The Slovak language, like most Slavic languages or like Latin, is an inflected language, meaning that the endings (and sometimes also the stems) of most words (nouns, adjectives, pronouns and numerals) 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) and words that are drifting into other gender and are currently in the middle (knieža), 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:
1 (one) - nominative case singular, e. g. jeden dub (one oak)
(1) in English “of x“ or “x’s“ ; answers the questions Of whom / Of what; e. g. father’s (sg. ), fathers’ (pl);
(2) is used after the prepositions bez, blízko, do, doprostred, mimo, miesto, okolo, od, podľa, pomimo, pomocou, pozdĺž, u, uprostred, vedľa, vnútri, vyše, z, *za
(1) in English “by (means of) x“; answers the question By (means of) whom / By (means of) what; e. g. [written] by the father;
(2) is used after the prepositions: medzi, *nad, *pod, *pred, s, *za
The (syntactic) vocative case (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 fairy tales or in an ironic sense) in some words, some examples: syn (V: synku), brat (V: brat(k)u), chlapec (V:chlapče), švagor (V: švagre or N), kmotor (V:kmotre or N), chlap (V: chlape), priateľ (V: priateľu or N), pán (V: pane or N), majster (V: majstre or N), boh (V: bože), mama (V: mamo) and was retrofitted (with the help of Czech influence) to some more words, like šéf (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 are not mentioning 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 only with some proper names (Pali, Jani, Zuzi) and in kindship relations words, such as mami, oci, tati, babi. This usage is very similar to the "new Russian vocative" (Маш', Петь', мам'), and it is not accepted into standartized codified language. This probably developed out of proper names that were formed using the Hungarian diminuitive suffix -i and that are used in spoken Slovak, and therefore is often homonymous with nominative (semi-)diminuitive 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 (e.g. 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 (e. g. father, Peter) and an inanimate noun is any other noun (e. g. 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 (e. g. 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 (i. e. 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 (i. e. 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
chlapa
chlapov
hrdinu
hrdinov
duba
dubov
stroja
strojov
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 (e. g. pony, kuli, Tököli, Goethe, Krejčí, abbé, Poupě) and foreign personal names ending in -ü, -ö (e. g. 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 (e. g. -o, -u) the vowel is not part of the stem, but the ending in N sg: e. g. 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 (e. g. vrabec - vrabca);
in some short nouns, the -e- changes its position in all cases except N sg (e. g. žnec - ženca)
some nouns ending in -k / -ch change the k / ch in c / s in N pl, e. g. žiak - žiaci
most Latin and Greek nouns in -us, -as, -es, -os lose the us / as / es / os in all cases except N sg (e. g. génius - génia; but e. g. 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 (e. g. 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 :, e. g. 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 in á/é/í/ó/ú (raz - ráz, Vojany - Voján, Krompachy - Krompách) or in some cases in ia/ie/iu/ô (e. g. čas -čias, Margecany - Margecian, Žabokreky - Žabokriek), unless the preceding syllable in the stem already contains a vowel with an acute or a diphthong (e. g. Hájniky - Hájnik)
Notes on stroj:
many nouns lose the e/ o / i / í /ie/ á in all cases except N sg and A sg (e. g. 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 :, e. g. 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 in á/é/í/ó/ú (e. g. Tlmače - Tlmáč) or in some cases in ia/ie/iu/ô (e. g. 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 then 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 (e. g. 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 (e. g. švagriná - švagrín), but otherwise an -ie- is inserted (e. g. 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 (e. g. 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 (e. g. 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 (e. g. 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 (e. g. 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 (e. g. 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 (e. g. 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 (e. g. fórum, epiteton) are declined like mesto, except that the -um- / -on- is omitted in all cases except N sg and A sg (e. g. 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 (e. g. 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. (e. g. 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 (e. g. žriebä - žriebäťa - žriebäťu. . . ).
Most nouns can take both the -at- endings and the -enc- endings in the plural (e. g. dievča, húsa, bábä), some nouns however take only the -at- endings (e. g. knieža, zviera, mláďa) and some nouns only the -enc- endings (e. g. kura). The following nouns do not take the -en- in the alternative plural endings : prasa (- prasatá / prasce - prasiat / prasiec), teľa, šteňa.
Adjectives
Paradigms
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 (i. e. 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 [in the masculine gender] (e. g. otcov (“father’s“ ), mamin (“mather’s“)). All of them are, by the way, 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:
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 (i. e. 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 (e. g. pekne - krajšie - najkrajšie, hrozne - hroznejšie - najhroznejšie, teplo - teplejšie - najteplejšie, pomaly - pomalšie - najpomalšie)
Pronouns
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 (e. g. pre mňa) or when emphasized, especially always at the beginning of the sentence (e. g. 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 (e. g. Vidím jeho. Jeho vidím = It is him that I see)
the forms in n- (i. e. neho, nemu, nej, ňu, nich, nim, ne) are used after prepositions (e. g. 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 (e. g. pre neho (masc. ) = preňho = preň); the special form -eň can be used alternatively (for neutre nouns obligatorily) after the prepositions nad, ponad, cez, pod, popod, pred, popred (e. g. 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: e. g. 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
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 (e. g. 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 (e. g. náš-G:nášho- L:našom)
not declined are:
jeho (his), jej (her), ich (their)
Numerals
Cardinal Numerals (one, two, three. . . )
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 (e. g. 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 (e. g. 23 chlapov: dvadsiatich troch chlapov)
Ordinal Numerals (first, second . . . . )
They are declined like adjectives (paradigms pekný and cudzí)
Note: Ordinal numerals are formed by adding adjective endings to the (slightly modified) cardinal numbers, e. g.
5: päť - 5th: piaty,
20: dvadsať - 20th: dvadsiaty
External links:
[1] – provides an exhaustive treatement of Slovak declension and is the source of this article
