Localize Sl

Translate to Slovenian (sl) — High-Fidelity Skill

Scope & Variants

Slovenian is a single standard target — Modern Standard Slovenian (knjižna slovenščina). No regional split for product UI:

| Locale | Notes | |--------|-------| | sl / sl-SI | Standard Slovenian (Slovenia). Default and only target. |

Practical reality: Slovenian translation has one target. The defining quality concern is the dual number — a feature unique to Slovenian among major modern European languages (Sorbian also has it but is much smaller). Failing to use dual is the most-mocked Slovenian translation error.

Slovenian is its own South Slavic language

Slovenian is mutually intelligible with Croatian and Serbian to some degree but is structurally distinct. Don't conflate them. Key distinguishing features:

• Dual number (Slovenian has it; Croatian/Serbian don't — they merged dual into plural).
• Different vocabulary: datoteka (sl/hr/sr same), mapa (sl/hr same — sr uses fascikla/folder), but okno (sl) vs prozor (hr/sr) for "window".
• prihrniti vs Croatian spremiti for "save" — Slovenian uses shraniti.
• Slovenian doesn't have ekavian/ijekavian distinction — it has its own yat reflexes.

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Register Auto-Detection (Apply Before Translating)

Slovenian has a strong T-V distinction (Vi/ti — called "vikanje" vs "tikanje"). Auto-detect from source:

| Source signal | Target register | |---------------|-----------------| | Casual / conversational / personal (Hey!, contractions, emoji, marketing voice, gaming) | Informal (ti / tikanje) — ti lowercase, 2nd-person sg. verb endings (-š: lahko, vidiš), familiar imperative (singular: izberi, klikni, odpri). | | Neutral product UI / docs / consumer software (DEFAULT) | Formal (Vi / vikanje) — Vi capitalized for direct address, 2nd-person pl. verb endings (-te: lahko, vidite), polite imperative (-te/-ite: izberite, kliknite, odprite). Possessive Vaš/Vaša/Vaše capitalized. | | Legal / banking / government / enterprise | Formal (Vi) elevated — same Vi form but full constructions, no contractions, prefer impersonal se constructions, native Slovenian vocabulary. |

Hard rule: never mix levels in one text. A string with Lahko spremenite (formal verb) and tvoje nastavitve (informal possessive) is broken.

Capitalization rule for Vi: Vi / Vaš / Vaša / Vaše / Vam / Vas are capitalized in direct second-person address.

Default for software UI: Vi (vikanje, formal) unless brand voice is explicitly youth/casual.

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Critical Hard Rules (Severity ≥ 2.0 — Auto-Fail If Wrong)

1. DUAL NUMBER — exactly 2 items takes a separate grammatical number (severity 3.0)

THE DEFINING FEATURE OF SLOVENIAN. Slovenian is one of the very few modern Indo-European languages that actively preserves the dual as a productive grammatical number distinct from plural.

For exactly 2 of anything: noun, adjective, verb auxiliary, pronoun, and past participle ALL take dedicated dual forms.

| Number | Form (with "datoteka" — file, fem.) | Adj. + Noun | Verb (past) | |--------|------------------------------------|--------------|-------------| | 1 (singular) | datoteka | nova datoteka | je delala | | 2 (DUAL) | datoteki | novi datoteki | sta delali | | 3, 4 (plural) | datoteke | nove datoteke | so delale | | 5+ (gen.pl.) | datotek | novih datotek | so delale |

Same for masculine:

| Number | "sistem" (m.) | Adj. + Noun | Verb (past) | |--------|---------------|--------------|-------------| | 1 | sistem | nov sistem | je deloval | | 2 | sistema | nova sistema | sta delovala | | 3-4 | sistemi | novi sistemi | so delovali | | 5+ | sistemov | novih sistemov | so delovali |

And neuter:

| Number | "okno" (n.) | Adj. + Noun | Verb (past) | |--------|-------------|--------------|-------------| | 1 | okno | novo okno | je delovalo | | 2 | okni | novi okni | sta delovali | | 3-4 | okna | nova okna | so delovala | | 5+ | oken | novih oken | so delovala |

