Learning Hungarian from English
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akarok · bocsánat · bort · elnézést · estét · hogy · hány éves · ide · igen · jó · jól · kérek · kívánok · köszönöm · menj · menni · nagyon · napot · nem · nincs · oda · paprikást · reggelt · rosszul · sajnos · szeretnék kérni · szia · szépen · szívesen · sört · vagy · vagyok · viszlát · viszontlátásra · vizet · éjszakát
36 words
Here you'll meet your first Hungarian phrases as well as a few verbs, most importantly, lenni ‘to be’. It is conjugated as follows:
| SG | PL | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | (én) vagyok ‘I am’ | (mi) vagyunk ‘we are’ |
| 2 | (te) vagy ‘you (sg.) are’ | (ti) vagytok ‘you (pl) are’ |
| 3 | (ő) van ‘s/he is’ | (ők) vannak ‘they are’ |
The pronouns in the Hungarian examples are in parentheses because you mostly don't have to use them. The verb form tells you which person and number is indicated.
Hungarian uses the Latin alphabet (like English) with some additional letters and diacritics. Let's start with the vowels.
Vowels can be short and long. Short vowels are a, e, i, o, u, ö and ü. Their long versions are á, é, í, ó, ú, ő and ű.
Consonants can ALSO be short and long. Long consonants are "lengthened " by doubling them, as in reggel ’morning’ .
Some Hungarian consonants are spelled very differently from their English counterparts:
| Letter | Hungarian pronunciation |
|---|---|
| c | like ts in cats |
| cs | like ch in channel |
| s | like sh in shower |
| sz | like s in sing |
| zs | like s in pleasure |
So Hungarian szia (’hello’ or ’goodbye’) sounds a bit like English see ya.
The letters gy, ny, ty represent sounds that sound a bit like adding a y sound to the preceding sound.
Take a look at this video (there are others) to hear how the vowels and consonants are pronounced:
Youtube: The sounds of the Hungarian alphabet
Another video, as a gentle intro to the Hungarian language:
Hungarian explained - such long words, such an isolated language
a · ablak · alma · asztal · autó · az · egy · ez · fiú · igen · lámpa · lány · mi · nem · szék · telefon · vagy · és
18 words
Lesson 1
Just like in English, Hungarian has definite articles and an indefinite article.
A and az are like English's the . A fiú = the boy .
If the word starts with a vowel, you use az. For a consonant, you use a.
az alma, a fiú
Hungarian's indefinite article is simpler: the indefinite article a or an is always egy.
egy alma, egy fiú
Don't confuse Hungarian's a / az, the definite article meaning the, with English's a / an, which are the indefinite articles, meaning egy!
Lenni, the verb "to be"
The present tense is :
| SG | PL | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | (én) vagyok ‘I am’ | (mi) vagyunk ‘we are’ |
| 2 | (te) vagy ‘you (sg.) are’ | (ti) vagytok ‘you (pl. ) are’ |
| 3 | (ő) van ‘s/he is’ | (ők) vannak ‘they are’ |
The subject pronouns are in parentheses because they are often dropped , the verb conjugation shows the person.
You are a teacher can be Te tanár vagy. or just Tanár vagy.
Hungarian sometimes drops van and vannak. Sometimes there's NO verb where English has is ! You would say What is this ?, Hungarian drops the "is " :
Mi ez? = what is this ? . . .
Hungarian word order is freer than in English. To ask What is this?, both Mi ez? and Ez mi? are fine.
Be alert! The verb is only left out when the subject is in the third person AND the sentence expresses a property of the subject like Ez mi? “What is this?“, Péter egy diák “Péter is a student.”, or Péter álmos “Péter is tired.”
This only happens in the third person, the first and second person (I, you, we, plural you ) vagyok, vagy, vagyunk, vagytok are NEVER omitted.
Don't use van or vannak if you are saying what someone or something is.
"Ő tanár" - "He is a teacher"
"Péter tanár" - "Péter is a teacher"
"Az alma piros" - "The apple is red"
"Mi az?" - "What's that?"
But, do use van/vannak when describing when, how, the state, or where something or someone is.
Time - Expressing when something is.
"Mikor van a buli?" - "When is the party?" "A buli hétkor van." - "The party is at 7."
State - how something/someone is.
"Apád ma hogy van?" = "How is your dad today?" "Ma jobban van, mint tegnap, köszönöm." - "He is better today than he was yesterday, thank you."
Location
"Hol van a mozi?" - "Where is the cinema?" "Ott van jobbra." - "It's there on the right."
Adverbial Participle - a verbal state of a noun
"Ki van nyitva az ablak?" - "Is the window open?" "Nem, be van zárva." - "No, it's shut."
All the above become "vannak" when the subject is plural:
"Itt vannak a poharak." - "Here are the glasses."
"A szobák fűtve vannak." - "The rooms are heated."
See another explanation here: Hungarianreference.com/Van-is-exists-omitting
a neved · hogy hívnak? · jános · kati · lászló · mi a neved · péter · zsuzsa · éva
9 words
Péter, Kati and Éva are common Hungarian names.
There are several ways of asking someone what their name is, here are two .
One is a neved, meaning ‘your name’ . You can ask someone Mi a neved or ‘What is your name?’ — Recall that we don't always say is in Hungarian.
Another is to use hogy hívnak, which is literally ‘How do they call you?’, but it's just another way to say ‘What's your name?’.
Duolingo removed the forum which had tons of useful posts. We tried to save the most important ones, so you if you feel you need more grammar help, check out this blog: magyarbagoly.blogspot.com
akkor · alacsony · angol · diák · egyedül · fekete · fiatal · ház · ilyen · játék · ki · kicsi · korán · ma · magas · magyar · milyen · mit · most · már · nagy · orvos · piros · sofőr · szép · tanár · te · én · óra · ön · újra
31 words
The verb lenni ‘to be’
| SG | PL | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | (én) vagyok ‘I am’ | (mi) vagyunk ‘we are’ |
| 2 | (te) vagy ‘you (sg.) are’ | (ti) vagytok ‘you (pl) are’ |
| 3 | (ő) van ‘s/he is’ | (ők) vannak ‘they are’ |
The most important thing to keep in mind is when to use the third person van ‘is’ and vannak ‘are’, and when to leave them out!
These examples will help illustrate the difference.
Én tanár vagyok. meaning ‘I am a teacher.’
Ő tanár. meaning ‘She/he is a teacher.’
In the first sentence above, there is a verb, vagyok, but in the second sentence there is no van.
When expressing what something is like, you do not use van .
The following examples are fine without van or vannak, in fact, you must not use van here :
Az autó piros. ‘The car is red.’
A fiúk tanárok. ‘The boys are teachers.’
Personal pronouns
| SG | PL | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | én ’I’ | mi ’we’ |
| 2 | te ’you (sg.)’ | ti ’you (pl.)’ |
| 3 | ő ’she/he/it’ | ők ’they’ |
But there are many differences between the two languages:
Hungarian has pronouns for the second person singular AND the second person plural: te means ‘you (sg.)’, while ti means ‘you (pl.)’.
Hungarian has no gender: the third person singular pronoun ő means both ‘she’ and ‘he’. Thus a sentence like Ő tanár can mean either ‘She is a teacher’ or ‘He is a teacher’.
Like German, French and Spanish, Hungarian has pronouns that are used when talking formally to someone : ön in the singular and önök in the plural. They're translated as ‘you’ and they are used in formal settings when talking to someone senior, or a stranger, and when being polite.
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bíró · eladó · főnök · katona · munkás · mérnök · művész · művésznő · pincér · politikus · postás · rendező · rendőr · riporter · sportoló · szakács · színész · színésznő · titkárnő · turista · tűzoltó · zeneszerző · zenész · énekesnő · író · óvónő · ügyvéd
27 words
Hungarian does not usually specify one's gender: the pronoun ő means ‘he’ and ‘she’. But, when speaking about jobs and occupations, there is a way of showing genders .
For most occupations, like művész ‘artist’ or rendőr ‘policeman’, just add nő ‘woman’ .
művésznő is a female artist, and rendőrnő is a policewoman.
Én nem a szakács vagyok, hanem a pincér. I am not the cook, but rather the waiter.
These nem/hanem types of sentences consist of two parts, and mean something like It is not X, but Y where X and Y contrast. X and Y can be two nouns, two places, two adjectives, two verbs, etc.
Both de and hanem translate to but, but they are not the same. Think of hanem as but rather. If you speak German, de=aber, hanem=sondern.
When to use hanem, and when to use de ?.
Hanem is never alone, if hanem is used, there will always be nem in the first part of the sentence.
Nem
Nem precedes what it negates. To find the place for nem, look into the second part of the sentence . The negation has to contrast with the hanem part.
Én nem a szakács vagyok, hanem a pincér. I am not the cook, but the waiter. The contrast is : the waiter versus the cook, so nem comes before a szakács.
Nem én vagyok a pincér, hanem ő. It is not ME who is the waiter, but HIM . The contrast is : me versus him, so nem is placed before én.
The verb can be in the middle of the sentence (after nem X) or at the end (after hanem Y). A megálló nem itt van, hanem ott. A megálló nem itt, hanem ott van. (The stop is not here, but there.)
Occasionally the contrasting pair is two verbs: Én nem állok, hanem ülök. I am not standing, but sitting.
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We'll start with locations and relations between locations .
English has prepositions, words like on, in, by, etc. which express location:
Hungarian expresses some of these meanings using suffixes , and some of them using postpositions, not prepositions .
We'll learn some words for buildings and some postpositions.
In English, we say behind the house . In Hungarian, we say a ház mögött.
Egy ház mögött állok. — ‘I am standing behind a house.’
Van egy kert a ház mögött. — ‘There is a garden behind the house.’
A tó a nagy ház mögött van. — ‘The lake is behind the big house.’
The order in which words can follow each other is often fixed:
Meet six postpositions:
előtt — ‘in front of’
mögött — ‘behind’
alatt — ‘under’
fölött — ‘above’
mellett — ‘next to’
között — ‘between’
We will use the suffixes -ban / -ben . These are used for the English preposition "in":
In English we make a difference between "in" and "at", in Hungarian, we only use -ban / -ben:
Suffixes are always attached to the noun they refer to, as if they were “glued together”. Postpositions are always "loose " .
In Hungarian, nem van (side-by-side ) can only be said or written nincs. Compare:
| person | localising | feeling bad |
|---|---|---|
| én | Nem vagyok otthon. | Nem vagyok jól. |
| te | Nem vagy otthon? | Nem vagy jól? |
| Ön/Maga | Nincs otthon? | Nincs jól? |
| ő | Nincs otthon. | Nincs jól. |
Questions have stricter rules than statements. In Hungarian, if the question has a question word (who, what, where, when, why, how), then that word must be placed immediately in front of the verb.
It's good to start a question with a question word, but not always necessary.
Examples:
The question word must come immediately before the verb. It is always in focus - since focus is on the word or phrase immediately before the verb.
Exceptions:
When a question word is a part of a "block", like How many cars? How much water? - Then put this "block" before the verb.
Hány autót lát Péter? - How many cars does Péter see?
Mennyi víz van a pohárban? - How much water is in the glass?
Also, miért (why) does not have to be right before the verb.
Miért dolgozol? - Why are you working?
Miért te dolgozol? - Why is it you who is working?
Here are the present tense singular (I, you, s/he ) forms .
| tanulni ‘to learn/study’ | suffix (ending) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | tanul-ok ‘I learn’ | -ok |
| 2 | tanul-sz ‘you learn’ | -sz |
| 3 | tanul ‘she/he learns’ | (null) |
These suffixes (endings ) are used for all the verbs in Lesson 1.
In Lesson 2, we find verbs like sietni ‘to hurry’. This table shows the singular forms of sietni.
| sietni ‘to hurry’ | suffix (ending) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | siet-ek ‘I hurry’ | -ek |
| 2 | siet-sz ‘you hurry’ | -sz |
| 3 | siet ‘she/he hurries’ | (null) |
Notice that the first person singular suffix for sietni is -ek, not -ok as in 'tanulni ' ? Why?
What's happening here is vowel harmony, which you will need for more than to conjugate verbs...
Vowel harmony means that the vowels (a, e, i, o and u ) in a word require that the vowels in suffixes (like -ek and -ok) "match " the vowels in the words they attach to:
We use * -ok when the verb it attaches to contains the vowels a, á, o, ó, u, or ú.
and * -ök occurs when the verb it attaches to contains ö, ő, ü, or ű.
The vowels in the suffixes have to be in “harmony” with the vowels in the word they attach to. Moreover, this “harmony” has two groups of vowels, called “back” and “front” (and later "rounded " :
| front vowels | back vowels |
|---|---|
| i, í, ü, ű | u, ú |
| e, é, ö, ő | o, ó |
| a, á |
This table helps determine which vowel should precede the -k in the first person singular — If they are back, we get -ok. If they are front, we get -ek or -ök.
There are exceptions; you'll learn about those a little later!
Word order in Hungarian is more flexible than in English, but it is not completely free (more about this soon).
Some words, or parts of the sentence , have to come immediately before the verb - a location called "focus " .
Question words like ki ‘who’ or mi ‘what’ ...
Or when you compare or contrast two phrases (or words), one is in focus and has to come right before the verb.
For example:
The contrast is between a piac mellett ‘next to the market‘ and az áruház mellett ‘next to the department store‘.
almát · autót · buszt · bírót · diákot · eladót · fiatalt · fiút · fát · férfit · gyereket · házat · iskolát · jeget · kenyeret · keveset · kicsit · kit · könyvet · lányt · magasat · mit · nőt · orvost · rendezőt · riportert · semmit · sokat · szállodát · tanárt · telefont · vacsorát · valamit · épületet · írót · ügyvédet
36 words
The accusative is a fancy word for DIRECT OBJECT ! In Hungarian, it is shown by a * t * - on a direct object !
Fiú, ’boy’ , becomes fiút when it is the DIRECT OBJECT !
In English, direct objects usually follow the subject and the predicate, as in
Boy is the direct object, girl is the subject, and sees is the predicate.
In Hungarian, the word order can be less regular, but the direct object case is marked with t :
The subject is lány , the verb is lát, and fiút is the direct object, with its accusative ending, t ! So, that "t " is a helpful hint to Hungarians that this word is a DIRECT OBJECT .
If a word ends in i, í, o, ó, ö, ő, u, ú, ü, or ű (not a or e), then t is added directly to the end of the word
But words ending in -a and -e, become -á and -é when they get the t.
If the word ends in a consonant, we USUALLY have to add a vowel before the accusative t -ot / -at / -et / -öt . Which vowel is determined by vowel harmony ! Words with front vowels get a front vowel before the t, words with back vowels get a back vowel. But -r / -l / -n / - ny / - s / -sz / -z / -j / -ly take the -t directly (see below ) .
| back vowels | front vowels |
|---|---|
| a, á | e, é, |
| o, ó | i, í, |
| u, ú | ö, ő |
| ü, ű |
-back vowels usually get -ot
sajt ‘cheese’ -> sajtot
narancs 'orange' -> narancsot
-some words, which you have to memorize, get -at:
ház ‘house’ -> házat
toll 'pen' -> tollat
-front vowels get -et:
szék ’chair’ -> széket
zöldség ’vegetable’ -> zöldséget
round vowel words which have ö / ő / ü / ü in the last syllable get -öt
gyümölcs ’fruit’ -> gyümölcsöt
főnök ’boss’ -> főnököt
When the word ends in -r / -l / -n / - ny / - s / -sz / -z / -j / -ly we USUALLY add the -t directly .
bor ’wine’ -> bort
lány ’girl’ -> lányt
In sentences with a subject, verb and object, Hungarian has very flexible word order. All of the following can be used in certain contexts:
They all mean ‘Péter sees a house.’, but each sentence conveys slightly different information with respect to which element is in FOCUS (or stressed ) . A focused phrase appears immediately in front of the verb and it often represents new information or contrast.
The first sentence (with Péter above ), for example, would be a valid answer to a question like ‘Who sees a house?’ but the second sentence would be " A HOUSE is what Peter sees ", because here egy házat ‘a house’ immediately precedes the verb and is, therefore, in focus.
FOCUS can be very tricky, but English has similar constructions !
If you have
the question word is in focus and asks for new information. In the reply, the answer to what will also be new information and be in focus.
And in English you can say,
or
Or:
Each of these stresses something different. In Hungarian, it's done with FOCUS . . .
Word order in questions
Question words generally ask for some (new) information and act like a focused part of the sentence. In Hungarian, a question like ‘Who(m) does Mari see?’ ’who(m)’ is in focus and has to appear right before the verb:
If the root (stem ) of a verb ends with s, z, sz, then the second person singular informal (te) form ends with l.
| keres (search) | olvas (read) | vesz (buy) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| én | keresek | olvasok | veszek | |
| te | keresel | olvasol | veszel | |
| ő | keres | olvas | vesz |
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ablakok · alacsonyak · almák · asztalok · autók · azok · buszok · bírók · diákok · eladók · ezek · feketék · fiúk · férfiak · főnökök · jók · katonák · kicsik · kik · lámpák · lányok · magasak · mik · milyenek · munkások · mérnökök · művészek · művésznők · nők · pincérek · pirosak · politikusok · postások · repülőgépek · székek · szépek · tanárok · telefonok · vonatok · épületek · órák · újak · üzletek
43 words
You just learned how to spot, form and use the accusative case. , but so far only in the singular.
Remember the plural of Hungarian nouns is formed with the -k, often preceded by a vowel.
Let's take the demonstrative determiners (demonstrative adjectives ) ez ‘this’ and az ’that’ first.
Which vowel ? Remember vowel harmony ? Ez has a front vowel, and az has a back vowel.
| front vowels | back vowels |
|---|---|
| i, í, ü, ű | u, ú |
| e, é, ö, ő | o, ó |
| a, á |
Thus the vowel before the plural ending -k will be front or back. So we get ezek and azok.
Tricky ! When a word ends in a vowel, like a or e, for example alma ‘apple’, the vowel lengthens :
When words are both plural and in the accusative, we have to arrange the plural -k and the accusative -t . Note that if both are there, we will need a vowel between the -k and the -t!
If we want to use these or those as objects, we get:
You'll learn the definite conjugation soon, but here's a little primer.
Tricky ! When an object in the accusative is definite, the form of the verb changes slightly.
Important: Definite phrases have a definite article a or az ‘the’ , or demonstratives like ez ‘this‘ or az ‘that‘, or there will be someone's name(s) .
So when you see apples, you say:
Látok almákat ‘I see apples’ Látsz almákat ‘you (sg.) see apples’
Almákat is indefinite. *Látok * is in the indefinite .
When you want to say I see those, which is now definite (because of the demonstrative adjective 'azok ' , you say:
Látom azokat ‘I see those’ or Látod azokat ‘you (sg.) see those’
You can also use látom, without an object, to say ‘I see it ’. In this lesson, you'll see a few examples of the definite conjugation .
| SG | |
|---|---|
| 1 | hallom ‘I hear it’ |
| 2 | hallod ‘you hear it’ |
| SG | |
|---|---|
| 1 | keresem ‘I am looking for it’ |
| 2 | keresed ‘you are looking for it’ |
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angolok · bankok · fiatalok · folyók · fák · házak · iskolák · kórházak · magyarok · nagyok · orvosok · piacok · pályaudvarok · rendezők · rendőrök · repülőterek · riporterek · régiek · sofőrök · sportolók · szakácsok · szállodák · színészek · színésznők · titkárnők · turisták · tűzoltók · városok · zeneszerzők · zenészek · áruházak · énekesnők · írók · óvónők · ügyvédek
35 words
We've learned how to form and use the direct object accusative -t . But, so far, all our examples have been singular.
The plural is formed by adding -k, sometimes , though, it needs a vowel.
Let's take the demonstrative adjectives ez ‘this’ and az ’that’ first.
Which vowel ? Vowel harmony will tell you ! Ez has a front vowel, and az has a back vowel.
| front vowels | back vowels |
|---|---|
| i, í, ü, ű | u, ú |
| e, é, ö, ő | o, ó |
| a, á |
So, the vowel before the plural ending -k will also be front or back. So we get ezek and azok.
If a word ends in a (or e), like alma ‘apple’, the "a ", before the plural ending, lengthens - :
When words are plural AND accusative, we have to arrange the plural's -k and the accusative's -t . If both are there, we need a vowel between the -k and the -t !
If we want these and those as direct objects, we get:
Hungarian word order is less free in sentences that express a contrast.
The judge is looking for lawyers and finds actors.
Here, there is one subject, namely judge.
But there are two different verbs, is looking for and finds and each of these have their own object, lawyers and actors.
When contrasting two verbs and objects like this, they have to show the same word order: and the objects must come in front of their respective verbs:
A bíró ügyvédeket keres és színészeket talál.
w&a
Plural adjectives
In Hungarian adjectives have plural forms .
In English you say The women are German, with the word German being the same form for both singular and plural. In Hungarian the adjective has to be plural as well:
A nők németek.
Have a look at the Tips and Notes section of the skill Plurals 1 to refresh your memory about how to form plurals of nouns.
Adjectives are a bit different. The plural suffix will be -ak when an adjective consists of mixed back vowels and neutral vowels like e, i. Look at the following words:
amerikai + -k = amerikaiak ‘Americans’
kanadai + -k = kanadaiak ‘Canadians’
egyiptomi + -k = egyiptomiak ‘Egyptians’
If an adjective ends in a consonant, you can rely on what you learned in Plurals 1:
brazil + -k = brazilok ‘Brazilians’
japán + -k = japánok ‘Japanese’ (plural)
In Hungarian you don't have to capitalize words referring to nationalities, but in English you do.
When talking about Brazil, be careful :
brazil = Brazilian (nationality of a person)
Brazília = Brazil (the country)
van in Hungarian
Remember that the third person forms of to be do not always appear. When we talk about the subject and use adjectives, there is no verb in the Hungarian sentence.
In
A nők németek.
there is no verb. You can't omit it in English, of course!
Generic statements
You will come across general statements. Those are sentences that express something that is true in general, for example the following:
Dogs have four legs.
This means that In general, dogs have four legs. There is an important difference between such statements in English and Hungarian. In English you don't have to use an article for the subject in those sentences, in Hungarian you usually do. Compare the following:
Dutch people are tall. A hollandok magasak.
In Hungarian, you can't say Hollandok magasak to mean Dutch people are tall, you have to add the definite article a(z).
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víz
1 words
In this skill you will learn a bunch of new adjectives. We tried to vary the sentence structures to make you practice them. There will be:
This is a [adjective] [noun]. = Ez egy [adjective] [noun].
This is a black car. = Ez egy fekete autó.
This [noun] is [adjective]. Ez a(z) [noun] [adjective].
This car is black. Ez az autó fekete.
Use idős and öreg for people, and régi for objects.
Ez egy régi ház. This is an old house.
A nagymamám öreg. My grandmother is old.
A nagymamám idős. My grandmother is elderly.
Idős is more like elderly, it is more polite to say, while saying öreg is less polite - in some situations.
“Régi” has a special meaning when used for people :
egy régi barátom = an old friend of mine . We have been friends for a long time. The friend is not necessarily old .
egy öreg / idős barátom = an old friend of mine (the friend is actually old)
Immediately before a noun (or before another adjective that refers to the same noun) we can use either kis or kicsi.
egy kicsi ház = egy kis ház = a small house
egy kis piros labda = egy kicsi piros labda = a small red ball
And, kis- can be used to form compound words: kislány (little girl) kismacska (little cat).
But, AFTER the noun, only kicsi works ! You’re making a statement , you're forming a sentence.
A ház kicsi. = The house is small.
Ez a kék autó kicsi. = This blue car is small.
Az a piros labda kicsi. = That red ball is small.
