The present

Formation

The present is formed from the present stem of the verb and the personal endings. Five classes of endings are met at A1, named by the endings of ja and ty:

The infinitive usually shows the class: verbs in -ovať replace -ova- by -uj- (pracovať, pracujem; cestovať, cestujem), most verbs in -iť take -ím (robiť, robím), and most verbs in -ať take -ám (hľadať, hľadám). Some verbs have a present stem of their own and are learnt with their first person: spať, spím; vidieť, vidím; písať, píšem; piť, pijem; žiť, žijem; niesť, nesiem.

Use

One present translates the English simple and progressive presents: Čítam is “I read” and “I am reading”. It is used for what happens now and for what happens regularly: Každý deň pracujem v banke. A verb agrees with all its subjects together: Ivana a ja is “we”, so the verb is bývame. Vy addresses several people or one person politely: Čo robíte? is “What are you doing?”.

A long syllable is usually not followed by a long ending (the rhythmic law): volám, hľadám, but čítam, bývam, počúvam, and píšu, môžu, where the syllable before the ending is long. A few verbs, such as pozvať (“to invite”) and stretnúť sa (“to meet”), are perfective: they take the same endings, but their present forms refer to the future: Pozvem Hanu (“I’ll invite Hana”), Stretneme sa zajtra (“We’ll meet tomorrow”).

Formation

A few very common verbs have forms of their own and are learnt whole:

The negative of ísť is nejdem, nejdeš, nejde, with a -j-; the others take ne- as usual: nemám, nejem, nepijem, neviem.

Use

Mať expresses possession (Mám brata), and also age (Mám dvadsať rokov) and the set phrase Ako sa máš? — Mám sa dobre. Ísť is “to go” on one trip, on foot or by a vehicle: Idem domov. Prísť (“to come, to arrive”) is perfective: prídem means “I will come”, and the verb has no present of its own: Prídem o piatej. Jesť has je in the third person singular, the same form as byť: Hana je polievku (“Hana is eating soup”). Vedieť is “to know” a fact; with an infinitive it is “to know how”, as explained in Modal verbs with an infinitive: chcem, môžem, musím, viem, mám; poznať.

Formation

A reflexive verb is conjugated as the verb without sa, and sa does not change with the person: učím sa, učíš sa, učí sa, učíme sa, učíte sa, učia sa. A few verbs take si instead of sa: dať si (dám si, dáš si, dá si, dáme si, dáte si, dajú si) and prosiť si (prosím si, prosíš si). Reflexive verbs met at A1 include volať sa, mať sa, učiť sa, umývať sa, cítiť sa, stretnúť sa, pozerať sa and kúpať sa.

Use

Sa and si are short, unstressed words that come second in the clause, after its first word or phrase, whatever that is; they never come first: Volám sa Kristína, Kristína sa volá…, Teraz sa učím, Ako sa voláš? Many verbs take sa where English has nothing: učiť is “to teach” and učiť sa “to learn”, umývať is “to wash (something)” and umývať sa “to wash (oneself)”. Dať si and prosiť si are the usual ways to order in a café or a restaurant: Dám si pivo (“I’ll have a beer”), Prosím si kávu (“A coffee, please”). The place of sa in the past is explained in Short words in second place in the past: včera som pracoval, učil som sa.

Formation

A verb is negated by ne- written together with it: nemám, nerobím, nepracuješ, nerozumiem, neviem, nejdem. Byť is the exception, with the separate word nie: nie som, nie je. In a reflexive verb, ne- is joined to the verb and sa stays in second place: Neučím sa, Ty sa neučíš. The negative words nič (nothing), nikto (nobody) and nikdy (never) are used with a verb that is itself negative.

Use

Two negatives in one clause do not cancel out: Nič nemám (“I have nothing”, “I don’t have anything”). Several negative words may stand together: Nikto nič nevie (“Nobody knows anything”). Nikto takes the third person singular: Nikto nie je v kuchyni. The order is free, and the negative word often comes first: Nikdy nepijem kávu or Kávu nepijem nikdy.