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Every Slovak noun is masculine, feminine or neuter, things as well as people, and the words used with it, ten, the adjectives, the possessives and the numerals, agree with it. Slovak has no articles: stôl is “a table” or “the table”, as the situation shows.
The gender of nouns and the animate masculine: ten dom, tá ulica, to auto, ten brat#
Formation
The gender of a noun can usually be read from its nominative singular. A noun ending in a consonant is masculine (dom, stôl, park, počítač), a noun ending in -a is feminine (káva, ulica, kuchyňa, reštaurácia), and a noun ending in -o, -e, -ie or -um is neuter (auto, mesto, more, námestie, múzeum). The demonstrative has a form for each gender: ten dom, tá ulica, to auto.
Some nouns are learnt with their gender because the ending does not show it. Feminine nouns ending in a consonant: tá posteľ, tá noc, tá soľ, tá tvár, tá vec, tá kaviareň. Masculine nouns in -a or -o naming a man: ten kolega, ten turista, ten ocko. Neuter nouns in -a, mostly names of the young: to dieťa, to dievča, to zviera.
| Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | |
|---|---|---|---|
| usual ending | a consonant | -a | -o, -e, -ie, -um |
| examples | ten dom, ten stôl, ten počítač | tá káva, tá ulica, tá kuchyňa | to auto, to more, to námestie |
| learnt with the noun | ten kolega, ten turista, ten ocko | tá posteľ, tá noc, tá tvár | to dieťa, to dievča, to zviera |
Use
Gender is a property of the word, not of the person or the thing: dievča (“girl”) and dieťa (“child”) are neuter, kolega is masculine although it ends in -a. The words that agree with a noun follow its gender, not its ending: ten nový kolega. Masculine nouns naming a person or an animal (brat, študent, pes, kôň) are animate; the others (stôl, dom, park) are inanimate. The difference does not show in the nominative singular, but it changes the accusative (Mám brata, but Mám stôl) and the plural (študenti, but stoly), as explained in The accusative singular of nouns: kávu, brata, but čaj, auto and The plural of men: študenti, bratia, učitelia, synovia; tí, mladí.
- Ten počítač je nový, ale veľmi pomalý.That computer is new, but very slow.
- Tá kaviareň je malá, ale príjemná.That café is small, but pleasant.
- To dievča pri okne je moja sestra.That girl by the window is my sister.
- Náš nový kolega je z Popradu.Our new colleague is from Poprad.
- Tá posteľ je stará a malá.That bed is old and small.
Difference from English
Ten, tá and to are demonstratives, not articles: they mean “this” or “that” and are not needed where English has the: Kaviareň je malá is “The café is small”. English refers to every thing as it; in Slovak a table is masculine, a bag feminine and a car neuter.
Common mistakes
Ten kaviareň je malý.→ Tá kaviareň je malá.Kaviareň ends in a consonant but is feminine.Tá dievča je tu.→ To dievča je tu.Dievča is neuter.Ten kolega je nová.→ Ten kolega je nový.Kolega is masculine, so the adjective is masculine.
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Adjectives and the questions aký?, ktorý?: nový, nová, nové; cudzí; to je dobré#
Formation
An adjective agrees with its noun in gender. A hard adjective ends in -ý (masculine), -á (feminine) and -é (neuter): nový, nová, nové. A soft adjective ends in -í, -ia and -ie: cudzí, cudzia, cudzie. After a long syllable the ending is short, by the rhythmic law: krásny, krásna, krásne; biely, biela, biele; horúci, horúca, horúce. The question words aký? (“what … like?”, “what kind of?”) and ktorý? (“which?”) agree in the same way as a hard adjective.
| Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | |
|---|---|---|---|
| hard | nový | nová | nové |
| after a long syllable | krásny | krásna | krásne |
| soft | cudzí | cudzia | cudzie |
| soft, after a long syllable | horúci | horúca | horúce |
| what … like? | aký? | aká? | aké? |
| which? | ktorý? | ktorá? | ktoré? |
Use
An adjective usually comes before its noun: nová kniha, ten nový hotel. After byť it stands alone and agrees with the subject: Kniha je nová. When to je refers to no noun in particular, the adjective is neuter: To je dobré, To je zaujímavé. Aký? asks what someone or something is like, ktorý? which one among several: Aký je ten hotel? — Nový. Ktorý hotel je nový? — Tento. Adjectives of nationality are written with a small letter: slovenský, anglický.