But * A ház kis. would be wrong.
plural verbs in the present
"We, you and they " and, vowel harmony.
| csinálni ‘to make/do’ | suffix (ending) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1SG | csinál-ok ‘I make’ | -ok |
| 2SG | csinál-sz ‘you make’ | -sz |
| 3SG | csinál ‘s/he makes’ | (null - no ending) |
| 1PL | csinál-unk ‘we make’ | -unk |
| 2PL | csinál-tok ‘you make’ | -tok |
| 3PL | csinál-nak ‘they make’ | -nak |
We also have front vowel verbs.
| pihenni ‘to rest’ | suffix (ending) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1SG | pihen-ek ‘I rest’ | -ek |
| 2SG | pihen-sz ‘you rest’ | -sz |
| 3SG | pihen ‘s/he rests’ | (null) |
| 1PL | pihen-ünk ‘we rest’ | -ünk |
| 2PL | pihen-tek ‘you rest’ | -tek |
| 3PL | pihen-nek* they rest’ | -nek |
This table summarizes the suffixes based on vowel harmony:
| front suffixes | back suffixes | |
|---|---|---|
| 1SG | -ök /-ek | -ok |
| 2SG | -sz | -sz |
| 3SG | (null) | (null) |
| 1PL | -ünk | -unk |
| 2PL | -tek /-tök | -tok |
| 3PL | -nek | -nak |
But -ik-verbs !
Here's another kind of verb: the -ik-verb! Its name comes from the third person singular ending , -ik, instead of (null ) no-ending like regular verbs.
Another difference between an -ik verb and a regular verb is that the first person singular can (but doesn't have to ) end in -m -even without a definite object.
In many grammar books, you might only find the -m ending , but today, many speakers alternate between using -m or the usual -k . Duo accepts either !
Some other -ik-verbs are: dolgozik ‘works’, eszik ‘eats’, iszik 'drinks’, játszik 'plays’, úszik ‘swims’.
There's no way to tell if a verb is an -ik verb except memorization.
Subjects
Hungarian is a null subject language, you don't always need a subject . Examples :
They are going home. Hazamennek.
Both mean the same, but in the Hungarian there is no they - you have to figure it out from the verb's ending .
Hungarian has more pronouns than English :
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | én | mi |
| 2nd | te | ti |
| 3rd | ő | ők |
Note that you can be singular or plural, te is second person singular, ti second person plural. When you see a sentence like : Are you going home? , it can be translated into Hungarian as either the singular or the plural.
Hungarian has a few MORE pronouns for "YOU " They are used to address someone formally - like French vous, Spanish usted and German Sie - and many other languages, too .
These pronouns are ön (singular) and önök (plural), AND maga (singular) and maguk (plural). One thing to keep in mind when using these pronouns is that they behave like third person pronouns (like Spanish usted/ustedes) . So when using ön, the verb will look like it has a third person subject !
Ön eszik. You are eating (formal, singular)
Ő eszik He/She is eating.
Te eszel. You are eating (informal, singular)
The definite conjugation is a bit of Hungarian that we don't have in English !
In sentences with an "accusative " (a direct object), the conjugation depends on whether that object is "definite " or not. The forms we have learned so far are in the indefinite conjugation.
When a direct object is definite, the verb must be in the definite conjugation !
(i) Lát-ok egy kutyá-t.
(ii) Lát-om a kutyá-t.
In (i), the object is indefinite, ’a dog’. In (ii), it is definite, ’THE dog’. In (ii), the verb changes to látom. The ending -om is in the definite conjugation.
(iii) Látom .
(iii) means ‘I see IT .’ The definite conjugation is only used with a definite direct object, so there is an object - even if you don't see it !
Plus, vowel harmony!
Here are the definite verb forms of hallani ‘to hear’, szeretni ‘to like/love’ and keresni ‘to be looking for’.
| SG | PL | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | hallom ‘I hear it’ | halljuk ‘we hear it’ |
| 2 | hallod ‘you hear it’ | halljátok ‘you (pl) hear it’ |
| 3 | hallja ‘s/he hears it’ | hallják ‘they hear it’ |
| SG | PL | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | szeretem ‘I love it’ | szeretjük ‘we love it’ |
| 2 | szereted ‘you love it’ | szeretitek ‘you (pl) love it’ |
| 3 | szereti ‘s/he loves it’ | szeretik ‘they love it’ |
| SG | PL | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | keresem ‘I am looking for it’ | keressük ‘we are looking for it’ |
| 2 | keresed ‘you are looking for it’ | keresitek ‘you (pl) are looking for it’ |
| 3 | keresi ‘s/he is looking for it’ | keresik ‘they are looking for it’ |
Important ! the -j- does not always appear in the definite conjugation. And, when the j follows -s, -z, -sz, or -zs, the consonant is doubled and loses the -j- (ss, zz, ssz, zzs ) :
Verb prefixes
Another thing to keep in mind for this lesson is that many Hungarian verbs come with a verbal particle, as :
meg-látogatja ‘s/he visits’ (with a definite object!)
This particle/prefix attaches to the front of the verb, but in questions - or when the sentence is stressing information about a subject or an object - it is detached and follows the verb .
(v) Ki látogatja meg Pétert? ‘Who visits Péter?’
(vi) Péter látogatja meg Zsuzsát. ‘PETER is visiting Zsuzsa.‘
The Hungarian word order in (vi) stresses PETER: you are stressing that the sentence is about Peter, not about someone, or something else.
idén · jövőre · néha · tavaly · végre
5 words
In this unit, you'll learn how to express date and time. You'll learn a few past tense expressions (more on that later), the days of the week, and months.
In the past tense you can mostly use the same verb endings as before, but... in the verb endings, a -t- indicates that it is in the past tense:
| csinál ‘to make/do’ | |
|---|---|
| 1SG | csinál-t-am ‘I made’ |
| 2SG | csinál-t-ál ‘you (sg.) made’ |
| 3SG | csinál-t ‘he made’ |
| 1PL | csinál-t-unk ‘we made’ |
| 2PL | csinál-t-atok ‘you (pl.) made’ |
| 3PL | csinál-t-ak ‘they made’ |
You'll learn more about the past tense later !
As in many languages, you can use the present tense to talk about things in the future. It is fine to say.
to mean ‘I will go tomorrow.’
The word nap means both ‘day’ and ‘sun’ in Hungarian. But it only shows up in one of the week's days :
If you speak a Slavic language, some of these might sound familiar to you! To express that something happens on a certain day, Hungarian uses a case-suffix which is also used for some of the seasons :
As in the plural, the vowel in the suffix depends on the vowels in the stem, so we get -on,-en, or -ön .
Note that there is an exception: vasárnap - 'Sunday' and ‘on Sunday’ For Sunday, we don't use any ending.
In Hungarian, the names of the months are similar to the names of the months in many other European languages, including English.
To say that something happened in a certain month, Hungarian uses the case suffix -ban or -ben:
While English uses in or during to express that something is happening in a season, Hungarian is a bit different. The seasons, first of all are the following:
But, there are two different case-suffixes to mark what's happening during a season:
A tiny tip: none of these endings have a diacritic (accent mark)
There are 5 different past tense verbs in this skill,
"volt" "született" "csinált" "találkozott" "beszélt"
We discussed "csinált", now here are the past tense indefinite conjugations for the other four:
| van | |
|---|---|
| 1SG | voltam |
| 2SG | voltál |
| 3SG | volt |
| 1PL | voltunk |
| 2PL | voltatok |
| 3PL | voltak |
| születik | |
|---|---|
| 1SG | születtem |
| 2SG | születtél |
| 3SG | született |
| 1PL | születtünk |
| 2PL | születtetek |
| 3PL | születtek |
| találkozik | |
|---|---|
| 1SG | találkoztam |
| 2SG | találkoztál |
| 3SG | találkozott |
| 1PL | találkoztunk |
| 2PL | találkoztatok |
| 3PL | találkoztak |
| beszél | |
|---|---|
| 1SG | beszéltem |
| 2SG | beszéltél |
| 3SG | beszélt |
| 1PL | beszéltünk |
| 2PL | beszéltetek |
| 3PL | beszéltek |
You know how to form the accusative (direct object) of a noun. But, pronouns have special forms (like they do in English!).
| Person/Number | Nominative | Accusative |
|---|---|---|
| 1SG | én ‘I’ | engem ‘me’ |
| 2SG | te ‘you (sg.)’ | téged ‘you (sg., obj.)’ |
| 3SG | ő ‘he/she’ | őt ‘him/her’ |
| 1PL | mi ‘we’ | minket ‘us’ |
| 2PL | ti ‘you (pl.)’ | titeket ‘you (pl., obj.)’ |
| 3PL | ők ‘they’ | őket ‘them’ |
| formal2SG | Ön ‘you’ | Önt ‘you’ |
| formal2PL | Önök ‘you’ | Önöket ‘you’ |
When the direct object is a personal pronoun, the situation is a bit more complicated.
Whether the verb is in the definite or indefinite depends on the person of the pronoun. When the object is őt or őket, (the third person singular and plural pronoun ), the verb is ALWAYS in the definite conjugation:
When the object is the first person, engem ‘me’ or minket ‘us’, the verb is ALWAYS in the indefinite conjugation:
Summary:
Use indefinite conjugation if the object is: téged, titeket, engem, minket
Use definite conjugation if the object is: őt, őket, Önt, Önöket, (magát, magukat), magamat, magadat, egymást
One extra ending:
When the object is the second person, téged ‘you (sg.)’ and titeket ‘you (pl.)’, we have to take the subject into account. With third person subjects, we use the indefinite conjugation:
When the subject is the first person singular, we encounter a verb form (lak / lek ) we have only seen before in the expression szeret-lek ‘I love you’:
This table shows this complicated system (don't worry about the gaps). The bold forms indicate the indefinite conjugation, and the italic ones indicate the definite conjugation. Bold and italic indicates the -lak/-lek ending.
| subject → object | 1 | 2 | 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Én látlak téged. | Én látom őt/őket. | |
| 2 | Te látsz engem. | Te látod őt/őket. | |
| 3 | Ő lát engem. | Ő lát téged. | Ő látja őt/őket. |
egyik · is · melyik · milyen · miért · másik · sem
7 words
van and nincs
Remember van? It's the third person singular of the verb ‘to be’, but sometimes, we don't use it . It IS used in sentences which translate into English as :
Very important! When we negate van, it turns into nincs
So, van has a double role: it can mean there is, or is !
Nincs also has a double role: it can mean there is no, or is not
How do you decide which ? Does the noun have a definite or an INdefinite article ? (if there is No article it's the indefinite . )
Van itt egy (indefinite ) hajó. = There is a ship here.
A (definite ) hajó itt van = The ship is here.
Similarly for nincs:
Nincs itt (no article ) hajó. = There is no ship here.
A (definite ) hajó nincs itt. =The ship is not here.
Demonstratives (this, that):
If you want to talk about this house or that house, so when this/that modifies the noun after it, use
They consist of ez ‘this’ plus the definite article a; or az ‘that’ and a. But the definite article needs a -z if the following word begins with a vowel:
But, if you want a "standalone" this or that, you only need "ez" or "az":
Ez egy ház. This is a house.
Az egy asztal. That is a table.
Az... amelyik
This is about identifying something or someone and saying something about them. How it works : Az... aki /Az .... amelyik / Az... ami
In the plural: Azok... akik /Azok .... amelyek / Azok... amik
The girl who is sitting over there is a student. Az a lány, aki ott ül, egy diák. Or, with a different word order: Az a lány (egy) diák, aki ott ül.
The bridge that is between the mountains is big. Az a híd, amelyik a hegyek között van, nagy. / Az a híd nagy, amelyik a hegyek között van.
The bridges (that are ) between the mountains are big. Azok a hidak, amelyek a hegyek között vannak, nagyok. / Azok a hidak nagyok , amelyek a hegyek között vannak.
The one who is sitting over there is a student. Az, aki ott ül, egy diák. / Az (egy) diák, aki ott ül.
The one (that is ) between the mountains is big. Az, ami a hegyek között van, nagy. / Az nagy, ami a hegyek között van.
The ones (that are ) between the mountains are big. Azok, amik a hegyek között vannak, nagyok. / Azok nagyok, amik a hegyek között vannak.
When the subject is named, use amelyik, , and ami, if the subject is not named. And aki for people.
Alert ! sentence fragments
Some exercises use fragments. They start with a lowercase letter, and there's no period at the end.
For example: "aki a fa alatt ül" is "who sits under the tree"
... as a part of a longer sentence, "Az a lány, aki a fa alatt ül, magas." The girl who is sitting under the tree is tall.
Az a könyv hosszú, amelyik az új televízió mellett van.
Azok a hidak nagyok, amelyek a hegyek között vannak.
Azok a könyvek drágák, amelyek híresek.
Az a hegy magas, amelyik a híres város mellett áll.
Azok a televíziók rosszak, amelyek az ablak mellett
vannak.
Az a sportoló fiatal, amelyik a híd alatt úszik.
Az a híd széles, amelyik a mély folyó fölött áll.
Az a televízió drága, amelyik az új asztal mellett áll.
Looking at these sentences, the word order follows a pattern.
singular:
Az a [thing] [adjective], amelyik [other parts] [verb]
plural:
Azok a [thing] [adjective], amelyek [other parts] [verb]
egy · harminc · hat · hatvan · hetven · hány · három · hét · húsz · kevés · kilenc · kilencven · mennyi · negyven · nyolc · nyolcvan · négy · rizs · sok · száz · tíz · öt · ötven
23 words
Numbers are quite different from most other European languages (if you speak some Finnish or Estonian, you might recognize some ):
egy
kettő (két ) two has a usage rule explained below
három
négy
öt
hat
hét
nyolc
kilenc
tíz
From ten to one hundred, we have the following:
tíz húsz harminc negyven ötven hatvan hetven nyolcvan kilencven száz
As you can see, from 40-90, you use the forms above and add -van or ven (like English -ty).
Putting these together is orderly.
sixty-one = hatvanegy
ONLY with tíz and húsz do you add an infix between them and the vowel is shortened:
eleven = tizenegy
twelve = tizenkettő
twenty-three = huszonhárom etc.
Higher numbers work the same way:
one hundred twenty three = százhuszonhárom
Alert: the diacritics are lost when combined (the vowels are shortened ) ...
In Hungarian, there are two words for the number 2: kettő and két. This works the same way for the others ending in 2, too: 12 is tizenkettő or tizenkét, 42 is negyvenkettő or negyvenkét and so on .
What is the difference? Use két as an adjective to modify a noun or adjective .
Use kettő only by itself, only when we are talking about the number "2 " .
Example: Kettő meg kettő az négy. Two plus two is four.
Két alma. Two apples. Két asztal. Two tables. Két szép gyerek. Two beautiful children.
But, Két sounds very similar to hét (seven), so to avoid confusion and emphasize that you are talking about two, we sometimes use kettő in front of a noun. Kettő alma, kettő asztal.
But do not use két by itself.
Hungarian and English differ in how they use plurals . In Hungarian, plural nouns that follow a number are in the singular.
Rather than using the plural, diákok (students ), we use the singular if a number word precedes it : öt diák.
And, the verb, in Hungarian, is in the third person singular form, NOT the plural.
The number word rule applies for "kevés" and "sok" too.
Kevés férfi énekel. — ‘Few men sing.’
Sok orvos beszél angolul. — ‘Many doctors speak English.’
Where to put the adjective, and is it supposed to be in the plural ? In the example két szép gyerek ‘two beautiful children’ - if an adjective precedes a plural noun, it stays in the singular , and numbers precede adjectives .
négy kicsi macska — ‘four small cats’
öt magas fiú — ‘five tall boys’
w
Hungarian has more cases than other European languages, but they are less scary than you might think.
Many languages, like English, use prepositions to express spatial concepts, Hungarian uses case suffixes.
| English | Hungarian |
|---|---|
| the shop | az üzlet |
| in the shop | az üzletben |
| the hotel | a szálloda |
| in the hotel | a szállodában |
Using the suffix -ban/-ben is like using the English preposition in, but AFTER the word and attached .
When -ban and when -ben? The vowels in the stem determine the vowels in the suffix :
| Front vowels | Back vowels |
|---|---|
| i/í | u/ú |
| ü/ű | o/ó |
| e/é | |
| ö/ő | a/á |
Since üzlet has front vowels, the vowel in the suffix has to be a front vowel: we put -ben.
In szálloda, we have back vowels, so we choose -ban.
The superessive case is one that expresses a spatial relation. As with the inessive , the superessive usually conforms to an English preposition and has forms based on vowel harmony.
It's easy for English speakers, as it sounds like the preposition ‘on’! -n/-on/-en/ön
| English | Hungarian |
|---|---|
| the ship | a hajó |
| on the ship | a hajón |
| the sidewalk | a járda |
| on the sidewalk | a járdán |
| the table | az asztal |
| on the table | az asztalon |
| the airplane | a repülőgép |
| on the airplane | a repülőgépen |
| the ground | a föld |
| on the ground | a földön |
Using the suffixes -n/-on/-en/ön is like using the English preposition on, but after the word.
If a word ends in a vowel (except for “a” and “e”) you can add the ending “-n” directly .
If the word ends in “-a” or “-e” it gets the “-n” but “-a” becomes “-á” and “-e” becomes “-é”.
For words ending in a consonant you also have to consider vowel harmony. Words containing only back vowels (or dominantly back vowels), like asztal, we add “-on”asztal-on. You will meet an exceptional vowel, the ”back -i”, like we had in “iszik”. The ‘-í’ in ‘híd’ (= bridge) behaves as a back vowel, so we will say ‘a hídon’ (= on the bridge). Memorization is our only recourse .
However, for words with only front vowels, the suffix is sometimes -en and sometimes -ön. As in verb conjugations, “-ön” is used if the last syllable contains -ö/-ő/-ü/-ű, like föld meaning ‘floor, ground, Earth’, it becomes földön ‘on the ground’.
For other front vowels (-e/-é/-i/-í) add “-en”, like szék, which becomes széken.
1: Express that “something is ON something”:
The cat sits on the car. = A macska az autón ül.
The coat is on the bag. = A kabát a táskán van.
The apple is on the table. = Az alma az asztalon van.
I live on a hill. = Egy hegyen élek.
The book is on the floor. = A könyv a földön van.
Compare with -ban/-ben: doboz = box
The pen is in the box. = A toll a dobozban van.
The pen is on the box. = A toll a dobozon van.
2: Express being somewhere, regardless of the preposition used in English, if that place is:
any means of transport: busz (bus), villamos (tram), vonat (train), hajó (ship) (but not a car!)
an open space: piac (market), utca (street), tér (square), pályaudvar (train station), repülőtér (airport), járda (sidewalk), udvar (yard)
an event: kiállítás (exhibition), megbeszélés (meeting)
or an exception… see this list: posta (post office), folyosó (corridor), menza (canteen), egyetem (university)
I am on the bus. = A buszon vagyok.
Are you at the market? = A piacon vagy?
We are not running on the sidewalk. = Nem a járdán futunk.
3: Do you remember the days of the week? We added this same suffix to them (except for vasárnap, which doesn’t get any suffix).
Also two seasons nyár ( = summer) and tél (= winter) get the same suffix:
nyáron = in summer
télen = in winter
The adessive case expresses a spatial relation like by or next to. Like other cases, it needs vowel harmony and can appear as -nál (back vowels) and -nél (front vowels). Hint: both forms have a diacritic (accent ) .
| English | Hungarian |
|---|---|
| the table | az asztal |
| by the table | az asztalnál |
| the shop | az üzlet |
| by the shop | az üzletnél |
-Nál and -nél approximate English prepositions by or next to .
Vowel harmony has exceptions that you need to memorize when you come across them. The word for bridge ,híd , for example, takes the suffix -nál:
hídnál ‘by the bridge’
Remember that Hungarian does not always use the verb *lenni * (to be ) when English does.
Ez egy szép ajtó. ’This is a nice door.’
You do have to use van and vannak, though, when you translate sentences about existence, like There is an apple on the table or There are some apples on the table. ,
and when you talk about location -where something is.
Van a polcon egy alma.
‘There is an apple on the shelf.’ or 'On the shelf, there is an apple ' .
Ők a házban vannak.
‘They are in the house.’
Postpositions
Hungarian mostly has postpositions, as opposed to prepositions. You will find some of these in this section.
We say under the picture in English but in Hungarian the noun comes first: a kép alatt.
In English the word between comes before the noun(s):
between the houses
In Hungarian, the order changes:
a házak között
One way to say what someone is wearing is to say:
A férfin pulóver van.
literally: There is a sweater on the man.
meaning: The man is wearing a sweater.
You've already learned the superessive case: -on/-en/-ön. In this skill, you'll get to use it a lot!
Another way is to use the -ban/-ben ending:
A férfi pulóverben van.
Literally The man is in a sweater.
again, that is, ‘the man is wearing a sweater’.
With shoes (or socks, boots...) we usually use the singular when we talk about one pair of shoes.
For example: Cipőben vagyok. 'I am wearing shoes'
(Literally: I am in a shoe )
If you need to talk about one shoe - not a pair - you can say:
egy fél pár cipő (literally: a half pair of shoes.)
Hungarian has its own rules regarding colors, for example, two different words for red.
Piros, sometimes, for things that are not human or are unemotional: piros labda (ball), piros paradicsom (tomato), piros jelzőlámpa (traffic lights).
And vörös, sometimes, for living or emotional objects : vörös haj (hair), vörös zászló (flag - but not in piros, fehér, zöld [Hungary's flag's colors ] ) , vörös róka (red fox), vörös bor (red wine), vörös csillag (red star). Better just to memorize . . .
Orange: the fruit itself is narancs but its color is narancssárga.
abban · alatt · annál · azokban · azoknál · azokon · azon · e · ebben · előtt · ennél · ezekben · ezeken · ezeknél · ezen · fölött · körül · között · mellett · melyik
20 words
In English, demonstratives are : this, that, these, those, and so on. In Hungarian, ez and az are this and that.
The plurals are mostly regular:
ez + -ek = ezek ‘these’
az + -ok = azok ‘those’
ez + -ek + -ben = ezekben ‘in these’
But... : When the singular demonstratives ez and az are followed by a case suffix like -nak/-nek (dative), -ban/-ben (inessive), -nál/-nél, etc., the -z assimilates to the first consonant of the suffix:
ez + -ben = ebben ‘in this’
az + -nál = annál ‘at that’
ez + -nek = ennek
When using a demonstrative with a noun, both the demonstrative AND the noun have to have the plural and the case suffixes on BOTH :
(ez + ben )
ebben a házban ‘in this house’
(ezek + ben )
ezekben a házakban ‘in these houses’
azoknál a kerteknél ‘by those gardens’
Hungarian gets a bit more complicated when you combine a demonstrative and a noun like ez a ház ‘this house’ with a POSTposition like mellett ‘next to‘ : if the postposition starts with a consonant, the z disappears, and we get a , e instead of az, ez:
e mellett a ház mellett ‘next to this house’
a fölött a kert fölött ‘above that garden’
ez alatt a fa alatt ‘under this tree’
az alatt a fa alatt ‘under that tree’
első · harmadik · harmincadik · hatodik · hatvanadik · hetedik · hetvenedik · huszadik · hányadik · kilencedik · kilencvenedik · második · negyedik · negyvenedik · nyolcadik · nyolcvanadik · századik · tizedik · ötvenedik · ötödik
20 words
Ordinal numbers (like first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, etc. ) are formed by using the number , itself , and -adik, -edik, and -ödik . The choice depends on vowel harmony.
