How to Express Time and Date in Slovak for English Speakers

Understanding the Basics of Time and Date in Slovak

Expressing time and date in Slovak involves specific vocabulary and grammatical structures that differ from English. This article will guide you through the essential phrases and rules to help you communicate dates and times effectively in Slovak.

Days of the Week in Slovak

Knowing the days of the week is fundamental when talking about dates. Here are the Slovak days of the week with their English equivalents:

Months of the Year in Slovak

Months are important when specifying dates. Below are the Slovak names for the months:

Telling the Time in Slovak

Slovak uses the 24-hour clock in formal contexts, but the 12-hour clock is common in everyday speech. Here are some key phrases and examples:

• What time is it? – Koľko je hodín?
• It is 3 o'clock – Sú tri hodiny
• It is half past five – Je pol šiestej
• It is quarter to eight – Je štvrť na osem
• It is 10:15 – Je desať pätnásť

Expressing Dates in Slovak

Dates in Slovak are usually written in the day-month-year format. When speaking, the day is often expressed with the ordinal number and the month in the genitive case.

For example, "the 5th of May" is piaty mája. The year is usually stated as a cardinal number.

Example sentence: Dnes je piaty mája dva tisíce dvadsaťštyri. (Today is the 5th of May 2024.)

Common Time and Date Expressions

Here are some useful phrases to express time and date in Slovak: