Slovak declension
Encyclopedia
The Slovak language
, like most Slavic
and Latin
languages, is an inflected language, meaning that the endings (and sometimes also the stems) of most words (noun
s, adjective
s, pronoun
s and numeral
s) change depending on the given combination of the grammatical gender, the grammatical number and the grammatical case of the particular word in the particular sentence:
a) Gender
: There are four grammatical genders in Slovak language: animate masculine, inanimate masculine, feminine and neuter. In popular description, the first two genders are often covered under common masculine gender.
Almost all Slovak nouns and adjectives, as well as some pronouns and numerals can be categorized into one of these genders. Exceptions are pluralia tantum (Vianoce - Christmas
) and words that are drifting into other gender and are currently in the neuter (knieža - Fürst
), and masculine animals that are animate in singular and mostly inanimate in plural.
b) Number
: Like in English, there is the singular and the plural. Morphological traces of ancient dual number remained, but are not a separate grammar category anymore.
A particular case is associated with three distinct groups of numerals associated with nouns:
(indication of ancient numbering up to four, anything above was "a lot of"?)
c) Morphological case
s:
However, there is a different form of morphological vocative emerging in spoken language, used with some familiar forms of personal names (Paľo - Pali, Jano, Jana - Jani, Zuza - Zuzi) and familiar forms of kinship words, such as mama - mami (mum, mother), oco - oci (dad, father), tata, tato - tati (dad, daddy), baba, babka - babi (gran, granny, grandmother). This usage is very similar to the "new Russian vocative" (Маш', Петь', мам'), and it is not accepted into standardised codified language. This probably developed out of proper names that were formed using the Hungarian diminutive suffix -i and that are used in spoken Slovak, and therefore is often homonymous with nominative (semi-)diminutive forms of the names.
Note that many nouns (especially those following the paradigm chlap) have different endings then those of the paradigms in one or several grammatical cases. They are neither defined, nor listed in the following. The complete number of different paradigms for nouns is somewhere about 200.
A very small number of foreign nouns is not declined (that is the stem and ending never change).
There is also a 5th paradigm for foreign nouns ending in .-i, -y, -e, -í, -é, -ě, -ä (for example pony, kuli, Tököli, Goethe, Krejčí, abbé, Poupě) and foreign personal names ending in -ü, -ö (for example Jenö), which goes as follows:
Masculine animal nouns are declined like chlap in the singular, but in plural usually like dub (if they end in a hard or neutral consonant) or like stroj (otherwise)
Notes on chlap:
Notes on hrdina:
-
Notes on dub:
Notes on stroj:
There is also a 5th paradigm for feminine nouns ending in -ná or -ovná (for example princezná), where the singular and N pl and A pl are like pekná (see under adjectives) and the remaining plural is like žena. In the G pl, there are changes in the stem: if the noun ends in -vowel + ná, then this vowel receives an acute (for example švagriná - švagrín), but otherwise an -ie- is inserted (for example princezná - princezien).
There is also a 6th paradigm for the feminine nouns ending in -ea (idea, Kórea), which goes like žena, except that D sg and Lsg are idei, and G pl is ideí without change in the stem.
Notes on žena:
Notes on ulica:
Notes on dlaň:
Notes on kosť:
For (any) neuter nouns ending in -vowel+um/on (for example štúdium, ganglion) there is actually a 5th paradigm (štúdium), which is declined like mesto except that the -um- / -on- is omitted in all cases except N sg and A sg., L sg ends in -u (štúdiu), and G pl in -í (štúdií).
Notes on mesto:
Notes on srdce:
Notes on vysvedčenie:
-
Notes on dievča:
Forms: They are like with pekný, but within the endings (that is in what follows after pekn-) always replace ý by í, é by ie, á by ia, and ú by iu., e.g.: pekný - cudzí, pekné(ho) - cudzie(ho), pekný(m) - cudzí(m), pekná - cudzia, peknú - cudziu.
