-ová

Women's Surnames in -ová

Level 2

Slovak women's surnames usually have their own feminine form: Novák becomes Nováková, Kováč becomes Kováčová, and names that look like adjectives change -ý to -á, as Hrušovský becomes Hrušovská.

How It Works

Forming the feminine surname.

  • Consonant + -ová: Novák → Nováková, Kováč → Kováčová, Horváth → Horváthová
  • Final -a is dropped: Hlinka → Hlinková, Bača → Bačová
  • Adjective-like names change -ý to -á: Hrušovský → Hrušovská, Malý → Malá, Čierny → Čierna

Declension. The feminine surname takes the endings of pekná: Nováková, genitive, dative and locative Novákovej, accusative Novákovú, instrumental Novákovou. Hrušovská works the same way: Hrušovskej, Hrušovskú, Hrušovskou. The man's surname changes like a noun (Novák, s Novákom) or, if it looks like an adjective, like pekný (Hrušovský, s Hrušovským).

Couples and families. pán Novák a pani Nováková. The whole family is Novákovci; see whole families with -ovci. Before the surname, pani itself does not change: s pani Novákovou.

Foreign names and personal choice. Slovak texts traditionally add -ová to foreign women's surnames too; see foreign women's surnames. Some women, especially those with foreign or minority roots, officially use a surname without -ová. Use the form the person herself uses.

Examples (6)

  1. Volám sa Jana Nováková.

    My name is Jana Nováková.

    Word by Word: I-call myself Jana Nováková.

  2. Pán Kováč a pani Kováčová bývajú vedľa nás.

    Mr and Mrs Kováč live next door to us.

    Word by Word: Mr Kováč and Mrs Kováčová live beside us.

  3. Pani Hrušovská je naša učiteľka.

    Mrs Hrušovská is our teacher.

    Word by Word: Mrs Hrušovská is our teacher.

    Hrušovský is an adjective-like surname, so -ý becomes -á.

  4. Poznáš Martu Hlinkovú?

    Do you know Marta Hlinková?

    Word by Word: You-know Marta Hlinková?

    Hlinka drops its -a before -ová. In the accusative the ending is -ú.

  5. Mám stretnutie s pani Novákovou.

    I have a meeting with Mrs Nováková.

    Word by Word: I-have meeting with Mrs Nováková.

  6. Toto je kancelária pani Malej.

    This is Mrs Malá's office.

    Word by Word: This is office of-Mrs Malá.

    Malá takes the adjective genitive -ej.

Common Mistakes

  • Adding -ová to an adjective-like surname.

    Jana Hrušovskýová
    Jana Hrušovská

    Surnames ending in -ý only change -ý to -á. They do not add -ová.

  • Keeping the final -a before -ová.

    Marta Hlinkaová
    Marta Hlinková

    A surname ending in -a drops it: Hlinka becomes Hlinková.

  • Leaving the feminine surname in the nominative.

    Hovoril som s pani Nováková.
    Hovoril som s pani Novákovou.

    Pani stays the same, but the surname declines like an adjective. After s it is instrumental: Novákovou.

How It Connects

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

-ováLevel 2Women's Surnames in -ová

Learn This First

Before Women's Surnames in -ová, learn Feminine Nouns and Hard Adjectives Like pekný. Women's surnames take a feminine form. -ová and -á surnames decline like adjectives.