If the number has a long vowel in the last syllable (like kettő, hét, négy, tíz or húsz), the vowel shortens:
tíz becomes tizedik ‘tenth’ (and négy -> negyedik, hét -> hetedik)
In három, the á shortens, and the o disappears, so we get harmadik ‘third‘.
And, like in English, second, is not derived from two (we don't use twoth!):
második ‘second’
(más = ‘different’ but also, ‘another‘)
| En | Hu |
|---|---|
| first | első |
| second | második |
| third | harmadik |
| fourth | negyedik |
| fifth | ötödik |
| sixth | hatodik |
| seventh | hetedik |
| eighth | nyolcadik |
| ninth | kilencedik |
| tenth | tizedik |
| eleventh | tizenegyedik |
| twelfth | tizenkettedik |
| thirteenth | tizenharmadik |
| fourteenth | tizennegyedik |
| fifteenth | tizenötödik |
Note that 11th, 12th, 21st, 22nd, 31st, 32nd (and so on) do not contain the words "első" and "második",
we say tizenegyedik, tizenkettedik, huszonegyedik, huszonkettedik, harmincegyedik, harminckettedik instead.
English does not have a word for "how manyeth" but Hungarian does. Hányadik? You can use this if you expect an ordinal number as an answer.
Hányadik emeleten laksz? - A harmadik emeleten lakom.
Hányadik megállóban szállunk le? - A kilencedik megállóban.
hova · ide · oda
3 words
We often make general statements like :
Lions are carnivores.
In English, we can use a word without an article, like lions above, to express a general statement.
In Hungarian, general statements are expressed slightly differently. But sometimes we don't use the verb to be and, when talking about the properties of a third-person subject, in Hungarian, we need an article.
Thus the English sentence above becomes:
Az oroszlánok húsevők. = literally ‘the lions carnivores’ , translated: the lions are carnivores . . .
or
Az oroszlán húsevő. = both "the lion is a carnivore " and "lions are carnivores " ! . . .
The same is true with negation.
Dolphins are not fish.
becomes
A delfinek nem halak. = lit. ‘the dolphins not fish’
w
The illative case is used to show MOTION into something and it's like English into or to :
a házba ‘to the house’
The illative suffix also requires vowel harmony:
a kertbe ‘into the garden'
It's easy to confuse the illative case (into ) -ba / -be * with the inessive case -ban/-ben* , in , so be on the alert !
The sublative case indicates motion ONTO something. It corresponds to the English preposition onto and needs vowel harmony:
a házra ‘onto the house’
a tetőre ‘onto the roof’
and it can be a vertical surface or even a tree!
a falra = on(to) the wall
a fára = in(to) the tree
The allative is a movement case, expressing movement TO something. In English, it can be translated with up to - but not in !
It also requires vowel harmony, and there are two front suffixes, based on whether the vowels in the noun are rounded, like ö and ü, or not (like e ) .
a kerthez - ‘up to the garden’
a tükörhöz - ‘up to the mirror’
a házhoz - ‘up to the house’
be · el · fel · ide · ki · le · oda · vissza · át
9 words
In Hungarian: preverbs, verbal modifiers or verbal prefixes (igekötő in Hungarian) are very common . These modifiers USUALLY mean motion TOWARD something: ki ‘toward the outside’, be ‘toward the inside’, le ‘down‘, el ‘away‘, ide ‘toward here‘, oda ‘toward there‘.
In the simplest cases, a verb with a preverb corresponds, in English, to a verb plus an adverb :
kimegyek ‘I go out‘
bemész ‘you (sg.) go to‘, ‘you (sg.) enter‘
elmegy ‘s/he goes away‘
leülünk ‘we sit down‘
ideültök ‘you (pl.) sit down here‘
odaülnek ‘they sit down there‘
In English, the distinction between a location and a direction is not always explicit: she is running there can mean she is there and she is running or she is moving from here to there by running. Hungarian makes this explicit : the former meaning would be ott fut and the latter, with a verbal modifier or preverb, odafut (runs over to there... ) .
These verbal modifiers can have big effects on word order! Word order, in Hungarian, is much freer than in English, but there are some restrictions .
In general, a verbal modifier precedes the verb and they are written as one word:
However, the modifier can also be separated from the verb:
While this still means that Mari enters , the information it conveys is more like :
Mari is in focus because Mari immediately precedes the verb. Whenever there is a focused word or phrase , the particle follows the verb - and is detached .
Important ! The particle follows the verb when there is negation or in questions with question words:
Nem mész el. ‘You do not go away.‘
Ki ül le? ‘Who is sitting down?’
The phrase that corresponds to that question word, in an answer, is also always in focus. The answer to the question Ki ül le? could be:
The boldface in the second English translation indicates stress on the word. Say the English answer out loud and you'll hear what this means.
Hungarian word order is very strict in another respect: the order of topic, focus (new information) and the verb. English generally has
but Hungarian generally has
order.
There can be more than one topic!
Mari a kertben ül le. ‘Mari is sitting down in the garden.’ or ‘It's in the garden that Mari is sitting down.’
A kertben Mari ül le. ‘Mari is sitting down in the garden.‘ or ‘It's Mari who is sitting down in the garden.‘
In both sentences, that someone (Mari) is sitting down somewhere (in the garden) is conveyed, but Hungarian focuses on different parts of the sentence. In the first example, the new information is a kertben ‘in the garden’. This is indicated by the word order: a kertben immediately precedes the verb. In English, the word order stays the same, but stress or prominence changes. Compare It's in the garden ... and It's Mary ....
You can also have an unfocused sentence:
This is a neutral sentence. The subject (Mari ) is the topic, but not in focus (the "le " keeps it from being immediately before the verb ) , and neither is a kertben. And, the corresponding sentence, in English, does not have any particular stress on any phrase or word.
Word order is a complicated matter in Hungarian. For a longer explanation, see this forum post:
On Emphasis and Word Order in Hungarian
https://forum.duolingo.com/comment/18806754
Here are more sentences using the illative case (plus some preverbs you learned recently). It is used to show motion to something and it corresponds to English to and implies "into " :
a házba ‘to the house’
It will not come as a surprise to you that the illative suffix is also subject to vowel harmony:
a kertbe ‘to the garden'
More sublative case: motion onto something . It corresponds to the preposition onto and requires vowel harmony:
a házra = onto the house , a tetőre = onto the roof
Here, you'll find sentences using "separable " verbs, from the lesson on "Preverbs" , like felszállni ‘to get on’ . For example :
Sometimes, Hungarian is more explicit than English , in expressing this kind of motion. For example, - Mari leül a székre means Mari sits down onto the chair - which sounds a bit odd in English.
The important point is that ra and -re express the direction of the motion onto - which also includes surfaces like "walls " and trees .
The allative is a movement case, showing movement TO something. In English, it can be translated with up to but not in. The allative requires vowel harmony - with a special quirk: there are two front suffixes, based on whether the vowels in the noun are rounded, like ö and ü, or not, like e.
a házhoz ‘to the house’ a kerthez ‘to the garden’ a tükörhöz ‘to the mirror’
Here, you'll use these forms with some of the preverbs you have already learned.
In Germany is Németországban, but in Hungary is Magyarországon. But why do they have different endings?
Most towns in Hungary take surface suffixes (-n,-on -en -ön ), while the majority of places outside of Hungary use inside suffixes (-ban, -ben ):
• Szegedre - Szegeden - Szegedről: to, in, from Szeged
• Bécsbe - Bécsben - Bécsből: to, in, from Vienna
• Magyarországra - Magyarországon - Magyarországról: to, in, from Hungary
• Svédországba - Svédországban - Svédországból: to, in, from Sweden
Exception to these rules are Hungarian towns that end with : -i, -j, -m, -n, -ny, and -r (unless it is in -vár ... ) ! These take the inside suffixes: Tamásiból, Tokajban, Veszprémben, Debrecenből, Tihanyba, Egerben.
| Takes the -ban-ben case | Takes the -on -en -ön case |
|---|---|
| Countries: | Countries: |
| Most foreign countries | Magyarország |
| (a few islands) | most islands |
| Japánban, Kubában | Izlandon, Máltán, Korzikán, Krétán, Madagaszkáron |
| - | ending with -föld |
| - | Thaiföldön |
| Cities/Towns: | Cities/Towns: |
| Cities outside Hungary | Most Hungarian towns |
| Londonban, Berlinben | Budapesten, Szegeden |
| Hungarian cities ending -i, -j, -m, -n, and -ny | In neighboring countries, towns with Hungarian names |
| Debrecenben, Veszprémben | Kassán, Aradon (but: Bécsben) |
See also this link: Myhunlang blog: Suffixes / Adverbs of Place
In the case of Pécs and a few other towns there's a third, archaic, suffix in use: Pécsett. Others are Győrött and Székesfehérvárott. But Duo also accepts the regular forms: Pécsen, Győrben, Székesfehérváron.
Names of rivers, lakes, islands, hills, mountains, roads, streets, squares, buildings, and institutes tend to have a definite article, even if it's not used in the English translation.
A Margitsziget
A Parlament
A Budai Vár
A Kékestető
A Duna
A Tisza
A Balaton
A Margitszigetre megyek. - I am going to Margaret Island.
A Duna mellett sétálunk. - We are walking next to the Danube.
City and town names are used without an article.
Budapesten lakom. - I live in Budapest
abba · ahhoz · arra · azokba · azokhoz · azokra · csak · ebbe · ehhez · erre · ezekbe · ezekhez · ezekre · melyik
14 words
This lesson is about demonstratives (this, that, these, those ) used with : -ba/-be, -hoz/-hez/-ho:z, and -ra/-re.
These undergo assimilation . The consonant -z in the demonstrative changes to the consonant in the case:
This does not happen in the plural, so we get:
Attach the ending to BOTH the demonstrative AND the noun:
alá · de · elé · fölé · köré · közé · mellé · mögé
8 words
You may have already seen the postpositions alatt ‘under’, fölött ‘above’, mögött ‘behind’ and között ‘between‘.
They all share the -tt ending, which is an old Hungarian suffix for location.
To express motion towards a location, we can take their roots and add an -á/-é suffix ,
alá ‘towards underneath it’
fölé ‘towards above it’
mögé ‘towards behind it’
and közé toward between somethings . . .
Be careful, though: in English, a phrase like behind the house can be both a ház mögött - for where something is happening - or a ház mögé if there is motion involved.
Look for motion in this lesson !
| English | movement to | place | |
|---|---|---|---|
| beside | mellé | mellett | |
| under | alá | alatt | |
| in front of | elé | előtt | |
| behind | mögé | mögött | |
| between, among | közé | között |
hamis · igaz · kis · nyitva · zárva
5 words
Like in English, the adjective precedes the noun it modifies. (This is called an attributive adjective.) In this case, the adjective is not pluralized.
A piros alma = The red apple.
A piros almák = The red apples.
Ezek piros almák =These are red apples.
Sometimes you see an adjective that comes after the noun. In English, the adjective usually comes after is/are. However, in the Hungarian translation van or vannak is dropped. (This is called a predicative adjective.) In this case the adjective has to be plural when the subject is plural.
Az alma piros = The apple is red.
Az almák pirosak = The apples are red.
Ezek az almák pirosak =These apples are red.
A német házak szépek. = German houses are beautiful.
BUT: Be careful, the rule is not about if the adjective is before or after the noun. (Even though sometimes we say it this way because it is an easier explanation.) The real rule about whether it is an attributive adjective or predicative adjective.
Example: Politicians are rich. "A politikusok gazdagok" and "Gazdagok a politikusok." is the same thing grammatically, just the word order is rearranged.
Pirosak az almák. Szépek a német házak. These are also correct.
Milyen and milyenek work the same way as adjectives.
attributive:
Milyen autó ez? What kind of car is this?
Milyen város ez? What kind of city is this?
Milyen városokat ismersz? What kind of cities do you know?
Milyen autók ezek? What kind of cars are these?
predicative:
Milyenek a brazil sportolók? A brazil sportolók milyenek? What are the Brazilian athletes like?
Milyenek az orvosok itt? What are the doctors like here?
Milyen az orvos? What is the doctor like?
Milyen az a ház? What is that house like?
Add -ak, -ok -ek -ök or -k to the end of the word:
If the adjective ends with a vowel:
-K : after ó ő, a, e and the word kicsi. (Note that a e will turn into á é)
olcsó, olcsók, jó, jók, önző, önzők, sárga, sárgák, fekete, feketék, kicsi, kicsik, gyenge, gyengék, drága, drágák, olcsó, olcsók, szőke, szőkék, csúnya, csúnyák, tiszta, tiszták, hülye, hülyék, furcsa, furcsák,
-AK: after i, ú, back and mixed vowel words. amerikai, amerikaiak, koreai, koreaiak, kínai, kínaiak... hosszú, hosszúak, lassú, lassúak, szomorú, szomorúak,
-EK: after after i, ű, front vowel words.
keleti, keletiek, jókedvű, jókedvűek, keserű, keserűek, könnyű, könnyűek, régi, régiek, nemzeti, nemzetiek, népszerű, népszerűek, gyönyörű, gyönyörűek, nagyszerű, nagyszerűek,
If the adjective ends with a consonant:
-AK: most adjectives with mixed and back vowels
rossz, rosszak, magas, magasak, vékony, vékonyak, piros, pirosak, barátságos, barátságosak, fáradt, fáradtak, sovány, soványak, fontos, fontosak, gyors, gyorsak, új, újak, száraz, szárazak, okos, okosak, hasznos, hasznosak, csinos, csinosak, hatékony, hatékonyak, szomjas, szomjasak, unalmas, unalmasak
-OK: after -atlan/-talan, nationalities, and a few other mixed/back vowel adjectives
magyar, magyarok, angol, angolok, orosz, oroszok, olasz, olaszok, holland, hollandok, / nyugtalan, nyugtalanok, sótlan, sótlanok, / fiatal fiatalok, nagy, nagyok, vastag, vastagok, gazdag, gazdagok, boldog, boldogok, szabad, szabadok,
-EK: all other adjectives with front vowels
szép, szépek, szegény, szegények, rövid, rövidek, meleg, melegek, hideg, hidegek, nedves, nedvesek, keskeny, keskenyek, széles, szélesek, sekély, sekélyek, mély, mélyek, erős, erősek, híres, híresek, kövér, kövérek, idős, idősek, öreg, öregek, lehetséges, lehetségesek, lehetetlen, lehetetlenek, ügyes, ügyesek, ingyenes, ingyenesek, modern, modernek, üres, üresek, tökéletes, tökéletesek, helyes, helyesek, friss, frissek, beteg, betegek, éhes, éhesek,
nehéz, nehezek,
-ÖK : the words török, görög.
török, törökök, görög, görögök
be · el · fel · honnan · ide · innen · ki · le · oda · onnan · vissza · át
12 words
More verbs with prefixes.
Here, you'll learn about a common particle : preverbs, verb modifiers or verbal prefixes (igekötő in Hungarian). Many have a meaning expressing motion towards something : ki ‘towards the outside’, be ‘to ’, le ‘down‘, el ‘away‘, ide ‘towards here‘, oda ‘towards there‘.
A verb with a modifier usually corresponds to a verb plus an adverb:
kimegyek ‘I go out‘
bemész ‘you (sg.) go to‘, ‘you (sg.) enter‘
elmegy ‘s/he goes away‘
leülünk ‘we sit down‘
ideültök ‘you (pl.) sit down here‘
odaülnek ‘they sit down there‘
In English, the distinction between a location and a direction is not always explicit: she is running there can mean she is there and she is running or she is moving from here to there by running. Hungarian makes this explicit: the former would be ott fut and the latter, with a verbal modifier or preverb, odafut.
These verbal modifiers can have big effects on word order! As you know by now, word order in Hungarian is much freer than in English, but ...
in general, a verbal modifier precedes the verb and they're written as one word:
However, the modifier can also be separated from the verb:
While the sentence still means that Mari goes to something, the information it conveys corresponds more to :
In the above example, Mari is in focus because Mari immediately precedes the verb. This is called the focus position. Whenever there is a focused phrase or word in this position, the particle follows the verb.
In addition, the particle follows the verb when there is negation or in questions with question words:
Nem mész el. ‘You are not going away.‘
Ki ül le? ‘Who is sitting down?’
The phrase that responds to a question word is in focus. The answer to the question Ki ül le? could be:
The boldface in the second translation shows stress on the word. Try saying the English answer out loud and you'll hear what this means.
Hungarian word order is fairly free : the subject does not have to precede the verb and the object - as it mostly does in English.
Hungarian word order is very strict in one respect: the order of topic, focus and the verb. Focus points out new information in a sentence. The topic of a sentence is what the sentence is about. English usually has
word order . Hungarian usually has
order.
Mari a kertben ül le. ‘Mari is sitting down in the garden.’ Or ‘It's in the garden that Mari is sitting down.’
A kertben Mari ül le. ‘Mari is sitting down in the garden.‘ Or ‘It's Mari who is sitting down in the garden.‘
In both sentences, someone (Mari) is sitting down somewhere (in the garden), but we focus on different parts of the sentence. In the first example, the new or important information is a kertben ‘in the garden’. This is indicated by the word order: a kertben immediately precedes the verb. In English, the word order stays the same, but stress or prominence changes.
Finally, let's have a look at:
The subject (Mari ) is the topic, but is not in focus, because the prefix (le ) has taken the focus position. In cases like these, the verbal modifier stays attached to the verb.
The sentence it corresponds to, in English, will not have prominence, or stress, on any phrase or word.
w
amerikából · angliából · bécsből · izraelből · japánból · kairóból · németországból · párizsból · vízből
9 words
Another case! The elative case motion out of something. In English, you can translate it with out of.
Its forms are -ból/-ből . Tiny tip: they both have diacritics . Ból is attached to words with back vowels, ből to words with front vowels:
a házból ‘out of the house’
a kertből ‘out of the garden’
Now you know three cases (-ba/-be), (-ban/-ben) , and (-ból/-ből) which start with a -b : the inessive (-ban/-ben), the illative (-ba/-be) and the elative (-ból/-ből) .
What connects these is that they express motion related to the inside of something - into, in, and out of .
földről · fűről · miről · vízről
4 words
The delative case expresses motion away from the SURFACE of something and its forms are -ról/-ről . In English, you can use the prepositions from or off to translate it.
repülőtérről ‘from the airport’
pályaudvarról ‘from the train station’
Tiny tip: Hungarians think of both of these locations as SURFACES . They also think of many Hungarian cities close around Budapest as surfaces. And universities . . .
The delative is also used more abstractly, with verbs like beszél ‘talk’, where it means about:
w
The ablative case -tól/-től shows motion away from something.
It can usually be translated with from , but not all uses of from can be translated with the ablative!
A folyótól jövök. ‘I am coming from the river.’
Az épülettől indul a busz. ‘The bus is leaving from the building.’
There are nine different cases that are related to location. We can arrange them in a 3 x 3 matrix. The triads of movement are :
| goal | position | source | |
|---|---|---|---|
| SPACES | -ba -be | -ban -ben | -ból -ből |
| SURFACES | -ra -re | -on -en -ön -n | -ról -ről |
| SOLIDS | -hoz -hez -höz | -nál -nél | -tól -től |
spaces:
Bemegyek a házba. - I go into the house.
A házban vagyok. - I am in the house.
Kimegyek a házból. - I go out of the house.
surfaces:
Az asztalra rakom a könyvet. - I put the book on the table.
A könyv az asztalon van. - The book is on the table.
Elveszem az asztalról a könyvet. - I take the book away from the table.
solids:
Odamegyek a szoborhoz. - I go over to the statue.
A szobornál várok. - I wait at the statue.
Elmegyek a szobortól. - I go away from the statue.
abból · arról · attól · azokból · azokról · azoktól · ebből · erről · ettől · ezekből · ezekről · ezektől
12 words
When combining a singular demonstrative pronoun (this, that - ez, az ) with these case endings, the -z of the demonstrative (ez, az ) turns into the first consonant of the suffix:
In the plural (ezek / azok ) , the plural suffix -k remains, so the case suffix is simply added:
When using a demonstrative with a noun, both the demonstrative and the noun must have plural and case suffixes:
ebből a házból ‘out of this house’
azoktól a kertektől ‘from those gardens’
Notice that the suffix on the demonstrative and the suffix on the noun may use different vowels.
After all, vowel harmony is determined on a word-by-word basis .
alól · elől · közül · mellől · mögül
5 words
You'll see some postpositions you already know but in a different form: direction FROM somewhere.
The suffixes -ól / -ől / -ül attach to stems like al- el- mög- etc. :
Postpositions come after nouns:
Here is a chart showing how movement from words originate :
| English | movement to | place | movement from |
|---|---|---|---|
| beside | mellé | mellett | mellől |
| under | alá | alatt | alól |
| in front of | elé | előtt | elől |
| behind | mögé | mögött | mögül |
| between, among | közé | között | közül |
arra · arról · előre · erre · erről · felé · felől · hátra · közel · merre · merről
11 words
Hungarian has many ways of expressing movement - in several directions!
You may have already seen the words ide and oda which mean towards here (or hither) and towards there (or thither). English here and there can mean both a location and a direction, whereas Hungarian always makes a difference .
Motion ONTO A SURFACE is formed using the sublative case -ra/-re, motion AWAY from something by using the delative case -ról/-ről.
.
| towards something | away from something |
|---|---|
| merre ‘where to?’ | merről ‘where from?‘ |
| erre ‘towards here/this’ | erről ‘from here/this’ |
| arra ‘towards there/that‘ | arról ‘from there/that’ |
Also important are the compass directions north, east, south, and west:
.
| direction | towards ... | from ... |
|---|---|---|
| észak ‘north’ | északra | északról |
| kelet ‘east’ | keletre | keletről |
| nyugat ‘west' | nyugatra | nyugatról |
| dél ‘south’ | délre | délről |
.
The same cases are used for left and right: .
| direction | towards ... | from ... |
|---|---|---|
| bal ‘left’ | balra | balról |
| jobb ‘right’ | jobbra | jobbról |
Some words in this skill (but not all the words)
LESSON 1
"múzeum" =museum
"szobor" =statue
"színház" =theater
"sarok" = corner
"térkép" =map
LESSON 2
"templom" = church
"iroda" = office
"mozi"= cinema/ movie theater
"kocsma" = pub
"pap" = priest
"autópálya" = highway, motorway
LESSON 3
"gyár" = factory
"állomás" = station
"torony" = tower
"könyvtár" =library
"kávézó" = café
"betörő" = burglar
LESSON 4
"egyetem" =university
"posta" = post office
"börtön" = prison, jail
LESSON 5
"rendőrség" = police station
"parkoló" =parking lot, car park
"pad" = bench
"stadion" =stadium
"temető" = cemetery
amerre · amerről · arra · arról
4 words
You've learned some of the following:
These can appear as relative pronouns as well. In the following English sentence, that introduces the relative clause:
or
The first English example might sound a bit awkward, but it will help with understanding the way Hungarian works here:
onnan means ‘from there’ or ’from that place’; the relative pronoun ahonnan means ‘from where’ in exactly the sense highlighted in the above English example. While in the second English example, we can easily drop the ‘from that place’ in the first part of the sentence, Hungarian does not like this: we want to have onnan here as well.
The gist of this is that we get pairs like onnan ‘from there’ — ahonnan ‘from where’. You'll see some more of these in this lesson:
Note how the English pairs have that in the main clause and which in the relative clause... that's the basic pattern!
Consider these sentences:
Ott nincs bank, ahova ezek a turisták mennek.
Ott ebédelünk, ahonnan a villamos visszajön.
Ott lakik Péter, ahol Éva dolgozik.
We can see a "Onnan verb1 subject1, ahonnan subject2 verb2". pattern
If you start with the subject:
Subject1 onnan verb1, ahonnan subject2 verb2.
