This week's OVI extracts contain many sentences that are translated from examples of a special kind of Slovak syntax (sentence structure) in the original articles. I mean the typical sort of Slovak sentences which start with a grammatical case (pád) that is OTHER than the nominative (1. pád). For example: Vianočným benefičným koncertom...; Rovnakou sumou prispela...; Spoločný finančný dar ... odovzdal...; Koksárenské komory obsadili...; Súťaže sa zúčastnili...; Košickú skupinu tvorili...

In English there are very few examples of cases left (e.g. whom instead of who), so English sentences tend to keep to a standard word order - Subject (1. pád)/Verb/Object (iný pád). So if I want to reproduce the original Slovak order of ideas in my English version (which I usually do), then I probably have to use passive forms for the verbs: A matching sum has also been contributed by...; This joint financial gift was presented...; The coking ovens were filled...; The Košice group was made up of... The alternative is to change the order of ideas completely, and translate the sentences back to front.