What you do for a living: -ec, -ar, -nik, -alec and the obligatory feminine
The twenty profession names of this unit are made of four parts, and once you take them apart you will start guessing words you were never taught. This is not decoration: in Slovenian a trade is almost always derived from a verb or an object. 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…
How it works
The twenty profession names of this unit are made of four parts, and once you take them apart you will start guessing words you were never taught. This is not decoration: in Slovenian a trade is almost always derived from a verb or an object.
-ar — a craft with an object. zid → zidar (bricklayer), vrt → vrtnar (gardener), ključavnica → ključavničar (locksmith), čevelj → čevljar (shoemaker). Also električar and mizar. The suffix is old, German in origin, and its words smell of the workshop.
-ec and -alec — the one who does it. prodajati → prodajalec, prevajati → prevajalec, oblikovati → oblikovalec, gasiti → gasilec, peti → pevec. The rule is simple: take the -l stem of the past participle and add -ec. One trap: -alec grows from a verb, not from a noun — a 'designer' is not 'the one at the shape' but 'the one who shapes'.
-nik and -ik — from a noun or an adjective: varnost → varnostnik, podjetje → podjetnik, glasba → glasbenik, znanost → znanstvenik, gradbeni → gradbenik. This group yields newer, more solid words: occupations, not crafts.
And the rule that in Slovenian is not optional: a woman has her own name, and the masculine is not extended to her. -ec → -ka (prodajalec — prodajalka, gasilec — gasilka), -ar → -arka (vrtnar — vrtnarka), -nik → -nica (glasbenik — glasbenica, znanstvenik — znanstvenica), and učitelj gives učiteljica. Saying about a woman Ona je učitelj in Slovenian is not 'neutral' but illiterate. English 'she is a doctor' does not translate word for word here — it will be Ona je zdravnica.
Finally, asking the question: Kaj si po poklicu? — 'what are you by trade', and the answer's copula needs no preposition: Sem mizar. There is no article; 'to work as' is delati kot: Delam kot tajnica.
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?
The twenty profession names of this unit are made of four parts, and once you take them apart you will start guessing words you were never taught. This is not decoration: in Slovenian a trade is almost always derived from a verb or an object.
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.