Lesson 2 Grammar: Adjectives and Genders

You just learned how to order a meal in a Slovak restaurant. You also learned how to describe nouns with adjectives. Let’s go over this new grammar in more details. With couple adjectives, the verb to be, and some pronouns under your belt, you will be ready to make a ton of new sentences!

Slovak word for hungry is hladný. The underlined part is the fixed root, while the -ý at the end forms the stem. This stem changes based on both the gender and the case of the subject. We’ll go over cases in more detail in the future. For now, you just need to know that cases indicate what role a noun plays in a sentence. There are seven cases in Slovak. So far, you have encountered mainly the basic one called nominative. This is the case which is used when the noun you are referring to is the subject of the sentence. A noun is in the nominative case if you can use it to answer a who? or a what? question. For instance: The girl is pretty. Who is pretty? The girl. See, English has cases just like Slovak! It’s just that in English the word endings do not change with the cases. This is also why when Lucia orders her dinner, she says dám si kapustnicu a Kofolu instead of dám si kapustnica a Kofola. In this sentence, the soup and the drink are no longer in the nominative case (the omitted ja is the subject) and hence the endings changed. We’ll go over this particular case in another lesson.

Enough rambling, let’s get back to the adjectives. Here is an example of how the endings change:
on je hladný (he is hungry)
ona je hladná (she is hungry)
ono je hladné (it is hungry)

Now what about the other forms such as I or you? Well, these also depend on the gender of the person you are referring to and follow the rules from above. Ja som hladný but my sister says ja som hladná. Similarly, when addressing somebody using the familiar you, you say ty si hladný to your guy friend, but ty si hladná to your girl friend. In the plural form, the ending is -í if you are dealing with living masculine subjects. Otherwise, it is -é.

Let’s review, this time with the word pretty:
ja som pekný (I am pretty, masculine), ja som pekná (feminine)
ty si pekný (you are pretty, masculine), ty si pekná (feminine)
on je pekný (he is pretty)
ona je pekná (she is pretty)
ono je pekné (it is pretty)
my sme pekní (we guys are pretty), my sme pekné (we girls are pretty)
vy ste pekní (you guys are pretty), vy ste pekné (you girls are pretty)
oni sú pekní (those guys are pretty), ony sú pekné (those girls are pretty)

The word pekný is one of the “model” words used to describe how the stems change. Adjectives that end with ý (the hard i) follow this model. Adjectives that end in the soft í are inflected according to the word cudzí (foreign). The endings are:
on je cudzí
ona je cudzia
ono je cudzie
my sme cudzí (living masculine)
my sme cudzie (others)

Here are few more examples. Don’t forget to check back in few days for the vocabulary section which will give you couple more new adjectives to play with.
ja som smädný (I am thirsty, masc.)
ty si smädná (you are thirsty, fem.)
ona je pekná (she is pretty)
ja som starý (I am old, masc.)
ona je teplá (she (the soup) is warm)
ono je studené (it (the beer) is cold)
my sme cudzí (we are foreign, masc.)
vy ste hladné (you are hungry, fem.)

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Lesson 2 Dialog: He is hungry

Now that you’ve made some new friends, it’s time to go out and grab something to eat.

V hoteli (in the hotel)
Mišo: Michael, ste hladný?
You: Yes, I am hungry. A vy?
Mišo: Ja som tiež hladný. A čo ty, Lucia?
Lucia: Nie, ja nie som hladná. Ja som smädná. Poďme!

Na ulici (on the street)
Lucia: Tu je Stará Radnica.
You: Oh yes, here is the Old Town Hall. It is pretty.
Lucia: Áno, je pekná. Je aj stará.
You: That’s right. It says here that the tower dates back to the 13th century.

V reštauracií (in the restaurant)
Mišo: Prosím si bryndzové halušky a jedno pivo.
You: That sounds good! I will also have bryndzové halušky and a beer.
Waiter: A vám?
Lucia: Dám si kapustnicu a Kofolu.

Pár minút neskôr (few minutes later)
You: How is your meal?
Mišo: Bryndzové halušky sú výborné. A kapustnica?
Lucia: Kapustnica je tiež dobrá.
You: And how is your beer?
Mišo: Pivo je skvelé! Je studené.
You: A Kofola?
Lucia: Kofola je vždy super!