The comparative forms are declined like cudzí
The superlative (that is biggest, most difficult etc. )is formed as follows: naj+comparative . Examples:
pekný - krajší - najkrajší, hrozný- hroznejší - najhroznejší …
The comparative and superlative of adverbs (which by the way end in -o, -e or -y in the basic form)is formed by simply replacing the -(ej)ší from the adjective by -(ej)šie (for example pekne - krajšie - najkrajšie, hrozne - hroznejšie - najhroznejšie, teplo - teplejšie - najteplejšie, pomaly - pomalšie - najpomalšie)
There is also the reflexive pronoun sa, which is declined as follows:
N: -, G: seba, D: sebe /si, A: seba/sa, L: sebe, I: sebou
Notes:
like ten (that, the) are declined: tamten (that one), henten (that one), tento (this one), tenže (the same)…
like adjectives are declined: for example istý (certain, same), každý (each), iný (other), taký / onaký (such), všetok (all), sám (-self), onen (that one),and žiaden=žiadny (no one) …
like kto/čo are declined: nikto (nobody), niekto/dakto (someone), niečo/dačo (something), hocikto (who ever), nič (nothing), ktosi (someone), čosi (something) …
like adjectives are declined: čí (whose), niečí /dačí / hocičí (someone's), ničí (noone's), ktorý (which), aký (what, which), nejaký / dajaký / (some), nijaký / niktorý (no), čísi (someone's), číkoľvek (whose ever). akýsi (some), ktorýsi (some), ktorýkoľvek (which ever)…
like môj (my) are declined:
not declined are:
is declined like the adjective pekný
dva (two):
N: dvaja (masc. animate); dva (masc. inanimate); dve (otherwise) -
G: dvoch -
D: dvom -
A: dvoch (masc. animate); dva (masc. inanimate); dve (otherwise) -
L: dvoch -
I: dvoma
tri (three):
N: traja (masc. animate); tri (otherwise) -
G: troch -
D: trom -
A: troch (masc. animate); tri (otherwise) -
L: troch -
I: troma / tromi
päť (five):
N: piati / päť (masc. animate); päť (otherwise) -
G: piatich -
D: piatim -
A: piatich / päť (masc. animate); päť (otherwise) -
L: piatich -
I: piatimi
100, 200, 300, … 900; 1000, 2000, 3000, … 9000:
not declined, but 1000 can be declined like päť
Note: Ordinal numerals are formed by adding adjective endings to the (slightly modified) cardinal numbers, for example
Slovak language
Slovak , is an Indo-European language that belongs to the West Slavic languages .Slovak is the official language of Slovakia, where it is spoken by 5 million people...
, like most Slavic
Slavic languages
The Slavic languages , a group of closely related languages of the Slavic peoples and a subgroup of Indo-European languages, have speakers in most of Eastern Europe, in much of the Balkans, in parts of Central Europe, and in the northern part of Asia.-Branches:Scholars traditionally divide Slavic...
and Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
languages, is an inflected language, meaning that the endings (and sometimes also the stems) of most words (noun
Noun
In linguistics, a noun is a member of a large, open lexical category whose members can occur as the main word in the subject of a clause, the object of a verb, or the object of a preposition .Lexical categories are defined in terms of how their members combine with other kinds of...
s, adjective
Adjective
In grammar, an adjective is a 'describing' word; the main syntactic role of which is to qualify a noun or noun phrase, giving more information about the object signified....
s, pronoun
Pronoun
In linguistics and grammar, a pronoun is a pro-form that substitutes for a noun , such as, in English, the words it and he...
s and numeral
Number names
In linguistics, number names are specific words in a natural language that represent numbers.In writing, numerals are symbols also representing numbers...
s) change depending on the given combination of the grammatical gender, the grammatical number and the grammatical case of the particular word in the particular sentence:
a) Gender
Grammatical gender
Grammatical gender is defined linguistically as a system of classes of nouns which trigger specific types of inflections in associated words, such as adjectives, verbs and others. For a system of noun classes to be a gender system, every noun must belong to one of the classes and there should be...
: There are four grammatical genders in Slovak language: animate masculine, inanimate masculine, feminine and neuter. In popular description, the first two genders are often covered under common masculine gender.
Almost all Slovak nouns and adjectives, as well as some pronouns and numerals can be categorized into one of these genders. Exceptions are pluralia tantum (Vianoce - Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
) and words that are drifting into other gender and are currently in the neuter (knieža - Fürst
Fürst
Fürst is a German title of nobility, usually translated into English as Prince.The term refers to the head of a principality and is distinguished from the son of a monarch, who is referred to as Prinz...
), and masculine animals that are animate in singular and mostly inanimate in plural.
b) Number
Grammatical number
In linguistics, grammatical number is a grammatical category of nouns, pronouns, and adjective and verb agreement that expresses count distinctions ....
: Like in English, there is the singular and the plural. Morphological traces of ancient dual number remained, but are not a separate grammar category anymore.
