Zero through 10

nula (0)
jeden (1)
dva (2)
tri (3)
štyri (4)
päť (5)
šesť (6)
sedem (7)
osem (8)
deväť (9)
desať (10)

Eleven through nineteen

jedenásť (11)
dvanásť (12)
trinásť (13)
štrnásť (14)
pätnásť (15)
šesťnásť (16)
sedemnásť (17)
osemnásť (18)
deväťnásť (19)

Twenty through ninety-nine

dvadsať (20)
dvadsať jeden (21)
dvadsať dva (22)
tridsať (30)
štyridsať (40)
päťdesiať (50)
šesťdesiat (60)
sedemdesiat (70)
osemdesiat (80)
deväťdesiat (90)
deväťdesiat deväť (99)

Some big numbers

sto (100)
tisíc (1000)
milión (one million, 10⁶)
miliarda (one billion, 10⁹)
bilión (one trillion, 10¹²)

On Twitter or Facebook? Connect with us. Prefer email? Subscribe to the newsletter.

New Adjectives

hungry: hladný (masc.), hladná (fem.), hladné (neut.)
thirsty: smädný (M), smädná (F), smädné (N)
pretty: pekný, pekná, pekné
ugly: škaredý, škaredá, škaredé
old: starý, stará, staré
new: nový, nová, nové
warm: teplý, teplá, teplé
hot: horúci, horúca, horúce
cold: studený, studená, studené
good: dobrý, dobrá, dobré
excellent: výborný, výborná, výborné
bad: zlý, zlá, zlé

New Nouns

beer: pivo (N)
soda: malinovka (F)
soup: polievka (F)
Kofola: Kofola (F)
breakfast: raňajky (fem plural)
lunch: obed (M)
dinner: večera (F)
sauerkraut soup: kapustnica (F)
potato dumplings: halušky (fem plural)

New Phrases

Ja som hladný. A vy? (I am hungry. And you?)
Ja som tiež. A čo ty, Lucia? (I am too. And what about you, Lucia?)
Nie, nie som hladná. Ja som smädná. Poďme! (Nope, I am not hungry. I am thirsty. Let’s go!)

Prosím si bryndzové halušky. (I would like bryndza potato dumplings)
A ja si prosím jedno pivo. (And I would like one beer)
A vám? (And for you?)
Dám si kapustnicu a Kofolu. (I’ll have the sauerkraut soup and Kofola)

Kapustnica je výborná! (Sauerkraut soup is excellent!)
Malinovka je tiež dobrá. Je studená. (Soda is also good. It’s cold.)

On Twitter or Facebook? Connect with us. Prefer email? Subscribe to the newsletter.

Nationalities

Slovak: Slovák (male), Slovenka (female), Slováci (plural), Slovenky (plural feminine)
Czech: Čech (M), Češka (F), Češi (P), Češky (PF)
American: Američan, Američanka, Američania, Američanky
German: Nemec, Nemka, Nemci, Nemky
Hungarian: Maďar, Maďarka, Maďari, Maďarky
Pole: Poliak, Poľka, Poliaci, Poľky
Russian: Rus, Ruska, Rusi, Rusky
Brit: Angličan, Angličanka, Angličania, Angličanky
French: Francúz, Francúzska, Francúzi, Francúzsky
Chinese: Číňan, Číňanka, Číňania, Číňanky
Indian: Ind, Indka, Indovia, Indky

My friends

Ja som Slovák (I am Slovak)
Petra je Slovenka (Petra is Slovak, fem.)
Tereza je Češka (Tereza is Czech, fem.)
Chris je Američan (Chris is American)
Patrícia je Nemka (Patricia is German, fem.)
Julien je Francúz (Julien is French)
Olga je Ruska (Olga is Russian, fem.)
TaiSen je Číňan (TaiSen is Chinese)
Madhu je Ind (Madhu is Indian)

On Twitter or Facebook? Connect with us. Prefer email? Subscribe to the newsletter.

