3.1. Slovenian alphabet and writing order
4.1. How to use punctuation marks
4.1.8 Exclamation (!) and interrogation (?) marks
4.2. Punctuation in greetings and closings
6.4. Acronyms and abbreviations
6.5. Software lexicon and expressions
7.1.1 Use of reflexive possessive pronouns
7.1.2 Use of genitive in negation
7.3 Using longer version of “which” inappropriately
1. Post-edition at Unbabel
At Unbabel we have a unique approach to translation: each text submitted by a customer is translated by our Machine Translation system, and then corrected by our community of editors in an online platform. By editing the output of the software, the editors ensure the quality of the translations and confirm that the message is accurate (i.e., has the same meaning as the original), fluent (i.e., can be easily understood and sounds natural) and is in line with the style requested by the clients (i.e. respects their register and terminology). In order to help editors do the best job possible, we provide various types of information:
- Customer instructions, which include the identification of the client and his requests to personalize the translation, such as the register that must be used to address the recipient of the message. Following these instructions is vital to deliver translations that match the client’s expectations.
- Glossaries, which correspond to specific vocabulary and expressions used by the client, and that must be respected by the editors.
- Translation Memories, which correspond to stored segments (expressions, sentences or paragraphs) that have previously been translated and accepted for customer usage. They are useful for ensuring consistency across translations.
We also have Smartcheck, which is an application that checks the grammar, morphology, orthography and style of the translations while being edited. By using a large set of rules, Smartcheck flags words or groups of words that may present some kind of issue.
Finally, in order to deliver the best possible translation, we also provide these guidelines about your language specifications. Please, read them carefully and always follow these instructions in your editions.
2. Grammar
2.1. Sentence structure
The usual word order is subject-verb-object (SVO).
Example:
Source text: A child is watching TV.
✘ Otrok televizijo gleda.
✘ Gleda otrok televizijo.
✘ Televizijo gleda otrok.
✓ Otrok gleda televizijo.
N.B. Word order can be changed for stylistic purposes, due to topicalization or to provide first the old information and then the new information.
Example:
Source text: Peter bought a book.
(It is Peter (and not somebody else) who bought the book.)
✓ Knjigo je kupil Peter.
(It is a book (and not something else) that Peter bought.)
✓ Peter je kupil knjigo.
(Peter bought (and not borrowed) the book.)
✓ Peter je knjigo kupil.
2.2. Agreement
2.2.1. Subject-verb agreement
- Verbs must agree in person, gender, number.
Examples:
Source text: He came home.
✘ Prišla je domov.
✓ Prišel je domov.
Source text: They came home.
✘ Prišla je domov.
✘ Prišel je domov.
✓ Prišle so domov. (female form)
✓ Prišli so domov. (male form)
- When collective nouns are used (e.g. posoda, vejevje, policija etc.), the verb is always singular.
Example:
Source text: The police are coming.
✘ Policija prihajajo.
✓ Policija prihaja.
- When plural nouns denoting a singular entity (e.g. hlače, vrata, škarje etc.) are used, the verb is always plural.
Example:
Source text: The door is open.
✘ Vrata je odprta.
✓ Vrata so odprta.
- In case of partitive subjects (e.g. a part of + plural NP), the verb agrees with the initial part.
Example:
Source text: Only a part of the costs is compensated.
✘ Povrnejo se le del stroškov.
✓ Povrne se le del stroškov.
Example:
Source text: Two-thirds of citizens are not aware of this.
✘ Dve tretjini državljanov se tega ne zavedajo.
✘ Dve tretjini državljanov se tega ne zaveda.
✓ Dve tretjini državljanov se tega ne zavedata.
- In case of several nouns with different genders, the verb takes the form of the male gender.
Example:
Source text: Women and men entered the room.
✘ V sobo so vstopile ženske in moški.
✓ V sobo so vstopili ženske in moški.
2.2.2. Nominal agreement
- The gender of an adjective takes a form based on the gender, number, and person of the noun.
Examples:
Source text: This is a great story.
✘ To je odličen zgodba.
✘ To je odlični zgodba.
✓ To je odlična zgodba.
Source text: We saw some excellent shows.
✘ Ogledali smo si izjemno predstave.
✘ Ogledali smo si izjemni predstave.
✓ Ogledali smo si izjemne predstave.
- Agreement for numerals
For numerals from one to four, the noun stands in nominative case, and agrees in number and gender.
