kiež / kiežby
If Only: Kiežby
Kiežby + l-form expresses a strong wish: Kiežby si mal pravdu (If only you were right, I hope you are right). Kiež + a normal present or future verb expresses a hopeful wish: Kiež sa ti splnia všetky sny (May all your dreams come true).
How It Works
Two forms, two kinds of wish.
- kiežby + l-form: a wish about something that is not true now or may not happen: Kiežby už bolo leto! (If only it were summer already!)
- kiež + present or future verb: a hopeful wish, often a blessing or a toast: Kiež sa ti splnia všetky sny! (May all your dreams come true!)
Kiežby already contains by. The dictionaries list kiežby as one word, and it behaves like keby: the next verb is the l-form of the conditional, and the person is shown by som, si, sme, ste:
- Kiežby som mal viac času. (If only I had more time.)
- Kiežby si mala pravdu. (I hope you are right, said to a woman.)
- Kiežby prestalo pršať. (If only it would stop raining.)
Do not add a second by, and do not use a present-tense verb such as je after kiežby.
Wishes about the past. For something that can no longer change, use the past conditional with bol: Kiežby som to bol vedel skôr! (If only I had known that earlier!)
Register. Kiež and kiežby sound emotional and a little literary. In conversation, a plain Keby už bolo leto! says the same thing. Another wish word, bodaj by, is covered in May It Be: bodaj by.
Examples (6)
- Kiežby už bolo leto!
If only it were summer already!
Word by Word: If-only already was summer!
- Kiežby si mal pravdu.
I hope you are right.
Word by Word: If-only you-had right.
Mal agrees with a man; to a woman say Kiežby si mala pravdu.
- Kiežby som vedel lepšie po slovensky.
If only I spoke Slovak better.
Word by Word: If-only I knew better in Slovak.
- Kiežby konečne prestalo pršať.
If only it would finally stop raining.
Word by Word: If-only finally stopped raining.
- Kiež sa ti splnia všetky sny!
May all your dreams come true!
Word by Word: May self to-you fulfil all dreams!
Kiež without by takes an ordinary future verb.
- Kiežby som to bol vedel skôr!
If only I had known that earlier!
Word by Word: If-only I that had known earlier!
Common Mistakes
Adding a second by after kiežby.
Kiežby by si mal pravdu.Kiežby si mal pravdu.Kiežby already contains by, just like keby. A second by is a double conditional and is wrong.
Using a present-tense verb after kiežby.
Kiežby je už leto!Kiežby už bolo leto!After kiežby the verb must be the l-form (bolo, mal, prestalo), because kiežby is a conditional word.
How It Connects
Learn This First
Before If Only: kiežby, learn If It Were So: keby. kiežby, like keby, contains by and is followed by the l-form.
Related Patterns
- The Conditional Mood
Kiežby uses the l-form of the conditional.
Level 3 - The Past Conditional
For wishes about the past, kiežby takes the past conditional with bol.
Level 4 - bodaj byMay It Be: Bodaj by
Another wish word, more old-fashioned and often used in blessings or curses.
Level 6 - nech + Present TenseLet Him or Her: Nech
Nech with the present can also express a wish: Nech sa ti darí!
Level 3
Words in This Pattern
Practice kiež / kiežby in Bubblegum
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