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.
(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) explicitely 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.
“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)
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).
<P ALIGN="center">inanimate and ends in a hard or neutral consonant
<P ALIGN="center">inanimate and ends in a soft consonant
<P ALIGN="center">sg.
<P ALIGN="center">pl.
<P ALIGN="center">sg.
<P ALIGN="center">pl.
<P ALIGN="center">sg.
<P ALIGN="center">pl.
<P ALIGN="center">sg.
<P ALIGN="center">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</b>
</TABLE>
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
<P ALIGN="center"> ends in -soft consonant + a (or in -ia / -ya)
<P ALIGN="center">ends in a consonant other then for kosť (next column).
<P ALIGN="center">ends in -c /s / p / v / sť
<P ALIGN="center">sg.
<P ALIGN="center">pl.
<P ALIGN="center">sg.
<P ALIGN="center">pl.
<P ALIGN="center">sg.
<P ALIGN="center">pl.
<P ALIGN="center">sg.
<P ALIGN="center">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
</TABLE>
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)
</TABLE>
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.
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.
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)
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 . . .
