Borrowed Nouns in Cases

Level 5

Loanwords normally fit into a Slovak pattern: festival → na festivale, koncert → na koncerte, múzeum → v múzeu, centrum → v centre. A few words that end in -i, -u or -é, such as alibi, menu and kupé, stay the same in every case.

How It Works

Masculine nouns ending in a consonant. Most loanwords of this kind are ordinary masculine nouns. Things follow dub: festival → na festivale, koncert → na koncerte, e-mail → v e-maile. Nouns ending in -l are not predictable, so check the dictionary: na festivale, but v hoteli and v tuneli, and e-mail allows both v e-maile and v e-maili. People follow chlap: manažér → manažéra, manažérovi (see masculine patterns).

Neuter nouns in -um. Words like múzeum, centrum, štúdium, kritérium drop -um before any ending and follow mesto:

  • centrum, centra, v centre, plural centrá, centier
  • múzeum, múzea, after a vowel the locative is v múzeu, plural múzeá, múzeí
  • štúdium → počas štúdia

Feminine nouns. Loanwords ending in -a usually follow žena or ulica: téma → témy, akcia → akcie.

Words that never change. Some nouns that end in a vowel, such as alibi, menu, kupé, tabu, taxi, are indeclinable. They are neuter, and the case shows only on the words around them: bez alibi, v novom menu, nemal žiadne alibi.

Borrowed personal and place names follow similar principles; see declining foreign names. The locative endings themselves are covered in locative singular endings.

Examples (6)

  1. Včera sme boli v múzeu moderného umenia.

    Yesterday we went to the museum of modern art.

    Word by Word: Yesterday we were in museum of-modern art.

    Múzeum drops -um: v múzeu.

  2. Na festivale hrali tri slovenské kapely.

    Three Slovak bands played at the festival.

    Word by Word: At festival played three Slovak bands.

  3. Bývame priamo v centre mesta.

    We live right in the city centre.

    Word by Word: We-live right in centre of-town.

  4. Pošlem vám to v e-maile.

    I'll send it to you in an email.

    Word by Word: I-will-send you it in email.

  5. Obžalovaný nemal na ten večer žiadne alibi.

    The defendant had no alibi for that evening.

    Word by Word: Defendant not-had for that evening no alibi.

    Alibi does not change; only žiadne shows the case.

  6. V menu nemajú nič vegetariánske.

    There's nothing vegetarian on the menu.

    Word by Word: In menu they-don't-have nothing vegetarian.

Common Mistakes

  • Keeping -um before the ending.

    Včera sme boli v múzeume.
    Včera sme boli v múzeu.

    Nouns in -um drop -um before an ending: múzeum → v múzeu, centrum → v centre.

  • Using the ending -i for festival.

    Na festivali hrali tri kapely.
    Na festivale hrali tri kapely.

    Festival follows dub, and its locative is festivale.

  • Adding -um endings to centrum.

    Byt je v centrume mesta.
    Byt je v centre mesta.

    Centrum loses -um in every other case: centra, v centre, centrá.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

Borrowed Nouns in CasesLevel 5

Learn This First

Before Borrowed Nouns in Cases, learn Masculine Declension Types and Neuter Declension Types. Borrowed masculine nouns follow the masculine declension types. Borrowed neuter nouns follow the neuter declension types.