Prevelik, enako drag, dvakrat večji: the adjective phrase in full
Adjectives rarely walk alone. A group gathers around them — a booster, a refinement, a comparison — and Slovenian assembles it by its own rules. For example: “Stanovanje je preveliko in predrago za naju” — The apartment is too big and too expensive for the two of us. A rule from the Slovenian course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
Adjectives rarely walk alone. A group gathers around them — a booster, a refinement, a comparison — and Slovenian assembles it by its own rules.
First: the prefix pre- means 'too' and glues on for good. prevelik — too big, predrag — too expensive, premajhen — too small. It is not the same as zelo (very): zelo velik is simply big, prevelik is bigger than it should be, with a raised eyebrow. Adverbs and verbs do not take the prefix; there the separate word preveč does the job: preveč zapravljaš.
Second: comparing whole phrases. Equality — enako … kot or tako … kot: stanovanje je enako drago kot prejšnje. Inequality — the comparative plus od with the genitive or kot with the nominative: dražje od prejšnjega = dražje kot prejšnje. Both forms are alive; the second is more colloquial.
Third: multiples and margins. dvakrat večji — twice as big, pol manjši — half the size, za deset odstotkov dražji — ten percent more expensive. Note za with the accusative in the last one — happily, English 'by ten percent more expensive' works the same way.
And fourth, word order. The booster stands before the adjective (zelo star, precej zahteven), while the adjective's complement goes after it: poln napak, zadovoljen s stanovanjem, podoben bratu. English does the same with 'full of faults' and 'happy with the apartment', so the order is easy; what has to be memorized is the case of the complement, because every adjective brings its own.
Table
| what we express | how | example |
|---|---|---|
| very | zelo + adjective | zelo lep |
| too (adjective) | pre- glued on | predrag, prevelik |
| too (verb) | preveč separate | preveč zapravlja |
| equal | enako … kot | enako drag kot |
| more than | comparative + od + genitive | dražji od tega |
| more than (spoken) | comparative + kot + nominative | dražji kot ta |
| times as | dvakrat + comparative | dvakrat večji |
| by an amount | za + accusative + comparative | za pet evrov cenejši |
By example
- Stanovanje je preveliko in predrago za najuThe apartment is too big and too expensive for the two of us
- Novi kavč je enako udoben kot stariThe new sofa is exactly as comfortable as the old one
- Najemnina je dvakrat višja od tiste v MariboruThe rent is twice as high as the one in Maribor
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
Prevelik, enako drag, dvakrat večji: how does it work in Slovenian?
Adjectives rarely walk alone. A group gathers around them — a booster, a refinement, a comparison — and Slovenian assembles it by its own rules.
What does it look like in an example sentence Slovenian?
“Stanovanje je preveliko in predrago za naju” — The apartment is too big and too expensive for the two of us. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.