How to Form Questions in Slovak for English Speakers

Understanding Question Formation in Slovak

Forming questions in Slovak is straightforward once you understand the basic structures. Unlike English, Slovak often uses intonation and question words to indicate a question rather than changing word order drastically.

Yes/No Questions

Yes/No questions in Slovak are typically formed by using a rising intonation at the end of a statement, without changing the word order. For example, the statement "Ty ideš do školy." (You are going to school.) becomes a question by intonation: "Ty ideš do školy?" (Are you going to school?).

You can also add the question particle "či" at the beginning to clarify that it is a question, especially in formal or written Slovak.

Using Question Words

Slovak uses question words similar to English to ask for specific information. These include:

• Kto? (Who?)
• Čo? (What?)
• Kde? (Where?)
• Kedy? (When?)
• Prečo? (Why?)
• Ako? (How?)

These question words usually appear at the beginning of the question, followed by the verb and the rest of the sentence.

Question Word Order and Intonation

In Slovak, the word order in questions with question words is generally the same as in statements, but the intonation rises at the end to indicate a question. For example:

Statement: Ty ideš do školy. (You are going to school.)

Question: Kde ty ideš? (Where are you going?)

Sometimes the subject pronoun can be omitted if it is clear from context, especially in spoken Slovak.

Tag Questions in Slovak

Tag questions are less common in Slovak than in English, but you can use "že?" at the end of a sentence to form a tag question, similar to "isn't it?" or "right?" in English.