Requests: the imperative and why 'prosim' decides everything
A request starts from the command form (velelnik). For 'you' the ending is -i (počakaj, pokliči), for polite 'you' -te (počakajte, pokličite), for two people -ta (počakajta). For example: “Izpolnite obrazec, prosim” — Fill in the form, please. A rule from the Slovenian course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
A request starts from the command form (velelnik). For 'you' the ending is -i (počakaj, pokliči), for polite 'you' -te (počakajte, pokličite), for two people -ta (počakajta).
A bare command sounds sharper than in English. What softens it is not your tone but the word prosim at the end: Izpolnite obrazec, prosim. Without it the sentence reads as an order.
Softer still: leave the command form and ask instead. Ali lahko razložite še enkrat? or Bi lahko ponovili? That is how people talk in an office, with a doctor, with a landlord.
A ban is built with ne, and the verb beside it is the unfinished one: Ne dotikajte se, never 'ne dotaknite se'.
Table
| verb | you | you two | you (polite) |
|---|---|---|---|
| počakati — to wait | počakaj | počakajta | počakajte |
| poklicati — to call | pokliči | pokličita | pokličite |
| razložiti — to explain | razloži | razložita | razložite |
| izpolniti — to fill in | izpolni | izpolnita | izpolnite |
| dati — to give | daj | dajta | dajte |
By example
- Izpolnite obrazec, prosimFill in the form, please
- Ali lahko razložite še enkrat?Could you explain once more?
- Počakajta trenutekWait a moment (you two)
How the rule settles in your head
A rule is not memorized from an explanation. It is memorized from an attempt to use it and a mistake — that is why the app delivers it mixed in with words, not as a separate lesson: it resurfaces exactly where you forgot it.
Frequently asked
Requests: how does it work in Slovenian?
A request starts from the command form (velelnik). For 'you' the ending is -i (počakaj, pokliči), for polite 'you' -te (počakajte, pokličite), for two people -ta (počakajta).
What does it look like in an example sentence Slovenian?
“Izpolnite obrazec, prosim” — Fill in the form, please. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.