Masculine Declension Types

Level 3

Two questions pick the model: is it a person, and how does it end? People follow chlap (ending in a consonant) or hrdina (ending in -a). Things follow dub (hard consonant) or stroj (soft consonant).

How It Works

Choosing the model.

  • chlap (man): male persons ending in a consonant or -o: brat, učiteľ, sused, dedo
  • hrdina (hero): male persons ending in -a: kolega, turista, hokejista
  • dub (oak): things ending in a hard or neutral consonant: dom, stôl, vlak, obchod
  • stroj (machine): things ending in a soft consonant: čaj, kľúč, počítač, deň

The singular side by side.

  • Genitive: chlapa, hrdinu, duba, stroja
  • Dative: chlapovi, hrdinovi, dubu, stroju
  • Accusative: chlapa, hrdinu, dub, stroj
  • Locative: o chlapovi, o hrdinovi, o dube, o stroji
  • Instrumental: s chlapom, s hrdinom, s dubom, so strojom

For people, the accusative is the same as the genitive: Vidím brata. Poznáš kolegu? For things, it is the same as the nominative: Vidím dom. See animate and inanimate masculine nouns.

Two things to learn word by word. In the genitive singular, dub-type nouns take either -a or -u: bez stola, bez chleba, but bez cukru, do domu. In the locative singular, dub-type nouns ending in k, g, h or ch take -u instead of -e: v parku, vo vlaku, na rohu.

The plural. Chlap-type nouns take -i, -ia or -ovia (chlapi, susedia, synovia). Hrdina-type nouns usually take -ovia (kolegovia, hrdinovia), but nouns in -ista take -i (turisti, hokejisti). Dub-type nouns take -y (duby, domy) and stroj-type nouns take -e (stroje, kľúče). See the plural of nouns for men.

Animals. Animal nouns follow chlap in the singular (vidím psa, o psovi) but usually dub or stroj in the plural (psy, kone). See plural animal nouns.

Many nouns also lose a vowel when they take an ending, as in pes → psa and stôl → stola (see vowels that come and go).

Examples (6)

  1. Rozprávali sme sa o bratovi.

    We were talking about my brother.

    Word by Word: We-talked ourselves about brother.

    Brat follows chlap, so the locative singular ends in -ovi.

  2. Poznáš nového kolegu?

    Do you know the new colleague?

    Word by Word: You-know new colleague?

    Kolega follows hrdina, so the accusative ends in -u.

  3. Kľúče sú na stole.

    The keys are on the table.

    Word by Word: Keys are on table.

    Stôl follows dub: the locative is stole.

  4. Celý deň pracujem na počítači.

    I work on the computer all day.

    Word by Word: Whole day I-work on computer.

    Počítač follows stroj: the locative is počítači.

  5. Čakám vo vlaku.

    I'm waiting on the train.

    Word by Word: I-wait in train.

    Vlak ends in k, so the locative takes -u.

  6. Kolegovia prišli neskoro.

    The colleagues came late.

    Word by Word: Colleagues came late.

    Kolega follows hrdina and takes -ovia in the nominative plural.

Common Mistakes

  • Using a thing ending for a person.

    Hovorili sme o brate.
    Hovorili sme o bratovi.

    Brat is a person, so it follows chlap and takes -ovi in the locative. The ending -e is for things like dub.

  • Using the nominative for a hrdina-type object.

    Poznáš môjho kolega?
    Poznáš môjho kolegu?

    Kolega follows hrdina, whose accusative singular ends in -u.

  • Using -e after k in the locative.

    Sedím vo vlake.
    Sedím vo vlaku.

    Dub-type nouns ending in k, g, h or ch take -u in the locative singular.

How It Connects

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Masculine Declension TypesLevel 3

Learn This First

Before Masculine Declension Types, learn Dative, Locative and Instrumental Plural and Masculine Animate Accusative in -a. The declension types bring all singular and plural endings together. chlap and hrdina show the animate accusative in -a.

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Patterns that build on this one.