počnúc / končiac + Instrumental

Starting with and Ending with

Level 6

Počnúc + instrumental means starting with or starting from: počnúc pondelkom. Končiac + instrumental means ending with: končiac nedeľou. Together they frame a whole range: počnúc strechou a končiac pivnicou (from the roof to the cellar).

How It Works

Form. Počnúc (from počať, to begin) and končiac (from končiť, to end) are transgressives that no longer change. The noun after them is in the instrumental: pondelkom, strechou, budúcim mesiacom, or in the plural starými rodičmi, deťmi.

Two uses.

  • A starting point in time: Počnúc pondelkom bude obchod otvorený do ôsmej (Starting on Monday, the shop will be open until eight).
  • The two ends of a list or range: prišli všetci, počnúc starými rodičmi a končiac malými deťmi (everyone came, from grandparents to small children).

Počnúc od. Dictionaries also record počnúc od with the genitive, following od: počnúc od posledného radu (starting from the last row). The imperfective forms počínajúc and počínajúc od are also standard. Do not mix the two patterns: it is počnúc pondelkom or počnúc od pondelka.

Register. These forms appear in official notices, reports and careful writing. Everyday speech usually says od pondelka or od ... po ....

Examples (5)

  1. Počnúc pondelkom bude obchod otvorený do ôsmej večer.

    Starting on Monday, the shop will be open until eight in the evening.

    Word by Word: Starting Monday will-be shop open until eighth evening.

  2. Na oslavu prišli všetci, počnúc starými rodičmi a končiac malými deťmi.

    Everyone came to the celebration, from the grandparents to the little children.

    Word by Word: To celebration came all, starting old parents and ending small children.

  3. Nové pravidlá platia počnúc budúcim mesiacom.

    The new rules apply starting next month.

    Word by Word: New rules apply starting next month.

  4. Opravili všetko, počnúc strechou a končiac pivnicou.

    They repaired everything, from the roof to the cellar.

    Word by Word: They-repaired everything, starting roof and ending cellar.

  5. Počítal prítomných počnúc od posledného radu.

    He counted the people present, starting from the last row.

    Word by Word: He-counted present-ones starting from last row.

    With od, the noun is in the genitive.

Common Mistakes

  • Using the genitive without od.

    Počnúc pondelka bude obchod otvorený do ôsmej.
    Počnúc pondelkom bude obchod otvorený do ôsmej.

    Počnúc alone takes the instrumental: pondelkom. The genitive pondelka is only used after počnúc od.

  • Mixing od with the instrumental.

    Počnúc od pondelkom bude obchod otvorený do ôsmej.
    Počnúc od pondelka bude obchod otvorený do ôsmej.

    Od always takes the genitive. Choose either počnúc pondelkom or počnúc od pondelka.

How It Connects

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

počnúc / končiac + InstrumentalLevel 6Starting with and Ending with

Learn This First

Before Starting With and Ending With, learn The Transgressive and Instrumental Singular Endings. počnúc and končiac are frozen transgressives. They take the instrumental.

Words in This Pattern

končiť