teden

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All kind of weeks out there… Source

Translation: week

This week I proudly present to you: teden. A week in Slovenia lasts seven days, just like in other parts of the world. The first letter in the names of days in Slovenian is not capitalized. Here are the days:

ponedeljek – Monday
torek – Tuesday
sreda – Wednesday
četrtek – Thursday
petek – Friday
sobota – Saturday
nedelja – Sunday

Examples:

Teden ima sedem dni.
(A week has seven days.)

Se teden začne na nedeljo ali ponedeljek?
(Does a week start on a Sunday or Monday?)

Prihodnji teden gremo na počitnice!
(Next week we’re going on holidays!)

Danes se začne teden mode v Ljubljani.
(Today begins the Ljubljana fashion week.)

Zdravljenje lahko traja tedne dolgo.
(The treatment can last for weeks.)

Related:

dan – day
mesec – month
leto – year
desetletje – decennial
stoletje – century
tisočletje – millenium

Listen to the pronunciation of Slovenian words and phrases.

štala

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Translation: a stable, confusion (informal)

Štala is a colloquial word for a stable. But you will also hear it used in everyday speech as a description of a confused, disorderly situation or happening (pandemonium).

Examples:

Kmet je imel v štali pet krav.
(The farmer had five cows in the stable.)

In takrat se je začela prava štala.
(And that is when the pandemonium began.)

Včeraj sem domov prišel zelo pozno. Ženi ni bilo všeč – bila je cela štala.
(Yesterday I came home very late. My wife didn’t like it – it wasn’t pretty.)

Expressions:

Najprej štalca, pol pa kravca.
(lit. first a little stable, and then a small cow. You say it when you first want to be financially independent, to have a house, and only then you think of children.)

Related:

hlev – a stable
kaos – chaos
norišnica – asylum, pandemonium

Listen to the pronunciation of Slovenian words and phrases.

cepivo

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Brrr, needles. Source

Translation: vaccine

Let’s face it, the vaccine is on everyone’s mind these days. Hardly a day goes by without an article, a round table, or a radio show discussing the ultimate question: when?

Examples:

Cepivo proti ošpicam uspešno preprečuje smrt otrok.
(The measles vaccine successfully prevents children’s death.)

Nasprotniki cepiv se igrajo z ognjem.
(Vaccine opponents are playing with fire.)

Razvoj cepiva traja leta.
(The development of the vaccine takes years.)

Ampak, ali bo cepiva dovolj za vse?
(But, will there be enough vaccine for everyone?)

Related:

cepiti – to vaccinate
cepljenje – vaccination
bolezen – disease
gripa – flu
ošpice – measles

Extra:

Completely unrelated: cepiti doesn’t mean only to vaccinate, but also to chop wood (eg. cepiti drva). You have been warned.

Listen to the pronunciation of Slovenian words and phrases.

jabolko

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The red or green: which do you prefer? Source

Translate: apple

I always associate autumn with apples and apple pies.

Examples:

Iz jabolk je naredila slastno jabolčno pito.
(From the apples she made a delicious apple pie.)

Jeseni se listje obarva v tople barve.
(In autumn, leaves are colored in warm colors.)

Sredi vrta stoji stara jablana.
(An old apple tree stands in the middle of the garden.)

Adamovo jabolko je izboklina na moškem vratu.
(Adam’s apple is a bulge on a men’s neck.)

Expressions:

Jabolko ne pade daleč od drevesa.
(The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.)

jabolko spora
(an apple of discord)

ugrizniti v kislo jabolko
(to grasp the nettle; lit. to bite into a sour apple)

Related:

hruška – pear
sliva – plum
jesen – autumn

Listen to the pronunciation of Slovenian words and phrases.

Ljubezen

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Lovebirds. Source

Translation: love

You can declare your love to your darling (ie. I love you) in two ways:

Ljubim te.
Rad te imam.

The first sounds rather official; it is typically used in literature. The second version is more natural. But I guess it depends on personal preferences. A number of adjectives can be added to ljubezen, for example:

strastna ljubezen – passionate love
srečna ljubezen – happy love
neuslišana ljubezen – unrequited love
sladka ljubezen – sweet love

Examples:

Se spomniš svoje prve ljubezni?
(Do you remember your first love?)

Njun zakon je bil brez ljubezni.
(Their marriage was without love.)

Združuje naju ljubezen do knjig.
(We are united by our love for books.)

Lahko ti podarim samo ljubezen.
(I can only give you love. Note: A verse from a popular Slovenian Eurovision song)

Julija je bila neuslišana ljubezen in pesniška muza Franceta Prešerna.
(Julija was the unrequited love and poetic muse of France Prešeren.)

Expressions:

ljubezen gre skozi želodec
(the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach; lit. love goes through a stomach)

ljubezen na prvi pogled
(love at first sight)

Related:

ljub – dear (adj.)
ljuba/ljubi – dear (referring to woman/man)
srce – heart

Listen to the pronunciation of Slovenian words and phrases.

smeh

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Laughter. Source

Translation: laughter, laugh

It is said that smeh je pol zdravja (laughter is the best medicine). When was the last time you laughed your head off? If you can’t remember, it was too long ago.

Examples:

Ulico je napolnil glasen smeh otrok.
(A loud children’s laughter filled the street.)

Na obrazu mu je zasijal nasmeh.
(A smile shined on his face.)

Marta je vedno nasmejana.
(Marta is always smiling.)

