Unstressed Words in Second Position

Level 3

Some short Slovak words have no stress of their own. They cannot start a clause and cannot float freely: they sit together right after the first stressed word or phrase.

How It Works

Which words? Príklonky are short, unstressed words that lean on the word before them:

  • the past and conditional helpers som, si, sme, ste and by
  • the reflexive words sa and si
  • short pronouns such as mi, ti, mu, ma, ťa, ho, ju, nám, vám, im

Second position. They stand right after the first stressed element of the clause, whatever it is:

  • one word: Včera som ho videl. / Videl som ho včera.
  • a whole phrase: Moja sestra sa volá Eva.
  • a question word: Kde si ho videl?
  • a conjunction in a subordinate clause: Viem, že si ho videl. Keby som mal čas, …

A fixed order inside the group.

  • 1. by
  • 2. som, si, sme, ste
  • 3. sa, si
  • 4. dative: mi, ti, mu, jej, nám, vám, im
  • 5. accusative: ma, ťa, ho, ju, nás, vás, ich

So: Kúpil by som si ho. (I would buy it for myself.) Dal som mu ho. (I gave it to him.) Note that the dative comes before the accusative, the opposite of English “gave it to him”.

Right after the group come words like to and však: Povedal som mu to. Nemal som však čas.

In the third person the past tense has no helper, so only the other words move: Včera ho videl. See the past tense and the conditional.

Examples (6)

  1. Včera som ho videl.

    I saw him yesterday.

    Word by Word: Yesterday AUX him saw.

  2. Moja sestra sa volá Eva.

    My sister's name is Eva.

    Word by Word: My sister herself calls Eva.

    The whole phrase moja sestra fills the first slot, so sa comes after it.

  3. Kde si ho kúpil?

    Where did you buy it?

    Word by Word: Where AUX-you it bought?

  4. Viem, že si mi to povedal.

    I know you told me.

    Word by Word: I-know that AUX-you me it told.

  5. Kúpil by som si ho.

    I would buy it for myself.

    Word by Word: Bought would AUX myself it.

    By, then som, then si, then ho: the fixed order.

  6. Dnes sa mi nechce ísť von.

    I don't feel like going out today.

    Word by Word: Today itself me not-wants to-go out.

Common Mistakes

  • Starting a sentence with an unstressed word.

    Sa volám Peter.
    Volám sa Peter.

    Sa cannot be first in a clause. It follows the first stressed word.

  • Leaving a short pronoun at the end, as in English.

    Včera som videl ho.
    Včera som ho videl.

    Ho is unstressed, so it joins som in the second position.

  • Putting the accusative before the dative.

    Dal som ho mu.
    Dal som mu ho.

    Inside the group the dative (mu) comes before the accusative (ho).

How It Connects

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

Unstressed Words in Second PositionLevel 3

Learn This First

Before Unstressed Words in Second Position, learn The Past Tense, Reflexive Verbs With sa and Dative Pronouns. som in the past tense is an unstressed word. sa is an unstressed word. Short dative pronouns such as mi are unstressed words.

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