Slovak Phrases for Travellers: Pronunciation and Everyday Words

How Slovak is pronounced

Slovak uses the Latin alphabet with marks above some letters. A few that matter: č sounds like ch in church, š like sh, ž like the s in measure, ď, ť and ň are soft versions of d, t and n (like dy, ty, ny), and ch is a throaty h as in Scottish loch. An acute accent lengthens a vowel, so á is a longer a. The letter ô sounds like wo.

Every word is stressed on its first syllable, which is why the hints below capitalise the start of each word.

Greetings and politeness

Use Dobrý deň with shop staff, waiters and older people. Ahoj is for friends and people your age, and you will hear it as both hello and goodbye.

Restaurants and bars

A woman says Som vegetariánka. For what to order, see Slovak food to try and the Slovak beer guide.

Getting around and getting help

The emergency number is 112. Useful signs include vchod (entrance), východ (exit), otvorené (open) and zatvorené (closed). For trains see Bratislava to Košice, where station signs are in Slovak.

Slovak and Czech

Slovak and Czech are closely related and speakers understand each other well. Do not use Czech words to a Slovak waiter as a shortcut, though. Děkuji will be understood but ďakujem is better, and a few words differ in meaning, so keep to Slovak where you can. Hungarian is also spoken in southern Slovakia, which is a different language entirely.

Numbers and days

Counting helps with prices and times. One to five are jeden (YEH-den), dva (dvah), tri (tree), štyri (SHTI-ree) and päť (peht). Ten is desať (DEH-saht). Days of the week begin with pondelok (PON-deh-lok) for Monday and end with nedeľa (NEH-deh-lya) for Sunday, which is useful when you read opening hours on shop doors.

Common mistakes with Slovak

Visitors often skip the first-syllable stress, which makes words hard to catch. Another is dropping the soft marks, so ďakujem becomes dakujem, which a Slovak will still understand but which sounds different. Avoid reading ch as in church, because it is a throat sound. Finally, do not worry about grammar: Slovak has six cases, but a short phrase in the basic form is enough for travel. Native speakers are usually patient and pleased that you tried.

Practice aloud on the flight: say each phrase three times with the first syllable stressed. Save the table on your phone for offline use, since mobile data may be limited at a rural bus stop or on a mountain path. A short written note, such as the name of your hotel, also helps when you ask a taxi driver or a passer-by for directions.