Numbers and counting in Slovenian
57 words Slovenian words on the topic “numbers and counting”: ena — one, dva — two, tri — three, štiri — four. 57 words can be played from recordings.
57 words on the topic
- enaoneIt agrees in gender: en kruh, "one loaf", but ena kava, "one coffee".
- dvatwoAfter dva the dual switches on: dva kruha, dve kavi.
- trithreeAfter tri the noun goes to plain plural: tri kave. The dual belonged to dva alone.
- štirifourš is "sh": shtee-ree
- petfiveWith pet the genitive begins: pet kruhov, not pet kruhi.
- šestsixš is "sh": shehst
- sedemsevenThink "seventh" rather than "seven" — that makes it harder to confuse with osem, "eight".
- osemeightKeep it apart from osemdeset (eighty) and osemsto (eight hundred). In the ordinal the e drops out: osmi.
- devetnineThe ordinal is deveti, the ten is devetdeset, the hundred is devetsto — a perfectly regular family.
- desettenThe base of all the tens: dvajset, trideset, petdeset. The ordinal is deseti.
- enajstelevenGrew out of ena na deset, "one onto ten". The noun after it takes the genitive plural: enajst evrov.
- dvanajsttwelveBuilt on dva, but the dual is long over by here: two eggs are dve jajci, twelve eggs are dvanajst jajc.
- trinajstthirteenFrom tri. The whole run up to nineteen is built the same way, and the numerals themselves never change their form.
- štirinajstfourteenš is "sh", j is "y": shtee-REE-nighst
- petnajstfifteenA quarter of an hour is četrt ure, but with clock time people just say the number: petnajst minut.
- šestnajstsixteenFrom šest, and the t stays right where it is.
- sedemnajstseventeenFrom sedem. The ljudi ("people") after it is genitive plural — the same case you get after pet.
- osemnajsteighteenAt eighteen Slovenians get the right to vote and a driving licence.
- devetnajstnineteenThe last of the -najst numbers; after this come the tens in -deset, and those are built differently.
- dvajsettwentyNot dvadeset: the -de- contracted into -j-. Compounds are written back to front as one word — enaindvajset, literally "one-and-twenty".
- tridesetthirtyHere -deset no longer contracts, unlike dvajset. Compounds run back to front again: petintrideset, "five-and-thirty".
- štiridesetfortyš is "sh": shtee-REE-deh-set
- petdesetfiftyWritten petdeset but said pedeset — the t drops between consonants. The same fate awaits šestdeset.
- šestdesetsixtyWritten with a t, spoken without it — a rare case of spelling and speech drifting apart, and numbers are exactly that case.
- sedemdesetseventyFrom sedem, and it reads exactly as written, unlike petdeset. The seventies are sedemdeseta leta.
- osemdeseteightyFrom osem. The word does not begin the way you might expect, so do not be surprised if it takes a second to recognize.
- devetdesetninetyRegular, straight from devet. In speech the t goes quiet: devedeset.
- stohundredNo ena in front: a hundred is simply sto. Two and three hundred fold into one word — dvesto, tristo — then štiristo, petsto.
- tisočthousandč is "ch": TEE-sohch
- milijonmillionWritten with -ij-: milijon. It is a full masculine noun by now: dva milijona, pet milijonov.
- ničzeroThe same word means "nothing": nič ne vidim, "I see nothing". The digit itself is ničla, and a score reads dve proti nič.
- prvifirstOrdinals agree in gender: prvi dan, prva ura, prvo mesto. They even have a dual: prva dneva.
- drugisecondThe same word means "other": drugi dan is both "the second day" and "the next day". Feminine druga, neuter drugo.
- tretjithirdA soft -j stem: tretji, tretja, tretje. After it the row turns regular — četrti, peti, šesti.
- zadnjilastBoth "last" and "back": zadnja vrata is the back door. Its partner is prvi; "previous" is prejšnji.
- kolikohow muchUnchanging itself, but it demands genitive plural after it: koliko ljudi, koliko denarja. kolikšen is the adjective asking "of what size". For price: koliko stane.
- para couple ofA pair of shoes is par čevljev, a married couple is par. But par dni in speech just means "a few days" — nobody counts two.
- kospieceThe same kos you will meet as "a piece" of something, and it also names the blackbird. On a bill: pet kosov, genitive plural; dva kosa is the dual.
- odstotekpercentLiterally "from the hundred". Watch the fleeting e: odstotek, but dva odstotka, pet odstotkov. You may hear procent in speech; documents write only odstotek.
- vsakeachAgrees like an adjective: vsak dan, vsaka ura, vsako jutro. The noun after it is always singular — even for two, the dual does not switch on.