Zakaj se smeješ?
(Why are you laughing?)

Expressions:

valjati se od smeha
(to laugh your head off; lit. to roll oneself on the floor from laughter)

planiti v smeh/bruhniti v smeh
(to burst into laughter; note: both planiti and bruhniti in this context mean “to burst”. Bruhniti has another meaning: to suddenly vomit.)

spraviti koga v smeh
(to make somebody laugh)

Related:

smejati se – to laugh
zasmejati se – to burst out laughing
smehljaj – smile
nasmeh – smile
smešen – funny
vic – a joke

Listen to the pronunciation of Slovenian words and phrases.

torta

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A piece of cake! Source

Translation: cake

Common types of cakes are:

čokoladna torta – chocolate cake
sadna torta – fruit cake
poročna torta – wedding cake
torta za rojstni dan – birthday cake

Examples:

Kakšno torto želiš za rojstni dan?
(What kind of cake do you want for your birthday?)

To je najboljša torta, kar sem jih jedel!
(This is the the best cake I have ever eaten!)

Dober dan. Rad bi dva koščka torte.
(Hello. I would like two pieces of cake.)

Ti okrasi torto, medtem ko jaz pomijem posodo.
(You decorate the cake while I do the dishes.)

Expressions:

češnja na vrhu torte
(cherry on top)

Related:

testo – dough
preliv – icing (also dressing, topping)
slaščičarna – sweet shop

Listen to the pronunciation of Slovenian words and phrases.

poezija

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Translation: poetry

A poem translates to pesem, which also means a song in Slovenian. For this week, I prepared two famous poems written by Tone Pavček. Given the purpose of this blog, I translated them quite literally. A proper translation would require a bit of playing with words–as it is with every good poetry.

(Without a title)

Na svetu si, da gledaš sonce,
na svetu si, da greš za soncem,
na svetu si, da sam si sonce
in da s sveta odganjaš – sence.

(You are in the world, to watch the sun
you are in the world, to follow the sun
you are in the world, to be the sun
and to repel from the world – the shadows.)

Pesem o zvezdah (Song about stars)

Vsak človek je zase svet,
čuden, svetal in lep
kot zvezda na nebu…

Vsak tiho zori,
počasi in z leti,
a kamor že greš, vse poti
je treba na novo začeti.

Tako živimo ljudje.
Vsak zase krmari k pogrebu.
Svetloba samo
nas druži kot zvezde na nebu.

A včasih so daleč poti,
da roka v roko ne seže,
a včasih preblizu so si,
da z nohti lahko
srce kdo doseže…

Od tega menda
človek umre,
od tega z neba
se zvezda ospe.

( Every man is a world in themself,
strange, bright, and beautiful
like a star in the sky…

Each one quietly matures,
slowly and with years,
but wherever you go, all paths
need to be started anew.

That is how we people live,
each one steers themself to a funeral.
Light only
connects us like the stars in the sky.

But sometimes the paths are far,
that a hand does not reach a hand,
but sometimes they are too close,
that with nails
a heart anyone reaches.

From that supposedly
a man dies,
from that from the sky
a star falls.)

Listen to the pronunciation of Slovenian words and phrases.

planet

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Planets of the Solar system. Source

Translation: planet

Planet is spelled the same but pronounced differently than in English.
The word planet can describe either a planet or the planet, the latter
referring to Earth. The planets of the Solar system are:

Merkur – Mercury
Venera – Venus
Zemlja – Earth
Mars – Mars
Jupiter – Jupiter
Saturn – Saturn
Uran – Uranus
Neptun – Neptune

Examples:

Planeti krožijo okoli Sonca.
(Planets orbit (lit. circle) the Sun.)

Poglejte! Ta mala pika je planet Zemlja.
(Look! This small dot is planet Earth.)

Naš planet je prenaseljen.
(Our planet is overpopulated.)

Mars, Rdeči planet.
(Mars, the Red planet.)

Related:

Osončje – Solar system
Sonce – Sun
Luna – Moon
luna – moon
komet – comet
asteroid – asteroid

Listen to the pronunciation of Slovenian words and phrases.

stati

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To stand and withstand! Source

Translation: to stand, to cost

Let us look at a verb today for a change. Stati is the infinite form; it changes depending on the subject to which it applies and to the tense. Anna in Slovenia has a nice explanation of how to handle the verbs. This one is used in versatile ways. Especially the “stand” meaning is used figuratively in many different circumstances.

Examples:

Koliko stane krilo?
(How much does the skirt cost?)

Kava stane en evro.
(Coffee costs one euro.)

Počitnice so nas stale pet tisoč evrov.
(Holidays cost us (past tense) five thousand euros.)

Stojimo v vrsti.
(We stand in line.)

Telovadec stoji na glavi.
(The gymnast stands on his head.)

Stojim za svojimi besedami!
(I stand by my words!)

Testo naj pol ure stoji, preden gre v pečico.
(Let the dough rest for half an hour, before it goes into an oven.)

Expressions:

naj stane, kar hoče
(at any price, at all cost; lit. let (it) cost, whatever (it) wants)

stati do kolen v dreku
(to be in a very uncomfortable and complicated position; lit. to stand in shit up to knees)

stati kot pribit
(to be immobile; lit. to stand as if being nailed)

stati križem rok
(to be lazy; lit. to stand cross-armed)

Related:

sedeti – to be seated / to sit
sesti – to sit down
stanje – condition, state

Listen to the pronunciation of Slovenian words and phrases.