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Slovak is written with the Latin alphabet and four marks of its own: the mäkčeň (č, š, ž, dž, ď, ť, ň, ľ), the dĺžeň (á, é, í, ó, ú, ý, ĺ, ŕ), the vokáň (ô) and the dve bodky, “two dots” (ä). Its spelling is very regular: every letter is said, a word is read as it is written, and once the spellings are known, any word can be read aloud. The difficulties for an English speaker are elsewhere: a vowel with a dĺžeň is long, and length can tell two words apart; r and l can be a syllable of their own, and ŕ and ĺ are the same syllables held long; ď, ť, ň and ľ are soft consonants, and de, te, ne, le (and di, ti, ni, li) are said soft too, with no mark written; ä is an open “e”; ô and the groups ia, ie and iu are each one gliding syllable; ch is said as in Scottish “loch”; dz and dž are single sounds; and the stress is always on the first syllable of a word. One more rule is heard rather than seen: two long syllables do not follow each other in a word, so that after a long syllable the next one is usually short.
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The Slovak alphabet
The Slovak alphabet has forty-six letters, dz, dž and ch among them. Six of them have a place of their own in alphabetical order: ä comes after every word in a, č after c, ch after every word in h, ô after o, š after s and ž after z, so that in a dictionary chlieb is found after hrad and before i. The other marked letters (á, ď, é, í, ĺ, ľ, ň, ó, ŕ, ť, ú, ý) and dz, dž are sorted with their plain letter: ďakujem is found among the words in d. The letters q, w and x are found mostly in loanwords and foreign names. The vowels are named after their sound, most consonants with the “e” of “bed”, held long after the consonant (bé, cé, dé) and short before it (ef, el, em). A long vowel is named with dlhé, “long”: dlhé á. The names that catch out an English speaker are those of c (cé, “tseh”), h (há), ch (chá), j (jé, “yeh”), k (ká), ä (široké e), w (dvojité vé) and y (ypsilon).
A letter’s name is what you say when you spell a word aloud, for example your name or address on the phone.
| Letter | Name | Sounds | Examples | Tip |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A a | a /a/ | /a/ | tam | like “a” in “father”, but short (tam); never “ay” as in “name” said a, like “a” in “father”; never “ay” |
| Á á | dlhé á /ˈdl̩ɦeː aː/ | said dlhé á, “long á”sorted with a | ||
| Ä ä | široké e /ˈʃirɔkeː e/ | said široké e, “wide e” | ||
| B b | bé /beː/ | /b/ | brat | as in English (brat) said bé, the “e” of “bed” held long; never “bee” |
| C c | cé /tseː/ | /ts/ | cukor | “ts” as in “cats”, at the start of a word too (cukor); never “k” or “s” said cé, the “ts” of “cats” followed by a long “e” as in “bed”; never “see” |
| Č č | čé /tʃeː/ | said čé, with the “ch” of “church” | ||
| D d | dé /deː/ | /d/ | dom | as in English (dom); before e, i and í, usually said soft (deň) said dé, the “e” of “bed” held long; never “dee” |
| Ď ď | ďé /ɟeː/ | said ďé, with a soft “d”sorted with d | ||
| DZ dz | dzé /dzeː/ | said dzé, with the “ds” of “adds”sorted with d | ||
| DŽ dž | džé /dʒeː/ | said džé, with the “j” of “jam”sorted with d | ||
| E e | e /e/ | /e/ | pes | like “e” in “bed” (pes); never “ee”, and never silent at the end of a word said e, like “e” in “bed”; never “ee” |
| É é | dlhé é /ˈdl̩ɦeː eː/ | said dlhé é, “long é”sorted with e | ||
| F f | ef /ef/ | /f/ | film | as in English (film) said ef, as in English |
| G g | gé /ɡeː/ | /ɡ/ | gól | hard, as in “go” (gól), before e and i too; never the “j” of “jet” said gé, with the hard “g” of “go”; never “jee” |