A particular case is associated with three distinct groups of numerals associated with nouns:
- 1 (one) - nominative caseNominative caseThe nominative case is one of the grammatical cases of a noun or other part of speech, which generally marks the subject of a verb or the predicate noun or predicate adjective, as opposed to its object or other verb arguments...
singular, for example jeden dub (one oak) - 2, 3, 4 - nominative caseNominative caseThe nominative case is one of the grammatical cases of a noun or other part of speech, which generally marks the subject of a verb or the predicate noun or predicate adjective, as opposed to its object or other verb arguments...
plural, for example dva duby (two oaks) - 0, 5 and more - genitive caseGenitive caseIn grammar, genitive is the grammatical case that marks a noun as modifying another noun...
plural, for example päť dubov (five [of] oaks)
(indication of ancient numbering up to four, anything above was "a lot of"?)
c) Morphological case
Declension
In linguistics, declension is the inflection of nouns, pronouns, adjectives, and articles to indicate number , case , and gender...
s:
- the nominative caseNominative caseThe nominative case is one of the grammatical cases of a noun or other part of speech, which generally marks the subject of a verb or the predicate noun or predicate adjective, as opposed to its object or other verb arguments...
(N) = the subject; the basic form of the word; answers the question Who / What; for example father (sg), fathers (pl) - the genitive caseGenitive caseIn grammar, genitive is the grammatical case that marks a noun as modifying another noun...
(G) =- (1) in English "of x" or "x's" ; answers the questions Of whom / Of what; for example father's (sg. ), fathers' (pl);
- (2) is used after the prepositions bez (without), blízko (near), do (to, into), doprostred (in(to) the middle of), mimo (out(side) of), miesto (instead of), okolo (around), od (from), podľa (according to), pomimo (next to, around), pomocou (by means of), pozdĺž (along), u (at), uprostred (in the middle of), vedľa (next to, adjacent to), vnútri (in, inside of), vyše (above), z (out of, from), *za (behind)
- the dative caseDative caseThe dative case is a grammatical case generally used to indicate the noun to whom something is given, as in "George gave Jamie a drink"....
(D) =- (1) in English "to x"; answers the question To whom / To what; for example to the father (sg), to the fathers (pl);
- (2) is used after the prepositions k (to, towards), kvôli (because of), napriek (in spite of), naproti (facing, opposing), oproti ((facing, opposing)), voči (facing, against)
- the accusative caseAccusative caseThe accusative case of a noun is the grammatical case used to mark the direct object of a transitive verb. The same case is used in many languages for the objects of prepositions...
(A) =- (1) the direct object; answers the question Whom / What; for example [I see the] father (sg), fathers (pl);
- (2) is used after the prepositions: cez(through), *medzi (between, among), *na (on, at), *nad (above), *po (after, for), *o (about, on), *pod (under), pre (for, because of), *pred (before, in front of), *v (in, on), vzhľadom na (regarding, concerning), *za (behind, for)
- the locative caseLocative caseLocative is a grammatical case which indicates a location. It corresponds vaguely to the English prepositions "in", "on", "at", and "by"...
(L) = used after the prepositions *na (on), *po (after), *o (about, on), pri (at, next to), *v (in, on) - the instrumental caseInstrumental caseThe instrumental case is a grammatical case used to indicate that a noun is the instrument or means by or with which the subject achieves or accomplishes an action...
(I) =- (1) in English "by (means of) x"; answers the question By (means of) whom / By (means of) what; for example [written] by the father;
- (2) is used after the prepositions: *medzi (between, among), *nad (above), *pod, (under), *pred (before, in front of), s (with), *za (behind, at the back of)
- The (syntactic) vocative caseVocative caseThe vocative case is the case used for a noun identifying the person being addressed and/or occasionally the determiners of that noun. A vocative expression is an expression of direct address, wherein the identity of the party being spoken to is set forth expressly within a sentence...
(V) is not morphologically marked anymore in modern Slovak (unlike in modern Czech). Today the (syntactic) vocative is realised by the (morphological) nominative case, just like in English, German any many other languages. However, the ancient vocative declensions have survived (mostly in conserved, archaic words or language, e.g. in fairy tales, folklore, or in an ironic sense) in some words, some examples: syn (son) - V: synku, brat (brother) - V: bratu, bratku), chlapec (boy, knave) - V:chlapče), švagor (brother-in-law) - V: švagre or N, kmotor (godparent) - V:kmotre or N), chlap (man, male) - V: chlape, priateľ (friend) V: priateľu or N, pán (mister, lord) - V: pane or N), majster (master artist) - V: majstre or N), boh (god) - V: bože, mama (mum, mother) - V: mamo, mami) and was retrofitted (with the help of Czech influence) to some more words, like šéf (chief, boss) - V: šéfe. There is a dispute among some Slovak linguists whether to include vocative into grammar categories but with declension (mostly) equal to the nominative, or to unify it with nominative case category. But since the morphological vocative is used only for the above restricted number of words and in addition only in some contexts, it is surely an exaggeration to say that the (morphological) vocative is still in the Slovak language. Note however that there is no dispute that the syntactic vocative is present in Slovak (and in every other language). Slovak schools have been teaching for at least 30 years that there is no grammar category of vocative anymore in use, and since 1990 they have not mentioned the vocative at all. Also, the Slovak Encyclopedia of Linguistics (1993) explicitly says: the vocative is nowadays replaced by the nominative.
However, there is a different form of morphological vocative emerging in spoken language, used with some familiar forms of personal names (Paľo - Pali, Jano, Jana - Jani, Zuza - Zuzi) and familiar forms of kinship words, such as mama - mami (mum, mother), oco - oci (dad, father), tata, tato - tati (dad, daddy), baba, babka - babi (gran, granny, grandmother). This usage is very similar to the "new Russian vocative" (Маш', Петь', мам'), and it is not accepted into standardised codified language. This probably developed out of proper names that were formed using the Hungarian diminutive suffix -i and that are used in spoken Slovak, and therefore is often homonymous with nominative (semi-)diminutive forms of the names.
Legend
- "ends in" in the following refers to the ending in the nominative singular (N sg), unless stated differently
- Soft consonants are: all consonants with the diacritic mark ˇ (for example š, ľ) + c, dz, j. Hard and neutral consonants are all the remaining consonants
- For masculine nouns, adjectives, pronouns and numerals it is necessary to distinguish between animate and inanimate ones. An animate noun is a person (for example father, Peter) and an inanimate noun is any other noun (for example table, fear, democracy). Animals are usually viewed as persons only in sg. For the animate nouns, the G is identical with the A (both in sg. and in pl.), and for the inanimate nouns, the N is identical with the A (both in sg. and in pl. ). Animate/Inanimate adjectives, pronouns and numerals are those referring to an animate/inanimate noun respectively (for example in "my father" the "my" is animate, because father is animate).
- sg = singular, pl = plural
- N, G, D, A, L, I are abbreviations of grammatical cases (see above)
Nouns
For each gender, there are four basic declension paradigms (that is declension models).Note that many nouns (especially those following the paradigm chlap) have different endings then those of the paradigms in one or several grammatical cases. They are neither defined, nor listed in the following. The complete number of different paradigms for nouns is somewhere about 200.
A very small number of foreign nouns is not declined (that is the stem and ending never change).
The Masculine Gender
| animate and ends in anything except -a | animate and ends in -a | inanimate and ends in a hard or neutral consonant | inanimate and ends in a soft consonant | |||||
| sg. | pl. | sg. | pl. | sg. | pl. | sg. | pl. | |
| N | chlap | chlapi | hrdina | hrdinovia | dub | duby | stroj | stroje |
| G | chlap-a | chlap-ov | hrdin-u | hrdin-ov | dub-a | dub-ov | stroj-a | stroj-ov |
| D | chlapovi | chlapom | hrdinovi | hrdinom | dubu | dubom | stroju | strojom |
| A | chlapa | chlapov | hrdinu | hrdinov | dub | duby | stroj | stroje |
| L | chlapovi | chlapoch | hrdinovi | hrdinoch | dube | duboch | stroji | strojoch |
| I | chlapom | chlapmi | hrdinom | hrdinami | dubom | dubmi | strojom | strojmi |
There is also a 5th paradigm for foreign nouns ending in .-i, -y, -e, -í, -é, -ě, -ä (for example pony, kuli, Tököli, Goethe, Krejčí, abbé, Poupě) and foreign personal names ending in -ü, -ö (for example Jenö), which goes as follows:
- Sg: N: pony, G: ponyho, D: ponymu, A: ponyho, L and I: ponym
- Pl: like hrdina.
Masculine animal nouns are declined like chlap in the singular, but in plural usually like dub (if they end in a hard or neutral consonant) or like stroj (otherwise)
Notes on chlap:
- For the nouns ending in a vowel (for example -o, -u) the vowel is not part of the stem, but the ending in N sg: for example dedo has G/D sg… deda/dedovi etc. (not dedoa/dedoovi etc. ).
