LingoflyWhat 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
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 a Slovenian example sentence?
“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.