Declining Foreign Names

Level 6

Dickens – od Dickensa – s Dickensom. Goethe – od Goetheho – o Goethem. Picasso – obrazy Picassa. The spelling of the basic form stays foreign, but the endings are Slovak.

How It Works

Listen to the ending. Foreign male names are sorted into Slovak declension types by how they end in pronunciation.

  • Spoken consonant → like chlap: Dickens – Dickensa – Dickensovi – s Dickensom. This includes names with a silent final -e: Shakespeare [šejkspír] – Shakespeara. When a letter shows the pronunciation, it stays: George – Georgea.
  • -a → like hrdina: Maradona – Maradonu.
  • Short -o is dropped: Picasso – Picassa, Hugo – Huga.
  • Long or written-out endings are kept: Rousseau [rusó] – Rousseaua, Szabó – Szabóa.
  • Spoken -i, -e, -é → the kuli type with -ho, -mu, -m: Verdi – Verdiho – Verdimu – o Verdim – s Verdim, Goethe – Goetheho – o Goethem, Dante – Danteho.

The endings follow the Slovak cases. After a preposition, choose the case as for any noun: o Dickensovi in the locative, od Verdiho in the genitive.

Women's surnames usually take -ová. See feminine forms of foreign surnames.

Examples (6)

  1. Čítam román od Dickensa.

    I'm reading a novel by Dickens.

    Word by Word: I-read novel from Dickens-a.

  2. Na hodine sme sa rozprávali o Goethem.

    In class we talked about Goethe.

    Word by Word: At lesson we-have ourselves talked about Goethe-m.

    Goethe ends in a spoken e, so it declines like kuli: o Goethem.

  3. Divadlo uvádza hru od Shakespeara.

    The theater is staging a play by Shakespeare.

    Word by Word: Theater presents play from Shakespeare-a.

    The final -e is silent, so the name follows chlap.

  4. Večer ideme na Verdiho operu.

    Tonight we're going to a Verdi opera.

    Word by Word: Evening we-go to Verdi-ho opera.

  5. V múzeu sme videli obrazy Picassa.

    We saw paintings by Picasso in the museum.

    Word by Word: In museum we-saw paintings of-Picasso.

    The short final -o drops before the ending.

  6. Film je o Rousseauovi.

    The film is about Rousseau.

    Word by Word: Film is about Rousseau-ovi.

Common Mistakes

  • Declining by spelling instead of pronunciation.

    Divadlo uvádza hru od Shakespeareho.
    Divadlo uvádza hru od Shakespeara.

    The final -e in Shakespeare is silent, so the name ends in a consonant sound and takes -a like chlap.

  • Leaving a foreign name undeclined.

    Rozprávali sme sa o Dickens.
    Rozprávali sme sa o Dickensovi.

    O takes the locative, and a name ending in a consonant takes -ovi like chlap.

  • Keeping the short final -o.

    V múzeu sme videli obrazy Picassoa.
    V múzeu sme videli obrazy Picassa.

    A short final -o is dropped before the case ending: Picasso – Picassa.

How It Connects

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

Declining Foreign NamesLevel 6

Learn This First

Before Declining Foreign Names, learn Borrowed Nouns in Cases. Foreign names decline like borrowed nouns.