Slovak Language Lessons for Beginners - Lesson 16

[Lesson Overview] [Personal Website]

[Lesson 1] [Lesson 2] [Lesson 3] [Lesson 4] [Lesson 5] [Lesson 6] [Lesson 7] [Lesson 8] [Lesson 9] [Lesson 10]

[Lesson 11] [Lesson 12] [Lesson 13] [Lesson 14] [Lesson 15] [Lesson 16] [Lesson 17] [Lesson 18] [Lesson 19] [Lesson 20]

[Lesson 21] [Lesson 22] [Lesson 23]

Learn these phrases and you'll sound just like a Slovak politician:

Bez komentára. = No comment.

Nemôžem to potvrdiť, ani vyvrátiť. = I can neither confirm, nor deny (literally: refute) that.

Je predčasné o tom hovoriť. = It is premature to talk about that.

správy = news

správa = message, report

noviny = newspaper

denník = daily newspaper

tlač (fem.) = press

tlačová konferencia (also tlačová beseda, or colloquially tlačovka) = press conference

fotoaparát = photo camera

kamera = video camera

mikrofón = microphone

novinár, novinárka (also redaktor, redaktorka) = journalist (m, f)

reportér, reportérka = reporter (m, f)

hovorca (masc.), hovorkyňa = spokesman, spokeswoman

rozhovor (also interview) = interview

otázka = question

odpoveď (fem.) = answer

pýtať sa (stem: pýta- sa) = to ask (questions about sth)

odpovedať (stem: odpovedá-) = to answer

žiadať (stem: žiada-) = to request, to ask for

vyhlásenie (neut.) = statement

príhovor = (formal) speech, usually short

prejav = (formal) speech, usually longer

debata = debate

prehľad = overview

zhrnutie (neut.) = summary

možnosť (fem.) = possibility, choice

voľby = election

hlas = a vote (also, a voice)

voliť (stem: volí-) = to vote

ponuka = offer

ponúkať (stem: ponúka-) = to offer

prijať (stem: prijíma-) = to accept

odmietnuť (stem: odmieta-) = to refuse

zamietnuť (stem: zamieta-) = to decline, to refuse formallyň

podpora = support (noun)

podporovať (stem: podporuje-) = to support

rokovať (stem: rokuje-) = to negotiate

súhlasiť (stem: súhlasí-) = to agree

nesúhlasiť (stem: nesúhlasí-) = to disagree

potvrdiť (stem: potvrdzuje-) = to confirm

popierať (stem: popiera-) = to deny

predpovedať (stem: predpovedá-) = to predict

vymenovať (stem: vymenúva-) = to appoint (someone into office)

odvolať (stem: odvoláva-) = to recall (a politician from his office), to take back (what one has said)

odstúpiť (stem: odstupuje-); also rezignovať (stem: rezignuje-) = to step down, to resign

We can use the suffix -osť to turn adjectives into abstract properties. Please note that all nouns that end in -osť are of the feminine gender.

schopný = able schopnosť = ability

úprimný = sincere úprimnosť = sincerity

unavený = tired unavenosť = tiredness

blízky = near, close (adj.) blízkosť = proximity

skromný = humble, modest skromnosť = humility, modesty

náročný = difficult náročnosť = difficulty

zelený = green zelenosť = greenness

presný = precise presnosť = precision

minulý = past (adj.) minulosť = the past (literally: 'pastness')

budúci = future (adj.) budúcnosť = the future (literally: 'futureness')

We can use the suffix -nie to turn verbs into nouns that describe activities. Using the -nie prefix in Slovak is roughly equivalent to using -ing at the end of English nouns.

In many cases, you can simply remove the final -ť from the verb infinitive, and replace it by -nie. This is true especially if the infinitive ends in -ať. (See examples below.)

Important: All nouns that end in -nie are neuter.

písať (stem: píše-) = to write písanie = writing (noun)

čítať (stem: číta-) = to read čítanie = reading (noun)

ďakovať (stem: ďakuje-) = to thank ďakovanie = thanking (noun)

Often, when the infinitive ends in -iť, the corresponding noun will end in -enie rather than -anie:

šíriť = to spread, to disseminate šírenie = spreading (noun)

svietiť = to shine, to be alight svietenie = shining, being alight (noun)

Podľa mňa je čítanie veľmi nudné. = In my opinion (literally: 'according to me'), reading is very boring.

Later in this lesson, we will talk about the propositions that are followed by the accusative case. When personal pronouns are preceded by a preposition that requires the accusative case, the accusative case form of these pronouns is somewhat different from the standalone accusative form (which we covered in [Lesson 13]). See here:

nominative case (subject) accusative case after prepositions (direct object)

ja = I mňa

ty = you (sg. informal) teba

on = he neho

ona = she ňu

my = we nás

vy = you (pl., or sg. formal) vás

my = oni, ony nich

The prepositions pre ('for') and cez ('through'), as well as bez ohľadu na ('regardless of', 'irrespective of') are always followed by the words in the accusative case:

Túto hračku som kúpil nielen pre neho, ale aj pre ňu a pre vášho syna. = I bought this toy not only for him, but also for her and for your son.

Náš autobus musí ísť najprv cez nebezpečný most a potom cez veľkú križovatku. = Our bus must first go though a dangerous bridge and then though a large crossroads.

Bez ohľadu na vašu schopnosť tu byť načas, musíte zajtra prísť do práce. = Regardless of your ability to be here on time, you have to come to work tomorrow.

Other prepositions that are, in some specific circumstances, followed by the accusative case are na ('on','onto'), pod ('under'), nad ('above'), za ('behind','[in exchange] for'), pred ('in front of') and medzi ('between'). We use the accusative case with these propositions when they express direction - such as when an object is moving to a new position (say, 'onto' a table, or 'into' the trash can). By contrast, when the prepositions simply describe the current position on an object, they are followed by other grammatical cases - ones we have not covered yet. When the accusative case is used, the question that is implicitly being answered is 'Where to?' rather than 'Where at?'

Zelenú knihu som položil na tamtú malú stoličku. = I put the green book on that small chair over there.

Novinár si odložil svoj mikrofón pod stôl. = The journalist put away his microphone under the desk.

Mal by si sa pozerať trochu nad okno, ale pod strechu: Tam to je! = You should be looking a little above the window, but below the roof: There it is!

Určite sa utiekol skryť za tú vysokú stenu. = Surely, he ran away to hide behind the that tall wall.

Vymenil som svoju obľúbenú hračku za novú počítačovú hru. = I exchanged my favorite toy for a new computer game.

Svoje auto zaparkovali medzi náš dom a vašu záhradu. = They parked their car between our house and your garden.

vzhľadom na... = given ... (followed by a noun)

Vzhľadom na neskorý príchod vlaku asi nebudem schopný prísť dostatočne skoro. = Given the late arrival of the train, I probably won't be able to come early enough.

keďže = given that... (followed by a clause)

Keďže vlak príliš dlho meškal, žiadny pasažier nestihol večerné predstavenie. = Given that the train was too late, no passanger made the evening performance.