mať rád + Accusative

Liking with Mať Rád

Level 1

mať rád + accusative = to like, to love. Mám rád kávu. (I like coffee.) Mám ťa rada. (I love you, said by a woman.)

How It Works

The forms of rád

  • rád: a man or boy. Peter má rád hudbu.
  • rada: a woman or girl. Jana má rada hudbu.
  • radi: a group that includes at least one man. Máme radi hory.
  • rady: a group of women, or of children or things. Sestry majú rady mačky.

A neuter form rado exists but is rare.

The object is in the accusative

Feminine nouns in -a change to -u: káva → Mám rád kávu. Masculine animate nouns add -a: brat → Mám rád brata. Most other nouns stay the same: Mám rád futbal. See The Accusative Case for Objects.

With pronouns, use the short object forms: Mám ťa rád. (I love you, said by a man.) Mám ho rada. (I like him, said by a woman.) See Object Pronouns.

Word order

The usual order is mám rád + object. A short pronoun goes between them: Mám ťa rád. You can also start with the object to stress it: Kávu mám rada, ale čaj nie.

Negation

Put ne- on mať: Nemám rád zimu. (I don't like winter.)

Like or love?

Mať rád covers both. With food or hobbies it means like. With people it can mean love: Mám ťa rád is a common way to say I love you. For a first impression, such as a dress you just saw, Slovak often uses Liking With páčiť sa.

Examples (6)

  1. Mám rád kávu.

    I like coffee.

    Word by Word: I-have glad coffee.

    Said by a man. Káva becomes kávu in the accusative.

  2. Mám ťa rada.

    I love you.

    Word by Word: I-have you glad.

    Said by a woman. The short pronoun ťa sits between mám and rada.

  3. Máme radi hory.

    We like the mountains.

    Word by Word: We-have glad mountains.

    Radi for a group that includes a man.

  4. Moje sestry majú rady mačky.

    My sisters like cats.

    Word by Word: My sisters have glad cats.

    Rady for a group of women.

  5. Nemám rád zimu.

    I don't like winter.

    Word by Word: I-don't-have glad winter.

    Said by a man.

  6. Máš rada futbal?

    Do you like football?

    Word by Word: You-have glad football?

    Asked of a woman or girl.

Common Mistakes

  • Making rád match the object instead of the speaker.

    Mám rada kávu. (said by a man)
    Mám rád kávu.

    Rád describes the person who likes. A man says rád even though káva is feminine.

  • Leaving the object in the nominative.

    Mám rád káva.
    Mám rád kávu.

    The thing you like is the object, so it goes in the accusative: káva becomes kávu.

  • Leaving out mať.

    Rád kávu.
    Mám rád kávu.

    To like a thing you need mať: mám rád. Rád without mať goes with a verb, as in Rád čítam.

How It Connects

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

mať rád + AccusativeLevel 1Liking with Mať Rád

Learn This First

Before Liking With mať rád, learn The Accusative Case for Objects and Present Tense of mať. The thing you like is in the accusative. mať rád uses the forms of mať.

Words in This Pattern