I can say a Slovak letter by the name used when spelling a word aloud, hear a long vowel, and not move the stress onto it: in Slovak the stress is always on the first syllable.
Letters, stress, and length
Letters, stress, and length
The Slovak alphabet has 46 letters: Latin letters, letters with marks, and three two-character letters: ch, dz, dž. Letter names are used to spell a word aloud; a long vowel is named with dlhé: “dlhé á”; ý is “dlhý ypsilon”. The table with audio is below.
Slovak stress is always on the first syllable. You never need to look for it.
The mark ´ over a vowel is the dĺžeň, the length mark. It makes a vowel long — á, é, í, ó, ú, ý — not stressed. A long syllable can stand anywhere: in robím (I do) the stressed syllable is ro-, and the long one is -bím. Don't move the stress to the long syllable.
Short and long vowels tell words apart: pomaly (slowly) — pomalý (slow). The checker doesn't see the mark, so you'll tell such pairs apart by ear and by choice.
i and y sound the same, [i]: ty (you), ryba (fish). The letter y is never the “eye” of English “my”. Learn the spelling with the word.
Unstressed vowels stay full: o always sounds [o], never “uh”: okno, doma.
The tags (masc.), (fem.), (neut.) on the lesson words give the gender; module 1 explains it.
Common mistakes:
• × stress on -bím in robím — the stress is on ro-; -bím is just long.
• × y said like “eye” in ryba — it sounds [riba].
• × okno with “uh” at the end — okno and doma are read with [o].
• × the mark ´ as a stress mark — it marks length.
Short and long vowels
A long vowel lasts twice as long, but it doesn't take the stress.
| Letter | Short | Long | How it sounds |
|---|---|---|---|
| a | ma | má | like a in “father”; á lasts twice as long |
| e | me | mé | like e in “bet”, with no “ay” glide |
| i | mi | mí | like ee in “see” |
| y | my | mý | also [i]; never the “eye” of “my” |
| o | mo | mó | a pure o, stressed or not; never “uh” |
| u | mu | mú | like oo in “food” |
Where the stress is and where the length is
The stressed syllable is always the first. The mark ´ shows only length.
| Which syllable is long | Word | Stressed syllable | Translation |
|---|---|---|---|
| no long syllable | okno | ok- | window |
| first: also the stressed one | rýchly | rý- | fast |
| second | robím | ro- | I do |
| second | malý | ma- | small |
| third | taxikár | ta- | taxi driver |
Lesson notes
Letters, stress, and length
The Slovak alphabet has 46 letters: Latin letters, letters with marks, and three two-character letters: ch, dz, dž. Letter names are used to spell a word aloud; a long vowel is named with dlhé: “dlhé á”; ý is “dlhý ypsilon”. The table with audio is below.
Slovak stress is always on the first syllable. You never need to look for it.
The mark ´ over a vowel is the dĺžeň, the length mark. It makes a vowel long — á, é, í, ó, ú, ý — not stressed. A long syllable can stand anywhere: in robím (I do) the stressed syllable is ro-, and the long one is -bím. Don't move the stress to the long syllable.
Short and long vowels tell words apart: pomaly (slowly) — pomalý (slow). The checker doesn't see the mark, so you'll tell such pairs apart by ear and by choice.
i and y sound the same, [i]: ty (you), ryba (fish). The letter y is never the “eye” of English “my”. Learn the spelling with the word.
Unstressed vowels stay full: o always sounds [o], never “uh”: okno, doma.
The tags (masc.), (fem.), (neut.) on the lesson words give the gender; module 1 explains it.
Common mistakes:
• × stress on -bím in robím — the stress is on ro-; -bím is just long.
• × y said like “eye” in ryba — it sounds [riba].
• × okno with “uh” at the end — okno and doma are read with [o].
• × the mark ´ as a stress mark — it marks length.
How to type á, ä, ô, ď, and how answers are checked
You only need to add the Slovak keyboard once: the steps for phones and computers are in the table next to this text. On a phone, long-press the letter: a → á, ä; o → ô; d → ď.
You can leave out the marks: “robim” for “robím” counts. The answer key shows the spelling with the mark: learn that one.
The checker forgives a missing mark, but not a wrong letter: i and y, h and ch, a and e are all checked. So words that differ only by a mark are checked by choice, not by typing.
ch, dz, dž are written with two characters, but each is one letter and one sound.