The Genitive Case: Possession, Absence, and More
The Genitive case indicates possession (like 'of' or 's), absence (with brez - without), origin (with iz/izmed/med - from/among), or location at/having ('at' or 'have' with pri or na). Its primary role is showing belonging or relation, or being required by certain prepositions. Slovenian has singular, dual, and plural forms for the Genitive case.
Nouns: Endings vary based on gender, number, and hard/soft stem.
- Singular Masculine/Neuter: ending -a. (e.g., hiša brata - brother's house, knjiga učitelja - teacher's book, okno mesta - city window, barva polja - field color)
- Singular Feminine: ending -e. (e.g., knjiga sestre - sister's book, glas zemlje - voice of the earth)
- Dual (all genders): ending -ov (masc/neuter) / -ih (fem). (e.g., hiša bratov - of two brothers, knjiga sestrih - of two sisters)
- Plural (all genders): Various endings, often -ov (masculine), or a zero ending (feminine and neuter). (e.g., hiše bratov - of brothers, knjige učiteljev - of teachers, knjige žensk∅ - of women, okna mest∅ - of cities)
Adjectives:
- Singular (all genders): hard -ega, soft -ega. (e.g., hiša dobrega brata - house of a good brother, knjiga nove učiteljice - book of a new teacher, okno svežega mesta - window of a fresh city)
- Dual (all genders): hard/soft -ih. (e.g., hiša dobrih bratov - of two good brothers, knjiga svežih ženskih - of two fresh women)
- Plural (all genders): hard/soft -ih. (e.g., hiše dobrih bratov - houses of good brothers, knjige svežih žensk∅ - books of fresh women)
Prepositions: Used after brez (without), iz/izmed/med (from/among), pri (at/by/have), od (from), do (to/until).
Examples: To je delo mojega očeta (This is my father's work). Sem iz mesta (I am from the city). Pri meni je ura (I have a watch - literally "At me there is a watch"). Gredo brez vode (They are going without water). Videl sem veliko lepih žensk (I saw many beautiful women).