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Type Slovak letters on an English keyboard: a full guide
Type á, ä, č, ď, ľ, ĺ, ô, ŕ and the other Slovak letters on a US keyboard on Mac, Windows and Linux, and why ĺ and ŕ are the hard ones.
Slovak has seventeen letters with marks: á, ä, č, ď, é, í, ĺ, ľ, ň, ó, ô, ŕ, š, ť, ú, ý, ž. Four marks do the work. The dĺžeň makes a sound long (á, é, í, ĺ, ó, ŕ, ú, ý). The mäkčeň makes it soft (č, ď, ľ, ň, š, ť, ž). The vokáň sits on ô, and two dots sit on ä.
Some of them are rare. ĺ and ŕ appear in only a few words, such as dĺžka and vŕba. But a US keyboard has none of them, and a Slovak sentence without them reads like a telegram. Here are the ways to type them.
On a Mac
Press and hold. Hold a letter key to see the accented forms available in the current app and input source. Choose a letter by clicking it or pressing its number. The menu does not appear in every app and may not contain every letter you need. For a missing letter, use a language layout or Character Viewer.
Option shortcuts. On the standard ABC (US) layout, Option + E and then a vowel types the dĺžeň (á, é, í, ó, ú), Option + U and then a types ä, and Option + I and then o types ô. The mäkčeň is not on this layout. The ABC - Extended input source offers more marks. Add it in Keyboard settings, then choose Show Keyboard Viewer from the Input menu. Hold Option to see its dead keys, press the key for the mark, then type the letter. Use Character Viewer if the letter is not available.
The Slovak layout. Open System Settings → Keyboard → Text Input → Edit, press +, and add Slovak. Use Keyboard Viewer to check the key positions. Switch with Control + Space or the globe key if it is set to change input sources.
For an occasional letter, open Character Viewer with Control + Command + Space. Expand the viewer if needed, search for the letter, and double-click it to insert it.
On Windows
The Slovak keyboards. Open Settings → Time & language → Language & region and add Slovak or only its keyboard. You can choose Slovak (QWERTZ) or Slovak (QWERTY). Both put ľ, š, č, ť, ž, ý, á, í, é on the number row, so the digits need Shift. ú and ä take the bracket keys. The rare letters, ĺ, ŕ, ď and others, need a dead key first: you press the accent, then the letter. Switch layouts with Windows + Space.
Alt codes. The leading-zero codes below use Windows-1252, the Western European code page. Results can differ with the system code page. Hold Alt and type a number on the number pad with Num Lock on: 0225 á, 0228 ä, 0233 é, 0237 í, 0243 ó, 0244 ô, 0250 ú, 0253 ý, 0154 š, 0158 ž. Windows-1252 has no codes of this kind for č, ď, ľ, ĺ, ň, ŕ and ť. In Microsoft Word you can type the Unicode number and press Alt + X: 013E gives ľ, 013A gives ĺ.
US-International. ' and then a vowel types the dĺžeň, " and then a types ä, and ^ and then o types ô. There is no mäkčeň, and the quote keys now wait for the next key.
On Linux
GNOME and KDE offer Slovak and Slovak (QWERTY), with the same number row as on Windows. A Compose key covers every letter: Compose, c, l types ľ, Compose, ', l types ĺ, Compose, ', r types ŕ, Compose, ^, o types ô, and Compose, ", a types ä.
The cost of each way
Shortcuts and Compose keep your US layout, but each marked letter is three keys. The Slovak layout is quick for Slovak and moves the digits and punctuation for everything else. If you also write English, code or spreadsheets full of numbers, you switch layouts all day and type ľ where you wanted a 2. That is why so many Slovaks abroad write bez diakritiky.
Type without diacritics, get Slovak
Typeet lets you keep the US layout and type Slovak as you would in a quick message, without any marks. When you finish a word with a space or punctuation, Typeet writes the correct spelling:
- Zajtra rano idem k lekarovi, takze pridem neskor. becomes Zajtra ráno idem k lekárovi, takže prídem neskôr.
- V sobotu ideme k babke, pojdes s nami? becomes V sobotu ideme k babke, pôjdeš s nami?
- Dlzka cesty je dvesto kilometrov. becomes Dĺžka cesty je dvesto kilometrov.
- Na obed bude maso a zemiaky. becomes Na obed bude mäso a zemiaky.
You do not need to remember which words take ĺ or ô. Typeet looks up each word in frequency lists for Slovak and for English and picks the most likely spelling, and the words around it decide when two spellings are both real. English words, iPhone, my_var and words with digits stay as they are.
On Slovak test sentences it had not seen before, from the Tatoeba collection, Typeet adds 96.2% of the missing letters, 97.9% of all words come out right, and it leaves 99.99% of English words alone. It knows 211,696 Slovak words. We also typed Jonáš Záborský's Dva dni v Chujave without its diacritics, 21,382 words, and 92.3% came back right.
So it does make mistakes. Press Backspace right after a fix to undo it, and after ten undos of the same word Typeet stops changing it. To switch a word to its other spelling, press Option + Backspace on a Mac or Ctrl + Backspace on Windows and Linux.
Typeet works in every app on macOS 13 or later, Windows 10 or later, and Linux. It runs on your computer, and nothing you type is stored or sent. It is free for 14 days, then a one-time $19.
Questions
How do I type ĺ and ŕ on a Mac?
Use Character Viewer to find ĺ and ŕ, or add the Slovak input source and check its dead keys in Keyboard Viewer. Typeet can also restore the marks in supported words.
What is the difference between ľ and ĺ?
ľ with the mäkčeň is a soft l, as in ľudia. ĺ with the dĺžeň is a long l, as in dĺžka. They are different letters.
Is there an Alt code for č or ľ?
Not with the standard Windows-1252 codes. On that code page, of the letters listed in this post, the Alt + number pad codes cover only á, ä, é, í, ó, ô, ú, ý, š and ž. In Word, type 010D for č or 013E for ľ and press Alt + X.
Can I use the Czech keyboard for Slovak?
Only partly. The Czech layout has no ä, ľ, ĺ, ŕ or ô on its own keys, so you would still need dead keys for them. The Slovak layout is the better choice.