kako si?
“kako si?” — how are you? in Slovenian. Phrase, level A0, topic — greetings and goodbyes. si is "you are": Slovenian never drops this little linking verb. In a live sentence: “Živjo, kako si?” — Hi, how are you? You can hear how it sounds right here. One of 9 words in the set “greetings and goodbyes” in the Slovenian course.
In short
| Written in Slovenian | kako si? |
| Translation | how are you? |
| Part of speech | phrase |
| Level | A0 |
- kako si?how are you?
Why it looks that way
si is "you are": Slovenian never drops this little linking verb.
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.
- Živjo, kako si?Hi, how are you?
Nearby words: greetings and goodbyes
Every conversation starts here, and so does every first impression: say hello in the local language and you stop being a stranger in about a second.
- živjohiž sounds like "zh" in "vision"; before j the v sounds like "u": ZHEEW-yoh
- dober dangood afternoonNeutral and polite. With strangers, start here rather than with the casual živjo.
- dobro jutrogood morningj is "y"; an unstressed o stays a clear "o": DOH-broh YOO-troh
- dober večergood eveningUntil dinner it is still dan, after about six in the evening it is večer.
- na svidenjegoodbyeLiterally "until we see each other" — the seeing is right there in the word.
- adijobyeA casual farewell borrowed from Italian addio; in Ljubljana you hear it more than the formal na svidenje.
- kako ste?how are you (formal)?The polite version. ste is the formal "you are", good for strangers and elders.
- lahko nočgood nightLiterally "an easy night" — the same lahko means "can, may".
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “greetings and goodbyes”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “how are you?” in Slovenian?
si is "you are": Slovenian never drops this little linking verb.
- How do you say “how are you (formal)?” in Slovenian?
The polite version. ste is the formal "you are", good for strangers and elders.
- How do you say “goodbye” in Slovenian?
Literally "until we see each other" — the seeing is right there in the word.
- How do you say “good morning” in Slovenian?
Good only until ten or eleven; after that people switch to dober dan, and the border is respected.
- How do you say “hi” in Slovenian?
The all-purpose informal greeting, morning or night — and the very same word says goodbye too.
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 “how are you?” in Slovenian?
«kako si?» In a live sentence: “Živjo, kako si?” — Hi, how are you? You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Phrase, level A0, from the set “greetings and goodbyes”.
Why does this word look the way it does?
si is "you are": Slovenian never drops this little linking verb. 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.