Slovak active and passive participle

In this lesson we will explain the difference between the active and passive participle. Also, we will review the basic rules about creation of these participles. 

The difference between active and passive participle

Active participle is used with people doing some actions, while passive participle is used with the things that are being used by somebody somehow. Usually, the word base of the verb has to be changed or a prefix added.  

You can see the difference on these two examples.

Dievča číta knihu. = The girl reads a book.

• active = čítajúce dievča (the girl who is reading.)
• passive = čítaná kniha (the book which is read.)

Chlapec píše list. = The boy writes a letter.

• active = píšuci chlapec (the boy who is writing)
• passive = písaný list (the letter which is written)

The active and passive participles are used very rarely in general spoken Slovak language. You can find them mainly in the literature. 

Have a question?

Take online language lessons with a professional teacher

1. Native & verified teachers
2. Free trial lesson
3. Learning materials included

Klára K.

Sofia M.

Katarína K.

Bibiana P.

Mira M.

Nicole H.

Simona N.

Martina C.

Sign up for free

Active participle

Creation of active participle

To create the active participle, you only add a suffix -ci, -ca, -ce to the word base created from 3rd person plural:

Example: 

Remember that the suffix depends on the gender of the noun which it describes.

• -ci = masculine gender (Singular, Plural)
• -ca = feminine gender (Singular)
• -ce = neutral gender (Singular, Plural), feminine gender (Plural), masculine gender (Plural)

Let´s see how the active participle "pracujúci" (from the verb pracovať - to work) changes with different nouns.

All of the active participles are declined accordng to the adjective "cudzí".

Examples

Passive participle

Creation of passive participle

To create passive participle you remove -ť out of infinitives and add suffix -ný (usually when the verb ends with -ať)

Sometimes the words can end with other suffixes, and those are as follows: -tý and -ený (this usually happens when the verb ends with -iť)

Remember that the suffix depends on the gender of the noun which it describes.

• -ný / tý / etý = masculine gender (Singular, Plural)
• -ná / tá / etá = feminine gender (Singular)
• -né / té / eté= neutral gender (Singular, Plural), feminine gender (Plural), masculine gender (Plural)

Let´s see how the passive participle "čítaný" (from the verb čítať - to read) changes with different nouns.

All of the passive participles are declined accoridng to the adjective model "pekný".

Examples

Now, let´s see if you understood this topic and make our exercise!