If we have preverbs too:
Oda megy be Anna, ahonnan Béla kijön.
or: Anna oda megy be, ahonnan Béla kijön.
Why? ott/oda/onnan attracts focus, it likes to be directly in front of the verb.
But ahol/ahova/ahonnan avoids focus. Put the verb further away from them, or at least, do not separate the preverb.
(Not all the sentences in this skill follow this order, but several of them.)
abba · abban · ahhoz · annál · arra · arról · attól · azokba · azokban · azokhoz · azoknál · azokon · azokra · azokról · azoktól · azon
16 words
Demonstrative adjectives and relative pronouns .
In English you can use that as a relative pronoun, as well as which:
I like that book which you like too.
Szeretem azt a könyvet, amelyiket te is szeretsz.
The focus in this lesson is on the pair azt — amelyik(et): ‘that one ... which’.
Demonstratives and relative pronouns can have all kinds of cases:
An example:
Note that translations of the English or Hungarian sentences will not always use the same words.
Abból eszem, amin nincs kép
means ‘I eat from that one, on which there is no picture.’ This is not a very natural translation. This could be used where there are some plates and one of them doesn't have a picture on it (while the others do). The Hungarian sentence, above, is fine, but its English translation would be:
I eat off (of ) the one on which there is no picture.
Depending on the context, a demonstrative in Hungarian can be translated with (or by ) a demonstrative or with a definite article plus one in English.
Abból eszem, amin nincs kép. I eat from the one on which there is no picture.
Here the object is not named: I eat from the one... Abból eszem...
Abból a tálból eszem, amelyiken nincs kép. I eat from the bowl, on which there is no picture.
Here the object (the bowl) is named. Abból a tálból eszem....
alatt · alá · alól · elé · elől · előtt · felett · fölé · köré · körül · közé · között · közül · mellett · mellé · mellől · mögé · mögött · mögül
19 words
When you combine a demonstrative and a noun like ez a ház ‘this house’ with a postposition like mellett ‘next to‘, the resulting form is like with the case suffixes above:
e mellett a ház mellett ‘next to this house’
a fölött a kert fölött ‘above that garden’
az alatt a fa alatt ‘under that tree’
You've seen sentences like:
Annál a banknál állunk, amelyikben sok ember dolgozik. We are standing at the bank, in which a lot of people are working.
These sentences answer to "Which?"
Which bank are we standing at? - There, where a lot of people work.
In this skill, we combine these two tricks, the "az alatt a fa alatt" construction with the "Az a ..., amelyik ..." construction, and get:
A színészek a mögül a függöny mögül jönnek ki, amelyiken egy nagy pillangó van.
The actors come out from behind the curtain on which there is a large butterfly.
meg · mínusz · nulla
3 words
amilyen · amilyenek · mint · olyan · olyanok
5 words
You saw az (a) ... amelyik and ott...ahol earlier.
Now it's time for another two-part conjunction:
olyan ... mint / olyan ...amilyen
For example:
(Én) olyan vagyok, mint te.
(Én) olyan vagyok, amilyen te.
I am like you.
A kutya olyan, mint a macska.
A kutya olyan, amilyen a macska.
The dog is like the cat.
For the plural version, use olyanok ... mint / olyanok ...amilyenek
A kutyák olyanok, mint a macskák.
A kutyák olyanok, amilyenek a macskák.
The dogs are like the cats.
vele · veled · velem · veletek · velük · velünk
6 words
Words related to location or direction.
| Movement from | Place | Movement to | |
|---|---|---|---|
| every | mindenhonnan | mindenhol | mindenhova |
| some | valahonnan | valahol | valahova |
| none | sehonnan | sehol | sehova |
| Movement from | Place | Movement to | |
|---|---|---|---|
| every | mindenfelől | - | mindenfelé |
| some | valamerről | - | valamerre |
| none | semerről | - | semerre |
mindenfelől is not a location, it is a directional indicator. The closest translation is ‘from every direction’. mindenhonnan can be translated as ‘from everywhere’.
to everywhere — mindenhova
from every direction — mindenfelől
There is no third option here, since we cannot use a direction as a location.
kiknek · kinek
2 words
You use possessive adjectives to express who an object belongs to:
Hungarian does not have possessive adjectives like my or her but possessive suffixes. They are very similar to possessive adjectives in that they indicate the person and number of the possessor but they appear attached to the noun:
az asztalom ‘my table’
a cipője ‘her/his shoe’
The forms are as follows:
| Hungarian | English | |
|---|---|---|
| 1SG | -öm, -om, -m | my |
| 2SG | -öd, -ed, -od, -d | your (sg.) |
| 3SG | -je, -ja, -a | his/her/its |
| 1PL | -ünk, -unk, -nk | our |
| 2PL | -(ö)tök, -(e)tek, -(o)tok | your (pl.) |
| 3PL | -jük, -juk, -uk | their |
cipő ‘shoe’ has front vowels and ends in a vowel, so its possessive forms are:
| Hungarian | English | |
|---|---|---|
| 1SG | cipő-m | my shoe |
| 2SG | cipő-d | your (sg.) shoe |
| 3SG | cipő-je | her/his shoe |
| 1PL | cipő-nk | our shoe |
| 2PL | cipő-tök | your (pl.) shoe |
| 3PL | cipő-jük | their shoe |
asztal ‘table' has back vowels and ends in a consonant, so its possessive forms are:
| Hungarian | English | |
|---|---|---|
| 1SG | asztal-om | my table |
| 2SG | asztal-od | your (sg.) table |
| 3SG | asztal-a | her/his table |
| 1PL | asztal-unk | our table |
| 2PL | asztal-otok | your (pl.) table |
| 3PL | asztal-uk | their table |
Hungarian has two ways of expressing possession , a bit like the two English constructions a friend's book and a book of a friend.
Possessors can be nominative, a lány, or dative, e.g. a lánynak:
As you can see, the constructions can be the same, but they differ in some ways. The dative (a lánynak) is followed by a ‘the’ and you have to use the dative in questions with whose:
whose in this sentence is ki-nek, the dative of ki ‘who’.
As usual, there are exceptions to the general rule. When the possessor is third person plural, the forms change in one of two ways. First, when the possessor is a pronoun, ők ‘they’, the pronoun loses its -k. (This only happens with ők, all other pronouns stay intact.)
So it looks like a singular possessor, but it's still plural. Second, when the possessor is a noun in the plural, like a lányok, the possessed noun loses its plural ending -(j)uk or *-(j)ük*:
Hungarian also has possessive pronouns mine, yours. They always include the definite article a :
| Hungarian | English | |
|---|---|---|
| 1SG | az enyém | mine |
| 2SG | a tiéd or a tied | yours (sg.) |
| 3SG | az övé | hers/his |
| 1PL | a miénk | ours |
| 2PL | a tiétek | yours (pl.) |
| 3PL | az övék | theirs |
You can use these forms in sentences like:
Ez a cipő az enyém. ‘This shoe is mine.’
kiknek · kinek · neked · nekem · neki · nekik · nektek · nekünk
8 words
In the previous skill, you learned how to express possession in Hungarian. In this skill, you'll learn another way to show possession: how to make sentences which use the verb to have.
Hungarian does not have a verb that means to have. Instead, Hungarian uses the verb van ‘there is’ with a dative (for the possessor) and a nominative (for the possessed noun):
This construction means something like There is a car to Mary. .
The possessed noun has a possessive suffix which matches in person and number with the dative possessor. In the above example, Mari is third person singular, so the possessed noun gets ja.
Dative possessors can be proper names (like Mari), regular nouns, as well as pronouns, of course.
Using a pronoun in such cases usually adds some emphasis on the possessor: pronouns are natural in answers to question:
Remember also that in Hungarian, the question word ki ‘who’ has separate singular and plural forms, so the sentence
is asking if there are several possessors: in English, this distinction does not exist, and the sentence can be translated with a singular subject.
You know that the regular plural suffix in Hungarian is -k. But when a noun is possessed, we use a different suffix: -i.
This suffix always follows a possessive (generally ja/je or a_/_e), and precedes the suffix indicating the person and number of the possessor:
Hungarian uses four different words for older/younger brother, older/younger sister, not just brother and sister.
For example:
A bátyám orvos. My older brother is a doctor.
Hol van az öcséd? Where is your younger brother?
A húgom óvónő. My younger sister is a kindergarten teacher.
A nővérem mérnök. My older sister is an engineer.
| Hungarian | English |
|---|---|
| anya | mother |
| apa | father |
| testvér | sibling |
| báty | older brother |
| öcs | younger brother |
| nővér | older sister |
| húg | younger sister |
| nagymama | grandmother |
| nagypapa | grandfather |
| unoka | grandchild |
| nagynéni | aunt |
| nagybácsi | uncle |
| unokatestvér | cousin |
| unokahúg | niece |
| unokaöcs | nephew |
| férj | husband |
| feleség | wife |
| após | father-in-law |
| anyós | mother-in-law |
| sógor | brother-in-law |
| sógornő | sister-in-law |
In many languages, you use possessive adjectives to express who a certain object belongs to :
Hungarian does not have possessive adjectives like my or her instead possessive suffixes. They are similar to possessive adjectives in that they indicate the person and number of the possessor but they are attached to the noun:
az asztalom ‘my table’
a cipője ‘her/his shoe’
The forms are as follows:
| Hungarian | English | |
|---|---|---|
| 1SG | -öm, -om, -m | my |
| 2SG | -öd, -ed, -od, -d | your (sg.) |
| 3SG | -je, -ja, -a | his/her/its |
| 1PL | -ünk, -unk, -nk | our |
| 2PL | -(ö)tök, -(e)tek, -(o)tok | your (pl.) |
| 3PL | -jük, -juk, -uk | their |
They require vowel harmony so if a noun ends in a vowel... cipő ‘shoe’ has front vowels and ends in a vowel, so its forms are:
| Hungarian | English | |
|---|---|---|
| 1SG | cipő-m | my shoe |
| 2SG | cipő-d | your (sg.) shoe |
| 3SG | cipő-je | her/his shoe |
| 1PL | cipő-nk | our shoe |
| 2PL | cipő-tök | your (pl.) shoe |
| 3PL | cipő-jük | their shoe |
asztal ‘table' has back vowels and ends in a consonant, so its forms are:
| Hungarian | English | |
|---|---|---|
| 1SG | asztal-om | my table |
| 2SG | asztal-od | your (sg.) table |
| 3SG | asztal-a | her/his table |
| 1PL | asztal-unk | our table |
| 2PL | asztal-otok | your (pl.) table |
| 3PL | asztal-juk | their table |
Hungarian has two ways of expressing the possessor of something, like the two English constructions a friend's book and a book of a friend.
Possessors can be in the nominative case, e.g. a lány, or dative, e.g. a lánynak:
The constructions can mean the same, but they differ in some ways. The dative (a lánynak) is followed by a ‘the’ , and you have to use the dative in questions with whose:
whose in this sentence is ki-nek, the dative of ki ‘who’.
As usual, there are exceptions to the rule, and they're complicated ! When the possessor is third person plural, the forms change in one of two ways. First, when the possessor is a pronoun, like ők ‘they’, the pronoun loses its -k:
So it looks like a singular possessor, but it is still plural. Second, when the possessor is a noun in the plural, like a lányok, the possessed noun loses its plural ending -(j)uk or *-(j)ük*:
Hungarian also has possessive pronouns corresponding to mine, yours, etc. They always include the definite article a and are formed as follows:
| Hungarian | English | |
|---|---|---|
| 1SG | az enyém | mine |
| 2SG | a tiéd or a tied | yours (sg.) |
| 3SG | az övé | hers/his |
| 1PL | a miénk | ours |
| 2PL | a tiétek | yours (pl.) |
| 3PL | az övék | theirs |
You can use these forms in sentences like:
Ez a cipő az enyém. ‘This shoe is mine.’
Some words drop the last vowel in the plural /in the accusative case / in possessive forms. We can call this a "fleeting vowel".
For example:
étterem - restaurant
éttermek - restaurants
éttermet - restaurant (accusative)
étterme - his/her restaurant
éttermem - my restaurant
Here we show the accusative singular and the 3rd person singular possessive forms, the other possessive forms follow the pattern.
| English | HU nominative | accusative | 3SG possessive |
|---|---|---|---|
| restaurant | étterem | éttermet | étterme |
| room, hall | terem | termet | terme |
| strawberry | eper | epret | epre |
| mirror | tükör | tükröt | tükre |
| statue | szobor | szobrot | szobra |
| monkey | majom | majmot | majma |
| tail | farok | farkat | farka |
| bush | bokor | bokrot | bokra |
| dream | álom | álmot | álma |
| (lion) cub | kölyök | kölyköt | kölyke |
annak · azoknak · ennek · ezeknek
4 words
As we saw earlier, usually we can choose between a short form and a long form to show possession:
the boy's dog = a fiú kutyája / a fiúnak a kutyája
the girl's cat = a lány macskája / a lánynak a macskája
However, if you use the possessor with this/that, you have to use the longer form (with the -nak-nek ending)
this boy's dog = ennek a fiúnak a kutyája
that boy's dog = annak a fiúnak a kutyája
this girl's cat = ennek a lánynak a macskája
that girl's cat = annak a lánynak a macskája
If the possessor is plural:
these boys' dog = ezeknek a fiúknak a kutyája
those girls' cat = azoknak a lányoknak a macskája
Let's refresh the possessive endings:
| Hungarian | English | |
|---|---|---|
| 1SG | -öm, -em, -om, -m | my |
| 2SG | -öd, -ed, -od, -d | your (sg.) |
| 3SG | -je, -ja, -e, -a | his/her/its |
| 1PL | -ünk, -unk, -nk | our |
| 2PL | -(ö)tök, -(e)tek, -(o)tok | your (pl.) |
| 3PL | -jük, -juk, -ük, -uk | their |
But we will see that the 3rd person plural behaves strangely.
Exceptions
As usual, there are a few exceptions to the general rule. When the possessor is third person plural, the forms change in one of two ways. First, when the possessor is a pronoun, ők ‘they’, the pronoun loses its -k. (This only happens with ők, all other pronouns stay intact.)
az ő cipőjük ‘their shoe’
az ő asztaluk ‘their table’
So it looks like a singular possessor, but is still plural. Second, when the possessor is a plural noun, like a lányok, the possessed noun loses its plural ending -(j)uk or -(j)ük
a lányok cipője ‘the girls' shoe’
a lányok asztala ‘the girls' table'
First, we have to make a distinction. Do we have a Possessive sentence, like The boy's dog is black. A fiú kutyája fekete.
or a To have sentence: The boy has a dog. A fiúnak van egy kutyája.
So, in total:
| Possessive sentence | To have sentence | |
|---|---|---|
| they | -juk | -juk |
| az ő kutyájuk | (nekik) van egy kutyájuk | |
| their dog | they have a dog | |
| plural noun | -ja | -juk |
| a fiúk kutyája, a fiúknak a kutyája | a fiúknak van egy kutyájuk | |
| the boys' dog | the boys have a dog | |
| önök, maguk | -ja | -juk |
| az önök kutyája | önöknek van egy kutyájuk | |
| your dog | you have a dog | |
| not named | -juk | -juk |
| a kutyájuk | van egy kutyájuk | |
| (their/your) dog | (they/you) have a dog |
One more thing, where Possessive sentence versus a To have sentence makes a big difference.
Annak a fiúnak a kutyája barna. That boy's dog is black.
(You have to write a kutyája here.)
Annak a fiúnak van egy kutyája. /Annak a fiúnak van kutyája. That boy has a dog.
(Here, egy kutyája or kutyája without article is possible.)
When you talk about paired body parts (eyes, ears, legs), use the singular in Hungarian most of the time.
Kék a szeme. - His eyes are blue.
Nagy a füle. - Her ears are big.
Take some postpositions, add moving away from something and attach some personal endings.
| English | Postposition | ... me | ... you | ... him/her |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (from) beside | mellől | mellőlem | mellőled | mellőle |
| (from) under | alól | alólam | alólad | alóla |
| (from) in front of | elől | előlem | előled | előle |
| (from) above | fölül | fölülem | fölüled | fölüle |
| (from) behind | mögül | mögülem | mögüled | mögüle |
Adessive Postpositional Pronouns
Take some postpositions, and attach some personal endings.
| English | Postposition | ... me | ... you | ... him/her |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| beside, next to | mellett | mellettem | melletted | mellette |
| under | alatt | alattam | alattad | alatta |
| in front of | előtt | előttem | előtted | előtte |
| above | fölött | fölöttem | fölötted | fölötte |
| behind | mögött | mögöttem | mögötted | mögötte |
| after | után | utánam | utánad | utána |
Take some postpositions, add moving towards something and attach some personal endings.
| English | Postposition | ...me | ... you | ... him/her |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (to) beside | mellé | mellém | melléd | mellé |
| (to) under | alá | alám | alád | alá |
| (to) in front of | elé | elém | eléd | elé |
| (to) above | fölé | fölém | föléd | fölé |
| (to) behind | mögé | mögém | mögéd | mögé |
| towards | felé | felém | feléd | felé |
| (to) around | köré | körém | köréd | köré |
You learned the case endings earlier. For example, in the house = a házban. In this skill, you will see constructions like "in me", "from you", "about him".
Pronouns of source
| Case ending | ...me | ... you | ... him/her | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| - ból - ből | belőlem | belőled | belőle | ||
| - ról - ről | rólam | rólad | róla | ||
| - tól - től | tőlem | tőled | tőle |
| Case ending | ...us | ... you (pl.) | ... them | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| - ból - ből | belőlünk | belőletek | belőlük | ||
| - ról - ről | rólunk | rólatok | róluk | ||
| - tól - től | tőlünk | tőletek | tőlük |
Pronouns of position
| Case ending | ...me | ... you | ... him/her | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| - ban - ben | bennem | benned | benne | ||
| - on - en -ön -n | rajtam | rajtad | rajta | ||
| - nál - nél | nálam | nálad | nála |
| Case ending | ...us | ... you (pl) | ... them | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| - ban - ben | bennünk | bennetek | bennük | ||
| - on - en -ön -n | rajtunk | rajtatok | rajtuk | ||
| - nál - nél | nálunk | nálatok | náluk |
Pronouns of goal
| Case ending | ...me | ... you | ... him/her | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| - ba - be | belém | beléd | belé | ||
| - ra -re | rám | rád | rá | ||
| - hoz -hez -höz | hozzám | hozzád | hozzá |
| Case ending | ...us | ... you (pl.) | ... them | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| - ba - be | belénk | belétek | beléjük | ||
| - ra -re | ránk | rátok | rájuk | ||
| - hoz -hez -höz | hozzánk | hozzátok | hozzájuk |
You've already learned quite a bit about possession in Hungarian. You might have noticed, however, that the examples so far were missing something, namely
plurals of possessed nouns.
While usually plurals of nouns are indicated by the suffix -k (with a vowel preceding it), when we're dealing with a possessed noun, like his bosses, the plural is formed in a different way, with -i. So:
The great thing about this suffix is that there's no vowel harmony. It's simply -i and remains -i. Thus:
Let's look at the plural forms of the words cipő and asztal that we discussed in the Tips and Notes of Possessives 1. Cipő ‘shoe’ has front vowels and ends in a vowel, so its possessed forms are:
| Hungarian | English | |
|---|---|---|
| 1SG | cipő-im | my shoes |
| 2SG | cipő-id | your (sg.) shoes |
| 3SG | cipő-i | her/his shoes |
| 1PL | cipő-ink | our shoes |
| 2PL | cipő-itek | your (pl.) shoes |
| 3PL | cipő-ik | their shoes |
asztal ‘table' has back vowels and ends in a consonant, so its possessed forms are:
| Hungarian | English | |
|---|---|---|
| 1SG | asztal-aim | my tables |
| 2SG | asztal-aid | your (sg.) tables |
| 3SG | asztal-ai | her/his tables |
| 1PL | asztal-aink | our tables |
| 2PL | asztal-aitok | your (pl.) tables |
| 3PL | asztal-aik | their tables |
Be careful, ők gets shortened to ő in some possessive structures, and only the possessive ending shows the possessor:
az ő széke - his/her chair
az ő székük - their chair
az ő székei - his/her chairs
az ő székeik - their chairs
az ő háza - his/her house
az ő házuk - their house
az ő házai - his/her houses
az ő házaik - their houses
akiknek · akinek · annak · azoknak
4 words
The past tense in Hungarian is relatively simple (really!). In contrast to English, there is only a single past tense, and it is mostly regular.
The past is formed by adding a -t with or without a vowel to the verb stem, followed by the personal endings. This is first shown for the indefinite paradigm of lát, a verb with a back vowel.
• lát-ok → lát-t-am ‘I saw’
• lát-sz → lát-t-ál ‘you (sg.) saw’
• lát → lát-ott ‘she/he/it saw’
• lát-unk → lát-t-unk ‘we saw’
• lát-tok → lát-ta-tok ‘you (pl.) saw’
• lát-nak → lát-t-ak ‘they saw’
For verbs with front vowels, the suffixes are slightly different:
• keres-ek → keres-t-em ‘I was looking for’
• keres-el → keres-t-él ‘you (sg.) were looking for’
• keres → keres-ett ‘she/he/it was looking for’
• keres-ünk → keres-t-ünk ‘we were looking for’
• keres-tek → keres-te-tek ‘you (pl.) were looking for’
• keres-nek → keres-t-ek ‘they were looking for’
Notice that in the first person singular, the ending is -m for both the indefinite and the definite forms, unlike in the present tense. This makes your life easier (you’ll learn the definite forms soon).
There is another group of verbs where the past tense singular third person form does not end with -ott -ett or -ött just simply with a -t.
• talál-ok → talál-t-am ‘I found’
• talál-sz → talál-t-ál ‘you (sg.) found’
• talál → talál-t ‘she/he/it found’
• talál-unk → talál-t-unk ‘we found’
• talál-tok → talál-ta-tok ‘you (pl.) found’
• talál-nak → talál-t-ak ‘they found’
There are a few exceptional stems which look slightly different in the present and the past tense:
• vagyok, van, ... → _voltam ‘I was’, volt ‘she/he/it was’, ...
• megyek, megy, ... → mentem ‘I went’, ment ‘she/he/it went’, ...
• eszem, eszik, ... → ettem ‘I ate’, evett ‘she/he/it ate’, ...
• iszom, iszik, ... → ittam ‘I drank’, ivott ‘she/he/it drank’, ...
Even these, as you can see, are somewhat regular. The -sz in verbs like eszik, iszik, vesz, tesz, lesz, disappears in the past tense: evett, ivott, vett, tett, lett.
sült
1 words
In this lesson, you'll learn the Hungarian words for a number of fruits, vegetables and other foods, as well as the names of some Hungarian dishes.
As in earlier skills, when talking about something in general, Hungarian differs from English. Where English uses a bare noun, as in Cheese is tasty., in Hungarian you have to use a definite article plus a noun: A sajt finom.
Another difference between the two languages is that Hungarian sometimes uses a bare singular noun where English would use an article and a noun or a plural: Szőlőt eszem. translates to I am eating grapes.
