Slovak phrasebook
Phrasebook
Slovak (slovenčina) is the main and national language of Slovakia and is spoken widely in and also universally understood in the Czech Republic. It is a Slavic language closely related to Russian, Polish, Czech, etc. Slovak is very similar to Czech in many ways; in fact, many travelers unfamiliar with the language often assume incorrectly that Czech and Slovak are dialects of each other.
Pronunciation
Slovak is written as it sounds and is easier as difficult as it looks. It may help to remember that Slovak makes use of certain diacritical marks. The most common are ´, which lengthens a vowel (it does not imply stress in Slovak), and ˇ, which softens a consonant. Palatisation is occasionally used in Czech but is more widely used in Slovak.
Stress Like Czech, stress in Slovak always falls on the first syllable, but try not to exaggerate it as it would be in English or in German.
Short Vowels a like 'a' in "amigo" [ah] ä like 'a' in "apple" [ah] e like 'e' in "bet" [eh] i like 'i' in "bit" [ih] o like 'o' in "sport" [aw] u like 'oo' in "book" [oo] y like 'i' in bit [ih] (same as Slovak "i")
Long Vowels á like 'a' in "far" ( long a sound ) [aa] é like 'é' in "bled" ( long e sound ) [ehh] í like 'ee' in "see" ( long i sound ) [ee] ó like 'oo' in "door" ( long o sound ) [ohh] ú like 'u' in "flute" ( long u sound ) [oo] ý like 'ee' in "weep" ( long y sound ) [ee]
Consonants b like 'b' in "baby" c like 'ts' in "bets" č like 'ch' in "church" d like 'd' in "day" ď like 'd' in "dew" (UK) dz like 'ds' in "roads" dž like 'j' in "juice" f like 'f' in "fine" g like 'g' in "game" h like 'h' in "hot", regardless of its position in the word ch hard aspirated sound like the 'ch' in "loch" j like 'y' in "yes" k like 'k' in "kick" l like 'l' in "luck" ĺ like 'l', but longer ľ like 'l' in "million" m like 'm' in "moon" n like 'n' in "nine" ň like 'ny' in "canyon" ô like 'wa' in "want" p like 'p' in "paper" q like 'q' in "quest" r like 't' in "water" ŕ like Spanish 'rr' in "carro" s like 's' in "son" š like 'sh' in "fish" t like 't' in "hot" ť like 't' in "tune" (UK) v like 'v' in "van" w like 'v' in "vest" [only used in foreign words] x like 'ks' in "bricks" z like 'z' in "zero" ž like 's' in "pleasure"
Common diphthongs au like the 'ow' in "cow" ia like 'ia' in "piano" ie like 'ea' in "fear" iu like 'ew' in "new" ô like 'wo' in "woke"
Phrase list
Basics
Hello. Dobrý deň. (DOH-bree deñ) How are you? Ako sa máte? (AH-koh sah MAA-teh?) Fine, thank you. Ďakujem, dobre. (JAH-koo-yehm DOH-breh) What is your name? Ako sa voláte? (AH-koh sah VOH-laa-tyeh) My name is ______ . Volám sa______ . (VOH-laam sah_____.) Pleased to meet you. Teší ma. (TYEH-shee mah) Please. Prosím.(PROH-seem) Thank you. Ďakujem.(JAH-koo-yehm) You're welcome. Prosím.(PROH-seem) Nie je za čo. (NYEE_eh yeh ZAH choh) Yes. Áno. (AAH-noh) Hej (HAY) (informal) No. Nie. (NYEE_eh) Excuse me. (getting attention) Prepáčte.(PREH-paach-tyeh) Sorry. Prepáčte.(PREH-paach-tyeh) Goodbye Do videnia. (doh VEE-deh-nyah) Do you speak English? Hovoríte po anglicky? (HOH-voh-ree-teh poh AHN-glits-kih?) Is there someone here who speaks English? Hovorí tu niekto po anglicky?(HOH-voh-ree (too) nyiehk-toh poh AHN-glits-kih?) Help! Pomoc!(POH-mohts!) Good morning. Dobré ráno. (DOH-brehh RAA-noh) Good afternoon. Dobrý deň. (DOH-bree deh-NYEH) Good evening. Dobrý večer. (DOH-bree VEH-chehr) Good night. Dobrú noc. (DOH-broo nohts) I don't understand. Nerozumiem.(NEH-roh-zoo-myehm) Where is the toilet? Kde sú tu záchody?(kdeh soo too ZAA-khoh-dih?)
Problems Go away! Choď preč! (KHOD PRECH) I'll call the police. Zavolám políciu. (ZAH-voh-laam POH-leeet-syiuh) Help! Pomoc! (POH-mohts) Thief! Zlodej! (ZLOH-dehj) Call the police. Zavolajte políciu. (zah-VOH-lahj-teh POH-leeet-syiuh) It's an emergency. Treba pomoc. (TREH-bah POH-mohts) Can you help me, please? Môžete mi prosím pomôct? (mwoh-ZHEH-teh mi PROH-seeem POH-mwohtst) I'm lost. Nevyznám sa tu. (neh-VIZ-naam sah too) Could I please use the telephone? Môžem prosím použiť telefón? (MWOH-zhem PROH-seeem PWOH-zhee-tuh teh-LEH-fawn)
Numbers 0 nula (NOO-lah) 1 jeden (YEH-dehn) 2 dva (DUH-vah) 3 tri (trih) 4 štyri (SHTIH-rih) 5 päť (pehtch) 6 šesť (SHEHSTCH) 7 sedem (SEH-dyehm) 8 osem (OH-sehm) 9 deväť (JYEH-vetch) 10 desať (JYEH-sahtch) 11 jedenásť (YEH-deh-nahhstch) 12 dvanásť (DVAH-nastch) 13 trinásť (TRIH-nahhstch) 14 štrnásť (SHTR-nahhstch) 15 pätnásť (PEHT-nahhstch) 16 šestnásť (SHEHS-nahhstch) 17 sedemnásť (SEH-dyehm-nahhstch) 18 osemnásť (OH-sehm-nahhstch) 20 dvadsať (JVAHD-sahtch) 30 tridsať (TREED-sahtch)
Adapted from Wikivoyage (CC BY-SA)