Critical UI examples:

| ✗ Wrong (treating 2 as plural) | ✓ Correct (using dual) | English | |-------------------------------|------------------------|---------| | 2 datoteke | 2 datoteki | 2 files | | 2 sistemi | 2 sistema | 2 systems | | 2 sporočila | 2 sporočili | 2 messages (neuter dual) | | dva nova računalniki | dva nova računalnika | two new computers | | dve novi datoteke | dve novi datoteki | two new files | | so delali (for 2 people) | sta delala (or sta delali if fem.) | they (two) worked |

2. Word integrity — verb prefixes NEVER split (severity 3.0)

Slovenian verbs with prefixes are single words. Splitting them is a critical error.

| ✗ Wrong (split) | ✓ Correct (joined) | |-----------------|---------------------| | pre vesti | prevesti (to translate) | | iz vesti | izvesti (to execute) | | na ložiti | naložiti (to upload / load) | | od dati | oddati (to submit) | | pri javiti se | prijaviti se (to log in) | | pre nesti | prenesti (to download / transfer) | | za pisati | zapisati (to write) |

Reflexive se / si is SEPARATE clitic — not attached to verb in writing. prijaviti se, zaregistrirati se, nahajati se. Writing prijavitise is wrong.

3. Six-case system (severity 2.5)

Slovenian uses 6 cases (same as Slovak — no separate vocative; direct address uses nominative).

| Case | Question | Use | Example (m. "uporabnik") | Example (f. "aplikacija") | |------|----------|-----|--------------------------|---------------------------| | Imenovalnik (NOM) | kdo? kaj? | Subject (and direct address) | uporabnik | aplikacija | | Rodilnik (GEN) | koga? česa? | Possession, "of", absence, 5+ count | uporabnika | aplikacije | | Dajalnik (DAT) | komu? čemu? | Indirect object, "to" | uporabniku | aplikaciji | | Tožilnik (ACC) | koga? kaj? | Direct object | uporabnika (animate=GEN) / sistem (inanimate=NOM) | aplikacijo | | Mestnik (MES) | o kom? čem? | Location (always w/ prep) | o uporabniku | o aplikaciji | | Orodnik (ORO) | s kom? čim? | "With", means | z uporabnikom | z aplikacijo |

Critical: animate masculine accusative = genitive form. vidim uporabnika, NOT vidim uporabnik.

4. Preposition + governed case (severity 2.5)

| Preposition | Case | Example | |-------------|------|---------| | v (in/into) | MES (location) / ACC (motion) | v sistemu / v sistem | | na (on/onto) | MES / ACC | na zaslonu / na zaslon | | z / s (with) | ORO | z uporabnikom, s sistemom | | brez (without) | GEN | brez napak | | za (for) | ACC | za uporabnika | | od (from) | GEN | od uporabnika | | do (until/to) | GEN | do konca | | o (about) | MES | o uporabniku | | po (after / per / along) | MES (after) / DAT (rate) | po prijavi / na datoteko (per file) | | pred (before) | ORO / ACC | pred shranjevanjem / pred sistem | | pri (at, near) | MES | pri shranjevanju | | med (between, during) | ORO / ACC | med datotekami | | k (to/toward) | DAT | k uporabniku |

"per" in Slovenian: use na + ACC (na datoteko, na uporabnika), dnevno for "per day".

5. ICU plurals — one / two / few / other (severity 3.0)

Slovenian's ICU plural categories are unique because they include the two category for the dual:

{count, plural,
  one {# datoteka}
  two {# datoteki}
  few {# datoteke}
  other {# datotek}
}

CLDR plural category boundaries:

| Category | Rule | Examples | Noun form | |----------|------|----------|-----------| | one | n % 100 = 1 | 1, 101, 201, 301 | NOM singular (datoteka) | | two | n % 100 = 2 | 2, 102, 202, 302 | DUAL (datoteki) | | few | n % 100 ∈ {3, 4} | 3, 4, 103, 104 | NOM plural (datoteke) | | other | everything else | 0, 5-100, 105+ | GEN plural (datotek) |

Critical: ICU MUST include the two category for Slovenian. Falling back to just one/other (English-style) is a critical error — speakers will immediately notice the missing dual.

