Parts of speech and inflexion

Substantives denote persons, animals, objects, properties and processes.

They are classified as follows:

• General
  Names of persons, animals, objects... of the same kind. They are written with small initial letters.
  človek, učiteľ, pes, dom, strom, kniha, škola, mesiac, leto, pondelok, január
• Proper
  Names of unique persons, animals, objects, geographic names, holidays... They are written with LARGE initial letters. Names of days in the week and months are not regarded as proper nouns!
  Zuzana, Dunčo, Vysoké Tatry, Bratislava, Slovensko, Vianoce, Veľká noc
• Concrete
  Names of persons, animals, objects. They are tangible and are observable with sense organs.
  brat, Karol, mačka, pes, ryba, zajac, stôl, dom, kniha, škola
• Abstract
  Names of properties, processes. They are intangible and are not observable with sense organs.
  zdravie, múdrosť, šťastie, láska, leto, prázdniny, matematika

Declension of nouns

Slovak nouns follow several different declension patterns. Each gender (masculine, feminine, neuter) has its own patterns of declension, represented by model nouns. In order to use Slovak nouns correctly, we need to know both the gender of the noun, and also the declension pattern that it follows.

Example: The noun //mama// is declined according to the model of //žena//.

Also: babka, vnučka, dcéra, rodina, priateľka…

The noun chlapec is declined according to the model of chlap.

Also: vnuk, dedko, otec, syn, priateľ, študent, muž…

Noun declensions

Masculine Singular

Masculine Plural

Living masculine nouns are declined in the singular according to the model of chlap, and in the plural according to the model of dub (if the noun ends in a hard or bilabial consonant), or according to the model of stroj (if the noun ends in a soft consonant).

Model chlap

The following nouns are declined like //chlap//:

• living masculine nouns ending in a consonant or -o:
  chlapec, otec, syn, dedo, Jano, pes, vnuk, spolužiak
• only in singular form - animal nouns:
  pes, vlk, vták, lev, medveď, kôň

Note: Words in the nominative plural can also end with -ovia (synovia, otcovia, dedovia…) and -ia (učitelia, bratia…).

Model hrdina

The following nouns are declined like //hrdina//:

• (Living) masculine nouns ending in -a:
  sudca, sluha, hokejista, huslista

Note: Words ending in –ista have the ending -i (huslisti, hokejisti…) in the nominative plural.

Model dub

The following nouns are declined like //dub//:

• (non-living) masculine substantives ending with a hard or bilabial consonant:
  potok, dom, strom, obraz, autobus, trolejbus, pondelok, utorok, štvrtok, piatok
• only in plural form — animal nouns ending with a hard or neutral consonant:
  slon, had, vlk, lev

Model dub

The following nouns are declined like //stroj//:

• (non-living) masculine nouns ending in a soft consonant:
  kôš, oheň, nôž, čaj, počítač, dážď, máj, kameň
• only in plural form — animal nouns that end in a soft consonant:
  medveď, kôň, mravec

Model kuli

The following nouns are declined like //kuli//:

• masculine nouns that are foreign loanwords, masculine names and surnames ending with the vowels i, y, í, e, é, ä, ű, ö, ő:
  pony, grizly, abbé, Škultéty, Goethe, Krčméry, Nietsche

Feminine Singular

Feminine Plural

Model žena

The following nouns are declined like //žena//:

• feminine nouns ending in -a. The -a ending is preceded by a hard or bilabial consonant.:
  mama, dcéra, vnučka, rodina, kniha, cesta, voda, ruka, noha, hlava, streda, sobota

Note: When we add no ending in the genitive plural, the root is elongated.

• mama → mám
• kniha → kníh
• ruka → rúk
• noha → nôh

Model ulica

The following nouns are declined like //ulica//:

• Feminine nouns ending in -a. The vowel -a is preceded by a soft consonant.:
  práca, stanica, schôdza, tabuľa, ruža, cibuľa, vaňa, fľaša, nedeľa, chvíľa

Note: When we add no ending in the genitive plural, the root is elongated.

• stanica → staníc
• tabuľa → tabúľ
• fľaša → fliaš
• chvíľa → chvíľ

Model dlaň

The following nouns are declined like //dlaň//:

• Feminine nouns ending with a consonant. In the nominative plural, they end in -e (dlane).:
  pieseň, loď, báseň, reportáž, posteľ, predpoveď

Model kosť

The following nouns are declined like //kosť//:

• feminine nouns ending ina consonant. In the nominative plural, they end in -i (kosti).:
  vec, noc, step, pomoc, zmes, radosť, krv

Model gazdiná

The following nouns are declined like //gazdiná//:

• feminine nouns – only a few words that always designate people, mostly from the feudal period.:
  princezná, kráľovná, cisárovná, šľachtičná, stryná

Model idea

The conjugation pattern of //idea// is sometimes used. The following nouns are declined like //idea//:

• Feminine nouns that are foreign loanwords ending in -ea, -oa, -ua:
  orchidea, Andrea, aloa, Nikaragua, Ikea

The words //mať// (mother) and //pani// (Mrs.) have their own declensions.

