What you do for a living: -ec, -ar, -nik, -alec and the obligatory feminine
A profession name is almost always derived from a verb or from an object. Take the four pieces apart and you will start guessing words you never learned. For example: “Po poklicu sem električarka, delam pa kot vrtnarica” — By trade I am an electrician, and I work as a gardener. A rule from the Slovenian course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
A profession name is almost always derived from a verb or from an object. Take the four pieces apart and you will start guessing words you never learned.
-ar is a trade tied to a thing: zid → zidar, vrt → vrtnar, čevelj → čevljar. Električar and mizar belong here too.
-ec and -alec name the one who does it: prodajati → prodajalec, prevajati → prevajalec, gasiti → gasilec. And -nik grows out of a noun: varnost → varnostnik, glasba → glasbenik.
One rule here is not optional: a woman has her own word. Prodajalec — prodajalka, vrtnar — vrtnarka, glasbenik — glasbenica. Ona je učitelj is impossible; it has to be Ona je učiteljica.
Table
| suffix | built from | a man | a woman |
|---|---|---|---|
| -ar | from an object | vrtnar | vrtnarka |
| -ar | from an object | električar | električarka |
| -ec | from a verb | gasilec | gasilka |
| -alec | from a verb | prevajalec | prevajalka |
| -nik | from a noun | glasbenik | glasbenica |
| -nik | from a noun | znanstvenik | znanstvenica |
| -telj | from a verb | učitelj | učiteljica |
| no suffix | the root | pek | pekarica |
By example
- Po poklicu sem električarka, delam pa kot vrtnaricaBy trade I am an electrician, and I work as a gardener
- Njegova hči je znanstvenica, sin pa gradbenikHis daughter is a scientist, and his son a builder
- Kaj si po poklicu? Sem pek, kot moj očeWhat’s your trade? I’m a baker, like my father
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
What you do for a living: how does it work in Slovenian?
A profession name is almost always derived from a verb or from an object. Take the four pieces apart and you will start guessing words you never learned.
What does it look like in an example sentence Slovenian?
“Po poklicu sem električarka, delam pa kot vrtnarica” — By trade I am an electrician, and I work as a gardener. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.