- dvestotwo hundredOne word, and the vowel shifts: not dva sto but dvesto, with the e of dve. After it the series runs regular: tristo, štiristo.
- tristothree hundredWritten as one word: tri plus sto. Bigger numbers stack back to front, like the tens: tristo dvaintrideset, "three hundred two-and-thirty".
- štiristofour hundredš is "sh": SHTEE-ree-stoh
- petstofive hundredFrom five hundreds on, just as after five, the noun slips into genitive plural: petsto evrov, not evri.
- šeststosix hundredš is "sh"; across the seam the s stretches long: SHES-STOH
- sedemstoseven hundredUnlike sedemdeset, nothing drops out here: the whole sedem plus sto.
- osemstoeight hundredNo losses either: osem plus sto. Compare the ordinal osmi, where the e does drop.
- devetstonine hundredThe last hundred before tisoč, "thousand". Years before 2000 are read exactly like this: tisoč devetsto devetdeset.
- četrtifourthč is "ch": CHETR-tee
- petififthSpelled exactly like the verb peti, "to sing" — agreement tells them apart: peti dan is day five, rad poje is "he loves to sing".
- šestisixthš is "sh": SHEH-stee
- sedmiseventhHere the e drops: sedem, but sedmi. The same in osem becoming osmi — both ordinals are shorter than their numbers.
- osmieighthIn dates the ordinal takes the genitive: osmega marca, "of the eighth of March". The day of the month is always given as an ordinal.
- devetininthFrom devet with no losses. At the station the platform is named by ordinal: z devetega tira.
- desetitenthFrom deset. Beyond it the row assembles from the numeral the same way: enajsti, dvajseti, stoti.
- stotihundredthFrom sto. Keep it apart from fractions: a hundredth part is stotina, and the hundredth of a second on a stopwatch is stotinka.
- številonumberš is "sh": SHTEH-vee-loh
How it sounds in a sentence
A word list is a blank. Conversation is made of sentences, and these are the ones the words fit into most often.
What is worth knowing about these words
ena — one. It agrees in gender: en kruh, "one loaf", but ena kava, "one coffee".
dva — two. After dva the dual switches on: dva kruha, dve kavi.
tri — three. After tri the noun goes to plain plural: tri kave. The dual belonged to dva alone.
štiri — four. The last number before the switch to the genitive: štiri kave, but already pet kav.
Test yourself
First by ear — the way you will meet the word in conversation. Click the speaker and pick the translation.
- What is this word?
It is ena — one.
- What is this word?
It is osem — eight.
- What is this word?
It is petnajst — fifteen.
- What is this word?
It is štirideset — forty.
- What is this word?
It is tisoč — thousand.
Now the other way around: recall the spelling from the meaning. That is harder, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “one” in Slovenian?
It agrees in gender: en kruh, "one loaf", but ena kava, "one coffee".
- How do you say “eight” in Slovenian?
Keep it apart from osemdeset (eighty) and osemsto (eight hundred). In the ordinal the e drops out: osmi.
- How do you say “fifteen” in Slovenian?
A quarter of an hour is četrt ure, but with clock time people just say the number: petnajst minut.
- How do you say “forty” in Slovenian?
From štiri with no losses — the language has no special word for it, so the row stays regular.
- How do you say “thousand” in Slovenian?
In counting it never changes: dva tisoč, pet tisoč, and then the genitive follows: pet tisoč evrov. As a plain noun it does decline: na tisoče ljudi.
How to learn the set instead of just reading it
A price, the change, a house number, the time you agreed on, the floor. Numbers are the first thing you have to catch by ear — and the first thing people say fast.
A list is read in a minute and forgotten in a day. What works: hide the translation, try to recall, get it wrong — and come back to the same words tomorrow.
- Recalling beats re-reading. Covering the translation and trying to remember it does more than reading it ten more times.checked many timesAdesope, Trevisan & Sundararajan, 2017, Review of Educational Research 87(3) · 188 experiments, 272 comparisons. g = 0.61; against plain re-reading 0.51, against passive review 0.93.
- This holds not only in experiments but in ordinary classrooms, with real students.checked many timesMawson & Kang, 2025, Behavioral Sciences 15(6):771 · 22 studies, d = 0.54 (confidence interval 0.31–0.77). The authors warn that individual studies disagree widely.
Frequently asked
How do you say “one” in Slovenian?
«ena». It agrees in gender: en kruh, "one loaf", but ena kava, "one coffee". It is one of 57 words in the set “numbers and counting” — the rest are in the table above.
How many numbers do you need to start?
A dozen is enough. The set of 57 words on this page covers nearly every everyday case on the topic — but it is best taken a few at a time, not all at once.
Is there audio?
Yes, 57 words on this page can be played — click the speaker next to the word. The sound works on any phone, and nothing needs to be installed.