Some of the dishes mentioned in the sentences in this skill are difficult to translate, since they are Hungarian specialties. So here is a very short little guide to Hungarian cuisine:
gulyás(leves) is a soup flavoured with some paprika with different vegetables and meat; it is soupier than "goulash soup" in other countries
lángos is a small, round piece of wheat dough (sometimes with potato as well) with yeast that is fried in oil or baked and eaten with garlic, cheese and/or sour dough
lecsó is a vegetable ragout or stew, made with onion, tomato, peppers, and paprika
pálinka is a fruit brandy that is often made from apricots (then usually called barack or barackpálinka), plums (szilvapálinka), or other fruit
paprikás is a dish made with paprika, onion, garlic and different meats or vegetables, such as chicken, mushrooms, potatoes, or beans; there are many varieties; this dish is sometimes known as "goulash" outside of Hungary
pörkölt is a stew usually made with (you guessed it!) paprika, onion, garlic and beef or pork; there are many different varieties, however; this dish is often known as "goulash" outside of Hungary
ahol · amikor · azonban · bár · de · ennek ellenére · ha · hogy · mert · mindegy · még · mégis · nos · pedig · persze · például · sőt · talán · tehát · továbbá · tudom · valóban · végül is · általában
24 words
You have recently learned the past tense in Hungarian. As you remember, it is formed by adding a -t- to the stem followed by personal suffixes. However, as in the present tense, Hungarian distinguishes using a verb form whether the (third person) direct object is definite or not. In the skill Past 1, we showed you the forms without objects or with indefinite objects. Here are the forms for past tense verbs with definite objects.
We start with the verb lát, with a back vowel, e.g. láttuk ‘we saw it’. Note that the first person singular is the same for both. Some of the verb forms with definite objects are similar to the present tense forms: instead of -j-, we find a -t- in the 3SG and the plural forms.
| indefinite or no object | definite object | |
|---|---|---|
| 1SG | lát-t-am | lát-t-am |
| 2SG | lát-t-ál | lát-t-ad |
| 3SG | lát-ott | lát-t-a |
| 1PL | lát-t-unk | lát-t-uk |
| 2PL | lát-ta-tok | lát-t-átok |
| 3PL | lát-t-ak | lát-t-ák |
Now for a verb with front vowels, like keres, e.g. kerestük ‘we were looking for it’.
| indefinite or no object | definite object | |
|---|---|---|
| 1SG | keres-t-em | keres-t-em |
| 2SG | keres-t-él | keres-t-ed |
| 3SG | keres-ett | keres-t-e |
| 1PL | keres-t-ünk | keres-t-ük |
| 2PL | keres-te-tek | keres-t-étek |
| 3PL | keres-t-ek | keres-t-ék |
első · elsőt · ezreket · ezret · harmadik · harmadikat · harmincadikat · harmincat · hat · hatodik · hatodikat · hatot · hetedik · hetet · huszonötödiket · huszonötöt · hármat · három · kecskét · kettőt · kilenc · kilencet · másodikat · negyediket · nyolc · nyolcadikat · nyolcat · négyet · szeretjük · százat · ötvenediket · ötvenet · ötödik · ötödiket · ötöt · újságot
36 words
autókat · erőseket · férfiakat · gyerekeket · görögöket · imádják · kutyákat · magyarokat · nagyokat · nehezeket · nőket · ruhákat · székeket · szépeket · tisztákat · tisztát · virágokat
17 words
You've already learned a whole lot about Hungarian verbs! They can be intransitive (not take an object) or transitive (take an object). When they are transitive, they can have different forms based on whether their object is definite or not! And of course, we can put them in the past tense, too.
So far, you were practising these skills separately, but in this skill, you'll have to concentrate on whether you're dealing with the present or the past, and with definite or indefinite objects!
akit · amit · azokat · azt · borokat · ezeket · ezt · fiúkat · fiút · házakat · kenyereket · kenyeret · kutyát · lányokat · lányt
15 words
említi · említjük · gondolja · gondoljuk · gondolom · hisszük · hiszem · hiszi · kérdezi · kérdeznek · válaszolja · válaszoljátok · válaszolom
13 words
This skill is about embedded clauses with verbs of believing, such as gondol ‘to believe’, and verbs of saying, such as kérdez ‘to ask’.
In English, the complement clause of believe is often introduced by that. In Hungarian, hogy has the same function (but it is preceded by a comma):
In Hungarian, however, the main clause also contains azt, the accusative form of the demonstrative az. This is necessary with the verbs gondol, hisz ‘to believe’ and válaszol ‘to reply’:
Here, you will meet possessed direct objects, objects with both a possessive and an accusative suffix. The form is that the noun is followed by the possessive marker and by the accusative marker - in that order:
• ház → ház-am → ház-am-at ‘my house (obj.)’
The accusative is fairly regular, too. Recall that for a word like alma ‘apple’, adding the accusative lengthens the final vowel:
• alma → almá-t ‘apple (obj.)’
The same happens with possessive forms ending in -a:
• ház-a ‘his/her/its house’ → ház-á-t ‘his/her/its house (obj.)’
Note that possessed direct objects (nearly) always require the definite verb form, and they often appear with a definite determiner or possessor .
Finally, if the possessor is in the first or second person singular, the accusative can sometimes be omitted:
• Add a kezed! ‘Give me your hand!’
Here, it is fairly common to just use kezed instead of kezedet. But if the possessor is in the third person this is never possible.
Hungarian uses the Latin alphabet (abcd) with some additional letters and diacritics (accent marks).
Let's start with the vowels.
Vowels can be short and long. Short vowels are a, e, i, o, u, ö and ü. Their long versions are á, é, í, ó, ú, ő and ű.
Consonants can also be short and long. Consonants become long by doubling them, as in reggel ’morning’.
Ironically if a digraph or a trigraph (a letter that consists of two or three characters ) becomes long, we don't write it down twice, but shorten it:
sz + sz = ssz, cs + cs = ccs, zs + zs = zzs
dinnye [watermelon] consist of diny+nye. The long 'ny' is 'nny'. (A long 'dzs' is 'ddzs' but you won't see this often.)
Some English consonants are spelled differently in Hungarian:
| Letter | Hungarian pronunciation | IPA |
|---|---|---|
| c | like ts in cats | [t͡s] |
| cs | like ch in channel | [t͡ʃ] |
| s | like sh in shower | [ʃ] |
| sz | like s in sing | [s] |
| zs | like s in pleasure | [ʒ] |
| gy | no English equivalent | [ɟ] |
| ny | like gn in lasagne | [ɲ] |
| ty | like t in Tuesday | [c] |
| dzs | like j in jump | [d͡ʒ] |
So Hungarian szia (’hello’ or ’goodbye’) sounds like English see ya!
The letters gy, ny, ty are sounds which not all varieties of English have. They sound a bit like adding a y sound to the preceding sound.
Don't forget that these di- and trigraph letters aren't pronounced consonant by consonant, they represent ONE sound.
Keep in mind that sz and cs are completely distinct sounds - the same applies for gy and zs.
Hungarians think of these multigraphs as ONE letter .
Hungarian has definite articles. Hungarian a and az correspond to English the. So English the boy is Hungarian a fiú. Use az when the word it precedes (usually an adjective or a noun) starts with a vowel.
Here are all the vowels in Hungarian: a, á, e, é, i, í, o, ó, ö, ő, u, ú, ü, ű
When the word starts with a consonant, use a.
This is similar to the indefinite article in English: a / an. While it is a boy, it's an apple.
The indefinite article (a/ an in English) is simply egy in Hungarian. (Which is also the numeral "one".)
egy alma = an apple
egy fiú = a boy
Don't confuse Hungarian's a / az, the definite article meaning the, with English's a / an, which are the indefinite articles, meaning egy!
a fiú — ‘the boy’
az autó — ‘the car’
egy fiú — ‘a boy’
egy autó — ‘a car’
Just like in English, the adjective comes before the noun.
a piros autó — ‘the red car’
egy piros autó — ‘a red car’
Here you'll meet your first Hungarian phrases as well as a few verbs, most importantly, lenni ‘to be’. It is conjugated as follows:
| SG | PL | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | (én) vagyok ‘I am’ | (mi) vagyunk ‘we are’ |
| 2 | (te) vagy ‘you (sg.) are’ | (ti) vagytok ‘you (pl) are’ |
| 3 | (ő) van ‘s/he is’ | (ők) vannak ‘they are’ |
The pronouns in the Hungarian examples are in parentheses because you mostly don't have to use them. The verb form tells you which person and number is indicated.
Hungarian uses the Latin alphabet (like English) with some additional letters and diacritics. Let's start with the vowels.
Vowels can be short and long. Short vowels are a, e, i, o, u, ö and ü. Their long versions are á, é, í, ó, ú, ő and ű.
Consonants can ALSO be short and long. Long consonants are "lengthened " by doubling them, as in reggel ’morning’ .
Some Hungarian consonants are spelled very differently from their English counterparts:
| Letter | Hungarian pronunciation |
|---|---|
| c | like ts in cats |
| cs | like ch in channel |
| s | like sh in shower |
| sz | like s in sing |
| zs | like s in pleasure |
So Hungarian szia (’hello’ or ’goodbye’) sounds a bit like English see ya.
The letters gy, ny, ty represent sounds that sound a bit like adding a y sound to the preceding sound.
Take a look at this video (there are others) to hear how the vowels and consonants are pronounced:
Youtube: The sounds of the Hungarian alphabet
Another video, as a gentle intro to the Hungarian language:
Hungarian explained - such long words, such an isolated language
Lesson 1
Just like in English, Hungarian has definite articles and an indefinite article.
A and az are like English's the . A fiú = the boy .
If the word starts with a vowel, you use az. For a consonant, you use a.
az alma, a fiú
Hungarian's indefinite article is simpler: the indefinite article a or an is always egy.
egy alma, egy fiú
Don't confuse Hungarian's a / az, the definite article meaning the, with English's a / an, which are the indefinite articles, meaning egy!
Lenni, the verb "to be"
The present tense is :
| SG | PL | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | (én) vagyok ‘I am’ | (mi) vagyunk ‘we are’ |
| 2 | (te) vagy ‘you (sg.) are’ | (ti) vagytok ‘you (pl. ) are’ |
| 3 | (ő) van ‘s/he is’ | (ők) vannak ‘they are’ |
The subject pronouns are in parentheses because they are often dropped , the verb conjugation shows the person.
You are a teacher can be Te tanár vagy. or just Tanár vagy.
Hungarian sometimes drops van and vannak. Sometimes there's NO verb where English has is ! You would say What is this ?, Hungarian drops the "is " :
Mi ez? = what is this ? . . .
Hungarian word order is freer than in English. To ask What is this?, both Mi ez? and Ez mi? are fine.
Be alert! The verb is only left out when the subject is in the third person AND the sentence expresses a property of the subject like Ez mi? “What is this?“, Péter egy diák “Péter is a student.”, or Péter álmos “Péter is tired.”
This only happens in the third person, the first and second person (I, you, we, plural you ) vagyok, vagy, vagyunk, vagytok are NEVER omitted.
Don't use van or vannak if you are saying what someone or something is.
"Ő tanár" - "He is a teacher"
"Péter tanár" - "Péter is a teacher"
"Az alma piros" - "The apple is red"
"Mi az?" - "What's that?"
But, do use van/vannak when describing when, how, the state, or where something or someone is.
Time - Expressing when something is.
"Mikor van a buli?" - "When is the party?" "A buli hétkor van." - "The party is at 7."
State - how something/someone is.
"Apád ma hogy van?" = "How is your dad today?" "Ma jobban van, mint tegnap, köszönöm." - "He is better today than he was yesterday, thank you."
Location
"Hol van a mozi?" - "Where is the cinema?" "Ott van jobbra." - "It's there on the right."
Adverbial Participle - a verbal state of a noun
"Ki van nyitva az ablak?" - "Is the window open?" "Nem, be van zárva." - "No, it's shut."
All the above become "vannak" when the subject is plural:
"Itt vannak a poharak." - "Here are the glasses."
"A szobák fűtve vannak." - "The rooms are heated."
See another explanation here: Hungarianreference.com/Van-is-exists-omitting
Lesson 1
Just like English, Hungarian has a so-called definite article (or definite determiner). Hungarian a and az correspond to English the. So English the boy is Hungarian a fiú. It is easy to figure out whether you have to use a or az: when the following word (usually an adjective or a noun) starts with a vowel, you use az. When it starts with a consonant, you use a.
This is very similar to the indefinite determiner in English: a and an. While it is a boy, it's an apple. In this case, Hungarian is simpler: the indefinite determiner is simply egy.
Be careful not to confuse Hungarian a/az, which is the definite article meaning the, with English a/an, which is the indefinite article, meaning egy!
Lesson 2
You will notice that Hungarian sometimes lacks a verb where English has is. For example, while in English you would say What is this?, Hungarian does not have a verb here: Mi ez?
In addition, Hungarian word order is freer than English word order. To ask What is this?, in Hungarian both Mi ez? and Ez mi? are fine.
Be careful! The verb is only missing when the subject is in the third person and the sentence expresses a property relating to the subject like Ez mi? “What is this?“, Péter egy diák “Péter is a student.”, or Péter álmos “Péter is tired.”
In other words, we omit "van" when stating what something is using an adjective or a noun.
Lesson 3
The third person form of the English verb to be in Hungarian is van. This form is used when the verb is combined with a question word or an adverb like hol (‘where’), ott (‘there’), bent (‘inside’), as described above.
Here are all the present-tense forms again:
| SG | PL | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | (én) vagyok ‘I am’ | (mi) vagyunk ‘we are’ |
| 2 | (te) vagy ‘you (sg.) are’ | (ti) vagytok ‘you (pl) are’ |
| 3 | (ő) van ‘s/he is’ | (ők) vannak ‘they are’ |
You will see that the words van and vannak are often omitted. This only happens in the third person, the first and second person vagyok, vagy, vagyunk, vagytok are never omitted.
Don't use van/vannak if you are saying what someone/something is using a noun or an adjective.
"Ő egy tanár" - "He is a teacher"
"Péter egy tanár" - "Péter is a teacher"
"Az alma piros" - "The apple is red"
"Mi az?" - "What's that?"
But do use van/vannak in the following cases (basically, describing when, how, where something/someone is. )
Time - Expressing when something is. "Mikor van a buli?" - "When is the party?" "A buli 7-kor van." - "The party is at 7."
State - Expressing how something/someone is. "Apád ma hogy van?" - "How is your dad today?" "Ma jobban van, mint tegnap, köszönöm." - "He is better today than he was yesterday, thank you."
Location - Expressing where something is. "Hol van a mozi?" - "Where is the cinema?" "Ott van jobbra." - "It's there on the right."
Adverbial Participle - Expressing a verbal state of a noun "Ki van nyitva az ablak?" - "Is the window open?" "Nem, be van zárva." - "No, it's shut."
All the above become "Vannak" when the subject in question is plural:
"Itt vannak a poharak." - "Here are the glasses."
"A szobák fűtve vannak." - "The rooms are heated."
See another explanation here: Hungarianreference.com/Van-is-exists-omitting
Personal pronouns
Like English, Hungarian has personal pronouns, words like ‘I’, ‘you’, ‘we’, etc. Here are the Hungarian ones:
| Singular | Plural | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | én | I | mi | we |
| 2 | te / Ön / Maga | you (sg.) | ti / Önök / Maguk | you (pl) |
| 3 | ő | he, she | ők | they |
But there are some important differences between the two languages:
Hungarian has distinct pronouns for second person singular and second person plural: te means ‘you (sg.)’, while ti means ‘you (pl.)’.
Hungarian has no gender: the third person singular pronoun ő means both ‘she’ and ‘he’. Thus a Hungarian sentence like Ő tanár can mean either ‘She is a teacher’ or ‘He is a teacher’.
Like German, French and Spanish, Hungarian has pronouns that are used to address someone in a formal way: ön or maga in the singular and önök or maguk in the plural. These can be translated to English as ‘you’ and they are used in formal settings when talking to someone senior, strangers and when being polite. While these forms refer to the person you are talking to, the verb forms are identical to the third person forms. In this skill’s sentences we used Uram (=Sir) and Hölgyem (=Madam) to indicate the formal situation.
The verb "to be"
Here are the present tense forms of the verb "to be" in first and second person singular.
| SG | meaning | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | (én) vagyok | I am |
| 2 | (te) vagy | you (sg.) are |
én and te are in parentheses because they should be dropped, as the verb conjugation shows the person. We add the pronoun if we want to put emphasis on the person. For example "I am English." in a neutral context is just Angol vagyok.
The verb "to speak"
| SG | meaning | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | (én) beszélek | I speak |
| 2 | (te) beszélsz | you (sg.) speak |
| 2 | (Ön) beszél | you (polite) speak |
| 3 | (ő) beszél | she/he speaks |
Nationalities and languages
We say Magyar vagyok és beszélek magyarul. "magyar" is an adjective (or occasionally a noun) while "magyarul" is an adverb. nationality+ul/ül adverbs are used with the verb beszél.
In Hungarian, an important rule is that the focus comes before the verb.
If you are stating something about yourself, put that piece of new information before the verb.
Magyar vagyok. ‘I am Hungarian.’
Angol vagyok. ‘I am English.’
When negating these simple sentences, the most natural way is to put nem right before the verb.
Nem vagyok magyar. ‘I am not Hungarian.’
Nem vagyok angol. ‘I am not English.’
Nem beszélek angolul. ‘I do not speak English.’
For yes or no questions you only have to add a question mark at the end of the sentence:
Magyar vagy? ‘Are you Hungarian?’
Angol vagy? ‘Are you English?’
Beszélsz angolul? ‘Do you speak English?’
Péter, Kati and Éva are common Hungarian names.
There are several ways of asking someone what their name is, here are two .
One is a neved, meaning ‘your name’ . You can ask someone Mi a neved or ‘What is your name?’ — Recall that we don't always say is in Hungarian.
Another is to use hogy hívnak, which is literally ‘How do they call you?’, but it's just another way to say ‘What's your name?’.
Duolingo removed the forum which had tons of useful posts. We tried to save the most important ones, so you if you feel you need more grammar help, check out this blog: magyarbagoly.blogspot.com
The verb "to be"
Here are the present-tense forms of the verb "to be" in the singular.
| SG | meaning | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | (én) vagyok | I am |
| 2 | (te) vagy | you (sg.) are |
| 2 | (Ön) Ø | you (polite) are |
| 3 | (ő) Ø | she/he is |
The personal pronouns én, te etc. are in parentheses because they can usually be omitted: the verb form shows the person. We add the pronoun if we want to show emphasis . For example "I am English", neutrally is just Angol vagyok.
For "Ön" and "ő" we must omit the verb "is". We simply say: Ő amerikai. ‘He is American.’ or Ön magyar. ‘You are Hungarian.’ (in a formal situation).
Nominal sentence – or how (not) to use the verb "to be"
Hungarian often drops the verb where English has "is". For example, in English you would say "The apple is red", in Hungarian it's : Az alma piros.
The third person verb is dropped (so you talk about "ön" (formal you) or "ő" (he/she)) when the sentence expresses a property of the subject, an identification between two things, like:
Péter egy diák. — ‘Péter is a student.’
Ő egy tanár. — ‘He is a teacher.’ / ‘She is a teacher.’
Zsuzsa egy tanár. — ‘Zsuzsa is a teacher.’
Uram, ön tanár? — ‘Are you a teacher, sir?’
The verb is also omitted when you are describing a person or object:
Péter magas. — ‘Péter is tall.’
Az alma piros. — ‘The apple is red.’
A diák fiatal. — ‘The student is young.’
Since there are no genders in Hungarian, the word ő means both ‘he’ and ‘she’.
When we talk about an object we can use ez (this/it) or az (that). Remember that az means two things: "that" and "the". So, we get sentences like:
Ez egy alma. — ‘This is an apple.’
Az egy alma. — ‘That is an apple.’
Ez nem egy alma. — ‘This is not an apple.’
Az nem egy alma. — ‘That is not an apple.’
Ez egy alma? — ‘Is this an apple?’
Az egy alma? — ‘Is that an apple?’
Adjectives
As in English, adjectives come before the noun. Pay attention to the placement of an adjective, now that you know "is" is omitted .
a piros alma — ‘the red apple’
Az alma piros. — ‘The apple is red.’
a magas fiú = the tall boy
A fiú magas. = The boy is tall.
The verb lenni ‘to be’
| SG | PL | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | (én) vagyok ‘I am’ | (mi) vagyunk ‘we are’ |
| 2 | (te) vagy ‘you (sg.) are’ | (ti) vagytok ‘you (pl) are’ |
| 3 | (ő) van ‘s/he is’ | (ők) vannak ‘they are’ |
The most important thing to keep in mind is when to use the third person van ‘is’ and vannak ‘are’, and when to leave them out!
These examples will help illustrate the difference.
Én tanár vagyok. meaning ‘I am a teacher.’
Ő tanár. meaning ‘She/he is a teacher.’
In the first sentence above, there is a verb, vagyok, but in the second sentence there is no van.
When expressing what something is like, you do not use van .
The following examples are fine without van or vannak, in fact, you must not use van here :
Az autó piros. ‘The car is red.’
A fiúk tanárok. ‘The boys are teachers.’
Personal pronouns
| SG | PL | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | én ’I’ | mi ’we’ |
| 2 | te ’you (sg.)’ | ti ’you (pl.)’ |
| 3 | ő ’she/he/it’ | ők ’they’ |
But there are many differences between the two languages:
Hungarian has pronouns for the second person singular AND the second person plural: te means ‘you (sg.)’, while ti means ‘you (pl.)’.
Hungarian has no gender: the third person singular pronoun ő means both ‘she’ and ‘he’. Thus a sentence like Ő tanár can mean either ‘She is a teacher’ or ‘He is a teacher’.
Like German, French and Spanish, Hungarian has pronouns that are used when talking formally to someone : ön in the singular and önök in the plural. They're translated as ‘you’ and they are used in formal settings when talking to someone senior, or a stranger, and when being polite.
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In Hungarian, there is a grammatical distinction between formal and informal speech. When we say “Hello!” our usage depends on formal structures of address to older people, our superiors and people we don't know (for example: people in shops and banks). This is called "magázás". It's a sign of respect. If the other person proposes "tegezés", which is the informal mode of communication, we are expected to use it.
Also consider the time of day.
| time | formal | informal |
|---|---|---|
| 7:00-9:00 | Jó reggelt! | Szia! |
| 9:00-18:00 | Jó napot! (nap = day) | Szia! |
| 18:00-22:00 | Jó estét! (este = night) | Szia! |
"Jó napot!" is like “Hello!”, “Good morning!” or “Good afternoon!”, depending on the time of day, and whether you have a formal or informal relationship even though it literally means "Good day!". So in the translation exercises Hello/Good morning/Good afternoon are also accepted.
When your relation to the other person is informal, you can say "Szia!" at any time.
When saying goodbye, you only have to consider your relationship:
| formal | informal | |
|---|---|---|
| Viszontlátásra! | Szia! |
You can also say "Viszlát!" instead of "Viszontlátásra!". It’s a contracted form, and is slightly less polite, but it’s still polite and formal.
Depending on our relation to another person, if you want to know somebody's name, you can ask:
| formal | informal | |
|---|---|---|
| Hogy hívják? | Hogy hívnak? |
In English there's no difference between the two translations, we add "Madam" and "Sir" to highlight formal sentences, so you can practice both forms.
How to excuse yourself:
Use "Elnézést!" or "Bocsánat". Usually they are interchangeable, but "Elnézést!" is closer to "Excuse me!" and "Bocsánat" is more like "Sorry".
So say: “Bocsánat, hogy hívnak?” - when you forget someone’s name “Elnézést, hogy hívják?” - when asking their name for the first time.
Hungarian does not usually specify one's gender: the pronoun ő means ‘he’ and ‘she’. But, when speaking about jobs and occupations, there is a way of showing genders .
For most occupations, like művész ‘artist’ or rendőr ‘policeman’, just add nő ‘woman’ .
művésznő is a female artist, and rendőrnő is a policewoman.
Én nem a szakács vagyok, hanem a pincér. I am not the cook, but rather the waiter.
These nem/hanem types of sentences consist of two parts, and mean something like It is not X, but Y where X and Y contrast. X and Y can be two nouns, two places, two adjectives, two verbs, etc.
