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Sentences and complex sentences

Declarative sentence

Usual word order:
Subject + predicate + other constituents of the sentence + full stop (.)

Word order in Slovak is fairly flexible:

  • Peter ide dnes prvý raz do školy.
  • Dnes ide Peter prvý raz do školy.
  • Do školy ide dnes Peter prvý raz.
  • Prvý raz ide dnes Peter do školy.

= The meaning of the sentence does not change, but we can emphasise individual words by changing the word order.

Interrogative sentence

Usual word order:
(Interrogative pronoun) + predicate + subject + other constituents of the sentence + question mark (?)

  • Jano býva v Bratislave.
  • Býva Jano v Bratislave?
  • Jano ide do školy.
  • Kam ide Jano?

Imperative sentence

Usual word order:
(Form of address) + predicate + other constituents of the sentence + exclamation mark (!)

  • Píš úlohu!
  • Spite osem hodín!
  • Deti, čítajte knihy!

Complex sentence

A compound sentence is a simple combination of two or more sentences. The word order does not change.

The word order in a complex sentence depends on the type of complex sentences, so those word orders are explained individually.

Word order in a sentence with dative and accusative

  • Peter si zabudol knihu. Martina, požičaj mu knihu

In the sentence above, one object is in the accusative {1} and the other object is in the dative {2}. The word order depends on how these objects are expressed. Remember two rules:

  1. If both objects are expressed by pronouns, the order is //D// + //A//.
  2. If one of the objects is expressed by a noun and the other by a pronoun, the pronoun takes precedence over the noun.
Požičaj mu ju. //D// pronoun + //A// pronoun
Požičaj ju Petrovi. //A// pronoun + //D// noun
Požičaj mu knihu. //D// pronoun + //A// noun
  • Otec požičal synovi auto.
  • Otec mu požičal auto.
  • Podaj mi tú knihu.
  • Podaj mi ju.
  • Dal si bratovi kľúče?
  • Rodičia kúpili darčeky dcére. Kúpili jej ich včera.
  • Lektor dal študentovi úlohu. Dal mu ju na víkend.
  • Architekt ukázal projekty klientom. Architekt im ich ukázal na dnešnom stretnutí.

The word order of a sentence can be reversed to emphasize an element of the sentence:

  • Požičaj tú knihu Petrovi.
  • Otec požičal svoje auto synovi.
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