Examples:
Source text: There was one apple hanging from the tree.
✘ Z drevesa je viselo en jabolko.
✘ Z drevesa je visel eno jabolko.
✓ Z drevesa je viselo eno jabolko.
Source text: Two boys were walking down the street.
✘ Po ulici sta hodila dva fantov.
✘ Po ulici so hodili dva fanta.
✓ Po ulici sta hodila dva fanta.
Source text: Three birds were singing.
✘ Tri ptički so peli.
✘ Trije ptičkov so peli.
✓ Trije ptički so peli.
For numerals from five on, the noun stands in plural genitive case, and the number doesn’t get inflected.
Example:
Source text: Five employees were shipping mail.
✘ Pet zaposleni je pošiljalo pošto.
✘ Pet zaposlenih so pošiljali pošto.
✓ Pet zaposlenih je pošiljalo pošto.
2.3. Verbs
- Active voice is preferred over passive, but passive can be used in some cases.
Examples:
Source text: This house was built by my grandad.
✘ Ta hiša je bila zgrajena od mojega deda.
✓ To hišo je zgradil moj ded.
Source text: This medicine must be taken daily.
✘ To zdravilo se mora jemati vsak dan.
✓ To zdravilo je treba jemati vsak dan.
Source text: New employees are sought.
✘ Išče se novih delavcev.
✘ Išče se nove delavce.
✓ Iščejo se novi delavci. N. B. The noun must be in nominative!
- Infinitive and supine
Infinitival constructions are of two types: infinitive and supine.
- Supine is used with finite verbs of motion and expresses intention.
Example:
Source text: I went cycling.
✘ Šel sem kolesariti.
✓ Šel sem kolesarit.
- Infinitive is used with all other verbs occurring in infinitival constructions.
Examples:
Source text: He started to walk.
✘ Začel je hodit.
✓ Začel je hoditi.
Source text: I can read.
✘ Znam brat.
✓ Znam brati.
2.4. Personal pronouns
Personal pronouns are not necessarily used if the verb expresses the person, number and gender or if the person is mentioned previously.
Examples:
Source text: She went to school.
✘ Ona je šla v šolo. (only exceptionally correct)
✓ Šla je v šolo.
Source text: Anna came home. Later, she ate dinner.
✘ Anna je prišla domov. Pozneje je ona pojedla večerjo.
✓ Anna je prišla domov. Pozneje je pojedla večerjo.
2.5. Possessives
Possessive pronouns can be used but are not as frequent or necessary as in English.
Examples:
Source text: Put on your shoes.
✘ Obuj si svoje čevlje. - Possessive pronoun is incorrect.
✓ Obuj si čevlje.
Source text: Talk to your doctor.
✓ Pogovorite se s svojim zdravnikom. - Rarely used.
✓ Pogovorite se z zdravnikom. - More commonly used.
2.6. Prepositions
- For prepositions requiring different cases, the nouns must agree accordingly.
Example:
Source text: Take the medicine before or after the meal.
✘ Zdravilo vzemite pred ali po obroku.
✓ Zdravilo vzemite pred obrokom ali po njem.
- Some prepositions join with personal pronouns.
Example:
Source text: She fell in love with him .
✘ Zaljubila se je v njega. - Correct only when specifically emphasized.
✓ Zaljubila se je vanj.
3. Orthography
3.1. Slovenian alphabet and writing order
The Slovenian alphabet has 25 latin-alphabet letters; when referring to non-translatable words/names, other latin-alphabet letters are used.
3.2. Numbers
Numbers from 1 to 9 are usually spelled out, but can be kept as numerals in technical texts. However, this rule depends on the context. In texts where there are a lot of numbers involved (for example specifications) or where space is limited, it makes more sense to write numbers as numerals.
3.3. Apostrophe
Apostrophe is not a common character in Slovenian, but it can be used when translating foreign proper names or to indicate ellipsis.
3.4. Capitalization
Capitalization is used as follows:
- At the beginning of sentences
- For proper names:
- names of beings (personal names, imaginary names, names of residents, names of animals …)
- geographical names (please note that the in case of geographical names consisting of two words, the second word is usually capitalised as well (e.g. Kranjska Gora), except in specific cases (trg, naselje, vas, mesto, selo).
- names of organizations, companies …
- titles of books, shows …
N. B. Exceptionally, sentences may begin with a lowercase letter if the first word is specific, e.g. pH, eDavki …
3.5. Compounds
Compounds are linked using a hyphen, without whitespace on either side. (See also below under Hyphen).