6. Numeral-noun agreement (severity 2.5)

| Count | Pattern | Example | |-------|---------|---------| | 1 | NOM sg | 1 datoteka, 1 sistem | | 2 | DUAL | 2 datoteki, 2 sistema, 2 okni | | 3, 4 | NOM pl | 3 datoteke, 4 sistemi | | 5+ | GEN pl | 5 datotek, 10 sistemov | | 0 | GEN pl | 0 datotek | | 101 | NOM sg (back to "one") | 101 datoteka | | 102 | DUAL (back to "two") | 102 datoteki |

7. Three-gender adjective agreement (severity 2.0)

| Gender | Example | Adjective NOM sg. | |--------|---------|-------------------| | Masculine (consonant ending) | sistem, uporabnik, računalnik | nov sistem (NO -i ending on indefinite!) | | Feminine (-a ending) | aplikacija, mapa | nova aplikacija | | Neuter (-o/-e ending) | okno, sporočilo | novo okno |

Note vs other Slavic: Slovenian masculine indefinite adjective is nov (bare consonant ending) — NOT novi. The -i ending marks definite (only in certain syntactic positions). This is a Slovenian-specific feature different from Croatian/Serbian/Czech/Slovak.

| ✗ Wrong | ✓ Correct | |---------|-----------| | novi sistem (when indefinite) | nov sistem (a new system) | | novi uporabnik (when indefinite) | nov uporabnik | | nova okno | novo okno | | nov aplikacija | nova aplikacija |

8. Past-tense gender + number agreement (severity 2.0)

Past participles agree with subject in gender AND number (INCLUDING dual!):

| Subject | L-participle | Example | |---------|--------------|---------| | m. sg. | -l | on je delal | | f. sg. | -la | ona je delala | | n. sg. | -lo | ono je delalo | | m. dual | -la | onadva sta delala | | f. dual | -li | onidve sta delali | | n. dual | -li | onidve sta delali (neuter dual takes f.-dual form in modern Slovenian) | | m. pl. | -li | oni so delali | | f. pl. | -le | one so delale | | n. pl. | -la | ona so delala |

Dual forms with auxiliary sta (for 2 people) — NOT so (which is plural for 3+).

9. Verb aspect — perfective vs imperfective (severity 2.0)

| Imperfective (process, ongoing) | Perfective (single completed event) | English | |--------------------------------|--------------------------------------|---------| | shranjevati | shraniti | save | | brisati | izbrisati | delete | | nalagati | naložiti | upload / load | | prenašati | prenesti | download / transfer | | odpirati | odpreti | open | | zapirati | zapreti | close | | ustvarjati | ustvariti | create | | urejati | urediti | edit | | prevajati | prevesti | translate | | prijavljati se | prijaviti se | log in |

UI patterns by aspect:

• Buttons (single action) → perfective imperative: Shrani, Izbriši, Pošlji, Izberi.
• Ongoing status → imperfective verbal noun (Shranjevanje…, Nalaganje…) or reflexive imperfective (se shranjuje).
• Completed → perfective neuter participle (Shranjeno, Naloženo).

10. Verb-construction integrity — no stacked finite verbs (severity 2.0)

English -ing (gerund as adverbial) MUST be rendered with deležje na -č (present adverbial participle: gradeč, delajoč, pišoč) OR med + verbal noun, NOT a second finite clause.

Note: the adverbial participle in modern Slovenian is somewhat literary; the med + verbal noun construction is more common in product copy.

| ✗ Stacked finite | ✓ Adverbial participle / med + noun | English | |------------------|--------------------------------------|---------| | Preživel sem 6 let gradil sem podjetje | Preživel sem 6 let z gradnjo podjetja OR Preživel sem 6 let gradeč podjetje | I spent 6 years building the business | | Delal sem medtem ko sem pisal poročilo | Delal sem med pisanjem poročila OR Delal sem pišoč poročilo | I worked while writing the report |

11. Diacritics — Č Š Ž essential (severity 2.5)

Slovenian uses three special letters: č š ž. Never strip them.

| ✗ Stripped | ✓ Correct | |------------|-----------| | sirina | širina | | nacin | način | | zelo | želo (or zelo = "very" — they're different words!) | | krizisce | križišče | | druzba | družba |

Slovenian does NOT use ć / đ (those are Croatian/Serbian/Bosnian markers — if you see them in a Slovenian translation, something is wrong).

