Sem delal, delam, bom delal: three tenses and one helper
There are three tenses, and two of them are built with the same verb, biti. For example: “V otroštvu sem živel na vasi, zdaj živim v mestu” — As a child I lived in the village, now I live in town. A rule from the Slovenian course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
There are three tenses, and two of them are built with the same verb, biti.
The present is just the changed verb: delam, delaš, dela, delava, delamo. It often works as a future when a time word is there: jutri pokličem nazaj — I'll call back tomorrow.
The past is the -l form plus the present of biti: sem delal, si delal, je delal. The -l form moves by gender and number, biti by person: sem delala, sva delala, sva delali. The piece people forget is sem.
The future is the same -l form plus bom: bom delal, bova delala, bomo delali. In the past, negation fuses: not ne sem delal but nisem delal. In the future it stays apart: ne bom delal.
Table
| tense | scheme | masculine | feminine | two |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| present | conjugation | delam | delam | delava |
| past | sem + -l | sem delal | sem delala | sva delala |
| past, negation | nisem + -l | nisem delal | nisem delala | nisva delala |
| future | bom + -l | bom delal | bom delala | bova delala |
| future, negation | ne bom + -l | ne bom delal | ne bom delala | ne bova delala |
By example
- V otroštvu sem živel na vasi, zdaj živim v mestuAs a child I lived in the village, now I live in town
- Čez leto dni bova končala in se preselilaIn a year the two of us will finish and move
- Tega večera nisem pozabil in ga nikoli ne bomI have not forgotten that evening and I never will
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
Sem delal, delam, bom delal: how does it work in Slovenian?
There are three tenses, and two of them are built with the same verb, biti.
What does it look like in an example sentence Slovenian?
“V otroštvu sem živel na vasi, zdaj živim v mestu” — As a child I lived in the village, now I live in town. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.