Editing Slovak language (section)

===Syntax===
The main features of Slovak syntax are as follows:
*The verb ([[predicate (grammar)|predicate]]) agrees in person and number with its [[subject (grammar)|subject]].

Some examples include the following:
:{{lang|sk|Speváčka spieva}}. (The+singer+feminine suffix {{lang|sk|čka}} is+singing.)
:({{lang|sk|Speváčk-a spieva-∅}}, where -∅ is (the [[null morpheme|empty]]) third-person-singular ending)

:{{lang|sk|Speváčky spievajú}}. (Singer+feminine suffix {{lang|sk|čka}}+plural suffix {{lang|sk|y}} are+singing.)
:({{lang|sk|Speváčk-y spieva-j-ú}}; {{lang|sk|-ú}} is a third-person-plural ending, and /j/ is a [[Hiatus (linguistics)|hiatus]] sound)

:{{lang|sk|My speváčky spievame}}. (We the+singer+feminine suffix {{lang|sk|čka}}+plural suffix {{lang|sk|y}} are+singing.)
:({{lang|sk|My speváčk-y spieva-me}}, where {{lang|sk|-me}} is the first-person-plural ending)
:and so forth.
*Adjectives, pronouns and numerals agree in [[Grammatical person|person]], [[Grammatical gender|gender]] and [[Grammatical case|case]] with the noun to which they refer.
*Adjectives precede their noun. Botanic or zoological terms are exceptions (e.g. {{lang|sk|mačka divá}}, literally "cat wild", {{lang|la|Felis silvestris}}) as is the naming of Holy Spirit ({{lang|sk|Duch Svätý}}) in a majority of churches.

Word order in Slovak is relatively free, since strong [[inflection]] enables the identification of [[Grammatical relation|grammatical roles]] (subject, object, predicate, etc.) regardless of word placement. This relatively free word order allows the use of word order to convey [[information structure|topic and emphasis]].

Some examples are as follows:
:{{lang|sk|Ten veľký muž tam dnes otvára obchod}}. = That big man opens a store there today. ({{lang|sk|ten}} = that; {{lang|sk|veľký}} = big; {{lang|sk|muž}} = man; {{lang|sk|tam}} = there; {{lang|sk|dnes}} = today; {{lang|sk|otvára}} = opens; {{lang|sk|obchod}} = store) – The word order does not emphasize any specific detail, just general information.
:{{lang|sk|Ten veľký muž dnes otvára obchod tam}}. = That big man is today opening a store there. – This word order emphasizes the place ({{lang|sk|tam}} = there).
:{{lang|sk|Dnes tam otvára obchod ten veľký muž}}. = Today over there a store is being opened by that big man. – This word order focuses on the person who is opening the store ({{lang|sk|ten}} = that; {{lang|sk|veľký}} = big; {{lang|sk|muž}} = man).
:{{lang|sk|Obchod tam dnes otvára ten veľký muž}}. = The store over there is today being opened by that big man. – Depending on the intonation the focus can be either on the store itself or on the person.

The [[Markedness|unmarked]] order is [[subject–verb–object]]. Variation in word order is generally possible, but word order is not completely free.
In the above example, the noun phrase {{lang|sk|ten veľký muž}} cannot be split up, so that the following combinations are not possible:
:{{lang|sk|Ten otvára veľký muž tam dnes obchod}}.
:{{lang|sk|Obchod muž tam ten veľký dnes otvára}}. ...

And the following sentence is stylistically infelicitous:
:{{lang|sk|Obchod ten veľký muž dnes tam otvára}}. (Only possible in a poem or other forms of artistic style.)

The regular variants are as follows: 
: {{lang|sk|Ten veľký muž tam dnes otvára obchod.}}
: {{lang|sk|Ten veľký muž tam otvára dnes obchod.}}
: {{lang|sk|Obchod tam dnes otvára ten veľký muž.}}
: {{lang|sk|Obchod tam otvára dnes ten veľký muž.}}
: {{lang|sk|Dnes tam obchod otvára ten veľký muž.}}
: {{lang|sk|Dnes tam ten veľký muž otvára obchod.}}