- Ten byt je nový, ale kuchyňa je malá.The flat is new, but the kitchen is small.
- Aký je tvoj nový učiteľ? — Mladý a veľmi milý.What’s your new teacher like? — Young and very nice.
- Ktorá taška je tvoja, tá čierna? — Nie, tá biela.Which bag is yours, the black one? — No, the white one.
- Káva je horúca, ale čaj je studený.The coffee is hot, but the tea is cold.
- Ten film je dlhý, ale zaujímavý.The film is long, but interesting.
Difference from English
An English adjective has one form; a Slovak adjective has a form for each gender: “small” is malý stôl, malá izba, malé okno. English “the black one” has no word for one in Slovak: tá čierna. What … like? is aký?, and which? is ktorý?.
Common mistakes
Tá káva je horúcá.→ Tá káva je horúca.After the long ú, the ending is short.To je dobrý.→ To je dobré.With no noun, the adjective after to je is neuter.Aká je ten park?→ Aký je ten park?Park is masculine.
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Naming women: učiteľka, kolegyňa, vodička; pani Kováčová#
Formation
Most names of women’s jobs and roles are formed from the masculine by adding -ka: študent, študentka; učiteľ, učiteľka; lekár, lekárka; kamarát, kamarátka. The same -ka gives vodič, vodička; a noun in -óg takes -ička: psychológ, psychologička. Kolega has the feminine kolegyňa. A few feminine forms change a consonant of the stem (športovec, športovkyňa); they are learnt one by one.
A woman’s surname takes -ová: Kováč, pani Kováčová; Baláž, pani Balážová; Novák, pani Nováková. A surname that is an adjective in -ý has the feminine in -á: Hrušovský, pani Hrušovská.
Use
A woman is named with the feminine form: Hana je učiteľka, Kristína je študentka. Pani is used before her surname as pán is before a man’s: pán Baláž, pani Balážová.
- Pán Baláž je lekár a pani Balážová je učiteľka.Mr Baláž is a doctor and Mrs Balážová is a teacher.
- Moja kolegyňa je z Levoče.My colleague is from Levoča. (a woman)
- Ivana je vodička a jej brat je lekár.Ivana is a driver and her brother is a doctor.
- Kristína je študentka v Bratislave.Kristína is a student in Bratislava.
Difference from English
English teacher, colleague and driver are said of men and women alike; Slovak names a woman with her own form. An English surname is the same for a man and a woman; a Slovak woman is pani Kováčová, never pani Kováč.
Common mistakes
Kristína je študent.→ Kristína je študentka.A woman is named with the feminine form.pani Baláž→ pani BalážováA woman’s surname takes -ová.moja kolegka→ moja kolegyňaThe feminine of kolega is kolegyňa.
In short
| Point | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| masculine | a consonant; kolega, ocko | ten počítač |
| feminine | -a; some in a consonant | tá káva, tá posteľ |
| neuter | -o, -e, -ie, -um; dieťa, dievča | to auto, to dievča |
| animate masculine | persons and animals | brat, pes |
| hard adjective | -ý, -á, -é | nový, nová, nové |
| soft adjective | -í, -ia, -ie | cudzí, cudzia, cudzie |
| after a long syllable | short ending | krásny, horúca |
| no noun after to je | neuter | To je dobré. |
| questions | aký?, ktorý? | Ktorá izba je naša? |
| women | -ka, -ička, -yňa; -ová | učiteľka, pani Kováčová |
Practise
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