Dishes

slovenské recepty (Slovak recipes)
kapustnica (sauerkraut soup)
kyslá fazuľová polievka (sour bean soup)
bryndzové halušky (bryndza dumplings)
slivkové knedle (plum dumplings)
segedinský guláš (segedin goulash)
vyprážaná ryba (fried fish)
vyprážaný syr (fried cheese)
krupicová kaša (grits/farina)
zemiakový šalát (potato salad)

Ingredients

jablko (apple)
cesnak (garlic)
cibuľa (onion)
hrach (pea)
slivky (plums)
zemiak (potato)
paradajka (tomato)
paprika (pepper)
mrkva (carrot)
bryndza (bryndza cheese)
hovädzina (beef)
bravčovina (pork)
klobása (sausage)
ryba (fish)
rasca (caraway)
škorica (cinnamon)
vajce (egg)
pivo (beer)

Basic Phrases

Ahoj (Hi)
Dobrý deň (Good day)
Dobré ráno (Good morning)
Dobrú noc (Good night)
Dovidenia (Good bye)
Volám sa … (My name is …)
Prosím si … (I would like …)

For more basic phrases that can come in handy on your next trip to Slovakia, check out this list of useful phrases at bratislavaguide.com.

On Twitter or Facebook? Connect with us. Prefer email? Subscribe to the newsletter.

The Slovak alphabet is called “abeceda”. It is very similar to the English alphabet. We do not use Cyrillic letters (as is done in places like Russia or Bulgaria), but instead use the same Roman characters used in America. The major difference is that the letters can be extended with accent marks. This is done to indicate pronunciation. Compared to English, reading Slovak words is extremely easy! Each letter has a unique sound associated with it, and you sound out words by simply adding the sounds together.

There are 4 types of accent marks, but 99% of time you will encounter only two of them: mäkčeň (the “softener”, caron) and dĺžeň (the “lengthener”, acute mark). The other two accent marks are dvojbodka (umlaut) and vokáň (“uo”-er, circumflex). So what are these? Mäkčeň is used to soften the sound of a consonant. We do not have any soft vowels. For instance, the letter “s” is pronounced as in “sleep”. But, if you add mäkčeň, you end up with “š”. This letter is pronounced as in “sheep”. Mäkčeň typically looks like a small “v” that’s added to the top of the letter, but there are three exceptions: “d”, “l” and “t”. In these letters, mäkčeň looks like a little vertical line. This was done for styling purposes. Since these letters are already pretty tall, adding a sign above them would make them stick out from the other letters in a sentence.

Dĺžeň is used to extend the length of the letter. It looks like a small diagonal line. This mark generally applies only to vowels, but there are two consonants that can be made longer: “l” and “r”. In the word dĺžeň, the letter “l” is extended. So for instance, the letter “a” is pronounced as in “cup”. But, if you make it into “á”, you end up with the aaah sound, kind of like in “father”.

The two remaining accent marks are very rare. They each apply to only a single letter. In the case of dvojbodka, it is “ä”. This letter is supposed to be pronounced very much like the “æ” sound common in English (“cat”). However, this sound is slowly turning into the letter “e”, as in “bet”. Vokáň is used only with the letter “o” to make “ô”. This sound is similar to “whoa”.

And finally few more notes. You will notice that we have few extra characters. These are “dz” and “ch”. These two sounds are pretty difficult to describe, so I’ll just add an audio file at some later date. We also have two “i” letters: “i” and “y”. These are both pronounced the same way, as in American “e”. The difference is that “i” is called the soft “i”, while “y” is the hard “i”. We have various spelling rules as to when which should be used (for instance “y” is used after hard consonants, such as “k”). School teachers love examining students on these rules, very much to the students’ dislike. But these rules don’t matter if you just want to read the words. But one rule that does matter is that “i” following “d”, “t”, “n”, or “l”, softens the consonant. So “ni” is pronounced as if spelled “ňi”. And finally, the combination “ie” is a diphthong, pronounced as in “yet”.

The Slovak alphabet

a, á, ä (A, Á, Ä)
b (B)
c, č (C, Č)
d, ď (D, Ď)
dz, dž (DZ, DŽ)
e, é (E, É)
f (F)
g (G)
h (H)
ch (CH)
i, í (I, Í)
j (J)
k (K)
l, ĺ, ľ (L, Ĺ, Ľ)
m (M)
n, ň (N, Ň)
o, ó, ô (O, Ó, Ô)
p (P)
q (Q)
r, ŕ (R, Ŕ)
s, š (S, Š)
t, ť (T, Ť)
u, ú (U,Ú)
v (V)
w (W)
x (X)
y, ý (Y, Ý)
z, ž (Z, Ž)

On Twitter or Facebook? Connect with us. Prefer email? Subscribe to the newsletter.