Past Forms by Gender and Number
The l-form ends in -l for a masculine subject, -la for a feminine one, -lo for a neuter one and -li for any plural: Peter prišiel, Jana prišla, Dieťa spalo, Ženy prišli.
How It Works
| Subject | Ending | Example |
|---|---|---|
| masculine | -l | Peter robil, otec prišiel |
| feminine | -la | Jana robila, mama prišla |
| neuter | -lo | dieťa spalo, mesto bolo |
| plural | -li | ženy prišli, deti spali |
Match the subject. The subject’s gender decides the ending. Dieťa is neuter, so dieťa spalo. With ja and ty, match the person: a man says bol som, a woman says bola som.
The plural is always -li. Slovak writes -li for every plural subject: ženy prišli, mestá boli, chlapci prišli. Two subjects joined by a also take -li: Mama a otec pracovali. See agreement with two subjects.
Verbs whose stem ends in a consonant. The masculine singular adds -ol, and the other forms add only -l-: mohol, mohla, mohlo, mohli. See irregular past forms.
Weather and other subjectless sentences use the neuter: pršalo, bolo zima. See sentences without a subject.
Examples (6)
- Peter prišiel neskoro.
Peter came late.
Word by Word: Peter came late.
Masculine subject: prišiel.
- Jana prišla včas.
Jana came on time.
Word by Word: Jana came on-time.
Feminine subject: prišla.
- Dieťa spalo celú noc.
The child slept all night.
Word by Word: Child slept whole night.
Dieťa is neuter, so the verb ends in -lo.
- Ženy prišli spolu.
The women came together.
Word by Word: Women came together.
Every plural takes -li.
- Bola som unavená.
I was tired.
Word by Word: Was I-am tired.
A female speaker uses bola, and the adjective is feminine too.
- Mama a otec pracovali v záhrade.
Mom and Dad worked in the garden.
Word by Word: Mom and dad worked in garden.
Two subjects together take the plural -li.
Common Mistakes
Using the masculine form with a feminine subject.
Jana prišiel.Jana prišla.The l-form must match the subject. Jana is feminine, so use prišla.
Writing -ly for a feminine plural.
Ženy prišly.Ženy prišli.Slovak uses -li for every plural subject. The -ly spelling comes from Czech.
Matching dieťa as if it were feminine.
Dieťa spala.Dieťa spalo.Dieťa is neuter, so the l-form ends in -lo.
How It Connects
Learn This First
Before Past Forms by Gender and Number, learn The Past Tense and Noun Gender. The l-form of the past tense changes for gender and number. Past forms follow the gender of the subject.
Related Patterns
Learn Next
Patterns that build on this one.
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