Dobrota, poštenost, izročilo: from an adjective and a verb — a noun
Names of character traits are almost all made from words you already know. One walk-through and you will build them yourself, and understand unfamiliar ones too. For example: “Njegova poštenost in potrpljenje sta bila znana vsem” — His honesty and patience were known to everyone. A rule from the Slovenian course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
Names of character traits are almost all made from words you already know. One walk-through and you will build them yourself, and understand unfamiliar ones too.
-ost is the most productive tail and grows out of an adjective: pošten → poštenost, radoveden → radovednost, natančen → natančnost. All such words are feminine and end in a consonant: brez poštenosti, z natančnostjo.
-ota is older and rarer: dober → dobrota, lep → lepota. And -nje grows out of a verb and gives neuter: opazovati → opazovanje, zaupati → zaupanje.
-stvo is a property or a collective: varstvo, ljudstvo, prijateljstvo. A trap: varstvo is guarding and childcare, while varnost is safety. Hence two phrases: varnost pri delu and varstvo pri delu.
Table
| suffix | built from | example | gender |
|---|---|---|---|
| -ost | from an adjective | poštenost | feminine on a consonant |
| -ost | from an adjective | radovednost | feminine on a consonant |
| -ota | from an adjective | dobrota | feminine on -a |
| -nje | from a verb | opazovanje | neuter |
| -nje | from a verb | zaupanje | neuter |
| -lo | from a verb | izročilo | neuter |
| -tev | from a verb | ozelenitev | feminine on a consonant |
| -stvo | a property, a collective | varstvo | neuter |
By example
- Njegova poštenost in potrpljenje sta bila znana vsemHis honesty and patience were known to everyone
- Označevanje izdelkov zahteva veliko natančnostiProduct labeling requires great precision
- Varstvo pri delu ni isto kot varnost na cestiOccupational safety is not the same as road safety
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
Dobrota, poštenost, izročilo: how does it work in Slovenian?
Names of character traits are almost all made from words you already know. One walk-through and you will build them yourself, and understand unfamiliar ones too.
What does it look like in an example sentence Slovenian?
“Njegova poštenost in potrpljenje sta bila znana vsem” — His honesty and patience were known to everyone. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.