Family

The Instrumental Case: With and By Means Of

The Instrumental case primarily indicates s kom or čim an action is performed, or čim. It is always used with a preposition (most commonly s/s/z/ze - with) or after certain verbs, including the verb biti (to be) when describing someone's profession or state. Slovenian has singular, dual, and plural forms for the Instrumental case.

• Nouns:

  • Singular Masculine/Neuter: ending -om. (e.g., s bratom - with a brother, z učiteljem - with a teacher, z mestom - with a city, s poljem - with a field)
  • Singular Feminine: ending -o. (e.g., s sestro - with a sister, z zemljo - with land)
  • Dual (all genders): ending -oma. (e.g., z bratoma - with two brothers, s sestrama - with two sisters)
  • Plural (all genders): ending -i. (e.g., z brati - with brothers, z učitelji - with teachers, s sestrami - with sisters, z mesti - with cities)

• Adjectives:

  • Singular Masculine/Neuter: ending -im. (e.g., z dobrim bratom - with a good brother, s svežim zrakom - with fresh air)
  • Singular Feminine: ending -o. (e.g., z dobro sestro - with a good sister, s svežo vodo - with fresh water)
  • Dual (all genders): ending -ima. (e.g., z dobrima bratoma - with two good brothers, s svežima očema - with two fresh eyes)
  • Plural (all genders): ending -imi. (e.g., z dobrimi brati - with good brothers, s svežimi zraki - with fresh air)

• Examples: Grem s prijateljem (I am going with a friend). Oni govorijo z nami (They are talking with us). Pišem s svinčnikom (I am writing with a pencil). Ona je dobro študentko (She is a good student - Instrumental used for state/profession). Midva sva dobrima študentoma (We two are good students).