tí / tie, oni / ony

Plural Words for Men and Others

Level 3

Men or mixed: tí, oni: tí študenti. Everything else: tie, ony: tie knihy.

How It Works

The same split in many words

  • that, those: tí / tie
  • this, these: títo / tieto
  • that over there: tamtí / tamtie
  • my, our: moji / moje, naši / naše
  • all: všetci / všetky
  • they: oni / ony

Who gets tí and oni?

  • groups of men: tí študenti, títo páni
  • mixed groups: Peter a Jana? Tí už odišli.

Who gets tie and ony?

Women, children, animals and things: tie ženy, tie deti, tie psy, tie knihy.

Pronouns are often left out. The verb already shows the person, so oni and ony appear mainly for emphasis or contrast: Oni pracujú a ony oddychujú. In the past tense the verb ending -li is the same for both: oni boli, ony boli. In relaxed speech many people use oni for any group, but written Slovak keeps the difference.

As objects. Both become tých in the genitive, but in the accusative only men do: Poznám tých študentov but Poznám tie študentky. See Men as Plural Objects. The pronoun ich is used for both.

Examples (6)

  1. Tí študenti sú z Nitry.

    Those students are from Nitra.

  2. Tie knihy sú moje.

    Those books are mine.

  3. Títo páni sú z Viedne.

    These gentlemen are from Vienna.

  4. Tieto jablká sú sladké.

    These apples are sweet.

  5. Peter a Jana? Tí už odišli.

    Peter and Jana? They've already left.

    A mixed group takes the forms for men.

  6. Oni pracujú a ony oddychujú.

    The men are working and the women are resting.

    Here the pronouns are needed for contrast. English they cannot show the difference.

Common Mistakes

  • Using tí with things.

    Tí knihy sú moje.
    Tie knihy sú moje.

    Tí is only for men. Knihy is feminine, so use tie.

  • Using ony for a mixed group.

    Peter a Jana? Ony sú doma.
    Peter a Jana? Oni sú doma.

    When a group includes at least one man, use oni.

How It Connects

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

tí / tie, oni / onyLevel 3Plural Words for Men and Others

Learn This First

Before Plural Words for Men and Others, learn Plural Adjectives for Men and Others and Subject Pronouns. tí / tie and oni / ony follow the same men-versus-others split. oni / ony are the plural subject pronouns.

Words in This Pattern

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