The dialog, dissected:

Time to go out and sample the excellent Slovak cuisine. Along the way, let’s learn how to describe things using adjectives. After this lesson, you should be ready to make simple dialogs and order your first meal, in Slovak!

The conversation starts with Mišo asking you ste hladný? (are you hungry?). This is the short form of vy ste hladný? As you learned in the previous lesson, ste is the form of the verb to be used with the plural you which is used when addressing somebody formally. You will see that the pronoun is typically omitted. There really is no need for it – you can figure out what you are referring to from the form of the verb. Often when it is used it is done to emphasize the subject.

Good that Mišo asked because you are hungry! Turns out, so is he. Ja som tiež hladný means I am also hungry. This sentence should be quite familiar. It is very similar to the sentences you studied in the previous dialog. He then asks his friend, Lucia: a čo ty? is and what (about) you?. Turns out she is not hungry (hladná), but she is thirsty (smädná). Let’s go! (poďme!)

On your way to the restaurant, you pass by the Old Town Hall, one of the oldest buildings in Bratislava. Tu je Stará Radnica means here is the Old Town Hall. One thing to note is that in Slovak, we don’t have any articles. So tu je Stará Radnica translates directly as here is Old Townhall. Lucia agrees that it is pretty, áno, je pekná (yes, (she) is pretty). She also tells you that it is also old: je aj stará ((she) is also old). Notice that again the pronouns are skipped. And notice those pesky genders! A town hall is feminine? Who would have though?

You finally made it to the restaurant. Mišo goes for a real Slovak dinner: bryndzové halušky with beer. Prosím si means I would like. This phrase comes from ja si prosím, I (for self) beg/ask. This is how you ask for just about anything in Slovakia. Just substitute the noun with whatever it is that you want. In this case, you order the bryndza dumplings and jedno pivo (one beer). They go really well together! The waiter then asks Lucia what would she like. A vám? means and (for) you?. I guess Lucia changed her mind, and orders something to eat, the sauerkraut soup, kapustnica. She also orders Kofola. Dám si means I’ll have.

What on earth is Kofola? The short answer is that it is the most amazing soda ever! One of the side effects of Czechoslovakia becoming a communist country after World War II was that trade with “the West” became severely restricted. This doesn’t mean that there were food shortages. At least I have never experienced grocery stores not having food during my lifetime. But the selection was limited to brands made either locally or imported from other Soviet block countries. As such, there was no Coke. Instead, we had the local alternative, Kofola. It tastes nothing like coke, but I love it! It is also the cheapest drink you can order in a restaurant, cheaper than beer and much cheaper than water (which is typically more expensive than beer!). Western items like Coke were actually available, but only in special stores called “Tuzex”. These stores were built so that government officials who frequently traveled oversees could continue buying the goodies they may have come accustomed to on their trips. To prevent locals from getting hooked on Swiss chocolate, you couldn’t use regular money in these stores. Instead, you had to use something called “bony”. But, there was always a supply of shady characters hanging outside these stores more than willing to trade your Czechoslovak crowns for bony. This is for instance how my mom bought me Legos for Christmas, even though Lego was not available in regular stores.

Alright your meal came out. Mišo says his bryndza dumplings are great (výborné). And what about Lucia’s kapustnica? It is also good (dobrá). And the beer? It is also excellent (skvelé). (It) is cold, (ono) je studené. Note that pivo is neuter. And Kofola? Kofola is always amazing (kofola je vždy super)!

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Lesson 1: I am …

In the previous dialog, I introduced few simple sentence constructs. Let’s go over these in bit more detail. Slovak, just like English, has six categories of pronouns. There are the three singular ones (I, you, he/she/it) and the three plural ones (we, you, they). In Slovak, these are: (singular) ja, ty and on/ona/ono. The plural pronouns are: my, vy and oni/ony. What’s going on with those two forms of they, oni/ony? This is one of the many peculiarities of Slovak language. The first form, oni, is used only when referring to living, masculine nouns, such as “men”. In all other cases, you use ony.

