20+ Popular Slovak Verbs

Are you interested in learning more about Slovak verbs? If your answer is yes and you want to know more about this beautiful language, continue reading below!

We all know how important it is to learn a foreign language these days. It does not only help us communicate with other people from different cultures, but also helps us understand their perspective and their way of thinking. Learning a new language is hard work, but the knowledge that we gain is invaluable and can be used in various situations during our lives.

Learning Slovak opens the doors to communicating with millions of people in Europe because it is one of the official languages in Slovakia and the Czech Republic. It also helps us understand their culture better by learning about their history, traditions, music, way of living, etc. Some students think that Slovak is one of the most difficult languages to learn due to its complicated grammar, lack of modern teaching aids, and the fact that it has more words than any other language. Well, Ling App helps you overcome that obstacle! It’s definitely worth your time because the country of Slovakia offers so much in terms of culture and heritage.

This beautiful, lyrical language has only been spoken for about 50 years. It is difficult to master, but worth the effort. The best way to learn Slovak is immersion in the language, so it’s best to go to Slovakia and immerse yourself in society and talk to people.

It wasn’t until 1993, that the Slovak was officially recognized as a separate dialect from Czech, with its alphabet and literary tradition. Today, there are more than 5 million people who speak Slovak in Slovakia, Croatia, Serbia, Ukraine, Slovenia, and other countries across Europe.

 

Slovak Verb Classification

Slovak Verbs

You probably know that verbs are parts of speech, which are used to specify an action or condition in people, animals, or objects. If we dive a little deeper, we will see that verbs can be classified into several categories in the Slovak language:

1) According to meaning: full verbs (action and stative) and auxiliary verbs

Action verbs express an action, while stative verbs describe a status. Both can be subdivided into reflexive and non-reflexive verbs.

We can further divide action verbs into objective and non-object ones. If there is a noun, pronoun of a noun phrase upon which the action is performed, directly or indirectly, we will call it an objective verb. Otherwise, we will call it a non-object verb. If the action is transferred to an object, we are talking about transitive verbs, and if it doesn’t, we are talking about intransitive verbs.

2) According to the aspect: perfective and imperfective verbs

3) According to reflexivity: reflexive and non-reflexive verbs

The Slovak language has three persons (first, second and third in singular and plural form), two voices (active voice and passive voice), and three moods (indicative, imperative, and conditional).

There are three verb tenses in total: present tense, past tense, and future tense.

Verb Conjugation

In Slovak, verbs will change and have different endings, depending on the time, person, mood, etc. We call that conjugation. We will have a look at how the verb “to be” (byt) is conjugated in the present tense, past tense, and future tense.

Present Tense Conjugation

SingularPlural
1. Ja som1. my sme
2. Ty si2. vy ste
3.on/ona/ono je3. ony su

Past Tense Conjugation

SingularPlural
1. ja som bol1. my sme boli
2. ty si bol2. vy ste boli
3. on bol, ona bola, ono bolo3. oni boli

Future Tense Conjugation

SingularPlural
1. ja budem1. my budeme
2. ty budeš2. vy budete
3. on/ona/ono bude3. only budú

Slovak Perfective And Imperfective Verbs

A great deal of Slovak verbs can be divided into these two categories and have two forms:

1)Perfective verbs: the action has been completed

English: Mila wrote.

Slovak: Mila napísala list.

2)Imperfective verbs: the action has not yet been completed

English: Mila was writing a letter.

Slovak: Mila písala list.

Slovak Imperative

In case you want to ask someone to do something, give an order, or simply make a request, you will use imperative to do so. Here’s an example:

English: Do your homework!

Slovak: Urob si domácu úlohu!

English: Give me a glass of water.

Slovak: Daj mi pohár vody.

Slovak Modal Verbs

Modal verbs are used to express a possibility or necessity of some kind. Here is the list of some modals that you want to be familiar with: smieť(may), chcieť(to want), vedieť(to know), môcť(able to), musieť(have to), and mať(have got).

EnglishSlovak
maysmieť
to wantchcieť
to knowvedieť
able tomôcť
have tomusieť
have gotmať

Slovak Conditionals

In this case, the name speaks for itself. When it comes to conditionals, there is always a condition to be fulfilled before the action can be completed. Let’s check the examples of the present tense, past tense and conditional sentence below.

