ia / ie / iu / ô

Diphthongs Ia, Ie, Iu and Ô

Level 1

ia, ie, iu and ô are said as one syllable, with a quick glide at the start. ô sounds like uo: kôň (horse).

How It Works

One syllable, not two. A diphthong is a vowel that glides. In ia, ie and iu, start with a quick i, like the y in yes, and move to a, e or u: piatok (Friday), mlieko (milk), cudziu (foreign, as an object). In ô, start with a quick u, like the w in wall, and move to o: kôň (horse), stôl (table), môj (my).

How they are written. ô is a letter of its own and is never written as uo. ia, ie and iu are written with two ordinary letters. In borrowed words and at the join of two word parts, the same letters can be two separate syllables instead: fi-al-ka (violet).

They count as long. For the rhythmic law, a diphthong is a long syllable, just like á or í. So the ending after it is short: biely (white), miesta (places), čierny (black). When a diphthong itself is shortened, it loses its glide: ia becomes a, ie becomes e, iu becomes u and ô becomes o.

Common places to meet them. ie is frequent in verb forms such as viem (I know) and rozumiem (I understand). ia ends many "they" forms: robia (they do), hovoria (they speak). See verbs in -ím.

Examples (5)

  1. V piatok idem k babke.

    On Friday I'm going to Grandma's.

    Piatok has ia in its first syllable: pia-tok, two syllables.

  2. Chceš mlieko do kávy?

    Do you want milk in your coffee?

    Mlieko is two syllables: mlie-ko.

  3. Môj kôň je biely.

    My horse is white.

    Môj and kôň have ô. Biely has ie, so its ending is short.

  4. Nerozumiem, hovoria príliš rýchlo.

    I don't understand, they're speaking too fast.

    Rozumiem has ie, and hovoria ends in ia.

  5. Mám ešte tretiu otázku.

    I have a third question, too.

    Word by Word: I-have still third question.

    Tretiu ends in the diphthong iu.

Common Mistakes

  • Writing ô as uo.

    Náš kuoň je starý.
    Náš kôň je starý.

    Slovak writes this sound with the single letter ô.

  • Splitting a diphthong into two syllables.

    mlieko [mli-e-ko]
    mlieko [mlie-ko]

    The i is only a quick glide. The whole ie is one syllable.

  • Keeping a long ending after a diphthong.

    Môj kôň je bielý.
    Môj kôň je biely.

    Ie is already long, so the next ending is short: biely.

How It Connects

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

ia / ie / iu / ôLevel 1Diphthongs Ia, Ie, Iu and Ô

Learn This First

Before Diphthongs ia, ie, iu and ô, learn Long Vowels. Diphthongs count as long syllables, so learners need vowel length first.