Zgoraj or gor, notri or noter: place adverbs have two forms
English 'upstairs' and 'up' are different, but 'inside' and 'inward' have almost merged. Slovenian holds this line hard, and everyone who learned the language from a single column of words stumbles on it. For example: “Zgoraj je toplo, zato pojdi gor” — It’s warm upstairs, so go up. A rule from the Slovenian course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
English 'upstairs' and 'up' are different, but 'inside' and 'inward' have almost merged. Slovenian holds this line hard, and everyone who learned the language from a single column of words stumbles on it.
The rule is one: the answer to 'kje?' (where at) takes one form, the answer to 'kam?' (where to) — another, and these are different words, not different endings.
zgoraj — upstairs, gor or navzgor — up. spodaj — downstairs, dol or navzdol — down. notri — inside, noter — inward. zunaj — outside, ven — out. tu — here, sem — over here. tam — there, tja — over there. blizu — near, bliže — nearer.
Testing yourself is easy: if the verb is 'stand', 'sit', 'be', take the long form (zgoraj, notri, zunaj, tam); if the verb is 'go', 'come', 'climb', take the short one (gor, noter, ven, tja).
The long forms navzgor, navzdol, navznoter, navzven are the same directions, just more bookish and precise. A Ljubljana speaker will say pojdi gor; the manual will read obrnite navzgor.
Separately, tik: it never stands alone and always drags a preposition along — tik ob steni, tik pred vhodom, tik za mano. Saying stoji tik is impossible.
And the last thing: a direction adverb never takes a preposition, while a place adverb often has one inside the word already. Sredi sobe is a preposition with the genitive, and v sredini is a noun with a preposition; the meaning is one, the parse is different.
Table
| where (kje?) | where to (kam?) | the English |
|---|---|---|
| zgoraj | gor / navzgor | upstairs — up |
| spodaj | dol / navzdol | downstairs — down |
| notri | noter / navznoter | inside — inward |
| zunaj | ven / navzven | outside — out |
| tu | sem | here — over here |
| tam | tja | there — over there |
| ob strani | vstran | to the side — aside |
| v daljavi | v daljavo | in the distance — into the distance |
By example
- Zgoraj je toplo, zato pojdi gorIt’s warm upstairs, so go up
- Notri je gneča, midva greva raje venIt’s crowded inside; the two of us would rather go out
- Postelja stoji tik ob steni, omara pa spodaj v kletiThe bed stands flush against the wall, and the wardrobe is downstairs in the basement
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
Zgoraj or gor: how to say up in Slovenian?
English 'upstairs' and 'up' are different, but 'inside' and 'inward' have almost merged. Slovenian holds this line hard, and everyone who learned the language from a single column of words stumbles on it.
Notri vs noter?
The rule is one: the answer to 'kje?' (where at) takes one form, the answer to 'kam?' (where to) — another, and these are different words, not different endings.
Slovenian place adverbs: where and where to?
zgoraj — upstairs, gor or navzgor — up. spodaj — downstairs, dol or navzdol — down. notri — inside, noter — inward. zunaj — outside, ven — out. tu — here, sem — over here. tam — there, tja — over there. blizu — near, bliže — nearer.
Zunaj vs ven?
Testing yourself is easy: if the verb is 'stand', 'sit', 'be', take the long form (zgoraj, notri, zunaj, tam); if the verb is 'go', 'come', 'climb', take the short one (gor, noter, ven, tja).
What tik means in Slovenian?
The long forms navzgor, navzdol, navznoter, navzven are the same directions, just more bookish and precise. A Ljubljana speaker will say pojdi gor; the manual will read obrnite navzgor.
What does it look like in an example sentence Slovenian?
“Zgoraj je toplo, zato pojdi gor” — It’s warm upstairs, so go up. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.