I can name all the months and seasons, say when my birthday and name day are — Mám narodeniny v máji — and what I do in summer and in winter.
Január, február: months and seasons
Január, február: months and seasons
Why: to name the month and the season, say when your birthday and name day are, and what you do in summer and in winter.
The months look like English ones but are written lowercase. “In January” is v januári; before február it is vo februári. The ending changes: v marci, v máji, v auguste — the forms are in the table: learn them as set phrases. The stress is on the first syllable; the mark over a letter is length: január, február.
Seasons: English says “in” for every season; Slovak uses two prepositions: na jar, v lete, na jeseň, v zime. Spring and fall take na; summer and winter take v.
Dates and holidays: Dnes je prvý máj — an ordinal number + the month. “My birthday is in …” is Mám narodeniny v … (“I have a birthday …”), with mať, like Mám … rokov. meniny means “name day”: every name has its own day in the Slovak calendar, and on that day people congratulate the person.
The word čas means “time”; an hour is hodina.
Common mistakes:
• × “v máj” → “v máji”.
• × “v leto”, “v zima”, “Letom”, “Zimou” → “v lete”, “v zime”.
• × “v jar” → “na jar”.
• × “Január” with a capital in mid-sentence → “január”.
Months: when?
Learn the forms as a whole. vo is used only before February.
| Month | When? |
|---|---|
| január | v januári |
| február | vo februári |
| marec | v marci |
| apríl | v apríli |
| máj | v máji |
| jún | v júni |
| júl | v júli |
| august | v auguste |
| september | v septembri |
| október | v októbri |
| november | v novembri |
| december | v decembri |
Seasons
Spring and fall take na; summer and winter take v.
| Season | When? | Months |
|---|---|---|
| jar | na jar | marec, apríl, máj |
| leto | v lete | jún, júl, august |
| jeseň | na jeseň | september, október, november |
| zima | v zime | december, január, február |
Lesson notes
Január, február: months and seasons
Why: to name the month and the season, say when your birthday and name day are, and what you do in summer and in winter.
The months look like English ones but are written lowercase. “In January” is v januári; before február it is vo februári. The ending changes: v marci, v máji, v auguste — the forms are in the table: learn them as set phrases. The stress is on the first syllable; the mark over a letter is length: január, február.
Seasons: English says “in” for every season; Slovak uses two prepositions: na jar, v lete, na jeseň, v zime. Spring and fall take na; summer and winter take v.
Dates and holidays: Dnes je prvý máj — an ordinal number + the month. “My birthday is in …” is Mám narodeniny v … (“I have a birthday …”), with mať, like Mám … rokov. meniny means “name day”: every name has its own day in the Slovak calendar, and on that day people congratulate the person.
The word čas means “time”; an hour is hodina.
Common mistakes:
• × “v máj” → “v máji”.
• × “v leto”, “v zima”, “Letom”, “Zimou” → “v lete”, “v zime”.
• × “v jar” → “na jar”.
• × “Január” with a capital in mid-sentence → “január”.