-ová on Foreign Surnames

Feminine Forms of Foreign Surnames

Level 6

Merkel → Merkelová, Swift → Swiftová, Clinton → Clintonová. The -ová form declines like an adjective: Merkelovej, s Merkelovou.

How It Works

The basic rule. Just like Slovak surnames (Novák → Nováková), foreign women's surnames usually take -ová: Merkelová, Clintonová, Swiftová, Parkerová. The ending is added to the written form, even after a vowel: Kennedyová, Christieová, Szabóová.

It makes the name decline. The -ová form declines like the adjective pekná: Merkelovej (genitive, dative, locative), Merkelovú (accusative), s Merkelovou (instrumental). First names decline as well when they can: s Angelou Merkelovou. The Slovak Ministry of Culture gives the example Prechádzam sa so slečnou Fischerovou, not so slečnou Fischer.

Surnames that are already feminine. Surnames from other Slavic languages that already have a feminine form are adapted, not doubled: Polish Szymborska → Szymborská, Czech Navrátilová stays as it is.

Exceptions. The Rules of Slovak Spelling (2013) allow the foreign surnames of well-known artists to stay unchanged, especially in the nominative: Grace Kelly, Claudia Cardinale. Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Vietnamese names are normally not given -ová. In recent years some media also leave other names unchanged. However, the unchanged name cannot show its case, so the -ová form remains the normal choice in standard texts.

For men's foreign names, see declining foreign names.

Examples (6)

  1. Angela Merkelová bola nemeckou kancelárkou.

    Angela Merkel was the German chancellor.

    Word by Word: Angela Merkel-ová was German chancellor.

  2. Včera som bol na koncerte Taylor Swiftovej.

    Yesterday I was at a Taylor Swift concert.

    Word by Word: Yesterday I-was at concert of-Taylor Swift-ová.

  3. Prezident sa stretol s Kamalou Harrisovou.

    The president met Kamala Harris.

    Word by Word: President himself met with Kamala Harris-ová.

    Both the first name and the surname are in the instrumental.

  4. Rada čítam detektívky Agathy Christieovej.

    I like reading Agatha Christie's detective stories.

    Word by Word: Gladly I-read detective-stories of-Agatha Christie-ová.

  5. Wisława Szymborská získala Nobelovu cenu za literatúru.

    Wisława Szymborska won the Nobel Prize in Literature.

    Word by Word: Wisława Szymborská won Nobel prize for literature.

    The Polish feminine ending -ska is adapted to Slovak -ská.

  6. Film s Grace Kelly patrí ku klasike.

    The film with Grace Kelly is a classic.

    Word by Word: Film with Grace Kelly belongs to classics.

    Some famous artists' names may stay unchanged.

Common Mistakes

  • Leaving the surname unchanged where the sentence needs a case.

    Hovoril som s Angelou Merkel.
    Hovoril som s Angelou Merkelovou.

    In a standard Slovak sentence, the surname takes -ová so that it can show the instrumental case.

  • Using the wrong case ending on the -ová form.

    Stretol som sa s Merkelovej.
    Stretol som sa s Merkelovou.

    The -ová form declines like pekná, so the instrumental ending after s is -ou.

  • Adding -ová to a surname that is already feminine.

    Básne Wisławy Szymborskaovej sú krásne.
    Básne Wisławy Szymborskej sú krásne.

    Szymborska already has a feminine ending. It becomes Szymborská and declines like an adjective: Szymborskej.

How It Connects

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

-ová on Foreign SurnamesLevel 6Feminine Forms of Foreign Surnames

Learn This First

Before Feminine Forms of Foreign Surnames, learn Women's Surnames in -ová and Declining Foreign Names. -ová is added to foreign surnames as to Slovak ones. The -ová form lets foreign names decline.