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Pronouns and Possessives

Personal pronouns

| English | Slovenian | Notes | |---------|-----------|-------| | I | jaz | | | you (sg. informal) | ti | | | you (sg./pl. formal — capitalize) | Vi | Always capitalized in direct address | | you (pl. informal) | vi | lowercase when truly plural informal | | he | on | | | she | ona | | | it | ono | | | we (two) | midva (m.) / midve (f.) | DUAL pronoun | | you (two) | vidva (m.) / vidve (f.) | DUAL pronoun | | they (two) | onadva (m.) / onidve (f.) | DUAL pronoun | | we (3+) | mi | | | you (3+) | vi | | | they (m. 3+) | oni | | | they (f. 3+) | one | | | they (n. 3+) | ona | |

Possessive pronouns

| Person | m. sg. | f. sg. | n. sg. | |--------|--------|--------|--------| | moj (my) | moj | moja | moje | | tvoj (your sg.) | tvoj | tvoja | tvoje | | Vaš (your formal — capitalize) | Vaš | Vaša | Vaše | | njegov (his) | njegov | njegova | njegovo | | njen (her) | njen | njena | njeno | | svoj (reflexive — own) | svoj | svoja | svoje | | naš (our) | naš | naša | naše | | njihov (their) | njihov | njihova | njihovo |

Reflexive svoj is required when possessor = subject of same clause.

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UI Conventions

Buttons — perfective imperative

| English | ✓ Slovenian (Vi formal) | (ti informal) | |---------|--------------------------|---------------| | Save | Shranite | Shrani | | Cancel | Prekličite | Prekliči | | Delete | Izbrišite | Izbriši | | Send | Pošljite | Pošlji | | Edit | Uredite | Uredi | | Search | Iščite | Išči | | Confirm | Potrdite | Potrdi | | Continue | Nadaljujte | Nadaljuj | | Submit | Pošljite / Oddajte | Pošlji / Oddaj | | Sign in / Log in | Prijavite se | Prijavi se | | Sign out | Odjavite se | Odjavi se | | Sign up | Registrirajte se | Registriraj se | | Next | Naprej / Naslednje | (same) | | Back | Nazaj | (same) | | Done | Končano / Opravljeno | (same) | | OK | V redu / OK | (same) | | Close | Zaprite | Zapri | | Upload | Naložite | Naloži | | Download | Prenesite | Prenesi | | Refresh | Osvežite | Osveži | | Settings | Nastavitve | (same) | | Apply | Uporabite | Uporabi | | Reset | Ponastavite | Ponastavi | | Select all | Izberite vse | Izberi vse | | Add more | Dodajte še (NOT Dodaj več) | Dodaj še |

Status messages — three distinct patterns

Ongoing (in-flight) → verbal noun (Nalaganje…) OR reflexive imperfective (se nalaga…) OR Poteka + verbal noun (NEVER first-person)

| English | ✓ Slovenian | |---------|-------------| | Loading… | Nalaganje… / Datoteka se nalaga… / Poteka nalaganje… | | Saving… | Shranjevanje… / se shranjuje… | | Sending… | Pošiljanje… / se pošilja… | | Processing… | Obdelava… / se obdeluje… / Poteka obdelava… | | Connecting… | Povezovanje… | | Searching… | Iskanje… / se išče… | | Translating… | Prevajanje… / Poteka prevod… | | Please wait | Prosimo, počakajte / Počakajte… |

Critical impersonal voice rule: NEVER first-person (Računam…, Analiziram…, Obdelujem…) — sounds awkward. Always impersonal.

Completed → Neuter perfective participle (impersonal)

| English | ✓ Slovenian | |---------|-------------| | Saved | Shranjeno | | Done | Končano / Opravljeno | | Translation complete | Prevedeno / Prevod končan | | File uploaded | Naloženo / Datoteka naložena | | Sent | Poslano | | Payment successful | **Pl

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Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

• Author: i18n-agent
• Source: i18n-agent/i18nstack
• License: MIT
• Homepage: https://i18nagent.ai

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.