Example:
Source text: TV, email
✘ TV - sprejemnik, e - pošta
✓ TV-sprejemnik, e-pošta
3.6. Foreign words
Foreign proper nouns are transcribed into the latin alphabet if the original is in a non-latin alphabet, regardless of the English transcription. However, we wouldn't transcribe certain English names, such as New York.
Example:
Source text: Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin
✘ Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin
✓ Boris Nikolajevič Jelcin
For foreign proper names with existing exonyms, such exonyms are used.
Example:
Source text: Vienna
✘ Vienna
✘ Wien
✓ Dunaj
Other alphabets are not used except for citation purposes.
3.7. Special symbols
The following symbols are usually written out:
@ as pri/na (depending on the context)
# as št.
& as in
N. B. @ is left as is in email addresses, # as hashtag in informal contexts.
4. Punctuation
4.1. How to use punctuation marks
4.1.1 Comma
Comma is used between individual elements in listing; for syntactic use (for more detailed rules, please see the reference Pravopis), which also includes the parenthetical comma; as a decimal separator; following a greeting; when a hyphenated list is used and the last element is followed by a period (alternatively, there are no commas and no period).
Comma is used without whitespace on the left side and with a whitespace on the right side.
4.1.2 Semicolon
Semicolon is only used syntactically to separate relatively independent clauses in a sentence (stronger than a comma but weaker than a period); to link correlative clauses in a sentence; to separate longer coordinative parts with parallel syntactic structure or longer enumerated elements.
Semicolon is used without whitespace on the left side and with a whitespace on the right side.
4.1.3 Colon
Colon is used in an explanatory sense to introduce something. It is usually followed by lower-case letters, but upper-case letter may also be used if it introduces title of a figure or similar. In syntactic situations, colon is used without whitespace on the left side and with a whitespace on the right side.
Example:
Source text: Bring the following: bread, milk and lettuce.
✘ Prinesi naslednje:kruh, mleko in solato.
✘ Prinesi naslednje : kruh, mleko in solato.
✓ Prinesi naslednje: kruh, mleko in solato.
Colon is also used to express ratios or in terms of “versus” or “in contrast to” with whitespaces on both sides.
Example:
Source text: The ratio between oil and vinegar is 2:1.
✘ Razmerje med oljem in kisom je 2: 1.
✘ Razmerje med oljem in kisom je 2:1.
✓ Razmerje med oljem in kisom je 2 : 1.
4.1.4 Hyphen
- is used without spaces in compounds.
Examples:
Source text: Anglo-French war
✘ angleško–francoska vojna
✘ angleško - francoska vojna
✓ angleško-francoska vojna
Source text: 8-hour workday
✘ 8 urni delovnik
✘ 8 - urni delovnik
✓ 8-urni delovnik
- is used with spaces when separating parts of names when both parts are declined (in the sense of “and”)
Example:
✘ Videm-Dobrepolje
✘ Videm – Dobrepolje
✓ Videm - Dobrepolje
4.1.5. En dash
Used to mark ranges (see below under Numeric expressions), for listing indents, in the sense of “minus”, to separate a clause in the sentence (used on both sides, instead of comma), in elliptical sense.
4.1.6. Em dash
It is not frequently used in technical texts and is more common in literature to separate quotations by different persons or different parts of text. However, when used it is usually replaced with a comma, a semi-colon or a colon, depending on the context.
4.1.7 Quotation marks
Quotation marks that are to be used are » « or „ “, without whitespaces.
4.1.8 Exclamation (!) and interrogation (?) marks
These are used without whitespaces.
4.2. Punctuation in greetings and closings
Greetings are followed by either a comma (more common) or an exclamation mark.
If a comma is used, the text below begins with lower case, and if an exclamation mark is used, the text begins with upper case.
Examples:
Source text: Dear Mr. Smith,
We would like to …
✘ Spoštovani g. Smith,
Želeli bi vam …
✓ Spoštovani g. Smith,
želeli bi vam …
Source text: Dear Mr. Smith!
We would like to …
✘ Spoštovani g. Smith!
želeli bi vam …
✓ Spoštovani g. Smith!
Želeli bi vam …
When closing a letter, a comma or an exclamation mark can again be used according to the above rules.
5. Register
5.1. Formal register
Formal register is conveyed through the use of formal address (vi - you in plural form), which also mostly replaces the use of “please” (“please” can be used but is much less common than in English).