Both de and hanem translate to but, but they are not the same. Think of hanem as but rather. If you speak German, de=aber, hanem=sondern.
When to use hanem, and when to use de ?.
Hanem is never alone, if hanem is used, there will always be nem in the first part of the sentence.
Nem
Nem precedes what it negates. To find the place for nem, look into the second part of the sentence . The negation has to contrast with the hanem part.
Én nem a szakács vagyok, hanem a pincér. I am not the cook, but the waiter. The contrast is : the waiter versus the cook, so nem comes before a szakács.
Nem én vagyok a pincér, hanem ő. It is not ME who is the waiter, but HIM . The contrast is : me versus him, so nem is placed before én.
The verb can be in the middle of the sentence (after nem X) or at the end (after hanem Y). A megálló nem itt van, hanem ott. A megálló nem itt, hanem ott van. (The stop is not here, but there.)
Occasionally the contrasting pair is two verbs: Én nem állok, hanem ülök. I am not standing, but sitting.
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You've seen that Hungarian often drops the verb "van" where English has is. For example, while in English you would say Is he English?, the Hungarian is: Ő angol?
Be careful! The verb only drops out when the verb is in the third person and the sentence expresses a property relating to the subject.
When we are talking about locations we do use "is", van.
János a kertben van. — ‘János is in the garden.’
Zsuzsa az étteremben van. — ‘Zsuzsa is in the restaurant.’
Here we are not characterizing the person, we are not describing them, nor identifying them. TIP: there's a trick to decide if you need to use van or not.
Zsuzsa egy diák. so Zsuzsa = egy diák (a student).
Zsuzsa a kertben van. so Zsuzsa ≠ kertben (in the garden).
Ask yourself if the two things are "equals". If not, use van.
The English preposition "in" appears on Hungarian words as a suffix. It has two forms: -ban and -ben.
The idea is that the vowels in the suffixes are in “harmony” with the vowels in the word they attach to. This “harmony” relates to two groups of vowels, called “back” and “front”:
| back vowels | front vowels |
|---|---|
| a, á | e, é, |
| o, ó | i, í, |
| u, ú | ö, ő |
| ü, ű |
This table will help you determine which suffix should be added to the nouns! If they are back vowels, we use -ban. If they are front, we use -ben.
boltban but kertben
parkban but étteremben
(Vowel harmony is complex and it affects many suffixes and inflections so you will hear more about it later.)
If a word ends in a or e, before getting the suffix, they become á and é. So szálloda + ban = szállodában.
Important: If a question contains a question word (who? what? where?), then the question word is in focus. Focus is directly before the verb, so the question word comes right before the verb .
Questions with hol (where):
Hol van a park? — ‘Where is the park?’
Hol van a szálloda? — ‘Where is the hotel?’
It is a good choice to start the sentence with the question word, but it is not necessary, these are also correct:
A park hol van? or A szálloda hol van?
Note, again, the question word appears right before the verb.
Here are the present tense singular (I, you, s/he ) forms .
| tanulni ‘to learn/study’ | suffix (ending) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | tanul-ok ‘I learn’ | -ok |
| 2 | tanul-sz ‘you learn’ | -sz |
| 3 | tanul ‘she/he learns’ | (null) |
These suffixes (endings ) are used for all the verbs in Lesson 1.
In Lesson 2, we find verbs like sietni ‘to hurry’. This table shows the singular forms of sietni.
| sietni ‘to hurry’ | suffix (ending) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | siet-ek ‘I hurry’ | -ek |
| 2 | siet-sz ‘you hurry’ | -sz |
| 3 | siet ‘she/he hurries’ | (null) |
Notice that the first person singular suffix for sietni is -ek, not -ok as in 'tanulni ' ? Why?
What's happening here is vowel harmony, which you will need for more than to conjugate verbs...
Vowel harmony means that the vowels (a, e, i, o and u ) in a word require that the vowels in suffixes (like -ek and -ok) "match " the vowels in the words they attach to:
We use * -ok when the verb it attaches to contains the vowels a, á, o, ó, u, or ú.
and * -ök occurs when the verb it attaches to contains ö, ő, ü, or ű.
The vowels in the suffixes have to be in “harmony” with the vowels in the word they attach to. Moreover, this “harmony” has two groups of vowels, called “back” and “front” (and later "rounded " :
| front vowels | back vowels |
|---|---|
| i, í, ü, ű | u, ú |
| e, é, ö, ő | o, ó |
| a, á |
This table helps determine which vowel should precede the -k in the first person singular — If they are back, we get -ok. If they are front, we get -ek or -ök.
There are exceptions; you'll learn about those a little later!
Word order in Hungarian is more flexible than in English, but it is not completely free (more about this soon).
Some words, or parts of the sentence , have to come immediately before the verb - a location called "focus " .
Question words like ki ‘who’ or mi ‘what’ ...
Or when you compare or contrast two phrases (or words), one is in focus and has to come right before the verb.
For example:
The contrast is between a piac mellett ‘next to the market‘ and az áruház mellett ‘next to the department store‘.
Tanulni means both ‘to learn’ and ‘to study’. Its stem is tanul. Its indefinite present singular conjugation is:
| tanulni ‘to learn/study’ | suffix (ending) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | tanul-ok ‘I learn’ | -ok |
| 2 | tanul-sz ‘you learn’ | -sz |
| 3 | tanul ‘(formal) you learn /she/he learns’ | (null) |
Now look at the verb "to stand":
| állni ‘to stand’ | suffix (ending) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | áll-ok ‘I stand’ | -ok |
| 2 | áll-sz ‘you stand’ | -sz |
| 3 | áll ‘(formal) you stand / she/he stands’ | (no ending) |
Let's write!
| írni ‘to write’ | suffix (ending) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | ír-ok ‘I write’ | -ok |
| 2 | ír-sz ‘you write’ | -sz |
| 3 | ír ‘(formal) you write / she/he writes’ | (no ending) |
You will see later, that ír is actually an exception, it contains a front vowel (í) and still takes back-vowel suffixes.
Here is a verb in a present tense .
| tanulni ‘to learn/study’ | suffix (ending) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | tanul-ok ‘I learn’ | -ok |
| 2 | tanul-sz ‘you learn’ | -sz |
| 3 | tanul ‘she/he learns’ | (null) |
These suffixes (endings ) are used for all the verbs in Lesson 1.
In Lesson 2, however, we find verbs like sietni ‘to hurry’. This table shows the singular forms of sietni.
| siet ‘to hurry’ | suffix (ending) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | siet-ek ‘I hurry’ | -ek |
| 2 | siet-sz ‘you hurry’ | -sz |
| 3 | siet ‘(formal) you hurry / she/he hurries’ | (no ending) |
Notice that the first person singular suffix for sietni is -ek, not -ok as in 'tanulni ' ? Why?
What's happening here is a concept called vowel harmony, - which we'll need for more than to conjugate verbs.
Vowel harmony means that the vowels (a, e, i, o and u ) in a word require that the vowels in suffixes (like -ek and -ok) "match " the vowels in the words they attach to:
-ok occurs when the verb it attaches to contains the vowels a, á, o, ó, u, or ú.
-ek occurs when the verb it attaches to contains i, í, e, é.
-ök occurs when the verb it attaches to contains ö, ő, ü, or ű.
The vowels in the suffixes have to be in “harmony” with the vowels in the word they attach to. Moreover, this “harmony” relates to two groups of vowels, called “back” and “front”:
Hungarians are happy, because the vowels in the suffixes are in “harmony” with the vowels in the word they attach to.
As a reminder:
| front vowels | back vowels |
|---|---|
| i, í, ü, ű | u, ú |
| e, é, ö, ő | o, ó |
| a, á |
This table helps determine which vowel should precede the -k in the first person singular — If they are back, we get -ok. If they are front, we get -ek or -ök.
There are exceptions; you'll learn about those a little later! )
Words, szálloda and étterem , tend to have only front or back vowels, like . But "new" words , like sétálni 'to walk' (which came into Hungarian after the Middle Ages), can have both, What to do? In the vast majority , look at the last vowel, and adjust the ending to it.
But ... back vowels are stronger than front vowels, so they tend to rule the vowel harmony.
One more thing! There used to be two types of i in Hungarian, a front and a back i. It leads us to add back vowel endings to the verb írni e.g.:
| írni ‘to write’ | suffix (ending) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | ír-ok ‘I write’ | -ok |
| 2 | ír-sz ‘you write’ | -sz |
| 3 | ír ‘(formal) you write / she/he writes’ | (no ending) |
Now you're starting to be a vowel harmony pro!
Word order in Hungarian is more flexible than in English, but it is not completely free (more about this soon).
Some words, or parts of the sentence , have to come immediately before the verb - a location called "focus ".
The accusative is a fancy word for DIRECT OBJECT ! In Hungarian, it is shown by a * t * - on a direct object !
Fiú, ’boy’ , becomes fiút when it is the DIRECT OBJECT !
In English, direct objects usually follow the subject and the predicate, as in
Boy is the direct object, girl is the subject, and sees is the predicate.
In Hungarian, the word order can be less regular, but the direct object case is marked with t :
The subject is lány , the verb is lát, and fiút is the direct object, with its accusative ending, t ! So, that "t " is a helpful hint to Hungarians that this word is a DIRECT OBJECT .
If a word ends in i, í, o, ó, ö, ő, u, ú, ü, or ű (not a or e), then t is added directly to the end of the word
But words ending in -a and -e, become -á and -é when they get the t.
If the word ends in a consonant, we USUALLY have to add a vowel before the accusative t -ot / -at / -et / -öt . Which vowel is determined by vowel harmony ! Words with front vowels get a front vowel before the t, words with back vowels get a back vowel. But -r / -l / -n / - ny / - s / -sz / -z / -j / -ly take the -t directly (see below ) .
| back vowels | front vowels |
|---|---|
| a, á | e, é, |
| o, ó | i, í, |
| u, ú | ö, ő |
| ü, ű |
-back vowels usually get -ot
sajt ‘cheese’ -> sajtot
narancs 'orange' -> narancsot
-some words, which you have to memorize, get -at:
ház ‘house’ -> házat
toll 'pen' -> tollat
-front vowels get -et:
szék ’chair’ -> széket
zöldség ’vegetable’ -> zöldséget
round vowel words which have ö / ő / ü / ü in the last syllable get -öt
gyümölcs ’fruit’ -> gyümölcsöt
főnök ’boss’ -> főnököt
When the word ends in -r / -l / -n / - ny / - s / -sz / -z / -j / -ly we USUALLY add the -t directly .
bor ’wine’ -> bort
lány ’girl’ -> lányt
In sentences with a subject, verb and object, Hungarian has very flexible word order. All of the following can be used in certain contexts:
They all mean ‘Péter sees a house.’, but each sentence conveys slightly different information with respect to which element is in FOCUS (or stressed ) . A focused phrase appears immediately in front of the verb and it often represents new information or contrast.
The first sentence (with Péter above ), for example, would be a valid answer to a question like ‘Who sees a house?’ but the second sentence would be " A HOUSE is what Peter sees ", because here egy házat ‘a house’ immediately precedes the verb and is, therefore, in focus.
FOCUS can be very tricky, but English has similar constructions !
If you have
the question word is in focus and asks for new information. In the reply, the answer to what will also be new information and be in focus.
And in English you can say,
or
Or:
Each of these stresses something different. In Hungarian, it's done with FOCUS . . .
Word order in questions
Question words generally ask for some (new) information and act like a focused part of the sentence. In Hungarian, a question like ‘Who(m) does Mari see?’ ’who(m)’ is in focus and has to appear right before the verb:
If the root (stem ) of a verb ends with s, z, sz, then the second person singular informal (te) form ends with l.
| keres (search) | olvas (read) | vesz (buy) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| én | keresek | olvasok | veszek | |
| te | keresel | olvasol | veszel | |
| ő | keres | olvas | vesz |
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In Hungarian, a direct object (the accusative ) is marked by a suffix -t . A noun like fiú ’boy’ becomes fiút when it is the direct object .
In English, direct objects generally follow the subject and the verb, as in
where a boy is the direct object, the girl is the subject, and sees is the verb or predicate.
But why do we need that -t (the accusative case)? In Hungarian, word order can be freer than in English. It's a clue for what is the direct object.
Or with a different word order, but the same meaning:
The subject is a lány which does not have a case ending (we say it is “nominative”). The verb is lát and egy fiút is the direct object, with its accusative -t.
If a word ends in a vowel, this -t is simply added :
But words ending in -a and -e become -á and -é before they get the -t. (Do you remember szálloda -> szállodában? It's the same rule.)
If a word ends in a consonant, we usually have to add a vowel before the -t, -ot / -at / -et / -öt . Which vowel is determined by vowel harmony - as with verbs! Words with front vowels in them get a front vowel before the -t, words with back vowels get a back vowel.
| back vowels | front vowels |
|---|---|
| a, á | e, é, |
| o, ó | i, í, |
| u, ú | ö, ő |
| ü, ű |
For back vowels usually the accusative ending is -ot:
sajt ‘cheese’ -> sajtot
narancs ‘orange’ -> narancsot
A few words, that you have to memorize, take -at:
ház ‘house’ -> házat
toll ‘pen’ -> tollat
For front vowels the accusative is usually an -et:
szék ’chair’ -> széket
zöldség ’vegetable’ -> zöldséget
But, words which have ö / ő / ü / ű in the last syllable get -öt:
gyümölcs ’fruit’ -> gyümölcsöt
főnök ’boss’, ‘manager’ -> főnököt
When a word ends in -r / -l / -n / -ny / -s / -sz / -z / -j / -ly , we simply add the -t :
bor ’wine’ -> bort
lány ’girl’ -> lányt
The verbs iszik and eszik
inni ‘to drink’ and enni ‘to eat’ are two -ik verbs with slightly different conjugations :
| iszik | eszik | |
|---|---|---|
| (én) | iszom ! | eszem ! |
| (te) | iszol | eszel |
| (ő) / (ön) | iszik | eszik |
! In some dialects, instead of iszom we say iszok and instead of eszem we say eszek.
Every verb ending in -zik, -szik, -sik conjugates like this :
To get the stem , you have to remove the ending -ik
1st person singular is the stem + -om / -em / -öm
2nd person singular is the stem + -ol / -el / -öl
3rd person singular is the stem + -ik, the form in a dictionary
In the plural they are conjugated the same way as any other verb (you will learn plurals soon).
A note on word order
In sentences with a subject, a verb and an object, Hungarian has a very flexible word order. All of the following can be used in certain contexts:
While they all mean ‘Péter sees a house.’, each sentence conveys slightly different information with respect to which element is in focus - or stressed. A focused phrase appears right in front of the verb in Hungarian and it often represents new information or contrast.
The first sentence with Péter above, for example, would be a valid answer to a question like ‘Who sees a house?’ but the second sentence stresses 'house ' because egy házat ‘a house’ immediately precedes the verb and is therefore in focus.
This can be very tricky, but English has similar restrictions! If you have the question
the question word is in focus and asks for new information. In the reply, the answer to what will also be new information and in focus. In English you can say,
or
or
The analogy is : the X, in the “It is X that ...”, construction is that the X comes right before the verb in Hungarian!
You just learned how to spot, form and use the accusative case. , but so far only in the singular.
Remember the plural of Hungarian nouns is formed with the -k, often preceded by a vowel.
Let's take the demonstrative determiners (demonstrative adjectives ) ez ‘this’ and az ’that’ first.
Which vowel ? Remember vowel harmony ? Ez has a front vowel, and az has a back vowel.
| front vowels | back vowels |
|---|---|
| i, í, ü, ű | u, ú |
| e, é, ö, ő | o, ó |
| a, á |
Thus the vowel before the plural ending -k will be front or back. So we get ezek and azok.
Tricky ! When a word ends in a vowel, like a or e, for example alma ‘apple’, the vowel lengthens :
When words are both plural and in the accusative, we have to arrange the plural -k and the accusative -t . Note that if both are there, we will need a vowel between the -k and the -t!
If we want to use these or those as objects, we get:
You'll learn the definite conjugation soon, but here's a little primer.
Tricky ! When an object in the accusative is definite, the form of the verb changes slightly.
Important: Definite phrases have a definite article a or az ‘the’ , or demonstratives like ez ‘this‘ or az ‘that‘, or there will be someone's name(s) .
So when you see apples, you say:
Látok almákat ‘I see apples’ Látsz almákat ‘you (sg.) see apples’
Almákat is indefinite. *Látok * is in the indefinite .
When you want to say I see those, which is now definite (because of the demonstrative adjective 'azok ' , you say:
Látom azokat ‘I see those’ or Látod azokat ‘you (sg.) see those’
You can also use látom, without an object, to say ‘I see it ’. In this lesson, you'll see a few examples of the definite conjugation .
| SG | |
|---|---|
| 1 | hallom ‘I hear it’ |
| 2 | hallod ‘you hear it’ |
| SG | |
|---|---|
| 1 | keresem ‘I am looking for it’ |
| 2 | keresed ‘you are looking for it’ |
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éhes — ‘hungry’
szomjas — ‘thirsty’
fáradt — ‘tired’
boldog — ‘happy’
szomorú — ‘sad’
These are adjectives. So feeling happy, we can say:
Boldog vagyok. — ‘I am happy.’
Boldog vagy. — ‘You are happy.’
Ön boldog. — ‘You are happy.’ (formal)
Boldog. — ‘He / she is happy.’
Péter / Éva boldog. — ‘Péter / Éva is happy.’
Note that the verb was omitted for she/he/formal you.
Questions have the same structure, but there is a question mark at the end:
If you're talking about health, you'll probably use these two expressions:
jól vagyok — I feel well
rosszul vagyok — ‘I feel unwell’ or ‘I feel sick’
Note: jól and rosszul are adverbs, so it is obligatory to add van for the third person:
Jól vagyok. — ‘I feel well.’
Jól vagy. — ‘You feel well.’
Ön jól van. — ‘You feel well.’ (formal)
Jól van. — ‘He / She feels well.’
Péter / Éva jól van. — ‘Péter / Éva feels well.’
Adjectives modify a pronoun or a noun, adverbs modify an event, the “action” expressed by a verb. The following examples might help:
Little dictionary:
| adjective | adverb | |
|---|---|---|
| Hungarian | jó | jól |
| English | good | well |
| example | Éva jó. | Éva jól van. |
| meaning | Éva is good. | Éva feels fine. |
| adjective | adverb | |
|---|---|---|
| Hungarian | rossz | rosszul |
| English | bad | bad(ly) |
| example | Éva rossz. | Éva rosszul van. |
| meaning | Éva is bad. | Éva is sick/doesn't feel good. |
Hungarian sometimes drops van and vannak. Sometimes there's NO verb where English has is ! You would say What is this ?, Hungarian drops the "is " :
Mi ez? = What is this ? . . .
Be alert! The verb is only left out when the subject is in the third person AND the sentence expresses a property of the subject like Ez mi? “What is this?“, Péter egy diák “Péter is a student.”, or Péter álmos “Péter is tired.”
This only happens in the third person, the first and second person (I, you, we, plural you ) vagyok, vagy, vagyunk, vagytok are NEVER omitted.
Don't use van or vannak if you are saying what someone or something is.
"Ő tanár" - "He is a teacher"
"Péter tanár" - "Péter is a teacher"
"Az alma piros" - "The apple is red"
"Mi az?" - "What's that?"
But, do use van/vannak when describing when, how, the state, or where something or someone is.
Time - Expressing when something is.
"Mikor van a buli?" - "When is the party?" "A buli hétkor van." - "The party is at 7."
State - how something/someone is.
"Apád ma hogy van?" = "How is your dad today?" "Ma jobban van, mint tegnap, köszönöm." - "He is better today than he was yesterday, thank you."
Location
"Hol van a mozi?" - "Where is the cinema?" "Ott van jobbra." - "It's there on the right."
Adverbial Participle - a verbal state of a noun
"Ki van nyitva az ablak?" - "Is the window open?" "Nem, be van zárva." - "No, it's shut."
All the above become "vannak" when the subject is plural:
"Itt vannak a poharak." - "Here are the glasses."
"A szobák fűtve vannak." - "The rooms are heated."
See another explanation here: Hungarianreference.com/Van-is-exists-omitting
We've learned how to form and use the direct object accusative -t . But, so far, all our examples have been singular.
The plural is formed by adding -k, sometimes , though, it needs a vowel.
Let's take the demonstrative adjectives ez ‘this’ and az ’that’ first.
Which vowel ? Vowel harmony will tell you ! Ez has a front vowel, and az has a back vowel.
| front vowels | back vowels |
|---|---|
| i, í, ü, ű | u, ú |
| e, é, ö, ő | o, ó |
| a, á |
So, the vowel before the plural ending -k will also be front or back. So we get ezek and azok.
If a word ends in a (or e), like alma ‘apple’, the "a ", before the plural ending, lengthens - :
When words are plural AND accusative, we have to arrange the plural's -k and the accusative's -t . If both are there, we need a vowel between the -k and the -t !
If we want these and those as direct objects, we get:
Hungarian word order is less free in sentences that express a contrast.
The judge is looking for lawyers and finds actors.
Here, there is one subject, namely judge.
But there are two different verbs, is looking for and finds and each of these have their own object, lawyers and actors.
When contrasting two verbs and objects like this, they have to show the same word order: and the objects must come in front of their respective verbs:
A bíró ügyvédeket keres és színészeket talál.
w&a
In this lesson you will meet some new words, mainly professions. As for grammar, it lets you practice how to put a sentence together. Let's review!
1. An adjective comes before the noun that it describes:
egy fiatal mérnök — ‘a young engineer’
A fiatal mérnök dolgozik. — ‘The young engineer is working.’
2. Describing a person, omit the verb "is" from the sentence:
Az énekesnő szép. — ‘The singer is pretty.’
A magyar énekesnő szép. — ‘The Hungarian singer is pretty.’
János magas színész. — ‘János is a tall actor.’
3. You HAVE to use van ‘is’ when you are describing somebody or something's location:
A titkárnő bent van. — ‘The secretary is in(side).’
Hol van az orvos? — ‘Where is the doctor?’
4. For negation nem must come immediately before the verb: (if you want to negate the full sentence)
A turista nem dolgozik. — ‘The tourist is not working (/ does not work).’
Este nem dolgozik a titkárnő. — ‘The secretary does not work in the evening.’
5. For negation in a sentence without a verb (when you omit "is"), you have to put nem before the adjective (like 'tall') or noun (like 'tourist'), that is, before the predicate:
A színész nem alacsony. — ‘The actor is not tall.’
A magyar turista nem magas. — ‘The Hungarian tourist is not tall.’
János nem turista. — ‘János is not a tourist.’
6. In yes or no questions you can use the same word order as in a statement:
Ön rendőr. — ‘You [formal] are a police officer.’
Ön rendőr? — ‘Are you [formal] a police officer?’
As in English, the intonation will change in questions.
7. In questions with question words the structure is: question word then verb then subject (if needed ) :
Hol van a tanár? — ‘Where is the teacher?’
Hol dolgozik (Ön)? — ‘Where do you [formal] work?’
Hol dolgozol? — ‘Where do you work?’
Mit csinál a politikus? — ‘What does a politician do?’
Mit csinálsz? — ‘What do you do ? ’ / 'What are you doing ? '
Remember iszik (inni ) and eszik (enni )? Conjugate all verbs ending in -zik, -szik, -sik the same way.
| DOLGOZIK | iszik | eszik | |
|---|---|---|---|
| (én) | dolgozom ! | iszom ! | eszem ! |
| (te) | dolgozol | iszol | eszel |
| (ő) / (Ön) | dolgozik | iszik | eszik |
| (mi) | dolgozunk | iszunk | eszünk |
| (ti) | dolgoztok | isztok | esztek |
| (ők) / (Önök) | dolgoznak | isznak | esznek |
! In spoken language, and in some dialects, instead of dolgozom you may hear dolgozok.
