dačo / dakto / voľajaký

Colloquial Dačo and Dakto

Level 6

Chceš dačo? = Chceš niečo? (Do you want something?) Dakto klope = Niekto klope (Someone is knocking).

How It Works

Three sets with one meaning. Besides the neutral niekto, niečo, niekde, Slovak has two more sets of indefinite words:

  • da-: dačo (something), dakto (someone), dajaký (some), daktorý (some, one of), dakde (somewhere), dakedy (sometime)
  • voľa-: voľačo, voľakto, voľajaký, voľakde

Same endings. They decline exactly like niečo and niekto: dačoho, dačomu, dačím; dakoho, dakomu, s dakým.

Style. The Short Dictionary of Slovak lists dačo, dakto and voľajaký as ordinary synonyms of niečo, niekto and nejaký. Only shortened forms such as voľáky are labeled colloquial. In practice they sound homely, rural or regional. They are typical of central Slovak speech and of fiction and folk tales. In neutral texts, the news and official writing, the nie- words are the usual choice.

With negation. Like niekto, these words mean someone, not no one. To say nobody or nothing, use the ni- words with a negative verb: Nikto neprišiel.

Examples (6)

  1. Chceš dačo?

    Do you want something?

    Word by Word: You-want something?

  2. Dakto klope na dvere.

    Someone is knocking at the door.

    Word by Word: Someone knocks on door.

  3. Našiel si už voľajakú prácu?

    Have you found some kind of job yet?

    Word by Word: Found you already some work?

  4. Vezmi si dačo jedla na cestu.

    Take some food for the road.

    Word by Word: Take yourself something of-food for road.

    Dačo is followed by the genitive, just like niečo.

  5. Rozprával sa s dakým z dediny.

    He was talking with someone from the village.

    Word by Word: He-talked himself with someone from village.

    Dakto becomes dakým in the instrumental, like niekto → niekým.

  6. Dakedy sa u nás zastav.

    Drop by our place sometime.

    Word by Word: Sometime yourself at us stop.

Common Mistakes

  • Leaving dakto in the nominative after a preposition.

    Hovoril som s dakto zo školy.
    Hovoril som s dakým zo školy.

    Dakto declines like niekto: with s it takes the instrumental dakým.

  • Using dakto when you mean nobody.

    Dakto neprišiel. (meaning: nobody came)
    Nikto neprišiel.

    Dakto means someone, so Dakto neprišiel says that someone did not come. Nobody is nikto.

How It Connects

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

dačo / dakto / voľajakýLevel 6Colloquial Dačo and Dakto

Learn This First

Before Colloquial dačo and dakto, learn Someone, Something, Somewhere and Colloquial Versus Standard Forms. dačo and dakto correspond to niečo and niekto. They are colloquial forms.

Words in This Pattern

dačodakto