The Slovene Language – How to say …?

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ENG / SLO Vocabulary

Slovene is a Southern Slavic language with a 25-letter alphabet. It is closely related to Serbian and Croatian, and also shares many words with other Slavic languages. Although some words and letter combinations may appear unpronounceable at first glance, Slovene is actually a fairly phonetic language with very few irregularities – although the letters L and V can do some strange things depending on their position in a word. 

Luckily, most Slovenes speak either English, Italian or German embarrassingly well, so chances are you won’t have to worry about any communication problems. However, as with most countries, attempting to use a little bit of the local language can go a long way towards winning over your hosts. Even the odd ‘hvala’ and ‘prosim’ won’t go unnoticed.

Pronunciation
c – as in pizza
e – as in egg
g – as in go
j – like y in yogurt
č – like c in cello
š – like sh in ship
ž – like s in pleasure

Basics
Do you speak English? – Govorite angleško
(Goh-voh- REE-teh Ahn-GLESH-ko) ?
I don’t understand – Ne razumem (Nuh raZOO-mehm)
Where is the toilet? WC? – Kje je stranišče (Keyyaystrahn-EESH-chay) ? WC (Vaytsay)?
Good Morning – Dobro Jutro (DOH-broh YOO- troh)
Good Day – Dober Dan (DOH-behr dahn)
Good Night – Lahko noč (Lah-koh noh-ch)
Yes – Ja (Yah)
No – Ne (Nay)
Hello – Živjo (Jeeve-yoh)
Thank you – Hvala (HVAL-a)
Please – Prosim (PRO-seem)
Excuse me/Sorry – Oprostite (Oh-PROS-tee-tay)
Pardon me (asking for help) – Prosim (pro-SEEM)
My name is….- Jaz sem (Yahz sem) …
I am from… – Jaz sem iz (Yahz sem iz)…
In the morning – zjutraj (z-YOO-try)
In the afternoon – popoldne (poh-POLD-neh)
In the evening – zvečer (z-veh-chehr)
At night – ponoči (poh-NOH-chee)

Restaurant Talk
Menu, please – Meni, prosim (MEH-ni proSEEM)
Bill, please – Račun, prosim (Rah-CHOON pro- SEEM)
Do you have vegetarian food? – Imate vegetarijansko hrano (EE-mah-tay veh-geh-tayreeahn-sko h-rah-noh)?

Small Talk
What’s your name? – Kako ti je ime? (K’ko TEE yeh E-meh)
How old are you? – Koliko si star/stara (asking
a male/female)? (Ko LEE ko see star/stara)
What is your job? – Kaj si po poklicu? (Kai seepo po-KLEE-tsu)
What do you study? – Kaj študiraš? (Kai shtudEAR ash)
Do you play sport? – Ali se ukvarjaš s športom?- Ali say ook-VAR-yash s SHPORT-ohm
Are you a musician? – A si glasbenik/glasbenica
(male/female)? (A SEE glaz benick/glazbeneetsa)

What is your star sign? – Kaj si po horoskopu?
(Kai SEE poh horoh skop-oo)
Me too! – Jaz tudi! – yahz TOO-dee

Bar Talk
One coffee, please – Eno kavo prosim (EHnoh KAH-voh pro-SEEM)
One beer, please – (Name of beer), prosim(pro-SEEM)
Cheers! – Na zdravje (Nah zuh-DRAW-wee-ay)!
What’s going on? – Kaj dogaja? (kai DO-ga-ya)
Let’s party! – Žurajmo! (zhur-AI-mo)
You have beautiful eyes – Imaš lepe oči. – EEmahsh LEH-peh OH-chee Lepa si (LAY-pa see)
Where are you from? – Iz kje si? (iz kye see)
Can I have your number?- Lahko dobim tvojo telefonsko številko? (Law-koh doh-
BEEM t-voy-yo teh-leh-FOHN-sko shtehVEEL-koh)?
See-you, bye! – Ajde, čao (ai-dai, chow)

Days
Monday – ponedeljek (POH-nuh-dehl-yek)
Tuesday – torek (TOR-ek)
Wednesday – sreda (Sray-dah)
Thursday – četrtek (chuh-TUR-tuck)
Friday – petek (peh-tuck)
Saturday – sobota (soh-BOH-tah)
Sunday – nedelja (nuh-DEHL-yah)
Holiday – počitnice (Po-chit-nee-se)

Questions
Who? – Kdo?(K-doh)
What? – Kaj?(Kai)
Where? – Kje ? (Key-yay)
When? – Kdaj (K-dai)
How much does it cost? – Koliko stane (KOHleekoh STAH-neh)?

Places
Croatia – Hrvaška (Hurr-VASH-ka)
England – Anglija (Ahn-glee-yah)
Germany – Nemčija (Nem-CHEE-yah)
Hungary – Madžarska (Mad-jar-skah)
Ireland – Irska (Ear-skah)
Netherlands – Nizozemska (NEE-zo-zemskah)
Scotland – Škotska (Shkot-skah)
Venice – Benetke (Behn-et-keh)
Vienna – Dunaj (Doo-nigh)

Post
One foreign stamp, please – Eno znamko za tujino, prosim (Eh-no z-nahm-koh zah too YEE-noh pro- SEEM)
For postcard – Za razglednico (Zah raz-GLEHD neet-so)
For letter – Za pismo (Zah pees-moh)

Signs
Open – odprto (Ohd-PURT-oh)
Closed – zaprto (Zah- PURT-oh)
Entrance – vhod (oo-hod)
Exit – izhod (eez-hod)
Push – rini (ree-nee)
Pull – vleci (oo-LETS-ee)

Travelling
Bus – avtobus (OW-toh-booze)
Train – vlak (v-LOCK)
I am looking for…. – Iščem (EESH-chem) …
One ticket, please – Eno vstopnico, prosim
(Eh-noh oo-stop-NEETZ-oh pro- SEEM)

Times
Now – zdaj (z-dai)
Later – kasneje (kaz-NAY-yeh)
Today – danes (dahn-es)
Tomorrow – jutri (yoo-tree)
Yesterday – včeraj (oo-cheh-ray)

Extras & Fillers
Really? – A res? (A reh-s)
Aha – Aja (A YA)
Erm – Pač (Patch)
Well… – No… (Noh)
Stop it – Nehaj no (NE hee noh)
Rough night! – Uff (UFF)
Whatever! – Kar nekaj – kar neh-KAI
That’s right – To drži – toh DER-jee
I have a hangover – Imam mačka (i-mam
match-ka)
Crazy night – Naporna noč – nah-POR-na nohch

Swearing in Slovene
Slovenes are rarely angry, being a largly placid bunch. As such, all their dirty curse words and phrases come from the south, namely Serbo-Croatian. We won’t teach you those of course, but we can teach you some native Slovene curses, which are humourously innocent, cute and sure to get you laughs a-plenty.
Jebela cesta! (Yeh BELLA tsesta) – The road is white!
Tristo kosmatih medvedov! (TREE stoh kossmat EEH med ved oh) – Three hundred grizzly bears!
Mat kurja! (Matt kur ya) – Mother of a hen!
Bes te plentaj! (Bess teh plen tie) – The rage be foolishly spoken!
Krščen Matiček! (Kr sh-chen mat each eck) – Christened Matty!

Source: THE Slovenia Book

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