To get the stem of the verb, remove the ending -ik
1st person singular = the stem + -om / -em / -öm
2nd person singular is stem + -ol /or -el
3rd person singular is stem + -ik. The 3rd person singular is the form found in Hungarian dictionaries.
Here you will see some new food words . As for grammar you can review how to make a general statement (or describe something), talk about food, add the accusative suffix to some special words, and conjugate two “kitchen” verbs .
1. Describing something (using an adjective):
A cukor édes. — ‘Sugar is sweet.’ or ‘The sugar is sweet.’
A só sós. — ‘Salt is salty.’ or ‘The salt is salty.’
A paprika piros. — ‘Paprika is red.’ or ‘The paprika is red.’
Az eper finom. — ‘Strawberries are tasty.’ or ‘The strawberry is tasty.’
Note that in English, general statements like “Sugar is sweet” do not have a definite article, but in Hungarian you do need a definite article .
Also, be careful with the word order and the lack of articles. The following sentence does not mean the same as az eper finom:
finom eper — ‘tasty strawberry’
2. Categorizing (nouns):
A gomba nem zöldség. — ‘Mushrooms are not vegetables.’
A sör egy ital. — ‘Beer is a drink.’
3. Asking for information about the quality:
Friss az eper? — ‘Are (the) strawberries fresh?’ or ‘Is the strawberry fresh?’
Finom az alma? — ‘Are apples tasty?’ or ‘Is the apple tasty?’
Keserű a citrom? — ‘Are lemons bitter?’ or ‘Is the lemon bitter?’
These suffixes mean that a food is somehow “provided” or “supplied” with something, a bit like English -y in milky.
For example:
vajas kenyér — ‘buttered bread’
tejes kávé — ‘milky coffee’
mézes kenyér — ‘bread with honey’
sós karamella — ‘salted caramel’
For now, just keep in mind what this suffix adds to the meaning.
1. Words ending in -r / -l / -n / -ny / -s / -sz / -z / -j / -ly:
rizs ‘rice’ -> rizst
tojás ‘egg’ -> tojást
2. Words with two syllables containing -á / -é in the last syllable shorten (lose the diacritic ) the vowel before the accusative suffix:
madár ‘bird’ -> madarat
pohár ‘glass’ (drink container, not the material) -> poharat
kenyér ‘bread’ -> kenyeret
3. A few words change by losing the vowel before the final consonant:
cukor ‘sugar’ -> cukrot
eper ‘strawberry’ -> epret
| süt | főz | |
|---|---|---|
| (én) | sütök | főzök |
| (te) | sütsz | főzöl ! |
| (ő) / (ön) | süt | főz |
So the vowel is the same for the first person, as it was for ül ‘to sit’, repül ‘to fly’ and örül ‘to be glad’. But in the second person the same thing happens that we saw for eszik and iszik: you can't add the suffix -sz to the stem főz, so you add -öl. (In fact, this works for all verbs whose stems end with -z or -sz.)
Look at these examples:
egy pohár víz - a glass of water
Kérek egy pohár vizet. - I want a glass of water.
egy csésze tea - a cup of tea
Iszom egy csésze teát. - I drink a cup of tea.
egy kiló rizs - a kilogram of rice
Kérek egy kiló rizst. - I want a kilogram of rice.
If you describe the quantity of something (a glass of, a cup of, a kilo of), you don't need to translate "of", just put the food/drink right after the classifier.
Also, in the accusative case, only the object (víz, tea, rizs) receives the accusative ending (-t), the classifier (egy pohár, egy csésze, egy kiló) remains unchanged.
Hungarian noun plurals are formed using -k / - ok / -ak / -ek / -ök suffixes . They're similar to the accusative endings -t / -ot / -at / -et / -öt.
Add -k to words that end in a vowel:
But words ending in -a or -e, become -á and -é when the -k is added.
Which vowel to choose? Remember vowel harmony?
| back vowels | front vowels |
|---|---|
| a, á | e, é, |
| o, ó | i, í, |
| u, ú | ö, ő |
| ü, ű |
-for nouns with back vowels the plural is usually -ok
lány ‘girl’ -> lányok
diák 'student' -> diákok
az ’that’ -> azok ’those’
-there are a few words you have to memorize which get -ak:
ház ‘house’ -> házak
toll 'pen' -> tollak
These are not the only ones. When you come across one, memorize it . . .
-for front vowels the plural is an -ek:
szék ’chair’ -> székek
épület ’building’ -> épületek
ez ’this’ -> ezek ’these’
-but words with a round vowel (ö / ő / ü / ü) in the last syllable, get -ök
gyümölcs ’fruit’ -> gyümölcsök
rendőr ’police officer’ -> rendőrök
An exception is :
férfi ‘man’ -> férfiak ‘men’
You can't add -k to words ending in -r / -l / -n / -ny / -s / -sz / -z / -j / -ly .
Maybe this comparison will help you remember:
| noun | accusative | plural |
|---|---|---|
| lány | lányt | lányok |
| busz | buszt | buszok |
| az | azt | azok |
| ember | embert | emberek |
| ez | ezt | ezek |
| sofőr | sofőrt | sofőrök |
| Ön | Önt | Önök |
Using a nominal sentence (without a visible verb), the predicate adjective is plural if the subject is plural.
A lányok diákok. — ‘The girls are students.’
Ezek nagy épületek. — ‘These are big buildings.’
Azok nem autók. = Those are not cars.
Plural adjectives
In Hungarian adjectives have plural forms .
In English you say The women are German, with the word German being the same form for both singular and plural. In Hungarian the adjective has to be plural as well:
A nők németek.
Have a look at the Tips and Notes section of the skill Plurals 1 to refresh your memory about how to form plurals of nouns.
Adjectives are a bit different. The plural suffix will be -ak when an adjective consists of mixed back vowels and neutral vowels like e, i. Look at the following words:
amerikai + -k = amerikaiak ‘Americans’
kanadai + -k = kanadaiak ‘Canadians’
egyiptomi + -k = egyiptomiak ‘Egyptians’
If an adjective ends in a consonant, you can rely on what you learned in Plurals 1:
brazil + -k = brazilok ‘Brazilians’
japán + -k = japánok ‘Japanese’ (plural)
In Hungarian you don't have to capitalize words referring to nationalities, but in English you do.
When talking about Brazil, be careful :
brazil = Brazilian (nationality of a person)
Brazília = Brazil (the country)
van in Hungarian
Remember that the third person forms of to be do not always appear. When we talk about the subject and use adjectives, there is no verb in the Hungarian sentence.
In
A nők németek.
there is no verb. You can't omit it in English, of course!
Generic statements
You will come across general statements. Those are sentences that express something that is true in general, for example the following:
Dogs have four legs.
This means that In general, dogs have four legs. There is an important difference between such statements in English and Hungarian. In English you don't have to use an article for the subject in those sentences, in Hungarian you usually do. Compare the following:
Dutch people are tall. A hollandok magasak.
In Hungarian, you can't say Hollandok magasak to mean Dutch people are tall, you have to add the definite article a(z).
w
Numbers are quite different from most other European languages (if you speak some Finnish or Estonian, you might recognize some ):
egy
kettő (két ) two has a usage rule explained below
három
négy
öt
hat
hét
nyolc
kilenc
tíz
From ten to one hundred, we have the following:
tíz húsz harminc negyven ötven hatvan hetven nyolcvan kilencven száz
As you can see, from 40-90, you use the forms above and add -van or ven (like English -ty).
Putting these together is orderly.
sixty-one = hatvanegy
ONLY with tíz and húsz do you add an infix between them and the vowel is shortened:
eleven = tizenegy
twelve = tizenkettő
twenty-three = huszonhárom etc.
Higher numbers work the same way:
one hundred twenty three = százhuszonhárom
Alert: the diacritics are lost when combined (the vowels are shortened ) ...
In Hungarian, there are two words for the number 2: kettő and két. This works the same way for the others ending in 2, too: 12 is tizenkettő or tizenkét, 42 is negyvenkettő or negyvenkét and so on .
What is the difference? Use két as an adjective to modify a noun or adjective .
Use kettő only by itself, only when we are talking about the number "2 " .
Example: Kettő meg kettő az négy. Two plus two is four.
Két alma. Two apples. Két asztal. Two tables. Két szép gyerek. Two beautiful children.
But, Két sounds very similar to hét (seven), so to avoid confusion and emphasize that you are talking about two, we sometimes use kettő in front of a noun. Kettő alma, kettő asztal.
But do not use két by itself.
Hungarian and English differ in how they use plurals . In Hungarian, plural nouns that follow a number are in the singular.
Rather than using the plural, diákok (students ), we use the singular if a number word precedes it : öt diák.
And, the verb, in Hungarian, is in the third person singular form, NOT the plural.
The number-word rule applies for "kevés" and "sok" too.
Kevés férfi énekel. — ‘Few men sing.’
Sok orvos beszél angolul. — ‘Many doctors speak English.’
Where to put the adjective, and is it supposed to be in the plural ? In the example két szép gyerek ‘two beautiful children’ - if an adjective precedes a plural noun, it stays in the singular , and numbers precede adjectives .
négy kicsi macska — ‘four small cats’
öt magas fiú — ‘five tall boys’
In this skill you will learn a bunch of new adjectives. We tried to vary the sentence structures to make you practice them. There will be:
This is a [adjective] [noun]. = Ez egy [adjective] [noun].
This is a black car. = Ez egy fekete autó.
This [noun] is [adjective]. Ez a(z) [noun] [adjective].
This car is black. Ez az autó fekete.
Use idős and öreg for people, and régi for objects.
Ez egy régi ház. This is an old house.
A nagymamám öreg. My grandmother is old.
A nagymamám idős. My grandmother is elderly.
Idős is more like elderly, it is more polite to say, while saying öreg is less polite - in some situations.
“Régi” has a special meaning when used for people :
egy régi barátom = an old friend of mine . We have been friends for a long time. The friend is not necessarily old .
egy öreg / idős barátom = an old friend of mine (the friend is actually old)
Immediately before a noun (or before another adjective that refers to the same noun) we can use either kis or kicsi.
egy kicsi ház = egy kis ház = a small house
egy kis piros labda = egy kicsi piros labda = a small red ball
And, kis- can be used to form compound words: kislány (little girl) kismacska (little cat).
But, AFTER the noun, only kicsi works ! You’re making a statement , you're forming a sentence.
A ház kicsi. = The house is small.
Ez a kék autó kicsi. = This blue car is small.
Az a piros labda kicsi. = That red ball is small.
But * A ház kis. would be wrong.
Here are the plurals . Good news: they get the same endings in the plural, even if they are -ik-verbs. And you need to remember vowel harmony.
| csinál ‘to make/do’ | suffix (ending) | |
|---|---|---|
| (mi) | csinál-unk ‘we make’ | -unk |
| (ti) | csinál-tok ‘you make’ | -tok |
| (ők / Önök / Maguk) | csinál-nak ‘they make’ | -nak |
| pihen ‘to rest’ | suffix (ending) | |
|---|---|---|
| (mi) | pihen-ünk ‘we rest’ | -ünk |
| (ti) | pihen-tek ‘you rest’ | -tek |
| (ők / Önök / Maguk) | pihen-nek 'they rest’ | -nek |
| ül ‘to sit’ | suffix (ending) | |
|---|---|---|
| (mi) | ül-ünk ‘we sit’ | -ünk |
| (ti) | ül-tök ‘you sit’ | -tök |
| (ők / Önök / Maguk) | ül-nek 'they sit’ | -nek |
| back suffixes | front suffixes | |
|---|---|---|
| (én) | -ok | -ek/ -ök |
| (te) | -sz | -sz |
| (ő / Ön / Maga) | - | - |
| (mi) | -unk | -ünk |
| (ti) | -tok | -tek/-tök |
| (ők / Önök / Maguk) | -nak | -nek |
Verbs ending in -s / -sz /-z have a slightly different conjugation. In the second person singular instead of -sz you add -ol / -el / -öl. The plural forms are the same.
| olvas | keres | főz | |
|---|---|---|---|
| (én) | olvasok | keresek | főzök |
| (te) | olvasol | keresel | főzöl |
| (ő / Ön / Maga) | olvas | keres | főz |
| (mi) | olvasunk | keresünk | főzünk |
| (ti) | olvastok | kerestek | főztök |
| (ők / Önök / Maguk) | olvasnak | keresnek | főznek |
Subjects
Many times, in Hungarian , you don't have to say the subject : Táncolnak. = They are dancing.
In the Hungarian there is no word for they, you can figure it out from the verb ending .
The plural pronouns :
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | én | mi |
| 2nd | te | ti |
| 3rd | ő | ők |
Hungarian has WAY more pronouns than you are used to !
To address someone formally - like the French vous, the Spanish usted or the German Sie (and many other languages ) - Hungarian uses "Ön" and "Maga" (the formal forms of "te", but they use the 3rd person singular ) . The plural forms work the same way.
"Önök" and "Maguk" are the formal forms of "ti", and the verbs after them use the 3rd person plural. Hungarian even Capitalizes These Forms ! . . .
But, they behave like third person pronouns (like vous or usted). When using Ön, the verb looks like it has a third person singular subject:
(Önök) táncolnak. (Ők) táncolnak.
compared to :
(Ti) táncoltok.
Note that you in English refers to either singular or plural, Hungarian makes a difference . Te refers to the second person singular, ti refers to the second person plural. When you see an English sentence like
Are you dancing?
You can translate this into Hungarian in the singular or the plural, formal or informal:
Táncolsz? (te)
Táncol? (Ön / Maga)
Táncoltok? (ti)
Táncolnak? (Önök / Maguk)
In real life this ambiguity doesn't arise because the context lets you know who you are talking about.
w
plural verbs in the present
"We, you and they " and, vowel harmony.
| csinálni ‘to make/do’ | suffix (ending) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1SG | csinál-ok ‘I make’ | -ok |
| 2SG | csinál-sz ‘you make’ | -sz |
| 3SG | csinál ‘s/he makes’ | (null - no ending) |
| 1PL | csinál-unk ‘we make’ | -unk |
| 2PL | csinál-tok ‘you make’ | -tok |
| 3PL | csinál-nak ‘they make’ | -nak |
We also have front vowel verbs.
| pihenni ‘to rest’ | suffix (ending) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1SG | pihen-ek ‘I rest’ | -ek |
| 2SG | pihen-sz ‘you rest’ | -sz |
| 3SG | pihen ‘s/he rests’ | (null) |
| 1PL | pihen-ünk ‘we rest’ | -ünk |
| 2PL | pihen-tek ‘you rest’ | -tek |
| 3PL | pihen-nek* they rest’ | -nek |
This table summarizes the suffixes based on vowel harmony:
| front suffixes | back suffixes | |
|---|---|---|
| 1SG | -ök /-ek | -ok |
| 2SG | -sz | -sz |
| 3SG | (null) | (null) |
| 1PL | -ünk | -unk |
| 2PL | -tek /-tök | -tok |
| 3PL | -nek | -nak |
But -ik-verbs !
Here's another kind of verb: the -ik-verb! Its name comes from the third person singular ending , -ik, instead of (null ) no-ending like regular verbs.
Another difference between an -ik verb and a regular verb is that the first person singular can (but doesn't have to ) end in -m -even without a definite object.
In many grammar books, you might only find the -m ending , but today, many speakers alternate between using -m or the usual -k . Duo accepts either !
Some other -ik-verbs are: dolgozik ‘works’, eszik ‘eats’, iszik 'drinks’, játszik 'plays’, úszik ‘swims’.
There's no way to tell if a verb is an -ik verb except memorization.
Subjects
Hungarian is a null subject language, you don't always need a subject . Examples :
They are going home. Hazamennek.
Both mean the same, but in the Hungarian there is no they - you have to figure it out from the verb's ending .
Hungarian has more pronouns than English :
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | én | mi |
| 2nd | te | ti |
| 3rd | ő | ők |
Note that you can be singular or plural, te is second person singular, ti second person plural. When you see a sentence like : Are you going home? , it can be translated into Hungarian as either the singular or the plural.
Hungarian has a few MORE pronouns for "YOU " They are used to address someone formally - like French vous, Spanish usted and German Sie - and many other languages, too .
These pronouns are ön (singular) and önök (plural), AND maga (singular) and maguk (plural). One thing to keep in mind when using these pronouns is that they behave like third person pronouns (like Spanish usted/ustedes) . So when using ön, the verb will look like it has a third person subject !
Ön eszik. You are eating (formal, singular)
Ő eszik He/She is eating.
Te eszel. You are eating (informal, singular)
We'll start with locations and relations between locations .
English has prepositions, words like on, in, by, etc. which express location:
Hungarian expresses some of these meanings using suffixes , and some of them using postpositions, not prepositions .
We'll learn some words for buildings and some postpositions.
In English, we say behind the house . In Hungarian, we say a ház mögött.
Egy ház mögött állok. — ‘I am standing behind a house.’
Van egy kert a ház mögött. — ‘There is a garden behind the house.’
A tó a nagy ház mögött van. — ‘The lake is behind the big house.’
The order in which words can follow each other is often fixed:
Meet six postpositions:
előtt — ‘in front of’
mögött — ‘behind’
alatt — ‘under’
fölött — ‘above’
mellett — ‘next to’
között — ‘between’
We will use the suffixes -ban / -ben . These are used for the English preposition "in":
In English we make a difference between "in" and "at", in Hungarian, we only use -ban / -ben:
Suffixes are always attached to the noun they refer to, as if they were “glued together”. Postpositions are always "loose " .
In Hungarian, nem van (side-by-side ) can only be said or written nincs. Compare:
| person | localising | feeling bad |
|---|---|---|
| én | Nem vagyok otthon. | Nem vagyok jól. |
| te | Nem vagy otthon? | Nem vagy jól? |
| Ön/Maga | Nincs otthon? | Nincs jól? |
| ő | Nincs otthon. | Nincs jól. |
Questions have stricter rules than statements. In Hungarian, if the question has a question word (who, what, where, when, why, how), then that word must be placed immediately in front of the verb.
It's good to start a question with a question word, but not always necessary.
Examples:
The question word must come immediately before the verb. It is always in focus - since focus is on the word or phrase immediately before the verb.
Exceptions:
When a question word is a part of a "block", like How many cars? How much water? - Then put this "block" before the verb.
Hány autót lát Péter? - How many cars does Péter see?
Mennyi víz van a pohárban? - How much water is in the glass?
Also, miért (why) does not have to be right before the verb.
Miért dolgozol? - Why are you working?
Miért te dolgozol? - Why is it you who is working?
The -ik-verbs' name comes from the third person singular form (ő / Ön / Maga), which ends in -ik .
When you add suffixes, you have to drop the "-ik". The main other difference between these verbs and regular verbs is that the first person singular (én) can end in -m, not the normal -k:
In many grammars, you would only find these forms ending in -m, but many speakers alternate between using -m forms or the regular -k ending for first person. We teach you both, and Duo accepts both!
If the stem of a verb ends in -s / -sz / -z / -zs, for example in iszik, the second person singular form is -ol / -el / -öl, according to vowel harmony:
| lakik | dolgozik | eszik | |
|---|---|---|---|
| (én) | lakok/lakom | dolgozok/dolgozom | eszek/eszem |
| (te) | laksz | dolgozol | eszel |
| (ő / Ön / maga) | lakik | dolgozik | eszik |
| (MI) | lakunk | dolgozunk | eszünk |
| (TI) | laktok | dolgoztok | esztek |
| (ŐK / ÖNÖK / MAGUK) | laknak | dolgoznak | esznek |
Let's see two REALLY irregular verbs:
megy — ‘to go’
jön — ‘to come’
The endings are the same but the stems change!
| megy | jön | |
|---|---|---|
| (én) | megyek | jövök |
| (te) | mész | jössz |
| (ő / Ön / Maga) | megy | jön |
| (mi) | megyünk | jövünk |
| (ti) | mentek | jöttök |
| (ők / Önök / Maguk) | mennek | jönnek |
Hol and hova are question words, meaning "where". The difference is that we use hol when talking about still position (Where are you? Hol vagy? )
and hova if there is a movement towards something. (Where are you going to? Hova mész?)
Hová is a synonym of hova.
Ide and oda are the "movement towards something" counterparts of itt and ott
| At what place? | To what place? | |
|---|---|---|
| where | hol | hova/hová |
| here | itt | ide |
| there | ott | oda |
The definite conjugation is a bit of Hungarian that we don't have in English !
In sentences with an "accusative " (a direct object), the conjugation depends on whether that object is "definite " or not. The forms we have learned so far are in the indefinite conjugation.
When a direct object is definite, the verb must be in the definite conjugation !
(i) Lát-ok egy kutyá-t.
(ii) Lát-om a kutyá-t.
In (i), the object is indefinite, ’a dog’. In (ii), it is definite, ’THE dog’. In (ii), the verb changes to látom. The ending -om is in the definite conjugation.
(iii) Látom .
(iii) means ‘I see IT .’ The definite conjugation is only used with a definite direct object, so there is an object - even if you don't see it !
Plus, vowel harmony!
Here are the definite verb forms of hallani ‘to hear’, szeretni ‘to like/love’ and keresni ‘to be looking for’.
| SG | PL | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | hallom ‘I hear it’ | halljuk ‘we hear it’ |
| 2 | hallod ‘you hear it’ | halljátok ‘you (pl) hear it’ |
| 3 | hallja ‘s/he hears it’ | hallják ‘they hear it’ |
| SG | PL | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | szeretem ‘I love it’ | szeretjük ‘we love it’ |
| 2 | szereted ‘you love it’ | szeretitek ‘you (pl) love it’ |
| 3 | szereti ‘s/he loves it’ | szeretik ‘they love it’ |
| SG | PL | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | keresem ‘I am looking for it’ | keressük ‘we are looking for it’ |
| 2 | keresed ‘you are looking for it’ | keresitek ‘you (pl) are looking for it’ |
| 3 | keresi ‘s/he is looking for it’ | keresik ‘they are looking for it’ |
Important ! the -j- does not always appear in the definite conjugation. And, when the j follows -s, -z, -sz, or -zs, the consonant is doubled and loses the -j- (ss, zz, ssz, zzs ) :
Verb prefixes
Another thing to keep in mind for this lesson is that many Hungarian verbs come with a verbal particle, as :
meg-látogatja ‘s/he visits’ (with a definite object!)
This particle/prefix attaches to the front of the verb, but in questions - or when the sentence is stressing information about a subject or an object - it is detached and follows the verb .
(v) Ki látogatja meg Pétert? ‘Who visits Péter?’
(vi) Péter látogatja meg Zsuzsát. ‘PETER is visiting Zsuzsa.‘
The Hungarian word order in (vi) stresses PETER: you are stressing that the sentence is about Peter, not about someone, or something else.
In this unit, you'll learn how to express date and time. You'll learn a few past tense expressions (more on that later), the days of the week, and months.
In the past tense you can mostly use the same verb endings as before, but... in the verb endings, a -t- indicates that it is in the past tense:
| csinál ‘to make/do’ | |
|---|---|
| 1SG | csinál-t-am ‘I made’ |
| 2SG | csinál-t-ál ‘you (sg.) made’ |
| 3SG | csinál-t ‘he made’ |
| 1PL | csinál-t-unk ‘we made’ |
| 2PL | csinál-t-atok ‘you (pl.) made’ |
| 3PL | csinál-t-ak ‘they made’ |
You'll learn more about the past tense later !
As in many languages, you can use the present tense to talk about things in the future. It is fine to say.
to mean ‘I will go tomorrow.’
