živalski vrt
“živalski vrt” — zoo in Slovenian. Noun, level A1, topic — buildings and premises. ž is the "zh" of "measure". In a live sentence: “V živalskem vrtu smo videli slona” — At the zoo we saw an elephant. You can hear how it sounds right here. One of 25 words in the set “buildings and premises” in the Slovenian course.
In short
| Written in Slovenian | živalski vrt |
| Translation | zoo |
| Part of speech | noun |
| Level | A1 |
- živalski vrtzoo
How to pronounce it
ž is the "zh" of "measure"
Why it looks that way
Literally "animal garden", from žival. Locative v živalskem vrtu, with a stem alternation.
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.
- V živalskem vrtu smo videli slonaAt the zoo we saw an elephant
Nearby words: buildings and premises
Where to go and what is done there. These words are read off a sign more often than they are spoken.
- restavracijarestaurantv before a consonant sounds like "u": res-TOW-rah-tsee-yah
- kavarnacoffeehouseFrom kava. Sitting for hours over a single cup is the norm here, not an offense.
- trgsquareno written vowel before r; a faint "uh" glides in: tuhrg
- trgovinashopFrom trg, the square where trade happened. It is the shop itself, not "trade".
- tržnicamarketž is "zh"; no written vowel before r: tuhrzh-NEE-tsah
- lekarnapharmacyFrom lek, "medicine". The word apoteka is not used here.
- bankabankPlainly the financial kind — no other meaning is attached to it.
- postajastationOne word for the station and the stop: železniška postaja is the train station, avtobusna postaja the bus stop.
- pultcounterš is "sh"
- živilska trgovinagrocery storež is the "zh" of "measure"
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “buildings and premises”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “zoo” in Slovenian?
Literally "animal garden", from žival. Locative v živalskem vrtu, with a stem alternation.
- How do you say “bank” in Slovenian?
Plainly the financial kind — no other meaning is attached to it.
- How do you say “square” in Slovenian?
It has almost no vowel at all: before r a faint "uh" glides in. Prešernov trg is the heart of Ljubljana.
- How do you say “grocery store” in Slovenian?
From živilo, "foodstuff" — literally "what one lives on". Signs you will meet: Mercator, Spar, Hofer.
- How do you say “pharmacy” in Slovenian?
From lek, "medicine". The word apoteka is not used here.
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 “zoo” in Slovenian?
«živalski vrt». ž is the "zh" of "measure". In a live sentence: “V živalskem vrtu smo videli slona” — At the zoo we saw an elephant. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Noun, level A1, from the set “buildings and premises”.
Why does this word look the way it does?
Literally "animal garden", from žival. Locative v živalskem vrtu, with a stem alternation. 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.