| H h | há /ɦaː/ | /ɦ/ | hlava | a voiced, breathy “h”, as in “ahead” said with the voice (hlava); never silent said há, “hah”; never “aitch” |
| CH ch | chá /xaː/ | said chá, with the “ch” of Scottish “loch” | ||
| I i | i /i/ | /i/ | pivo | like “ee” in “see”, but short (pivo); never “eye” said i, like “ee” in “see”, short; never “eye” |
| Í í | dlhé í /ˈdl̩ɦeː iː/ | said dlhé í, “long í”sorted with i | ||
| J j | jé /jeː/ | /j/ | ja | like “y” in “yes” (ja); never the “j” of “jet” said jé, “yeh”; never “jay” |
| K k | ká /kaː/ | /k/ | kto | as in English, without the puff of air of “cat” (kto) said ká, “kah”; never “kay” |
| L l | el /el/ | /l/ · /l̩/ | les vlk | a clear “l”, as in “look” (les), never the dark “ll” of “full”; between two consonants, a syllable of its own (vlk) said el, as in English |
| Ĺ ĺ | dlhé el /ˈdl̩ɦeː el/ | said dlhé el, “long el”sorted with l | ||
| Ľ ľ | eľ /eʎ/ | said eľ, the “e” of “bed” followed by a soft “l”; also called mäkké el, “soft el”sorted with l | ||
| M m | em /em/ | /m/ | mama | as in English (mama) said em, as in English |
| N n | en /en/ | /n/ | nos | as in English (nos); before e, i and í, usually said soft (nebo) said en, as in English |
| Ň ň | eň /eɲ/ | said eň, with the “ny” of “canyon” at the endsorted with n | ||
| O o | o /ɔ/ | /ɔ/ | okno | like “o” in British “hot” (okno); never “oh” gliding into “oo” as in “go” said o, a short, pure “o”; never “oh” |
| Ó ó | dlhé ó /ˈdl̩ɦeː ɔː/ | said dlhé ó, “long ó”sorted with o | ||
| Ô ô | ô /ʊɔ/ | said ô, a short “u” gliding into “o”, one syllable | ||
| P p | pé /peː/ | /p/ | pes | as in English, without the puff of air of “pen” (pes) said pé, the “e” of “bed” held long; never “pee” |
| Q q | kvé /kveː/ | said kvé, a letter of loanwords and names, said “kv”; never “cue” | ||
| R r | er /er/ | /r/ · /r̩/ | ruka krk | a rolled r, the tip of the tongue tapping behind the upper teeth (ruka); never the English r; between two consonants, a syllable of its own (krk) said er, with a rolled r |
| Ŕ ŕ | dlhé er /ˈdl̩ɦeː er/ | said dlhé er, “long er”sorted with r | ||
| S s | es /es/ | /s/ | syr | “s” as in “sun” (syr), between two vowels too; never “z” said es, as in English |
| Š š | eš /eʃ/ | said eš, “esh” | ||
| T t | té /teː/ | /t/ | tam | as in English, without the puff of air of “top” (tam); before e, i and í, usually said soft (ticho) said té, the “e” of “bed” held long; never “tee” |
| Ť ť | ťé /ceː/ | said ťé, with a soft “t”sorted with t | ||
| U u | u /u/ | /u/ | ruka | like “oo” in “food”, but short (ruka); never “you” said u, like “oo” in “food”, short; never “you” |
| Ú ú | dlhé ú /ˈdl̩ɦeː uː/ | said dlhé ú, “long ú”sorted with u | ||
| V v | vé /veː/ | /v/ · /u̯/ | voda domov | “v” as in “van” (voda); at the end of a word or a syllable, a short “w” (domov) said vé, the “e” of “bed” held long; never “vee” |
| W w | dvojité vé /ˈdvɔjiteː veː/ | said dvojité vé, “double v”, a letter of loanwords and names, said “v”; never “double u” | ||
| X x | iks /iks/ | /ks/ | taxi | “ks” as in “taxi” (taxi) said iks, “eeks” |
| Y y | ypsilon /ˈipsilɔn/ | /i/ | my | the same sound as i, a short “ee” (my); never “why” said ypsilon, stressed on the first syllable; never “why” |
| Ý ý | dlhý ypsilon /ˈdl̩ɦiː ˈipsilɔn/ | said dlhý ypsilon, “long ypsilon”sorted with y | ||
| Z z | zet /zet/ | /z/ | zima | “z” as in “zoo” (zima); never “ts” said zet, like British “zed” with an “e” as in “bed” |
| Ž ž | žet /ʒet/ | said žet, with the “s” of “pleasure” |
Spelling aloud. A word is spelt aloud with the name of each letter: to the question Ako sa to píše? (“How is it written?”), the answer for Eva is e – vé – a. A letter with a mark is named with its mark: dlhé á (“long á”) for á, mäkké el (“soft el”) for ľ, široké e (“wide e”) for ä.
