I can talk about my usual day — Ráno sa sprchujem, jem a pijem — put sa in second position in a sentence, and say how often I do something: vždy, často, niekedy, dvakrát.
Ráno sa sprchujem: reflexive verbs and where sa goes
Ráno sa sprchujem: reflexive verbs and where sa goes
Why: to talk about your usual day and how often you do things.
Reflexive verbs come with the short word sa. It is a separate word, not part of the verb, and it stands second in the sentence, right after the first word or phrase: Ráno sa sprchujem. Sprchujem sa ráno. Kedy sa sprchuješ? The word sa never comes first. You already know it: Ako sa voláš?
English never shows which verbs take sa: sprchovať sa is “to take a shower”, pýtať sa “to ask”, but oddychovať “to rest” has no sa. Learn each verb with or without sa.
Eating and sleeping: jesť — jem, ješ, je, jeme, jete, jedia; piť — pijem … pijú; spať — spím … spia. On je means both “he eats” and “he is”: the sentence shows which. The stress is on the first syllable; the mark over a letter is length: spím, umývam.
How often: zvyčajne, často, niekedy, občas, vždy. With nikdy the verb takes ne- too, unlike English “never”: Nikdy nefajčím. How many times: raz, dvakrát, trikrát, päťkrát — Koľkokrát?
Common mistakes:
• × “Ráno sprchujem sa” → “Ráno sa sprchujem”.
• × “Sa sprchujem ráno” → “Sprchujem sa ráno”.
• × “Učím po slovensky sa” → “Učím sa po slovensky”.
• × “Nikdy fajčím” → “Nikdy nefajčím”.
sa — in second position
sa never comes first.
| First position | Second position | The rest |
|---|---|---|
| Ráno | sa | sprchujem |
| Sprchujem | sa | ráno |
| Kedy | sa | sprchuješ? |
| Ako | sa | voláš? |
jesť, piť, spať
On je means both “he eats” and “he is”.
| Who | jesť — to eat | piť — to drink | spať — to sleep |
|---|---|---|---|
| ja | jem | pijem | spím |
| ty | ješ | piješ | spíš |
| on / ona | je | pije | spí |
| my | jeme | pijeme | spíme |
| vy | jete | pijete | spíte |
| oni / ony | jedia | pijú | spia |
Lesson notes
Ráno sa sprchujem: reflexive verbs and where sa goes
Why: to talk about your usual day and how often you do things.
Reflexive verbs come with the short word sa. It is a separate word, not part of the verb, and it stands second in the sentence, right after the first word or phrase: Ráno sa sprchujem. Sprchujem sa ráno. Kedy sa sprchuješ? The word sa never comes first. You already know it: Ako sa voláš?
English never shows which verbs take sa: sprchovať sa is “to take a shower”, pýtať sa “to ask”, but oddychovať “to rest” has no sa. Learn each verb with or without sa.
Eating and sleeping: jesť — jem, ješ, je, jeme, jete, jedia; piť — pijem … pijú; spať — spím … spia. On je means both “he eats” and “he is”: the sentence shows which. The stress is on the first syllable; the mark over a letter is length: spím, umývam.
How often: zvyčajne, často, niekedy, občas, vždy. With nikdy the verb takes ne- too, unlike English “never”: Nikdy nefajčím. How many times: raz, dvakrát, trikrát, päťkrát — Koľkokrát?
Common mistakes:
• × “Ráno sprchujem sa” → “Ráno sa sprchujem”.
• × “Sa sprchujem ráno” → “Sprchujem sa ráno”.
• × “Učím po slovensky sa” → “Učím sa po slovensky”.
• × “Nikdy fajčím” → “Nikdy nefajčím”.