Slovak Language Lessons for Beginners - Lesson 19

USEFUL WORDS AND PHRASES

Môže byť. = literally: '(It) can be.' (often used to express agreement when something is acceptable)

mozebyt.mp3

Maj sa dobre. (or simply Maj sa.) = Be well. (informal; commonly used to say goodbye)

majsadobre.mp3

Majte sa dobre. (or simply Majte sa.) = Be well. (formal; commonly used to say goodbye)

majtesadobre.mp3

VOCABULARY: NATURAL AND MAN-MADE DISASTERS

prírodná katastrofa (or pohroma) = natural disaster

zemetrasenie (neut.) = earthquake

povodeň (fem.) (or záplava) = flood, flooding

výbuch = explosion

prirodnakatastrofa.mp3

búrka = storm, thunderstorm

tornádo = tornado

víchrica = windstorm

snehová víchrica = (snow) blizzard

burka.mp3

nehoda = accident

dopravná nehoda = traffic accident

automobilová nehoda (or havária) = car accident

zrážka = crash

dopravnanehoda.mp3

prežiť (stem: prežíva-) = to survive (also can mean 'to experience')

zomrieť (stem: zomiera-) = to die

zraniť sa (stem: zraňuje-) = to be injured (literally: to injure oneself)

zabiť sa (stem: zabíja- sa) = to kill oneself (often also used to mean 'to be killed in an accident')

zachrániť (stem: zachraňuje-) = to save

zachrániť sa (stem: zachraňuje- sa) = to save

prezitzomriet.mp3

mŕtvy = dead

zranený = injured

nezvestný = missing (only about people when others can't find them after a disaster, crime, etc.)

živý = living

nažive = alive (adverb)

mrtvyzraneny.mp3

DATIVE CASE: PERSONAL PRONOUNS

We use the dative case in Slovak to indicate recipient and persons/objects on which a verb is acting. In English, the equivalent of the Slovak dative case is often, but not always, introduced by the preposition to. Below, I have underlined parts of English sentences that would require the dative case in Slovak:

I gave an apple to my sister.

I told his friends about the situation.

I wrote her a beautiful poem.

When using personal pronouns in the dative case, you will have to use either the short dative form, or the long dative form.

As was the case with the accusative case, you will typically use the short dative form when the personal pronoun comes right before or right after the main verb (or if it is separated by a common auxiliary word). The long dative form, on the other hand, is usually used when the pronoun is separated from the main verb by one or more words. Occasionally, you can also use the long form for emphasis, even if it is immediately preceded or followed by the main verb.

nominative case (subject) short form dative case long form dative case

ja = I mi mne

ty = you (sg. informal) ti tebe

on = he mu jemu

ona = she jej jej

ono = for neuter (rare) mu jemu

jamimne.mp3

my = we nám nám

vy = you (pl., or sg. formal) vám vám

oni, ony = they im im

mynamnam.mp3

Some of the examples below will use the verb dať (stem: dáva-) = to give. In addition to meaning 'to give', the verb dať often also means 'to put': In this way, in Slovak, you can say 'I gave the book on the table' to mean 'I put the book on the table.'

Všetci chceli dať peniaze iba mne, ale vôbec nie jej. = Everyone wanted to give money only to me, but not at all to her.

vsetcichcelidatpeniaze.mp3

Hovorím ti, že si mu mal dať pokoj. = I am telling you that you should have left him alone. ('should have given him peace')

zesimumaldatpokoj.mp3

Povedal som im, aby vám dali novú peňaženku. = I told them to give you a new wallet.

abyvamdalinovupenazenku.mp3

Jemu som nikdy neveril, ale jej áno. = I never trusted him (literally: 'to him'), but I did trust her.

jemusomnikdyneveril.mp3

DATIVE CASE: NOUNS

How we form the dative case in Slovak depends on the grammatical gender of the 'recipient' person or thing:

Masculine gender: If the dative noun is a person or an animal, we add the -ovi suffix. Otherwise, we use the -u suffix.

nominative case (basic form) dative case example:

brat = brother bratovi Bratovi som povedal pravdu. = I told (my) brother the truth.

úrad = office úradu Svoj občiansky preukaz musím odovzdať úradu. = I have to submit my national ID card to the office.

bratbratovi.mp3

Feminine gender: We change the final -a into an -e ending if the -a is preceded by a hard or 'dual' consonant (d, t, n, l, h, ch, g, k, b, p, m, v, r, z, s, f). If the final -a is preceded by a soft consonant (ď, ť, ň, ľ, c, dz, j, dž, č, ž, š), we change it into an -i ending.

nominative case (basic form) dative case example:

učiteľka = female teacher učiteľke Mala by si byť veľmi vďačná učiteľke. = You should be very grateful to the teacher. (you are female)

opica = monkey opici Opici som hodil chutný banán. = I threw the monkey a tasty banana.

ucitelkaucitelke.mp3

Neuter gender: The -o ending changes into a -u.

nominative case (basic form) dative case example:

mesto = city mestu Nelegálnu skládku som oznámil mestu. = I reported the illegal garbage dump to the city.

divadlo = theater divadlu Divadlu som daroval dvesto eúr. = I donated two hundred euros to the theater.

mestomestu.mp3

DOWNLOAD:

You can download the entire lesson in MP3 format [here].