- many nouns lose an e/o/i from the stem in all cases except N sg (for example vrabec - vrabca);
- in some short nouns, the -e- changes its position in all cases except N sg (for example žnec - ženca)
- some nouns ending in -k / -ch change the k / ch in c / s in N pl, for example žiak - žiaci
- most Latin and Greek nouns in -us, -as, -es, -os lose the us / as / es / os in all cases except N sg (for example génius - génia; but for example fiškus - fiškusa)
Notes on hrdina:
-
Notes on dub:
- many nouns lose an e/ o / i / í /ie/ á from the stem in all cases except N sg and A sg (for example výmysel - výmysla, chrbát - chrbta, ohníček - ohníčka, dnešok - dneška, ocot - octa )
- some Greek and Latin nouns in -us, -es, -os lose the us / es / os in all cases except N sg and A sg (e.g. komunizmus - komunizmu; but e.g. autobus - autobusu, cirkus - cirkusu)
- some Slovak words lose the acute or the i/u from a diphthong in all cases except N sg and Asg :, for example mráz - mraza, chlieb - chleba, vietor - vetra (here at the same time loss of o), stôl - stola, bôr - bora
- in G pl, some nouns change the a/e/i/o/u (without an acute or a preceding i) in the stem to á/é/í/ó/ú (raz - ráz, Vojany - Voján, Krompachy - Krompách) or in some cases to ia/ie/iu/ô (for example čas -čias, Margecany - Margecian, Žabokreky - Žabokriek), unless the preceding syllable in the stem already contains a vowel with an acute or a diphthong (for example Hájniky - Hájnik)
Notes on stroj:
- many nouns lose the e/ o / i / í /ie/ á in all cases except N sg and A sg (for example marec - marca, delenec- delenca, veniec- venca, deň- dňa, stupeň - stupňa, lakeť - lakťa )
- some nouns lose the acute or the i/u from a diphthong in all cases except N sg and Asg :, for example dážď - dažďa, nôž - noža
- in G pl, geographical names in pl. (plurale tantum) change the a/e/i/o/u (without an acute or a preceding i) in the stem to á/é/í/ó/ú (for example Tlmače - Tlmáč) or in some cases to ia/ie/iu/ô (for example Ladce - Ladiec) in the G pl, unless the preceding syllable in the stem already contains an acute or a diphthong
The Feminine Gender
| ends in -hard or neutral consonant + a | ends in -soft consonant + a (or in -ia / -ya) | ends in a consonant other than for kosť (next column). | ends in -c /s / p / v / sť | |||||
| sg. | pl. | sg. | pl. | sg. | pl. | sg. | pl. | |
| N | žena | ženy | ulica | ulice | dlaň | dlane | kosť | kosti |
| G | ženy | žien | ulice | ulíc | dlane | dlaní | kosti | kostí |
| D | žene | ženám | ulici | uliciam | dlani | dlaniam | kosti | kostiam |
| A | ženu | ženy | ulicu | ulice | dlaň | dlane | kosť | kosti |
| L | žene | ženách | ulici | uliciach | dlani | dlaniach | kosti | kostiach |
| I | ženou | ženami | ulicou | ulicami | dlaňou | dlaňami | kosťou | kosťami |
There is also a 5th paradigm for feminine nouns ending in -ná or -ovná (for example princezná), where the singular and N pl and A pl are like pekná (see under adjectives) and the remaining plural is like žena. In the G pl, there are changes in the stem: if the noun ends in -vowel + ná, then this vowel receives an acute (for example švagriná - švagrín), but otherwise an -ie- is inserted (for example princezná - princezien).
There is also a 6th paradigm for the feminine nouns ending in -ea (idea, Kórea), which goes like žena, except that D sg and Lsg are idei, and G pl is ideí without change in the stem.
Notes on žena:
- The following nouns are declined like ulica instead of žena: večera, rozopra, konopa, Hybe and (the plurale tantum) dvere
- In the G pl of some nouns, an ie/ e / o / á / ô is inserted in the last syllable of the stem (for example hra - hier, čipka - čipiek /čipôk, karta - kariet /karát, kvapka - kvapiek / kvapák /kvapôk, vojna - vojen, látka - látok)
- In the G pl of some nouns, in the last syllable of the stem the a / i / y / u / ä / e / o /syllabic r / syllabic l (without an acute or a preceding i) is changed into á (or ia) / í / ý / ú /ia / ie / ô/ ŕ/ ĺ respectively (sila - síl, skala - skál, chyba - chýb, ruka - rúk, fakulta - fakúlt, päta - piat, slza - sĺz, črta-čŕt, brzda - bŕzd, slza-sĺz)
Notes on ulica:
- In the G pl of some nouns, an ie is inserted (for example jedľa - jedieľ, sukňa - sukieň)
- In the G pl of some nouns, in the last syllable of the stem the a / i / y / u / e / o /syllabic r (without an acute or a preceding i) is changed into á (or ia)/ í / ý / ú /ie / ô/ ŕ respectively (for example ulica - ulíc, sudkyňa -sudkýň, Krkonoše, Krkonôš, košeľa - košieľ, guľa - gúľ, hoľa - hôľ, fľaša - fliaš
Notes on dlaň:
- The following nouns are declined like dlaň, not like kosť: obec, päsť, čeľusť, päsť.