- Ako sa to píše?How is it written?
- dlhé álong á
- široké ewide e
Remember
In Slovak, c is called cé (“tseh”), h há, j jé (“yeh”), ä široké e, w dvojité vé and y ypsilon. Ch is one letter, placed after h; ä, č, ô, š and ž each come after their plain letter.
Many consonants are said much as in English: b, d, f, g (always hard, as in “go”), k, l, m, n, p, s, t, v and z, although p, t and k are said without the puff of air heard in English “pen”, “top” or “cat”. Said differently are c, h, j, r and the vowels. Each vowel has one clear sound, whether stressed or not, and is never reduced to the “a” of “about”.
Difference from English
English vowels glide: “no” ends in “oo”, “day” in “ee”. Slovak vowels are pure and held steady, stressed or not: okno has two clean “o” sounds. The letters i and y are two spellings of one sound, a short “ee”: my (“we”) sounds like “mee” said short, never like English “my”. Three letters have the sound of another English letter: c is said “ts”, j “y”, and w, in the few words that have it, “v”.
The letters r and l as syllables
Between two consonants, or after a consonant at the end of a word, r and l are said as a syllable of their own, with no vowel: krk (“neck”) and vlk (“wolf”) each have one syllable. Held long, the same syllables are written ŕ and ĺ: vŕba (“willow”), vĺna (“wool”).
- cukorsugar
- jaI
- hlavahead
- my / pivowe / beer
- rukahand
- krk / vlkneck / wolf
Common mistakes
[ˈkukɔr]→ [ˈtsukɔr]In cukor, c is said “ts”, at the start of a word too.[dʒa]→ [ja]In ja, j is said like “y” in “yes”.[maɪ]→ [mi]In my, y is said like a short “ee”, never like English “my”.
Practise
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Letter groups
A few Slovak sounds are written with two letters. Ch is one sound and one letter, and so are dz and dž. The groups ia and ie (and iu, found in a few endings) are each one syllable, a short “y” sound gliding into the vowel; they count as long syllables. Before e and i, the consonants d, t, n and l are said soft, with no mark written: de, te, ne, le and di, ti, ni, li are said with the soft sounds written ď, ť, ň, ľ elsewhere. A few common words are said hard: ten (“that”), jeden (“one”), vtedy (“then”) and teraz (“now”), as are most loanwords (telefón) and the endings of adjectives (zelené, “green”).
| Spelling | Sounds | Examples | Tip |
|---|---|---|---|
| ch | /x/ | chlieb | like “ch” in Scottish “loch” (chlieb); never the “ch” of “church” |
| dz | /dz/ | medzi | like “ds” in “adds”, one sound (medzi) |
| dž | /dʒ/ | džús | like “j” in “jam” (džús) |
| ia | /ɪɐ/ | piatok | one syllable, close to “ya” in “yard”, said short (piatok) |
| ie | /ɪe/ | mlieko | one syllable, close to “ye” in “yes” (mlieko) |
| de | /ɟe/ | deň | a soft “d” followed by “e”, close to the “d” of British “duke” (deň) |
| te | /ce/ | teplý | a soft “t” followed by “e”, close to the “t” of British “tune” (teplý) |
| ne | /ɲe/ | nebo | like “nye” in “canyon” (nebo) |
| le | /ʎe/ | leto | a soft “l” followed by “e”, like “lli” in “million” (leto); many speakers say a plain “l” |
| di | /ɟi/ | divadlo | a soft “d” followed by a short “ee” (divadlo) |
| ti | /ci/ | ticho | a soft “t” followed by a short “ee” (ticho) |
| ni | /ɲi/ | nič | like “ny” in “canyon” followed by a short “ee” (nič) |
| li | /ʎi/ | list | a soft “l” followed by a short “ee” (list); many speakers say a plain “l” |
Difference from English
English has no soft d, t, n or l; in Slovak, they tell words apart. They are said with the middle of the tongue pressed against the roof of the mouth, as in British “duke”, “tune”, “new” and in “million”. A d, t, n or l followed by y or ý is said hard: ty (“you”) begins with a plain “t”, ticho (“silence”) with a soft one.
