Genitive Singular Endings

Level 2

bez brata, z domu, do školy, z ulice, bez soli, do mesta. The ending depends on the gender and the last letter of the noun.

How It Works

Masculine

  • Animate (people, animals): -a. brat → bez brata, kamarát → od kamaráta
  • Animate nouns ending in -a, like kolega, hrdina: -u. od kolegu
  • Inanimate: -a or -u, which you learn with each word. stôl → stola, les → lesa, počítač → počítača, but dom → domu, obchod → obchodu, cukor → cukru, čaj → čaju. Dictionaries list the genitive right after the word, such as dom, -u.

Feminine

  • After a hard consonant + a: -y. škola → do školy, Nitra → z Nitry
  • After a soft consonant + a: -e. ulica → z ulice, stanica → od stanice. Nouns in -ia take -ie: kancelária → z kancelárie.
  • Ending in a consonant, like dlaň: -e. jeseň → do jesene
  • Ending in a consonant, like kosť: -i. soľ → bez soli, noc → do noci

Neuter

  • mesto → do mesta, divadlo → do divadla: -a
  • more → od mora: -a
  • námestie → z námestia: -ia
  • dievča → od dievčaťa: -aťa

These groups are the Slovak declension types. See Masculine Declension Types, Feminine Declension Types and Neuter Declension Types.

Words that go with the noun

Adjectives and words like môj and ten also change: masculine and neuter -ého / -ho, feminine -ej. z môjho domu, do tej školy.

Where you meet the genitive

Examples (6)

  1. Idem do obchodu.

    I'm going to the shop.

    Word by Word: I-go to shop.

    Obchod takes -u.

  2. Som z Nitry.

    I'm from Nitra.

    Word by Word: I-am from Nitra.

    A feminine noun in -a after a hard consonant takes -y.

  3. Stretneme sa blízko stanice.

    We'll meet near the station.

    Word by Word: We-meet ourselves near station.

    Stanica has a soft c before -a, so it takes -e.

  4. Táto polievka je bez soli.

    This soup has no salt.

    Word by Word: This soup is without salt.

    Soľ follows kosť and takes -i.

  5. Večer ideme do divadla.

    We're going to the theatre this evening.

    Word by Word: Evening we-go to theatre.

  6. Mám správu od kolegu.

    I have a message from a colleague.

    Word by Word: I-have message from colleague.

    Kolega is masculine and takes -u.

Common Mistakes

  • Leaving the noun in the nominative after a preposition.

    Idem do škola.
    Idem do školy.

    Do is always followed by the genitive: škola becomes školy.

  • Giving a masculine noun in -a the feminine ending.

    Mám správu od kolegy.
    Mám správu od kolegu.

    Kolega is masculine. Masculine nouns in -a, like kolega and hrdina, take -u in the genitive.

  • Giving a kosť-type noun the ending -y.

    bez soly
    bez soli

    Feminine nouns like kosť and soľ take -i in the genitive singular.

How It Connects

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

Genitive Singular EndingsLevel 2

Learn This First

Before Genitive Singular Endings, learn Going Into: do. do and z / zo already require the genitive; this entry teaches its endings.

Learn Next

Patterns that build on this one.