- The following feminine nouns are not declined like dlaň, but like kosť: jar, zver, chuť, ortuť, pamäť, smrť, pleť, sneť, rukoväť, smeť, púť, spleť, svojeť, reč, seč, meď, soľ, hluš, myš, voš, lož, bel, Sereď, Sibír, Budapešť, Bukurešť, Lešť and a few other nouns. The words myseľ, chuť, raž, tvár, hneď can be declined like dlaň or like kosť in the singular, but only like dlaň in the plural. The word hrsť is declined like dlaň in the singular, but like kosť in the plural.
- most nouns in -eň lose the e in all cases except N sg and A sg (for example úroveň - úrovne)
Notes on kosť:
- see the first two notes under dlaň
- some nouns lose the e / o in all cases except N sg and A sg (for example ves - vsi, lož - lži, cirkev-cirkvi)
The Neuter Gender
| ends in - o | ends in - e (except -ie) | ends in - ie | ends in - a or -ä | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| sg. | pl. | sg. | pl. | sg. | pl. | sg. | pl. | |
| N | mesto | mestá | srdce | srdcia | vysvedčenie | vysvedčenia | dievča | dievčatá / dievčence |
| G | mesta | miest | srdca | sŕdc | vysvedčenia | vysvedčení | dievčaťa | dievčiat/ dievčeniec |
| D | mestu | mestám | srdcu | srdciam | vysvedčeniu | vysvedčeniam | dievčaťu | dievčatám/ dievčencom |
| A | mesto | mestá | srdce | srdcia | vysvedčenie | vysvedčenia | dievča | dievčatá/ dievčence |
| L | meste | mestách | srdci | srdciach | vysvedčení | vysvedčeniach | dievčati | dievčatách / dievčencoch |
| I | mestom | mestami | srdcom | srdcami | vysvedčením | vysvedčeniami | dievčaťom | dievčatami / dievčencami |
For (any) neuter nouns ending in -vowel+um/on (for example štúdium, ganglion) there is actually a 5th paradigm (štúdium), which is declined like mesto except that the -um- / -on- is omitted in all cases except N sg and A sg., L sg ends in -u (štúdiu), and G pl in -í (štúdií).
Notes on mesto:
- Latin and Greek neuter nouns ending in -consonant +um/on (for example fórum, epiteton) are declined like mesto, except that the -um- / -on- is omitted in all cases except N sg and A sg (for example N sg and A sg: publikum, G sg: publika, D sg: publiku etc. )
- in the G pl of some nouns, an ie/ e / o / á /(rarely é) is inserted in the last syllable of the stem (for example clo-ciel, mydlo-mydiel, zvieratko-zvieratiek, jedlo - jedál, vrecko-vrecák/vreciek, vlákno - vláken / vlákien, číslo - čísel / čísiel, lajno - lajen, lýtko - lýtok, teliesko - teliesok
- in the G pl of some nouns, in the last syllable of the stem the a / i / y / u / ä / e / o /syllabic r / syllabic l (without an acute or a preceding i) is changed into á / í / ý / ú /ia / ie / ô/ ŕ/ ĺ respectively (kladivo - kladív, zrno - zŕn)
Notes on srdce:
- In the G pl of some nouns, an ie/e is inserted in the last syllable of the stem. (for example citoslovce-citosloviec, okience - okienec, vajce - vajec)
- In the G pl of some nouns, in the last syllable of the stem the a / i / y / u / ä / e / o /syllabic r / syllabic l (without an acute or a preceding i) is changed into á / í / ý / ú /ia / ie / ô/ ŕ/ ĺ respectively (plece-pliec, srdce-sŕdc, slnce-sĺnc).
Notes on vysvedčenie:
-
Notes on dievča:
- The -a- at the beginning of all endings is replaced by ä in nouns, where a p/b/m/f/v precedes the a (for example žriebä - žriebäťa - žriebäťu… ).
- Most nouns can take both the -at- endings and the -enc- endings in the plural (for example dievča, húsa, bábä), some nouns however take only the -at- endings (for example knieža, zviera, mláďa) and some nouns only the -enc- endings (for example kura). The following nouns do not take the -en- in the alternative plural endings : prasa (- prasatá / prasce - prasiat / prasiec), teľa, šteňa.