- chliebbread
- medzibetween
- džúsjuice
- piatokFriday
- mliekomilk
- deňday
- ničnothing
Remember
Ch and h are two different sounds: ch is the voiceless “ch” of Scottish “loch” (chlieb), h a voiced, breathy “h” (hlava). Ia and ie are one syllable each: piatok has two syllables, pia-tok.
Common mistakes
[tʃlɪep]→ [xlɪep]In chlieb, ch is said like “ch” in Scottish “loch”.[ˈpiatɔk]→ [ˈpɪɐtɔk]In piatok, ia is one syllable, never two.[den]→ [ɟeɲ]In deň, de is said with a soft “d”, never a plain one.
Practise
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Written marks
Four marks are used in Slovak, each part of the letter. The dĺžeň (“length mark”) over á, é, í, ó, ú and ý, and over ĺ and ŕ, marks a long sound: the same sound held about twice as long. The mäkčeň (“softener”) over č, š, ž, dž, ď, ť, ň and ľ marks another sound; on small ď, ť, ľ and on capital Ľ, it is printed as a small stroke beside the letter. The vokáň is written only over ô, the dve bodky only over ä. A mark never shows the stress, and a word written without its mark is spelt wrong, or becomes another word.
| Spelling | Sounds | Examples | Tip |
|---|---|---|---|
| á | /aː/ | mám | a long “a”, like “a” in “father” (mám) |
| ä | /æ/ · /e/ | mäso | written only after m, p, b and v; in careful speech an open “e”, close to the “a” of “cat”, though most speakers say a plain “e” (mäso) |
| č | /tʃ/ | čaj | like “ch” in “church” (čaj) |
| ď | /ɟ/ | ďakujem | a soft “d”, close to the “d” of British “duke” (ďakujem); written d before e, i and í |
| é | /eː/ | dobré | a long “e”, like “e” in “bed” held long (dobré); never “ee” |
| í | /iː/ | písať | a long “ee”, as in “see” (písať) |
| ĺ | /l̩ː/ | vĺna | a long syllabic “l”, a syllable with no vowel, held long (vĺna) |
| ľ | /ʎ/ | ľudia | a soft “l”, like “lli” in “million” (ľudia); many speakers say a plain “l” |
| ň | /ɲ/ | kôň | like “ny” in “canyon” (kôň); written n before e, i and í |
| ó | /ɔː/ | gól | a long “o”, held steady (gól); found mostly in loanwords; never “oh” gliding into “oo” |
| ô | /ʊɔ/ | kôň | one syllable, a short “u” gliding into “o”, close to “wo” in “wall” (kôň) |
| ŕ | /r̩ː/ | vŕba | a long syllabic rolled r, a syllable with no vowel, held long (vŕba) |
| š | /ʃ/ | škola | like “sh” in “ship” (škola) |
| ť | /c/ | ťažký | a soft “t”, close to the “t” of British “tune” (ťažký); written t before e, i and í |
| ú | /uː/ | úrad | a long “oo”, as in “food” (úrad) |
| ý | /iː/ | dobrý | a long “ee”, as in “see”, the same sound as í (dobrý) |
| ž | /ʒ/ | žena | like the “s” of “pleasure” (žena) |
The stress
A Slovak word is stressed on its first syllable: ďakujem (DYAH-koo-yem), Bratislava, okno. A short preposition is said as one word with the word after it, and takes the stress: do mesta (“to town”) is stressed on do. A long vowel is not a stressed one: in dobrý (“good”), the stress is on do-, and the long ý is held long without stress. The stress is never written.
Long syllables in a row
In a Slovak word, a long syllable is not followed by another long one: after á, é, í, ó, ú, ý, ĺ, ŕ, ia, ie, iu or ô, the next syllable is usually short. The ending is then written and said short: dobrý (“good”) ends in a long ý, but krásny (“beautiful”) in a short y; volám (“I call”) ends in a long á, but spievam (“I sing”) in a short a. A few words and endings are exceptions.
Difference from English
In English, a stressed vowel is long and an unstressed one short or reduced. In Slovak, length and stress are independent: a long vowel can stand in any syllable, and it tells words apart: pas (“passport”) and pás (“belt”) differ in length alone. Í and ý are two spellings of one sound, and so are i and y. Ä is heard only after m, p, b and v (mäso, päť, deväť), and is said as a plain “e” by most speakers.
