Where character adjectives come from: -en, -ast, -ljiv, -av
Almost all character adjectives are a familiar root plus a short tail. The tail is not decoration: it tells you what kind of property you are looking at. For example: “Skromen človek redko govori o sebi” — A modest person rarely talks about themselves. A rule from the Slovenian course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
Almost all character adjectives are a familiar root plus a short tail. The tail is not decoration: it tells you what kind of property you are looking at.
-en is the most general tail: skromen, resen, skrben, predrzen. The standing trap here: the fleeting e drops out when the word changes. Skromen moški, but skromna ženska, skromno stanovanje.
-ast describes shape and looks: kodrast from koder, trmast from trma. -av is closer to behaviour: klepetav from klepetati, sanjav — dreamy.
-ljiv is built from a verb and means 'inclined to': potrpežljiv from potrpeti, zanesljiv from zanesti se. And ne- gives the opposite with no new root: nezanesljiv, nepotrpežljiv.
Table
| suffix | built from | example | meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| -en | a noun | skrb → skrben | a general property |
| -en | a noun | resnica → resen | a general property |
| -ast | a noun | koder → kodrast | shape, looks |
| -ast | a noun | trma → trmast | shape, temper |
| -av | a verb | klepetati → klepetav | habitual behavior |
| -ljiv | a verb | potrpeti → potrpežljiv | a propensity |
| ne- | an adjective | vzgojen → nevzgojen | negation |
| pre- | an adjective | drag → predrag | over the line |
By example
- Skromen človek redko govori o sebiA modest person rarely talks about themselves
- Njena hči je kodrasta in zelo klepetavaHer daughter is curly and very chatty
- Sodelavec je zanesljiv, a malce nepotrpežljivThe colleague is reliable, but a little impatient
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
Where character adjectives come from: how does it work in Slovenian?
Almost all character adjectives are a familiar root plus a short tail. The tail is not decoration: it tells you what kind of property you are looking at.
What does it look like in an example sentence Slovenian?
“Skromen človek redko govori o sebi” — A modest person rarely talks about themselves. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.