k / ku + Dative

Toward: K and Ku

Level 2

k / ku + dative = toward, to someone's: Idem k lekárovi. (I'm going to the doctor's.) ku kamarátke (to my friend's)

How It Works

What k means

  • toward or up to a place: k moru (to the seaside), Sadnite si k stolu. (Sit down at the table.)
  • to a person or to their home: k babke (to grandma's), k lekárovi (to the doctor's)
  • toward a time: k večeru (toward evening)
  • to go with something or for an occasion: Čo si dáš k pitiu? (What will you have to drink?), darček k narodeninám (a birthday present)

k, do or na? Idem k nemocnici means I'm walking toward the hospital. Idem do nemocnice means I'm going into it. For people, use k: Idem k zubárovi. (I'm going to the dentist's.) See Going Into: do and Going Onto and To: na.

Going there, being there. k is for movement to a person. Once you are there, use u with the genitive: Idem k babke. → Som u babky. See Common Prepositions With the Genitive.

k or ku?

  • ku before k and g: ku kamarátovi, ku Gabrielovi
  • before some hard-to-say consonant groups, ku is common but optional: ku škole or k škole
  • ku with the pronoun: ku mne
  • k everywhere else: k tebe, k nám, k stolu, k oknu

More on the extra vowel in Prepositions With an Extra Vowel. After k, third-person pronouns begin with n-: k nemu, k nej, k nim.

Examples (6)

  1. Idem k lekárovi.

    I'm going to the doctor's.

  2. Večer idem ku kamarátke.

    In the evening I'm going to my friend's place.

    ku before a word starting with k.

  3. V lete pôjdeme k moru.

    In the summer we'll go to the seaside.

  4. Poď ku mne!

    Come over to me!

    The pronoun mne always takes ku.

  5. Sadnite si k stolu.

    Sit down at the table.

    k shows the movement to the table. Once seated, you are pri stole.

  6. Čo si dáš k pitiu?

    What will you have to drink?

Common Mistakes

  • Keeping k before a word starting with k.

    Idem k kamarátovi.
    Idem ku kamarátovi.

    Before k or g, the preposition becomes ku so it can be pronounced.

  • Using k for going into a town.

    Zajtra idem k Bratislave.
    Zajtra idem do Bratislavy.

    K Bratislave means toward Bratislava or near it, not into the city. To go to a town, use do with the genitive.

  • Using the nominative after k.

    Idem k lekár.
    Idem k lekárovi.

    K always takes the dative: lekár becomes lekárovi.

How It Connects

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

k / ku + DativeLevel 2Toward: K and Ku

Learn This First

Before Toward: k and ku, learn Dative Singular Endings. k / ku takes dative endings.

Words in This Pattern

k