Therefore, the personal pronoun used in formal register is “vi” (you in plural form), and its possessive pronoun is “vaš” (and its derivative according to gender and number).
Example:
Source text: Please remove the sticker.
✘ Odstrani nalepko.
✘ Prosimo, odstranite nalepko. - Not incorrect but less common.
✓ Odstranite nalepko.
Abbreviations used in the formal register are g. (for Mr.) and ga. (for Mrs. and Ms.); gdč. (Miss) is obsolete.
Greetings in formal register usually begin with Spoštovani (Dear), and closings read as S spoštovanjem (Sincerely) or, slightly less formally, Z lepimi pozdravi or Lep pozdrav or Lepo vas pozdravljam (Kind/Best regards).
5.2. Informal register
Informal register is conveyed through the use of informal address (ti - you in singular form).
Therefore, the personal pronoun used in formal register is “ti” (you in singular form), and its possessive pronoun is “tvoj” (and its derivative according to gender and number).
Example:
Source text: Peter, how was your day?
✘ Peter, kakšen je bil vaš dan?
✓ Peter, kakšen je bil tvoj dan?
There are no specific abbreviations used in the informal register.
Greetings in informal register usually begin with Živjo or Pozdravljen/-a (Dear/Hi/Hello), and closings read as Z lepimi pozdravi or Lep pozdrav or Lepo vas pozdravljam (Kind/Best regards) or Se vidimo (See you).
6. Localization challenges
6.1. Personal names
Personal names are usually not translated, except when using fictive names that should be localized.
6.2. Organizations
Names of the organizations can be translated or can remain in the original or can be provided as original plus translation in brackets.
6.3. Brands and products
Names of brands and products are not translated, but the name of a product may be preceded by a generic descriptor.
Example:
Source text: This is our Port-a-bag.
✘ To je naš Nosi-torbo.
✓ To je naš pripomoček za nošenje Port-a-bag.
✓ To je naš pripomoček Port-a-bag.
6.4. Acronyms and abbreviations
Acronyms and abbreviations usually remain in the original (with an explanation in the brackets or similar), unless there is another established form used in SL (but even so, the acronym/abbreviation may remain in the original).
Example:
Source text: WHO (World Health Organization)
✓ SZO (Svetovna zdravstvena organizacija)
✓ WHO (World Health Organization, Svetovna zdravstvena organizacija)
For abbreviations, period is used (unless they are units of measure, which should be without a period).
Some commonly used abbreviations:
Npr. (e.g.), itd. (etc.), ipd. (etc.), tj. (i.e.), prof. (Prof), dr. (Dr), idr. (et al.)
Acronyms do not take a plural form but can be subject to declension, in which case there are two ways to do it:
- the entire acronym is declensed (NATO, NATA)
- the acronym is declensed using a hyphen (IBM, IBM-a)
6.5. Software lexicon and expressions
In software, commands are expressed in two ways:
- using imperative in formal address (vi) if it is the computer “addressing/commanding” the user
Example:
Source text: Press enter to continue.
✘ Za nadaljevanje pritisni Enter.
✓ Za nadaljevanje pritisnite Enter.
- using imperative in informal address (ti) if it is the user “addressing/commanding” the computer
Example:
Source text: Submit form.
✘ Pošljite obrazec.
✓ Pošlji obrazec.
Gerunds in EN are translated either as gerunds in SL or in the first person singular.
Example:
Source text: Downloading
✓ Prenašanje
✓ Prenašam
6.6. Address format
The format of an address is as follows:
Name and surname
Street name + street number (no comma, just whitespace)
ZIP code + name of the town (no comma, just whitespace)
Name of the country (full name)
Example:
Peter Novak
Prešernova 5
1000 Ljubljana
Slovenija
6.7. Numeric expressions
6.7.1 Decimal separator
Decimal separator is a comma, not period.
Example:
Source text: 18.9
✘ 18.9
✓ 18,9
6.7.2 Thousand separator
Thousand separator is a period, not comma. Non-breaking space can also be used.
Example:
Source text: 10,000
✘ 10,000
✓ 10.000
✓ 10 000
N.B. When referring to years, there is no thousand separator.
