odkedy / odvtedy

Since: Odkedy and Odvtedy

Level 4

Odkedy points to a starting point that you ask about or describe in a clause. Odvtedy points back to a moment already mentioned: since then.

How It Works

A family of time words. Odkedy and odvtedy belong to the same set as kedy/vtedy (when/then) and dokedy/dovtedy (until when/until then). The od- means from, so they point to a starting point.

Odkedy. As a question: Odkedy tu bývaš? The answer uses od + genitive for the starting point (od roku 2020, od pondelka, od detstva, see od). As a conjunction, odkedy starts a clause: Odkedy má psa, chodí viac von.

Odvtedy. It refers back to an event just mentioned: Stretli sme sa v lete a odvtedy si píšeme každý deň. It can open a main clause (Odvtedy som ho nevidel), but it never introduces a since-clause the way odkedy does.

Present tense for ongoing states. English says I have lived here since 2020; Slovak says Bývam tu od roku 2020, in the present, because the living still continues. The past tense appears when you talk about events, often with a negative: Odvtedy som ho nevidel.

Since versus for. For a length of time, Slovak uses no preposition, just the accusative of duration, often with už: Bývam tu už dva roky (I've lived here for two years).

Examples (5)

  1. Odkedy tu bývaš?

    How long have you lived here?

    Word by Word: Since-when here you-live?

    The present tense: you still live here.

  2. Bývam tu od roku 2020.

    I've lived here since 2020.

    Word by Word: I-live here from year 2020.

  3. Odkedy má psa, chodí viac von.

    Since she's had a dog, she goes out more.

    Word by Word: Since-when she-has dog, she-goes more out.

  4. Stretli sme sa v lete a odvtedy si píšeme každý deň.

    We met in the summer and we've written to each other every day since then.

    Word by Word: Met we-are ourselves in summer and since-then to-each-other we-write every day.

  5. Odvtedy som ho nevidel.

    I haven't seen him since then.

    Word by Word: Since-then I-am him not-seen.

Common Mistakes

  • Using od for a length of time.

    Bývam tu od dvoch rokov.
    Bývam tu už dva roky.

    Od marks a starting point (od roku 2020). A length of time uses the accusative without a preposition: dva roky, often with už.

  • Starting a since-clause with odvtedy.

    Odvtedy sa presťahoval, je šťastnejší.
    Odkedy sa presťahoval, je šťastnejší.

    Odkedy introduces a clause. Odvtedy only points back to something already said: Presťahoval sa a odvtedy je šťastnejší.

  • Using the past tense for a state that still continues.

    Odkedy si tu bol? (meaning: How long have you been here?)
    Odkedy si tu?

    You are still here, so Slovak uses the present tense, where English uses have been.

How It Connects

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

odkedy / odvtedyLevel 4Since: Odkedy and Odvtedy

Learn This First

Before Since: odkedy and odvtedy, learn Common Prepositions With the Genitive and Where, When, How and Why. od of odkedy takes the genitive, like other od phrases. odkedy asks and tells from when.

Words in This Pattern

odkedyodvtedy