"wash": umivati, pomivati, prati

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Gavril
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"wash": umivati, pomivati, prati

Postby Gavril » 2015-09-22, 10:20

Dober večer,

It seems that there are at least three different terms for "wash" in Slovenian depending on what one is washing.

According to the SSKJ dictionary, umivati is used for washing one's body (thus umivaj si roke "wash your hands", umivaj si lase "wash your hair", etc.) and prati is mainly used for washing clothes or other fabric (thus pralni stroj = "(clothes-)washing machine").

The third verb I have found for "wash" is pomivati, which SSKJ defines as "z vodo ali drugo tekočino čistiti" (= to clean with water or another liquid). SSKJ doesn't specify a particular object for pomivati, but it includes example sentences with posoda ("dish"/"container"), e.g. a dishwashing machine is pomivalni stroj.

Are there any objects that aren't covered by any of these three verbs? Also, does the meaning of a sentence change if you replace prati or umivati with pomivati?

(I found a page that claims pomivati is only used for things, not for people, but this is not confirmed by SSKJ's definition.)

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miae
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Re: "wash": umivati, pomivati, prati

Postby miae » 2015-09-25, 7:08

Gavril wrote:Are there any objects that aren't covered by any of these three verbs?

Expressions I can think of:
- umivati/umiti si roke/lase, umivati/umiti se (wash yourself),
- pomivati/pomiti posodo,
- prati, oprati perilo/avto,
- spirati/sprati posodo/umazanijo (to move or erode by the force of water in motion).

Also, does the meaning of a sentence change if you replace prati or umivati with pomivati?

It doesn't make sense to say: pomiti roke/lase, perilo/avto or umiti perilo. But it goes the opposite way, you often hear in colloquial language: umiti posodo, oprati roke/lase, posodo.

(I found a page that claims pomivati is only used for things, not for people, but this is not confirmed by SSKJ's definition.)

I agree with this definition.


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