6.7.3. Number ranges
Number ranges are expressed using un dash, not hyphen, not separated by space
Example:
✘ 170-200
✓ 170–200
6.7.4 Percentage
Percentage (%) is separated from the number with a non-breaking space
Example:
✘ 20%
✓ 20 %
6.8. Time expressions
- Time formats:
Example:
Source text: at 7 o’clock/at 7:00
✘ ob 7:00
✓ ob 7. uri
✓ ob 7.00
✓ ob 700
✓ ob 7h
✓ ob 7h
N. B. Time is written in the 24-hour format. Use full stop as a separator, e.g. hh.mm.ss.
6.9. Week days
Week days are not capitalized. Days of the week and months of the year always start with a lowercase. It is recommended to write out the names of the days of the week. The exception is when they are used in a table, chart, or calendar. The abbreviations are as follows: pon., tor., sre., čet., pet., sob., ned.
6.10. Date expressions
Month names are not capitalized.
- Date formats:
Example:
Source text: 03/05/2023
✘ 03/05/2023
✘ 03. maj 2023
✓ 3. 5. 2023
✓ 3. maj 2023
✓ 3. maja 2023
Slovenian calendars show Monday as the first day of the week.
Always spell out the month's name when it is used with a date, alone, or with a year. The exception is when months are used in a table, chart, or calendar.
When abbreviating, use: jan., feb., mar., apr., maj, jun., jul., avg., sep., okt., nov., and dec.
Also, avoid using abbreviations other than the 3-letter form. (i.e., sept.).
Month 3-letter Abbreviation
January jan.
February feb.
March mar.
April apr.
May maj
June jun.
July jul.
August avg.
September sep.
Oktober okt.
November nov.
December dec.
6.11. Phone numbers
Phone numbers can be written in different formats, but please note that separating numbers with periods is not correct.
Example: without international codes
✘ 01.500.30.10
✓ 01 500 30 10
✓ (01) 500 30 10
Example: with international codes
✘ +386.01.500.30.10
✘ +386.1.500.30.10
✓ +386 1 500 30 10
✓ +386 (0) 1 500 30 10
6.12. Currency
Currency may be written in different ways:
- It may be written out:
Example:
Source text: 10 euro
✘ 10 evro
✓ 10 evrov
- It may be written in three-letter format following the number:
Example:
Source text: EUR 10
✘ EUR 10
✓ 10 EUR
- It may be written in the symbol format following the number:
Example:
Source text: €10
✘ € 10
✓ 10 €
6.13. Measures
Units of measure are separated from the number with a non-breaking space. The exception is angular degree without additional symbols (see below).
Examples:
✘ 10kg
✓ 10 kg
✘ 25°C
✘ 25° C
✓ 25 °C
Exception: angular degrees are written together with the number.
✘ 10 °
✓ 10°
N. B. Only metric units are normally used.
7. Most frequent errors
7.1 False friends
Example:
Source text: One billion stars
✘ Bilijon zvezd
✓ Milijarda zvezd
7.1.1 Use of reflexive possessive pronouns
Example:
Source text: He went to see his mom.
✘ Obiskal je njegovo mamo.
✓ Obiskal je svojo mamo.
7.1.2 Use of genitive in negation
Example:
Source text: I won’t read this book.
✘ Ne bom prebral to knjigo.
✓ Ne bom prebral te knjige.
7.2 Use of commas
Commas are often erroneously missing before a subordinate clause or before or after a parenthetical clause, or sometimes erroneously added when they are not needed.
Examples:
Source text: I’ll come when I can.
✘ Prišel bom ko bom lahko.
✓ Prišel bom, ko bom lahko.
Source text: While he was gone, I read a book.
✘ Medtem, ko ga ni bilo, sem prebral knjigo.
✓ Medtem ko ga ni bilo, sem prebral knjigo.
7.3 Using longer version of “which” inappropriately
Source text: I’ll pick the one I like.
✘ Izbral bom tistega, kateri mi je všeč.
✓ Izbral bom tistega, ki mi je všeč.
7.4 Use of propositions h/k
Proposition h is only used in front of words starting with g and k. For all other words, proposition k is used.
✘ Grem k konju.
✓ Grem h konju.
✘ Grem k gozdu.
✓ Grem h gozdu.
8. Useful online resources
Termania, IATE, Evrokorpus, GMDN, Linguee, Glosbe (for term research) and Amebis Besana, CJVT (for proofreading, grammar checking).
9. References
Slovenski pravopis (fran.si), Jezikovna svetovalnica (svetovalnica.zrc-sazu.si), A Short Reference Grammar of Standard Slovene