Now that you learned the pronouns, let’s add the verb to be:
ja som (i am)
ty si (you are)
on/ona/ono je (he/she/it is)
my sme (we are)
vy ste (you are)
oni/ony sú (they are)

You can now make simple sentences:
ja som Slovák (I am Slovak)
ty si Američan (you are an American)
ty si Američan? (are you an American?)
ona je Američanka (she is an American)
my sme Slováci (we are Slovaks)
vy ste Američania (you are Americans)
ony sú hladný (they are hungry)

So what about those word endings, you may ask. Slovak is a conjugated language, and the word endings change based on factors such as the gender of the noun. This gender may not correspond to the physical gender (a lamp is female in Slovak, but a girl is neuter). But in this example, they do, since we are referring to people directly. An American guy is Američan, but an American girl is Američanka. If I were to introduce myself, I would say “ja som Američan“. But my mom would introduce herself with “ja som Američanka“. Similarly, the plural form is Američania or Američanky. The masculine form is always used, unless the group consists solely of females (sorry ladies!). So a group of 4 girls and one guy will introduce themselves as “my sme Američania“. If the guy were to leave, the group would say “my sme Američanky“.

If you compare this lesson with the previous dialog, you may notice that Mišo was referring to Michael using the plural you form, vy ste Američan?. This is the polite, formal way of addressing someone you just met, or somebody who is older than you. It’s just like the Sie form used in German. You would use this form if you for instance met a nice lady in a bar. After a bit of chit chat, and perhaps few drinks, you may ask potykáme si? (shall we “ty” each other?). Hopefully she says yes!

Go ahead and practice these basic sentences. Ask your friends if they are American. Here are few more vocabulary words for you to play with:
Nemec (male German), Nemka (female German)
Nemci (Germans), Nemky (female Germans)
Poliak (male Pole), Poľka (female Pole)
Poliaci (Poles), Poľky (female Poles)
hladný (hungry male), hladná (hungry female)
smädný (thirsty male), smädná (thirsty female)

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Lesson 1: Greetings

You just arrived in Slovakia, and checked into a hotel. You meet some fellow travelers, and get in a little conversation with them…

Mišo: Ahoj! Vy ste američan?
You: Yes, I am American. And you, are you Slovak?
Mišo: Áno, ja som Slovák. Volám sa Mišo.
You: Hi Mišo. My name is also Michael.
Mišo: No tak ahoj Michael! A tu je Lucia. Ona je tiež slovenka.
You: Hi Lucia! My name is Michael.
Lucia: Ahoj Michael! Tam je Bob, on je tiež američan.
Lucia: Bob, vy ste američan, že?
Bob: Áno, som. Prečo?
Lucia: Tu je Michael, on je tiež američan.
Bob: Oh, hi Michael, nice to meet you!
You: Nice to meet you, Bob!

Notes

Let’s go over this dialog. You are approached by a Slovak guy named Mišo. This is a very common Slovak name. It’s the short form of Michal, just like Mike is the short form of Michael. He says hi (ahoj), and asks if you are American. Vy ste means you are. Note that you don’t have to reverse the verb and the noun as is done in English. Instead, the fact you are asking a question is indicated by your intonation.

Mišo next tells you that he is Slovak. Áno mean yes and ja som is i am. To say my name is … you say volám sa …. Literally this phrase means (I) call myself …. Neat, you guys have the same first names! No tak ahoj is a little embellishment which the Slovak language is full off. It means, roughly, well, in that case, hi. Mišo next introduces his (female) friend Lucia. A tu je is and here is. Ona je tiež Slovenka means She is also Slovak. Note that the female form of “Slovak” (slovenka) is different from the male one (slovák). This is very common in our language. The endings of most words change based on whether they are referring to male, female or neuter items, and also based on what form they serve in the sentence. This behavior is called conjugation.

Lucia next introduces her friend Bob. Tam je means there is. Bob has been living in Slovakia for a while, and speaks good Slovak. Lucia double checks his origin. The že added to the end of the sentence serves the same role as right in you are American, right?. Bob confirms. Note that he just says som, and not ja som. You will notice that the pronouns (ja, on, ona, my, vy, etc…) are not used very often. This is because the form of the verb indicates which pronoun it refers to. This is just as if you were saying “Am Slovak” instead of “I am Slovak”. You could do this in English with the verb “to be” (but it would sound strange) . In Slovak, you can get away with not using the pronoun with ANY verb. Pretty neat, right? Finally, prečo simply means why.

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Reading Practice

Today’s lesson is a little reading exercise. Use this lesson to practice your pronunciation. Click on the audio icons next to each heading to hear the audio.

Dishes

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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

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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

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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.

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