bez / u / od / okolo / vedľa / počas + Genitive

Common Prepositions with the Genitive

Level 2

bez cukru, u babky, od mamy, okolo domu, vedľa školy, počas leta: all with the genitive.

How It Works

bez: without

káva bez cukru (coffee without sugar), bez teba (without you)

u: at someone's place

U is used mostly with people: u babky (at grandma's), u lekára (at the doctor's), u nás (at our place, or in our country). U is for being somewhere. For going to a person, use Toward: k and ku: Idem k babke.

od: from

  • From a person: list od mamy (a letter from mom). For places, use From: z and zo: Som z Bratislavy.
  • A starting point in time, often with do: od pondelka do piatku (from Monday to Friday)
  • Before some pronouns it becomes odo: odo mňa (from me).

okolo: around, about

okolo domu (around the house), okolo piatej (at about five o'clock)

vedľa: next to

vedľa banky (next to the bank), vedľa mňa (next to me)

počas: during

počas leta (during the summer), počas obeda (during lunch). In standard Slovak, use počas rather than behom. See Standard počas Instead of behom.

For the noun endings, see Genitive Singular Endings. Pronouns have their own forms after prepositions, such as bez neho, od nej: see Pronouns After Prepositions.

Examples (6)

  1. Pijem kávu bez cukru.

    I drink coffee without sugar.

    Word by Word: I-drink coffee without sugar.

  2. Cez víkend som u babky.

    I'm at grandma's over the weekend.

    Word by Word: Over weekend I-am at grandma.

  3. Mám list od mamy.

    I have a letter from mom.

    Word by Word: I-have letter from mom.

  4. Prídem okolo piatej.

    I'll come at about five.

    Word by Word: I-will-come around fifth.

    Okolo also means about with times and numbers.

  5. Bývam vedľa školy.

    I live next to the school.

    Word by Word: I-live next-to school.

  6. Počas leta veľa cestujeme.

    We travel a lot during the summer.

    Word by Word: During summer a-lot we-travel.

Common Mistakes

  • Using the nominative after bez.

    káva bez cukor
    káva bez cukru

    Bez always takes the genitive: cukor becomes cukru.

  • Using z for something that comes from a person.

    Mám list z mamy.
    Mám list od mamy.

    Use od for people and z for places: list od mamy, but som z Bratislavy.

  • Using u for going somewhere.

    Idem u babky.
    Idem k babke.

    U means being at someone's place. To go to someone, use k with the dative.

How It Connects

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bez / u / od / okolo / vedľa / počas + GenitiveLevel 2Common Prepositions with the Genitive

Learn This First

Before Common Prepositions With the Genitive, learn Genitive Singular Endings. These prepositions all need genitive endings.

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Words in This Pattern

uodokolovedľa