EnglishSlovak
PresentI speak. Hovorím.
PastI spoke.Hovoril som.
ConditionalI would speak.Ja by som hovoril.

 

The Most Common Slovak Verbs

Slovak Verbs

Slovak verbs are usually “copied” from the German language. This is because the Slovaks used to live in this region before they created their own country. In Slovak, there are only about 20 common Slovak verbs that can be used on their own as a complete sentence, but more than 200 verbs can be used as part of a sentence with a subject, and object. The following section will teach you the most popular ones.

A Slovak language course needs to teach you more than just following the grammar rules. To be able to communicate efficiently, show off a wide range of vocabulary you’ve mastered, or just complete some simple and routine tasks, learning common verbs is a must.

No matter if you’re asking questions, giving answers, greeting, thanking, or apologizing (after being clumsy enough to spill that morning coffee all over the freshly washed table cloth in the local cafe after a long night out) – common verbs are coming to the rescue! Once you do that, you’ll be one step closer to efficiently coping with everyday social conversations. Now that we’ve established the importance of learning verbs in any language, let’s check out the table below and dig in right away

 

EnglishSlovak
(to) havemať
(to) do / (to) makerobiť / urobiť    
(to) understandrozumieť
(to) speak / (to) talkhovoriť / rozprávať
(to) hearpočuť
(to) listen topočúvať
(to) seevidieť
(to) wantchcieť
(to) likemať rád
(to) givedať
(to) takezobrať
(to) playhrať
(to) needpotrebovať
(to) writepísať
(to) readčítať
(to) goísť
(to) comeprísť
(to) thinkmyslieť
(to) knowvedieť
(to) findnájsť
(to) drink  piť
(to) eatjesť

 

Put The Verbs Into Practice

Now that you have a list of some of the most common Slovak verbs, let’s concentrate on how to use them in sentences of your own. In all the examples, we will use declarative sentences, which will follow a typical subject + verb + other components sentence structure in the present tense, but before that, let’s explain the verb endings. In Slovak, verbs take the following endings to form the present tenseja -m, ty -š, on (ona, ono) -a, -e, -i, my -me, vy -e, oni -u, -ia.

We will use about half of the verbs from the table and leave the rest to you because practice makes perfect!

1. to have / mať

I have an apple.

Mám jablko.

2.(to) do / robiť

Children do my homework after school.

Deti robia domáce úlohy po škole.

3.(to) see / vidieť

I see the stars.

Vidím hviezdy.

4.(to) want / chcieť

I want ice cream.

Chcem zmrzlinu.

5.(to) read / čítať

I read books on weekends.

Cez víkendy čítam knihy.

6.(to) speak / kalbėti

I speak Lithuanian.

Kalbu lietuviškai.

7.(to) play / hrať

I play the guitar after school.

Po škole hrám na gitare.

8.(to) listen to / počúvať

I listen to music every evening.

Každý večer počúvam hudbu.

9. to think / myslieť

I think about life.

Myslím na život.

10. to drink / piť

I drink coffee with my friends.

Pijem kávu s priateľmi.

11. to talk / rozprávať

I talk to my teachers in school.

Rozprávam sa s učiteľmi v škole.

12. to learn / učiť sa

It is fun to learn Slovak.

Je zábavné učiť sa po slovensky.

 

Ling App: The Best Way To Learn Slovak

If you enjoyed learning about Slovak verbs and you’d like to learn more about the Slovak culture and people, please check out our previous posts here. But if you really want to master the Slovak language and speak like a pro, your best bet is Ling App by Simya Solutions to help you in our learning process!

Slovak Verbs

Ling app is an app that helps students reach fluency by giving you personalized language lessons on the go. The app offers level-appropriate learning material, depending on your proficiency. You can practice reading, writing, or speaking at your own pace, and the app will match you with new lessons based on your progress. Ling app is easy to use and provides interactive lessons in more than 30 languages.

It also has a social media platform where learners can ask questions and get support from other users all over the world, which makes it an excellent resource for anyone who wants to learn more about their target language. No matter if you’re a total beginner who has never studied a language before or someone who has studied it for years and just wants an extra challenge, the Ling app is designed for everyone!

So, what are you waiting for? Want to become fluent in Slovak? Join us and start learning today!

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