- mámI have
- dobrégood
- mäsomeat
- kôňhorse
- čajtea
- ťažkýheavy, difficult
- ženawoman, wife
Common mistakes
[ˈkɔɔɲ]→ [kʊɔɲ]In kôň, ô is one syllable, a “u” gliding into “o”.[mam]→ [maːm]In mám, á is a long “a”, held about twice as long as a.[dʒakuˈjem]→ [ˈɟakujem]Ďakujem begins with a soft “d” and is stressed on its first syllable, like every Slovak word.
Capital letters. As in English, a capital marks the start of a sentence and proper names. Many names of several words take a capital on their first word only: Slovenská republika (“the Slovak Republic”). A noun of nationality takes a capital, Slovák (“a Slovak”), Angličan (“an Englishman”), but the adjective and the language are written with a small letter, unlike in English: slovenský (“Slovak”), slovenčina (“the Slovak language”), anglický (“English”). Days and months are written with a small letter too: pondelok (“Monday”), január (“January”). In a letter or a message, the polite Vy (“you”) and Váš (“your”) are often written with a capital as a sign of respect. A capital letter is written with its mark: Č, Ď, Ľ, Ž, Ú.
Punctuation. A comma is written before every subordinate clause, those opened by že (“that”) and ktorý (“which, who”) included, where English often has none: Myslím, že príde. (“I think he will come.”). No comma is written before a (“and”) joining two equal parts. Quotation marks open low and close high: „Ahoj,“ povedala. An ordinal number is written with a full stop: 1. mája (“the first of May”).
Practise
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Sound changes in a word
No letter is silent in Slovak, as letters are in English “knife” or “lamb”. But a consonant is not always said with its own sound. At the end of a word, b, d, ď, dz, dž, g, h, z and ž are said voiceless, as p, t, ť, c, č, k, ch, s and š: chlieb sounds like “khlyep”. Inside a word, and between words said together, a group of consonants is said all voiced or all voiceless, after its last consonant: kde (“where”) is said “gde”, vták (“bird”) “ftahk”. A v at the end of a word or of a syllable is said as a short “w”: domov (“home”) sounds like “domow”, pravda (“truth”) like “prowda”.
| Spelling | Sounds | Examples | Tip |
|---|---|---|---|
| -v | /u̯/ | domov | like a short “w”, as at the end of “now” (domov) |
| -b | /p/ | chlieb | like “p” (chlieb) |
| -d | /t/ | hrad | like “t” (hrad) |
Difference from English
English “bad” and “bat” end differently; in Slovak, a final b is said “p” and a final d “t”, so that chlieb ends in a “p” sound and hrad (“castle”) in a “t” sound. The b and the d are written because they are heard again when an ending follows: chleba (“of bread”), hrady (“castles”). In the same way, the v of domov is a short “w”, but the v of domovy (“homes”) is a full “v”.
- domovhome
- chliebbread
- hradcastle
Common mistakes
[ˈdɔmɔv]→ [ˈdɔmɔu̯]At the end of domov, v is said like a short “w”.[xlɪeb]→ [xlɪep]At the end of chlieb, b is said “p”.[ɦrad]→ [ɦrat]At the end of hrad, d is said “t”.
Practise
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In short
| Written | Said | Example |
|---|---|---|
| c | “ts” | cukor |
| j | “y” of “yes” | ja |
| ch | “ch” of “loch” | chlieb |
| h | voiced, breathy “h” | hlava |
| č, š, ž | “ch”, “sh”, “s” of “pleasure” | čaj, škola, žena |
| dz, dž | “ds” of “adds”, “j” of “jam” | medzi, džús |
| i, y | short “ee” | pivo, my |
| á é í ó ú ý, ĺ ŕ | long sounds | mám, vŕba |
| ď ť ň ľ | soft d, t, n, l | ďakujem, kôň |
| de te ne le, di ti ni li | soft d, t, n, l | deň, ticho |
| ia, ie, ô | one gliding syllable | piatok, mlieko, kôň |
| ä | open “e”, often a plain “e” | mäso |
| r, l between consonants | a syllable with no vowel | krk, vlk |
| final v | short “w” | domov |
| final b, d | p, t | chlieb, hrad |
| stress | first syllable | ďakujem |
| long syllables | not two in a row | dobrý, krásny |