biti
“biti” — to be in Slovenian. Verb, level A1, topic — verbs. The linking verb is obligatory where English drops it: Sem študent, To je drago. The conjugation is irregular and hosts the dual: sem, si, je — sva, sta, sta — smo, ste, so. In a live sentence: “Midva sva iz Rusije” — The two of us are from Russia. You can hear how it sounds right here. One of 111 words in the set “verbs” in the Slovenian course.
In short
| Written in Slovenian | biti |
| Translation | to be |
| Part of speech | verb |
| Level | A1 |
- bitito be
Why it looks that way
The linking verb is obligatory where English drops it: Sem študent, To je drago. The conjugation is irregular and hosts the dual: sem, si, je — sva, sta, sta — smo, ste, so.
A word with a story stays in memory longer than one learned as a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.
In a live sentence
A single word almost never appears alone in conversation. A sentence shows where it fits and what stands next to it.
- Midva sva iz RusijeThe two of us are from Russia
Nearby words: verbs
I want, I can, I am going, I know. Twenty verbs cover more everyday sentences than two hundred nouns.
- želimI would likež is the "zh" of "measure": ZHEH-leem
- rad imamI loveLiterally "gladly have". A woman says rada imam — the form follows the speaker.
- itito goš is "sh"
- jestito eatj is "y": YEH-stee
- pitito drinkThe present changes its stem: pijem, piješ, pije. A drink is pijača, from the same root.
- bratito readPresent berem, bereš, bere. On neighboring courses the word looks like "to take"; here taking is vzeti.
- govoritito speakAbout a language you use the adverb, not the name: govorim slovensko, not govorim slovenščino.
- delatito workThe same word does "to do": kaj delaš? is both "what is your job?" and "what are you doing?" — context decides.
- živetito livež is the "zh" of "measure": ZHEH-vee-tee
- imetito have"I have" is imam — no "at me there is" construction anywhere in sight.
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “verbs”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “to be” in Slovenian?
The linking verb is obligatory where English drops it: Sem študent, To je drago. The conjugation is irregular and hosts the dual: sem, si, je — sva, sta, sta — smo, ste, so.
- How do you say “to speak” in Slovenian?
About a language you use the adverb, not the name: govorim slovensko, not govorim slovenščino.
- How do you say “to go” in Slovenian?
The present tense comes from another root: grem, greš, gre. For two people: greva.
- How do you say “to have” in Slovenian?
"I have" is imam — no "at me there is" construction anywhere in sight.
- How do you say “to read” in Slovenian?
Present berem, bereš, bere. On neighboring courses the word looks like "to take"; here taking is vzeti.
How not to forget this word
Reading a word and remembering it are different jobs. A day later, little survives of a single reading — and that is not bad memory, that is how memory works.
- This has been tested on foreign words too. The difference shows up most when you test yourself a few days later rather than straight away.checked many timesKim & Webb, 2022, Language Learning 72(2) · 48 experiments, 3,411 participants, 98 comparisons.
- 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.
- An answer you worked out yourself sticks better than one handed to you.checked many timesBertsch et al., 2007, Memory & Cognition 35(2) · 86 studies, 445 comparisons, d = 0.40.
Frequently asked
How do you say “to be” in Slovenian?
«biti». In a live sentence: “Midva sva iz Rusije” — The two of us are from Russia. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Verb, level A1, from the set “verbs”.
Why does this word look the way it does?
The linking verb is obligatory where English drops it: Sem študent, To je drago. The conjugation is irregular and hosts the dual: sem, si, je — sva, sta, sta — smo, ste, so. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.
Can I hear how it sounds?
Yes, right on this page: click the word and it will play. The sound works on any phone, and nothing needs to be installed.