Pekný
This paradigm is used for adjectives ending in -a hard or neutral consonant + ý [in the masculine gender]| masculine | neuter | feminine | plural | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| N | pekný | pekné | pekná | pekné (masc. animate: pekní) |
| G | pekného | pekného | peknej | pekných |
| D | peknému | peknému | peknej | pekným |
| A | pekný (animate: pekného) |
pekné | peknú | pekné (masc. animate: pekných) |
| L | peknom | peknom | peknej | pekných |
| I | pekným | pekným | peknou | peknými |
Cudzí
This paradigm is used for adjectives ending in -a soft consonant + í [in the masculine gender] (including the comparative and superlative, see below )Forms: They are like with pekný, but within the endings (that is in what follows after pekn-) always replace ý by í, é by ie, á by ia, and ú by iu., e.g.: pekný - cudzí, pekné(ho) - cudzie(ho), pekný(m) - cudzí(m), pekná - cudzia, peknú - cudziu.
Otcov
This paradigm is used for adjectives ending in -ov / -in, for example otcov ("father's"), matkin ("mother's"). All of them are possessive adjectives (adjectives in -ov for masculine persons, adjectives in -in for feminine persons).| masculine | neuter | feminine | plural | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| N | otcov | otcovo | otcova | otcove (masc. animate: otcovi) |
| G | otcovho | otcovho | otcovej | otcových |
| D | otcovmu | otcovmu | otcovej | otcovým |
| A | otcov (animate: otcovho) |
otcovo | otcovu | otcove (masc. animate: otcových) |
| L | otcovom | otcovom | otcovej | otcových |
| I | otcovým | otcovým | otcovou | otcovými |
The Comparative and Superlative
The comparative is formed by replacing the adjective ending -ý/y/i/í by -ejší or -ší. There are exact rules for the choice between these two endings and there are several irregular comparatives. Examples:- Regular: hrozný - hroznejší, bohatý - bohatší …
- Irregular: veľký - väčší, malý - menší, dobrý - lepší, zlý - horší, pekný - krajší, čierny - černejší, blízky-bližší, ďaleký - ďalší, hlboký - hlbší …
The comparative forms are declined like cudzí
The superlative (that is biggest, most difficult etc. )is formed as follows: naj+comparative . Examples:
pekný - krajší - najkrajší, hrozný- hroznejší - najhroznejší …
The comparative and superlative of adverbs (which by the way end in -o, -e or -y in the basic form)is formed by simply replacing the -(ej)ší from the adjective by -(ej)šie (for example pekne - krajšie - najkrajšie, hrozne - hroznejšie - najhroznejšie, teplo - teplejšie - najteplejšie, pomaly - pomalšie - najpomalšie)
Personal pronouns
| I | you (sg) | he | she | it | we | you (pl. or polite form) | they (masculine animate, or mixed genders) | they (otherwise) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N | ja | ty | on | ona | ono | my | vy | oni | ony |
| G | ma (mňa) | ťa (teba) | ho (jeho, neho,-ňho, -ň) | ju | ho (jeho, neho, -ňho, -ň) | nás | vás | ich (nich) | ich (ne) |
| D | mne (mi) | tebe (ti) | mu (jemu, nemu,-ňmu) | jej (nej) | mu (jemu, nemu,-ňmu) | nám | vám | im (nim) | im (nim) |
| A | ma (mňa) | ťa (teba) | ho (jeho, neho, -ňho, -ň, -eň) | ju | ho (-ň, -eň) | nás | vás | ich (nich) | ich (ne) |
| L | mne | tebe | ňom | nej | ňom | nás | vás | nich | nich |
| I | mnou | tebou | ním | ňou | ním | nami | vami | nimi | nimi |
There is also the reflexive pronoun sa, which is declined as follows:
N: -, G: seba, D: sebe /si, A: seba/sa, L: sebe, I: sebou
Notes:
- the long forms mňa, teba, seba, mne, tebe, sebe in G, D and A are used after prepositions (for example pre mňa) or when emphasized, especially always at the beginning of the sentence (for example Vidíš len seba., Teba vidím. )
- the forms jeho, jemu in G, D and A are used when emphasized, especially always at the beginning of the sentence (for example Vidím jeho. Jeho vidím = It is him that I see)
- the forms in n- (that is neho, nemu, nej, ňu, nich, nim, ne) are used after prepositions (for example pre neho (masc. )); the forms -ňho (or -ň), -ňmu, -ň can be used alternatively after the prepositions do, pre, na, za, o, po, do, u (for example pre neho (masc. ) = preňho = preň); the special form -eň can be used alternatively (for neuter nouns obligatorily) after the prepositions nad, ponad, cez, pod, popod, pred, popred (for example nad neho (masc.) = nadeň ).