Note: The noun //pani// is declined only when it stands alone. When combined with a proper noun it is not declined.

• to je pani Malá
• ideme od pani Malej
• ideme k pani Malej
• vidím pani Malú

Neuter Singular

Neuter Plural

Model mesto

The following words are declined according to the model of //mesto//:

• Neuter nouns ending in -o:
  auto, koleso, jablko, Slovensko, kakao, drevo, dielo, vedro, oko, ucho, brucho, mydlo
• Foreign loanwords ending in -on or -um:
  epiteton, múzeum

Model srdce

The following words are declined according to the model of //srdce//:

• Neuter substantives ending in -e:
  vajce, more, nástupište, pole

Model vysvedčenie

The following nouns are declined like //vysvedčenie//:

• Neuter nouns ending in -ie:
  lístie, stretnutie, zahraničie, námestie, umenie

Note: The suffixes are always long, the rhythmic rule is not observed.

Model dievča

The following nouns are declined like //dievča//:

• Neuter nouns ending in -a or -ä:
  dieťa, zviera, páža, knieža, mláďa, kura, žriebä

Note: The word //dieťa// has the following forms in the plural::
deti, detí, deťom, deti, o deťoch, s deťmi

Plural-only nouns (pluralia tantum)

Some nouns only have a plural form, though they refer to a single object.

• tie nohavice
• tie plavky
• tie šaty
• tie okuliare
• tie nožnice
• tie pľúca
• tie Košice

• Čo je to? To sú okuliare.
• Aké sú okuliare? Okuliare sú nové.
• Čie sú to okuliare? Okuliare sú mamine.
• Tie okuliare sú nové a mamine.

These nouns do not have a singular form; they only have a plural form They are called plural-only nouns or pluralia tantum, and are only declined in the plural.

Plural-only nouns (pluralia tantum):

Distinguish between:

One item (plural-only noun)

• nohavice
• plavky
• nohavičky
• slipy
• rifle
• šaty

Several items

• rukavice ( jedna rukavica, dve rukavice)
• topánky ( jedna topánka, dve topánky)
• čižmy ( jedna čižma, dve čižmy)
• ponožky ( jedna ponožka, dve ponožky)

Plural-only nouns (pluralia tantum) are often used in geographic names.

• mesto Košice
• mesto Levice
• mesto Trenčianske Teplice
• pohorie Vysoké Tatry
• pohorie Nízke Tatry
• Alpy, Benátky, Atény, Piešťany, Donovaly, Kúty...

Names of professions in the feminine

Names of professions in the feminine are formed using the suffix -ka:

• lekár → lekárka
• predavač → predavačka
• kuchár → kuchárka
• učiteľ → učiteľka
• podnikateľ → podnikateľka
• kuchár → kuchárka
• pekár → pekárka
• manažér → manažérka
• sekretár → sekretárka
• policajt → policajtka
• prekladateľ → prekladateľka
• fotograf → fotografka

If a profession in the masculine has the ending -k, the consonant -k will change to -č, followed by the suffix –ka:

• právnik → právnička
• pokladník → pokladníčka
• čašník → čašníčka
• tanečník → tanečníčka
• lekárnik → lekárnička
• informatik → informatička
• chemik → chemička

Diminutives

In conversations with children, we often use diminutives and informal names:

• Kde máš autíčka, Janko?
• Páči sa ti tento domček pre bábiky?
• Aké krásne dieťatko!
• Kde máš mamičku?
• etc.

More than one diminutive can sometimes be derived from one word, e.g.:

• Zuzana → Zuzka, Zuzička, Zuzanka…
• ruka → rúčka, ručička…
• mama → mamka, mamička, mamulienka…
• otec → otecko
• tato → tatko, tatíčko

Verbal nouns

Verbal nouns represent actions (like verbs), but have the form of nouns. Verbal nouns usually end in -ing in English. They are very easy to form in Slovak: detach the –ť ending from the infinitive form of the verb písať (to write), and add the suffix -nie or –tie to construct the verbal noun //písanie// (writing). All verbal nouns have neuter gender and are declined like vysvedčenie. The rhythmic rule applies: zapnúť - zapnutie.

písať + A	To je program na písanie + G
písať text	To je program na písanie textu. It is a program for writing texts.

počúvať + A	To je program na počúvanie + G
počúvať hudbu	To je program na počúvanie hudby. It is a program for listening to music.

Attention:

• kresliť → kreslenie
• vidieť → videnie
• zapnúť → zapnutie
• vypnúť → vypnutie