Veliko, malo, nekaj, ves — and 'about' instead of an exact figure
Quantity drags a case behind it, and that is the first thing to absorb. After veliko (a lot), malo (little), nekaj (a few), dovolj (enough), preveč (too much) and premalo (too little) the noun stands in the genitive: veliko denarja, malo časa, nekaj vprašanj, dovolj prihrankov. The quantity word itself never changes — all the work falls on the noun. For example: “Za selitev sva porabila okoli tristo evrov” — The two…
How it works
Quantity drags a case behind it, and that is the first thing to absorb. After veliko (a lot), malo (little), nekaj (a few), dovolj (enough), preveč (too much) and premalo (too little) the noun stands in the genitive: veliko denarja, malo časa, nekaj vprašanj, dovolj prihrankov. The quantity word itself never changes — all the work falls on the noun.
The same rule explains phrases you already use: zmanjkuje denarja, ni signala, ni vode. Genitive after negation and genitive after quantity are one and the same phenomenon: both talk about a part, not the whole.
Separately, ves — all. It behaves like an adjective and agrees: ves denar, vsa plača, vse stanovanje, vsi sodelavci. Don't confuse it with vsak — every: vsak dan is 'every day', ves dan is 'the whole day', and English draws exactly the same line between 'every' and 'whole'.
Approximation is compulsory at B1, otherwise you sound like an accounting report. Slovenian says okoli and približno: okoli petsto evrov, približno pol ure. There is also the colloquial kakšnih: kakšnih deset ljudi — some ten people; note the inverted order, which by itself signals 'roughly'. And there are vsaj — at least, and največ — at most: vsaj tri leta, največ dva tedna.
Table
| word | meaning | what follows |
|---|---|---|
| veliko | a lot of | genitive: veliko denarja |
| malo | little | genitive: malo časa |
| nekaj | a few | genitive: nekaj vprašanj |
| dovolj | enough | genitive: dovolj prostora |
| preveč / premalo | too much / too little | genitive: preveč dela |
| ves, vsa, vse | all, the whole | agrees: ves teden |
| vsak | every | agrees: vsak teden |
| okoli / približno | about, approximately | okoli petih, približno sto |
| vsaj / največ | at least / at most | vsaj eno leto |
By example
- Za selitev sva porabila okoli tristo evrovThe two of us spent about three hundred euros on the move
- Imam premalo časa in preveč nalogI have too little time and too many tasks
- Ves mesec sem varčeval, a prihrankov je še vedno maloI saved all month, but the savings are still small
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
Veliko, malo, nekaj, ves — and 'about' instead of an exact figure: how does it work in Slovenian?
Quantity drags a case behind it, and that is the first thing to absorb. After veliko (a lot), malo (little), nekaj (a few), dovolj (enough), preveč (too much) and premalo (too little) the noun stands in the genitive: veliko denarja, malo časa, nekaj vprašanj, dovolj prihrankov. The quantity word…
What does it look like in an example sentence Slovenian?
“Za selitev sva porabila okoli tristo evrov” — The two of us spent about three hundred euros on the move. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.