# Slovak: to go - to come, here - there



## mateo19

Good day!

I had a question.  I've seen that Slovak tends to have pairs for certain words, such as: Kde si? (Where are you?) but Kam ideš? (Where are you going?)  My Slovak book also says that "to go" and "to come" are the same verb, isť.  The example in the book is Ide tam (he is going there), Ide sem (he is coming here).  I guess I´m just a little overwhelmed by so many new words.  To say here, Is "tu" used for non movement and "sem" used for movement, like kde and kam?

How do you say "come here"?  My attempt: "Poď sem!"

Thank you for giving me more information on this topic!  Have a great weekend.
Matthew


----------



## Tagarela

Ahoj,

Mateo, I´m a begginer in Czech, and I´ve read something about that other that, I think, that at least in Czech, it is the same verb. 
Wait for some better answers. 

Dovidenia.:


----------



## jazyk

I wasn't going to write, since I don't know Slovak, but based on my Czech I will tell you what I know. People who know better will be more than welcome to correct or corroborate what I say:



> To say here, Is "tu" used for non movement and "sem" used for movement, like kde and kam?


Yes.



> How do you say "come here"?  My attempt: "Poď sem!"


This sounds right to me.



> Mateo, I´m a begginer in Czech, and I´ve read something about that other that, I think, that at least in Czech, it is the same verb.


It can be the same verb (in Czech jít or jet, depending on whether you're walking or driving) but there are perfective forms that differ: přijdu/přijedu means I will come/I'm going to come and půjdu/pojedu I'll go and I'm going to go. I don't know if it works the same way in Slovak, but it probably does.


----------



## mateo19

Olá, amigos!

Na verdade eu não sabia que tivesse tantos brasileiros que são estudantes da língua tcheca!  Também estou aprendendo o português e estou adorando!!!  Parabéns por vocês terem um idioma tão bonito!


Muito obrigado pelas respostas.  Tal vez eu tenha feito mal a minha pergunta e por isso poucas pessoas me responderam. . . Espero que um nativo possa me explicar como é.  Eu acho que tem um adverbo para movimento (para aqui) e outro para não-movimento (aqui fixo).

Bom, vamos ver quem mais deixa um comentário aqui.  Obrigado mais uma vez, se cuidam bastante!!!  Matthew


----------



## jazyk

> Eu acho que tem um adverbo para movimento (para aqui) e outro para não-movimento (aqui fixo).


Exato. E já me referi a isso:



> Quote:
> To say here, Is "tu" used for non movement and "sem" used for movement, like kde and kam?
> Yes.


----------



## Jana337

Hello, 

Everything written in this thread so far seems correct to my Czech eyes.


> To say here, Is "tu" used for non movement and "sem" used for movement, like kde and kam?


I am not sure about Slovakia but in some regions at least, *tu/tady* and *kde *are colloquially used for movement. You shouldn't do it because it is sloppy but if you ever hear it, it might be comforting to know that natives got it wrong, not you.


----------



## mateo19

Thank you for your answer, Jana!
I guess I had two questions packed into one.

1) If the location adverbs change such as "Poď sem", but "Som tu".  Does it have a pair as in "Idem tam" but "Ty si tam"?  Because you say "Kam ideš?" but then you say "Kde je Slovensko?".

2) If "to come" and "to go" are the same verb...  "Come here!"  = Poď sem, "Go there!" Poď tam?

I think our Brazilian friends managed to answer all of the questions though, but I always appreciate lots of feedback!  Slavic languages are awesome!


----------



## jazyk

> 1) If the location adverbs change such as "Poď sem", but "Som tu". Does it have a pair as in "Idem tam" but "Ty si tam"? Because you say "Kam ideš?" but then you say "Kde je Slovensko?".


This is correct.



> 2) If "to come" and "to go" are the same verb...  "Come here!"  = Poď sem, "Go there!" Poď tam?


I think so.



> I think our Brazilian friends managed to answer all of the questions though, but I always appreciate lots of feedback! Slavic languages are awesome!


We either don't have many Slovaks or they don't like to participate.


----------



## Jana337

> 1) If the location adverbs change such as "Poď sem", but "Som tu". Does it have a pair as in "Idem tam" but "Ty si tam"? Because you say "Kam ideš?" but then you say "Kde je Slovensko?".


"Tam" is used for movement as well as a specific position.


> If "to come" and "to go" are the same verb...  "Come here!"  = Poď sem , "Go there!" Poď tam?  unless you say "come with me" perhaps


Well, they are not quite the same verb. This is tricky. The infinitive is the same (ísť) and so are the conjugated forms as far as I can tell, but the imperative isn't. 
Go there. - Bež tam.

I'd feel better if a Slovak native (or someone who knows the language better than I do) confirmed that.


----------



## winpoj

" Go there. - Bež tam." - Spíš bych řekl: "Choď tam."


----------



## mateo19

Thank you once again, Jana!  

Ahoj, Winpoj!
Prepáč, nerozumel som tvoju spravu po slovensky.  "Spíš bych řekl", ako sa to povie po anglicky?  Ďakujem pekne!

Dobrú noc!


----------



## Ayazid

Ahoj Mateo
"Spíš bych řekl" means: "I would rather say". In Slovak it would be: "skôr bych povedal".


----------



## werrr

The verb “ísť” doesn’t mean “to come” in its basic meaning, but it is written so in dictionaries because it is in aspectual pair with this verb:

*ísť* – imperfective verb _(~ to be in motion → to go)_ × *prísť* – perfective verb _(~ to finish a motion → to come/arrive somewhere)_

Of course, you can shift the aspect of the verb “prísť” for some purposes (come → be coming). The imperfective counterpart of “prísť” is “prichádzať”, but sometimes it could be more natural to go back to the original verb “ísť”.



The imperative of the verb “ísť” is irregular as for most of the verbs of movement. There are two possibilities “iď” and “poď” with different meanings.

The variant “poď” is used for a perfective one-time movement to a specific place, otherwise you should use the first variant. (Thus “poď sem” is the right variant for “come here”.)

It’s similar in Czech with the forms “jdi” and “pojď”, but it’s even more complicated in Slovak because of inconsistent differentiation of verbs “ísť” (~ to go once) and “chodiť” (~ to go repetitively). Slovaks somehow tend to use the verb “chodit” in the place of “ísť” (but never vice versa), thus the imperative “iď” is usually replaced with “choď”.

In colloquial Slovak you can use sometimes the verb “bežať” (= to run) instead of “ísť” (= to go), thus the variant “bež tam” is possible in colloquial Slovak.



“Skôr bych povedal” is nice mix of Czech and Slovak, it’s “skôr by som povedal” in proper Slovak.


----------



## Ayazid

werrr said:


> “Skôr bych povedal” is nice mix of Czech and Slovak, it’s “skôr by som povedal” in proper Slovak.



Oh yes, now I have realised that  

The similarity of our languages might be really treacherous but fortunately we understand each other perfectly in spite of these differences


----------