Demonstrative Pronouns
| masculine | neuter | feminine | plural | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| N | ten | to | tá | tie (masc. animate: tí) |
| G | toho | toho | tej | tých |
| D | tomu | tomu | tej | tým |
| A | ten (masc. animate: toho) |
to | tú | tie (masc. animate: tých) |
| L | tom | tom | tej | tých |
| I | tým | tým | tou | tými |
like ten (that, the) are declined: tamten (that one), henten (that one), tento (this one), tenže (the same)…
like adjectives are declined: for example istý (certain, same), každý (each), iný (other), taký / onaký (such), všetok (all), sám (-self), onen (that one),and žiaden=žiadny (no one) …
Interrogative (and Relative) and Indefinite pronouns
- who: N: kto - G:koho -D:komu - A:koho - L:kom - I:kým [always masculine animate]
- what: N: čo - G:čoho - D:čomu - A: čo - L: čom -I:čím [always neuter]
like kto/čo are declined: nikto (nobody), niekto/dakto (someone), niečo/dačo (something), hocikto (who ever), nič (nothing), ktosi (someone), čosi (something) …
like adjectives are declined: čí (whose), niečí /dačí / hocičí (someone's), ničí (noone's), ktorý (which), aký (what, which), nejaký / dajaký / (some), nijaký / niktorý (no), čísi (someone's), číkoľvek (whose ever). akýsi (some), ktorýsi (some), ktorýkoľvek (which ever)…
Possessive pronouns
| masculine | neuter | feminine | plural | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| N | môj | moje | moja | moje (masc. animate: moji) |
| G | môjho | môjho | mojej | mojich |
| D | môjmu | môjmu | mojej | mojim |
| A | môj (animate: môjho) |
moje | moju | moje (masc. animate: mojich) |
| L | mojom | mojom | mojej | mojich |
| I | mojím | mojím | mojou | mojimi |
like môj (my) are declined:
- tvoj (your (sg. )) and svoj (one's own), except that the o never changes in ô (for example tvoj - tvojho … )
- náš (our) and váš (your (pl. )), except that the -ô- in môj corresponds to an -á-, and an -o- in môj corresponds to an -a- here (for example náš - G:nášho - L:našom)
not declined are:
- jeho (his), jej (her), ich (their)
Paradigms
jeden (one):is declined like the adjective pekný
- Changes for compound numerals in -jeden: not declined ; see Compound Numerals
dva (two):
N: dvaja (masc. animate); dva (masc. inanimate); dve (otherwise) -
G: dvoch -
D: dvom -
A: dvoch (masc. animate); dva (masc. inanimate); dve (otherwise) -
L: dvoch -
I: dvoma
- Changes for compound numerals in -dva:
- N: dvaja/dva (masc. animate); dva (otherwise)
- A: dvoch /dva (masc. animate); dva (otherwise)
- Also declined like dva: obidva / oba (both), and (with the above changes) the second part of the compound numerals 32, 42, … 92, if they are declined (see Compound Numerals)
tri (three):
N: traja (masc. animate); tri (otherwise) -
G: troch -
D: trom -
A: troch (masc. animate); tri (otherwise) -
L: troch -
I: troma / tromi
- Changes for compound numerals in -tri, -štyri:
- N: traja/tri (masc. animate); tri (otherwise)
- A: troch/tri (masc. animate); tri (otherwise)
- Also declined like tri: štyri (4), and (with the above changes) the second part of the compound numerals 23, 33, 43, … 93; 24, 34, 44, … 94, if they are declined (see Compound Numerals)
päť (five):
N: piati / päť (masc. animate); päť (otherwise) -
G: piatich -
D: piatim -
A: piatich / päť (masc. animate); päť (otherwise) -
L: piatich -
I: piatimi
- Also declined like päť: the numerals päť (6) to 19 (19), and 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, and the second part of the compound numerals 25–29, 35–39 … 95–99, if they are declined (see Compound Numerals)
100, 200, 300, … 900; 1000, 2000, 3000, … 9000:
not declined, but 1000 can be declined like päť
Compound Numerals
- if they end in -jeden (for example 21, 101):
- not declined
- otherwise:
- 2 alternatives: not declined or declined; if they are declined, then each number making up the numeral is declined according to its own paradigm (for example 23 chlapov: dvadsiatich troch chlapov)
Ordinal Numerals
They are declined like adjectives (paradigms pekný and cudzí)Note: Ordinal numerals are formed by adding adjective endings to the (slightly modified) cardinal numbers, for example
- 5: päť - 5th: piaty,
- 20: dvadsať - 20th: dvadsiaty
External links
- http://www.angelfire.com/sk3/quality/Slovak_declension.html - provides an exhaustive treatment of Slovak declension and is the source of this article