is one of the most important verbs in the Slovene language. It is not only important due to its frequent usage but also because the forms of this verb play a role in the formation of the past and future tenses in Slovenian grammar.

The forms of this verb are actively used in other Slavic languages (specifically in West Slavic and South Slavic languages), and they are fundamental for many expressions that can be conveyed in the language. That's why we're going to dedicate an entire separate article to it.

Dual grammatical number

However, before we do that, it's essential to talk about a very important feature of the Slovene language. This language is quite archaic, and for a long time, it wasn't used as a literary or or scientific language and was not taught in schools. This allowed it to retain some archaic features inherited from the Old Slavic language. The most archaic of these features, which is absent in other Slavic languages, is the dual number.

What is the dual number? The dual number is a special form for nouns and verbs that corresponds to two objects or two persons referred to in a sentence or phrase. This means that any two objects or a verb describing the action of two people have their own separate form and are not the same as the plural form. Despite its archaic nature, this form is very frequently used in the modern Slovene language, so it's not just something to learn but to know very well and use correctly.

Let's return to the verb biti (to be). Why do we need the verb "to be"? Essentially, for the same reasons as in English, Polish, and other languages: to describe the attributes of an object/person or the existence of an object. For example: and so on.
Pay attention to this topic to ensure that there are no mistakes in potential Slovene sentence structures in the future. We recommend starting with the Slovene phrases you hear and later trying to interpret your own sentences according to what the native speakers say.

Conjugation

You can see the conjugation of the verb biti (to be) in the present tense below:
* Midve - Medve, Vidve - Vedve, Onidve - Onedve are used when we refer to two women or entities of the feminine grammatical gender. These forms have no direct equivalent in English. There is no difference between midve and medve, vidve and vedve, onidve and onedve. You can use either of them to indicate dual feminine grammatical gender;
** Forms "Me smo, Ve ste, One so" are used when we refer to a group of women or feminine nouns. The form "Ona so" indicates a group of nouns of the neuter grammatical gender. Pay attention to these nuances, because they don't exist in English.

Negative Form

The negative form of the verb "biti" in the present tense is formed by adding the particle "ni" before the verb form. The exception is the 3rd person singular, which is quite logical:

Summary

In conclusion, it's worth noting that these forms of the verb "to be" are essential because they are used to form the past and future tenses in the Slovene language. We'll discuss this in our upcoming lessons.
We are waiting for you in the next lesson, where we will talk about the Slovenian irregular verbs. Good luck!