čo + Genitive (Exclamation)
What a Lot of!
Čo or koľko + genitive makes an exclamation about quantity: Čo tu je ľudí! (What a lot of people there are here!), Koľko kníh! (So many books!), Koľko tu bolo snehu! (There was so much snow here!).
How It Works
An exclamation of amount. Put čo or koľko at the start and the noun in the genitive, as after other words of quantity:
- Čo tu je ľudí! (What a lot of people there are here!)
- Koľko kníh! (So many books!)
- Čo ten chlap má sily! (How strong that man is!)
The word order is often čo / koľko + verb + noun, with the noun at the end for emphasis. In speech the sentence has exclamatory intonation, and in writing it ends with an exclamation mark.
Which genitive. Things you count go into the genitive plural: ľudí, kníh, turistov. Things you do not count go into the genitive singular: snehu, jedla, vody, sily. This is the same idea as the partitive genitive.
The verb. In the past tense the verb is neuter singular, just as after päť or veľa: Koľko ľudí prišlo! Čo tam bolo jedla!
Question or exclamation. Koľko also asks a question: Koľko kníh máš? The exclamation uses the same grammar and is told apart by intonation. Čo in this meaning is expressive and belongs to everyday speech.
Examples (6)
- Čo tu je ľudí!
What a lot of people there are here!
Word by Word: What here is of-people!
- Koľko kníh!
So many books!
Word by Word: How-many of-books!
Kniha → kníh, the genitive plural.
- Čo ten chlap má sily!
How strong that man is!
Word by Word: What that guy has of-strength!
Sila is a mass noun, so it takes the genitive singular sily.
- Koľko tu bolo snehu!
There was so much snow here!
Word by Word: How-much here was of-snow!
- Čo tam bolo jedla!
There was so much food there!
Word by Word: What there was of-food!
- Koľko ľudí prišlo na koncert!
So many people came to the concert!
Word by Word: How-many of-people came(n sg) to concert!
After koľko, the past-tense verb is neuter singular: prišlo.
Common Mistakes
Using the nominative plural instead of the genitive plural.
Koľko knihy!Koľko kníh!The exclamation needs the genitive plural: kníh. Knihy would mean 'of the book' or 'books' in the nominative, not 'so many books'.
Leaving the noun in the nominative after čo.
Čo tu je ľudia!Čo tu je ľudí!In this exclamation the noun is in the genitive: ľudí.
Using a plural verb.
Koľko ľudí prišli na koncert!Koľko ľudí prišlo na koncert!After koľko with the genitive, the past-tense verb is neuter singular: prišlo.
How It Connects
Learn This First
Before What a Lot Of!, learn Genitive Plural Endings and Genitive After Amounts. The noun is in the genitive, often the genitive plural. It builds on genitive after amounts.
Related Patterns
- Some of Something: Partitive Genitive
Mass nouns take the genitive singular, as in the partitive genitive: snehu, jedla.
Level 5 - koľkoHow Much and How Many
The same koľko asks a question about quantity.
Level 1 - niet + GenitiveThere Is No: Niet
Niet also takes the genitive for an amount, but it says there is none.
Level 5
Words in This Pattern
Practice čo + Genitive (Exclamation) in Bubblegum
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