The word nap means both ‘day’ and ‘sun’ in Hungarian. But it only shows up in one of the week's days :
If you speak a Slavic language, some of these might sound familiar to you! To express that something happens on a certain day, Hungarian uses a case-suffix which is also used for some of the seasons :
As in the plural, the vowel in the suffix depends on the vowels in the stem, so we get -on,-en, or -ön .
Note that there is an exception: vasárnap - 'Sunday' and ‘on Sunday’ For Sunday, we don't use any ending.
In Hungarian, the names of the months are similar to the names of the months in many other European languages, including English.
To say that something happened in a certain month, Hungarian uses the case suffix -ban or -ben:
While English uses in or during to express that something is happening in a season, Hungarian is a bit different. The seasons, first of all are the following:
But, there are two different case-suffixes to mark what's happening during a season:
A tiny tip: none of these endings have a diacritic (accent mark)
There are 5 different past tense verbs in this skill,
"volt" "született" "csinált" "találkozott" "beszélt"
We discussed "csinált", now here are the past tense indefinite conjugations for the other four:
| van | |
|---|---|
| 1SG | voltam |
| 2SG | voltál |
| 3SG | volt |
| 1PL | voltunk |
| 2PL | voltatok |
| 3PL | voltak |
| születik | |
|---|---|
| 1SG | születtem |
| 2SG | születtél |
| 3SG | született |
| 1PL | születtünk |
| 2PL | születtetek |
| 3PL | születtek |
| találkozik | |
|---|---|
| 1SG | találkoztam |
| 2SG | találkoztál |
| 3SG | találkozott |
| 1PL | találkoztunk |
| 2PL | találkoztatok |
| 3PL | találkoztak |
| beszél | |
|---|---|
| 1SG | beszéltem |
| 2SG | beszéltél |
| 3SG | beszélt |
| 1PL | beszéltünk |
| 2PL | beszéltetek |
| 3PL | beszéltek |
The first key word is "óra" which means "hour", "o'clock", "clock" and "watch". The second is "perc", it means minute.
Egy óra az 60 perc. = One hour is 60 minutes.
A film hét órakor kezdődik. = The movie starts at 7 o'clock.
Ez egy szép óra. = This is a nice watch/clock.
7:00 = Hét óra van. / Reggel hét óra van.
19:00 = Tizenkilenc óra van. / Hét óra van. /Este hét óra van.
You can add, to avoid confusion: "reggel", "délelőtt", "délután", "este", "éjjel". Some of these have a precise definition, but some don't.
"reggel" starts when you wake up and it becomes "délelőtt" when you leave your home or start working , between 5 and 10 a.m. depending on your lifestyle. It's pretty subjective.
"délelőtt" before noon ("dél"), between 9:00/10:00 and 12:00.
Back to the clock. There are different ways of expressing time:
7:15 = Hét óra tizenöt perc van. / Hét óra tizenöt van. / Hét tizenöt van.
8:25 = Nyolc óra huszonöt perc van. / Nyolc óra huszonöt van. / Nyolc huszonöt van.
9:37 = Kilenc óra harminchét perc van. / Kilenc óra harminchét van. / Kilenc harminchét van.
17:50 = Tizenhét óra ötven perc van. / Tizenhét óra ötven van. / TIzenhét ötven van.
So you can omit the word "perc" or "óra+perc", but you can't omit "óra" alone.
9:15, 9:30, 9:45 can be "negyed", "fél" and "háromnegyed". You always have to concentrate on the next hour and imagine that its quarter, half or three quarters hours have already passed.
9:15 = Negyed 10. (literally: "quarter of 10")
9:30 = Fél 10. (literally "half of 10")
9:45 = Háromnegyed 10. (literally "three quarters of 10")
Think of it as a journey: you started at 9 o'clock and are heading for 10 . At 9:15 you have covered the first quarter of the distance to 10 o'clock. At 9:30, half of it, and at 9:45, three quarters of it.
Do not use the word "óra" after "negyed", "fél" and "háromnegyed".
Between 12:00 and 24:00 use the numbers from 1 to 12 if you want to use "negyed", "fél" or "háromnegyed".
If you want an a.m. or p.m., you can add "reggel", "délelőtt", "délután", "este" or "éjjel".
7:15 = Reggel negyed 8.
10:30 = Délelőtt fél tizenegy.
17:45 = Délután háromnegyed hat.
19:30 = Este fél 8.
Do not use "negyed", "fél" and "háromnegyed" with "dél" and "éjfél". Use the word tizenkettő / tizenkét óra.
11:30 = (Délelőtt )fél tizenkettő / tizenkét óra.
23:30 = (Este) fél tizenkettő / tizenkét óra.
When you ask "mikor" or "hány órakor" in the answer the suffix -kor appears, it's the equivalent of "at" in English. Important, you always have to add it to the last element.
You know how to form the accusative (direct object) of a noun. But, pronouns have special forms (like they do in English!).
| Person/Number | Nominative | Accusative |
|---|---|---|
| 1SG | én ‘I’ | engem ‘me’ |
| 2SG | te ‘you (sg.)’ | téged ‘you (sg., obj.)’ |
| 3SG | ő ‘he/she’ | őt ‘him/her’ |
| 1PL | mi ‘we’ | minket ‘us’ |
| 2PL | ti ‘you (pl.)’ | titeket ‘you (pl., obj.)’ |
| 3PL | ők ‘they’ | őket ‘them’ |
| formal2SG | Ön ‘you’ | Önt ‘you’ |
| formal2PL | Önök ‘you’ | Önöket ‘you’ |
When the direct object is a personal pronoun, the situation is a bit more complicated.
Whether the verb is in the definite or indefinite depends on the person of the pronoun. When the object is őt or őket, (the third person singular and plural pronoun ), the verb is ALWAYS in the definite conjugation:
When the object is the first person, engem ‘me’ or minket ‘us’, the verb is ALWAYS in the indefinite conjugation:
Summary:
Use indefinite conjugation if the object is: téged, titeket, engem, minket
Use definite conjugation if the object is: őt, őket, Önt, Önöket, (magát, magukat), magamat, magadat, egymást
One extra ending:
When the object is the second person, téged ‘you (sg.)’ and titeket ‘you (pl.)’, we have to take the subject into account. With third person subjects, we use the indefinite conjugation:
When the subject is the first person singular, we encounter a verb form (lak / lek ) we have only seen before in the expression szeret-lek ‘I love you’:
This table shows this complicated system (don't worry about the gaps). The bold forms indicate the indefinite conjugation, and the italic ones indicate the definite conjugation. Bold and italic indicates the -lak/-lek ending.
| subject → object | 1 | 2 | 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Én látlak téged. | Én látom őt/őket. | |
| 2 | Te látsz engem. | Te látod őt/őket. | |
| 3 | Ő lát engem. | Ő lát téged. | Ő látja őt/őket. |
In English, demonstrative adjectives are ‘this’ and ‘that’. In Hungarian, they are a lot more complex:
They consist of ez ‘this’ plus a definite article a; or az ‘that’ and a definite article a. In both cases, the definite article can take on a -z if the following word starts with a vowel:
for plurals:
In a sentence:
If this/that/these/those describes a noun, we use the ez a(z) / az a(z) / ezek a(z) / azok a(z) forms, as above.
If this / that / these / those are "stand alone words" (they are not directly in front of a noun), we use the simpler forms: ez, az, ezek, azok.
This is a table. = Ez egy asztal.
That is a table. = Az egy asztal.
These are apples. = Ezek almák.
Those are apples. = Azok almák.
In the 'Attributes' skill you saw that you can add an adjective to this structure, for example:
This is a black car. = Ez egy fekete autó.
That is a nice house. = Az egy szép ház.
In terms of grammar, the following are two different sentences .
This is a black car. = Ez egy fekete autó. (subject: This =Ez)
This car is black. = Ez az autó fekete. (subject: This car =Ez az autó)
van and nincs
Remember van? It's the third person singular of the verb ‘to be’, but sometimes, we don't use it . It IS used in sentences which translate into English as :
Very important! When we negate van, it turns into nincs
So, van has a double role: it can mean there is, or is !
Nincs also has a double role: it can mean there is no, or is not
How do you decide which ? Does the noun have a definite or an INdefinite article ? (if there is No article it's the indefinite . )
Van itt egy (indefinite ) hajó. = There is a ship here.
A (definite ) hajó itt van = The ship is here.
Similarly for nincs:
Nincs itt (no article ) hajó. = There is no ship here.
A (definite ) hajó nincs itt. =The ship is not here.
Demonstratives (this, that):
If you want to talk about this house or that house, so when this/that modifies the noun after it, use
They consist of ez ‘this’ plus the definite article a; or az ‘that’ and a. But the definite article needs a -z if the following word begins with a vowel:
But, if you want a "standalone" this or that, you only need "ez" or "az":
Ez egy ház. This is a house.
Az egy asztal. That is a table.
Az... amelyik
This is about identifying something or someone and saying something about them. How it works : Az... aki /Az .... amelyik / Az... ami
In the plural: Azok... akik /Azok .... amelyek / Azok... amik
The girl who is sitting over there is a student. Az a lány, aki ott ül, egy diák. Or, with a different word order: Az a lány (egy) diák, aki ott ül.
The bridge that is between the mountains is big. Az a híd, amelyik a hegyek között van, nagy. / Az a híd nagy, amelyik a hegyek között van.
The bridges (that are ) between the mountains are big. Azok a hidak, amelyek a hegyek között vannak, nagyok. / Azok a hidak nagyok , amelyek a hegyek között vannak.
The one who is sitting over there is a student. Az, aki ott ül, egy diák. / Az (egy) diák, aki ott ül.
The one (that is ) between the mountains is big. Az, ami a hegyek között van, nagy. / Az nagy, ami a hegyek között van.
The ones (that are ) between the mountains are big. Azok, amik a hegyek között vannak, nagyok. / Azok nagyok, amik a hegyek között vannak.
When the subject is named, use amelyik, , and ami, if the subject is not named. And aki for people.
Alert ! sentence fragments
Some exercises use fragments. They start with a lowercase letter, and there's no period at the end.
For example: "aki a fa alatt ül" is "who sits under the tree"
... as a part of a longer sentence, "Az a lány, aki a fa alatt ül, magas." The girl who is sitting under the tree is tall.
Az a könyv hosszú, amelyik az új televízió mellett van.
Azok a hidak nagyok, amelyek a hegyek között vannak.
Azok a könyvek drágák, amelyek híresek.
Az a hegy magas, amelyik a híres város mellett áll.
Azok a televíziók rosszak, amelyek az ablak mellett
vannak.
Az a sportoló fiatal, amelyik a híd alatt úszik.
Az a híd széles, amelyik a mély folyó fölött áll.
Az a televízió drága, amelyik az új asztal mellett áll.
Looking at these sentences, the word order follows a pattern.
singular:
Az a [thing] [adjective], amelyik [other parts] [verb]
plural:
Azok a [thing] [adjective], amelyek [other parts] [verb]
The word nap means both ‘day’ and ‘sun’ . It only shows up in one of the week days, though:
To express that something happened on a certain day, Hungarian uses a case-suffix that we'll see later (and which is also used for some of the seasons):
The vowel in the suffix depends on the vowels in the stem, so we get either -on, -en or -ön.
Note that there is an exception: vasárnap - ‘on Sunday’ For Sunday, we don't need the -on ending.
When, after the name of the day, you specify the moment of the day you have two options: add the suffix or not. F.eg.:
hétfő délután / hétfőn délután = On Monday afternoon
kedd este / kedden este = On Tuesday evening
In the sentence "It is Wednesday", "it" is a dummy subject. It does not refer to anything real. But we use a different construction in Hungarian (no dummy subject needed):
Szerda van. - It is Wednesday.
Similarly for time:
Hat óra van. - It is 6 o'clock.
Dél van. - It is noon.
For weather we use the same structure .
Meleg van. - It is warm.
Hideg van. - It is cold.
30 fok van. - It is 30 degrees.
Numbers are quite different from most other European languages (if you speak some Finnish or Estonian, you might recognize some ):
egy
kettő (két ) two has a usage rule explained below
három
négy
öt
hat
hét
nyolc
kilenc
tíz
From ten to one hundred, we have the following:
tíz húsz harminc negyven ötven hatvan hetven nyolcvan kilencven száz
As you can see, from 40-90, you use the forms above and add -van or ven (like English -ty).
Putting these together is orderly.
sixty-one = hatvanegy
ONLY with tíz and húsz do you add an infix between them and the vowel is shortened:
eleven = tizenegy
twelve = tizenkettő
twenty-three = huszonhárom etc.
Higher numbers work the same way:
one hundred twenty three = százhuszonhárom
Alert: the diacritics are lost when combined (the vowels are shortened ) ...
In Hungarian, there are two words for the number 2: kettő and két. This works the same way for the others ending in 2, too: 12 is tizenkettő or tizenkét, 42 is negyvenkettő or negyvenkét and so on .
What is the difference? Use két as an adjective to modify a noun or adjective .
Use kettő only by itself, only when we are talking about the number "2 " .
Example: Kettő meg kettő az négy. Two plus two is four.
Két alma. Two apples. Két asztal. Two tables. Két szép gyerek. Two beautiful children.
But, Két sounds very similar to hét (seven), so to avoid confusion and emphasize that you are talking about two, we sometimes use kettő in front of a noun. Kettő alma, kettő asztal.
But do not use két by itself.
Hungarian and English differ in how they use plurals . In Hungarian, plural nouns that follow a number are in the singular.
Rather than using the plural, diákok (students ), we use the singular if a number word precedes it : öt diák.
And, the verb, in Hungarian, is in the third person singular form, NOT the plural.
The number word rule applies for "kevés" and "sok" too.
Kevés férfi énekel. — ‘Few men sing.’
Sok orvos beszél angolul. — ‘Many doctors speak English.’
Where to put the adjective, and is it supposed to be in the plural ? In the example két szép gyerek ‘two beautiful children’ - if an adjective precedes a plural noun, it stays in the singular , and numbers precede adjectives .
négy kicsi macska — ‘four small cats’
öt magas fiú — ‘five tall boys’
w
Hungarian has more cases than other European languages, but they are less scary than you might think.
Many languages, like English, use prepositions to express spatial concepts, Hungarian uses case suffixes.
| English | Hungarian |
|---|---|
| the shop | az üzlet |
| in the shop | az üzletben |
| the hotel | a szálloda |
| in the hotel | a szállodában |
Using the suffix -ban/-ben is like using the English preposition in, but AFTER the word and attached .
When -ban and when -ben? The vowels in the stem determine the vowels in the suffix :
| Front vowels | Back vowels |
|---|---|
| i/í | u/ú |
| ü/ű | o/ó |
| e/é | |
| ö/ő | a/á |
Since üzlet has front vowels, the vowel in the suffix has to be a front vowel: we put -ben.
In szálloda, we have back vowels, so we choose -ban.
To ask the price of something, use
Mennyibe kerül? - How much does it cost?
Mennyibe kerül az a táska? - How much does that bag cost?
For the answer, we attached -ba -be to the currency (as -be is attached to the question word “mennyi” (= how much)). You can also use the question word “hány” (= how many) and add the currency (+ba/be).
Az a táska 50 dollárba kerül. - That bag costs 50 dollars.
Ez a kabát 10000 forintba kerül. - This coat costs 10000 forints.
Hány euróba / forintba / dollárba kerül ez a kabát? - How many euros / forints / dollars does this coat cost?
Some new numbers:
harminc = 30
negyven = 40
ötven = 50
You will learn the vocabulary of clothing and how to describe how somebody is dressed:
Kati sárga nadrágban van. = Kati is wearing yellow trousers.
Péter kék ingben van. = Peter is wearing a blue shirt.
‘Trousers’ (and any other plural nouns meaning clothes) are not plural nouns in Hungarian.
- ban / - ben is added to the name of the piece of clothing + verb “van” (conjugated). This expression can be used for clothes in which you can be. You can’t be “in a bag” or “in a scarf” because they are rather “on you”.
Use this structure when you would use in English the present continuous. It is only used to describe what somebody is wearing at that moment.
The superessive case is one that expresses a spatial relation. As with the inessive , the superessive usually conforms to an English preposition and has forms based on vowel harmony.
It's easy for English speakers, as it sounds like the preposition ‘on’! -n/-on/-en/ön
| English | Hungarian |
|---|---|
| the ship | a hajó |
| on the ship | a hajón |
| the sidewalk | a járda |
| on the sidewalk | a járdán |
| the table | az asztal |
| on the table | az asztalon |
| the airplane | a repülőgép |
| on the airplane | a repülőgépen |
| the ground | a föld |
| on the ground | a földön |
Using the suffixes -n/-on/-en/ön is like using the English preposition on, but after the word.
If a word ends in a vowel (except for “a” and “e”) you can add the ending “-n” directly .
If the word ends in “-a” or “-e” it gets the “-n” but “-a” becomes “-á” and “-e” becomes “-é”.
For words ending in a consonant you also have to consider vowel harmony. Words containing only back vowels (or dominantly back vowels), like asztal, we add “-on”asztal-on. You will meet an exceptional vowel, the ”back -i”, like we had in “iszik”. The ‘-í’ in ‘híd’ (= bridge) behaves as a back vowel, so we will say ‘a hídon’ (= on the bridge). Memorization is our only recourse .
However, for words with only front vowels, the suffix is sometimes -en and sometimes -ön. As in verb conjugations, “-ön” is used if the last syllable contains -ö/-ő/-ü/-ű, like föld meaning ‘floor, ground, Earth’, it becomes földön ‘on the ground’.
For other front vowels (-e/-é/-i/-í) add “-en”, like szék, which becomes széken.
1: Express that “something is ON something”:
The cat sits on the car. = A macska az autón ül.
The coat is on the bag. = A kabát a táskán van.
The apple is on the table. = Az alma az asztalon van.
I live on a hill. = Egy hegyen élek.
The book is on the floor. = A könyv a földön van.
Compare with -ban/-ben: doboz = box
The pen is in the box. = A toll a dobozban van.
The pen is on the box. = A toll a dobozon van.
2: Express being somewhere, regardless of the preposition used in English, if that place is:
any means of transport: busz (bus), villamos (tram), vonat (train), hajó (ship) (but not a car!)
an open space: piac (market), utca (street), tér (square), pályaudvar (train station), repülőtér (airport), járda (sidewalk), udvar (yard)
an event: kiállítás (exhibition), megbeszélés (meeting)
or an exception… see this list: posta (post office), folyosó (corridor), menza (canteen), egyetem (university)
I am on the bus. = A buszon vagyok.
Are you at the market? = A piacon vagy?
We are not running on the sidewalk. = Nem a járdán futunk.
3: Do you remember the days of the week? We added this same suffix to them (except for vasárnap, which doesn’t get any suffix).
Also two seasons nyár ( = summer) and tél (= winter) get the same suffix:
nyáron = in summer
télen = in winter
The adessive case expresses a spatial relation like by or next to. Like other cases, it needs vowel harmony and can appear as -nál (back vowels) and -nél (front vowels). Hint: both forms have a diacritic (accent ) .
| English | Hungarian |
|---|---|
| the table | az asztal |
| by the table | az asztalnál |
| the shop | az üzlet |
| by the shop | az üzletnél |
-Nál and -nél approximate English prepositions by or next to .
Vowel harmony has exceptions that you need to memorize when you come across them. The word for bridge ,híd , for example, takes the suffix -nál:
hídnál ‘by the bridge’
In this skill, you will meet the infinitive form of a verb. The infinitive form always ends with -ni. For regular verbs, just take the singular third person form and attach a -ni.
| English | Hungarian | |
|---|---|---|
| S/3 | he/she studies | tanul |
| infinitive | to study | tanulni |
| S/3 | he/she runs | fut |
| infinitive | to run | futni |
| S/3 | he/she dances | táncol |
| infinitive | to dance | táncolni |
For verbs ending in -ik, remove the -ik and add the -ni.
| English | Hungarian | |
|---|---|---|
| S/3 | he/she plays tennis | teniszezik |
| infinitive | to play tennis | teniszezni |
| S/3 | he/she plays football | focizik |
| infinitive | to play football | focizni |
Sometimes you might find two consonants at the end of a verb, it can also happen when you “remove” the “-ik” ending. In this case, you will have to add an extra vowel to glue it to the “-ni”. For example:
| English | Hungarian | |
|---|---|---|
| S/3 | he/she say | mond |
| infinitive | to say | mondani |
| S/3 | he/she takes a shower | fürdik |
| infinitive | to take a shower | fürdeni |
Finally, of course, there are some irregular verbs. From this list you will meet in this skill “enni, inni, menni, venni, lenni”. But we wanted to show you all the irregular ones, as they are those verbs which usually behave differently.
| English | Hungarian | |
|---|---|---|
| S/3 | he/she goes | megy |
| infinitive | to go | menni |
| S/3 | he/she eats | eszik |
| inf | to eat | enni |
| S/3 | he/she drinks | iszik |
| inf | to drink | inni |
| S/3 | he/she buys | vesz |
| inf | to buy | venni |
| S/3 | he/she is | van |
| inf | to be | lenni |
| S/3 | he/she believes | hisz |
| inf | to believe | hinni |
| S/3 | he/she puts | tesz |
| inf | to put | tenni |
| S/3 | he/she brings | visz |
| inf | to bring | vinni |
The infinitive form is usually used when there is another verb in the sentence, which can express:
I. a preference (to love, to hate, to like doing / to do something):
Szeretek táncolni. - I like to dance. /I like dancing.
Utálok táncolni. - I hate dancing.
II. a capacity or capability to do something:
Tudok táncolni. - I can dance. / I know how to dance
Nem tudok táncolni. - I can’t dance. / I don't know how to dance.
Depending on the context, "tud" can be translated as "can" or "know".
III. a desire, a wish (I would like to do something):
Szeretnék táncolni. - I would like to dance.
Nem szeretnék táncolni. - I wouldn’t like to dance.
IV. a possibility (It is allowed / It is possible):
Lehet táncolni. - It is allowed to dance.
Nem lehet táncolni. - It is not possible to dance. / It is not allowed to dance.
V. expresses a habit: It is like adding “usually” to the sentence. (Or you can imagine "I used to dance", but in the present tense.)
Szoktam táncolni. - I usually dance.
Nem szoktam táncolni. - I don’t dance usually. / I don’t usually dance.
| szokott | |
|---|---|
| (én) | szoktam |
| (te) | szoktál |
| (ő/Ön) | szokott |
| (mi) | szoktunk |
| (ti) | szoktatok |
| (ők/Önök) | szoktak |
Yes, you can say ‘I like eating cheese.’ or ‘I hate eating cheese.’ depending on your taste :). You have to change the word order, and put the object (with the accusative ending ‘-t’) before the infinitive.
Szeretek sajtot enni. = I like eating cheese.
Utálok sajtot enni. = I hate eating cheese.
other examples:
Szeretnék sört inni. = I would like to drink beer.
Szeretnék almát enni. = I would like to eat an apple.
Nem szeretnék tévét nézni. = I would not like to watch tv.
Itt lehet kenyeret venni. = It is possible to buy bread here.
In this case you expressed something in general. If you would like to express your desire to do something with a specific thing, it is also possible. For example, you can say “I would like to eat an apple.” or “I would like to drink a coffee.” As the article “a/an” appeared in the English sentence, it will also appear in the Hungarian, and then we will have the same word order as in English, and the object will come after the infinitive.
Szeretnék enni egy almát. = I would like to eat an apple.
Szeretnék inni egy kávét. = I would like to drink a coffee.
Szeretnék venni egy házat. = I would like to buy a house.
It looks similar, so be careful with "like" and "would like to". (The "would like to" version is the conditional of the verb "szeret".)
| like | would like to | |
|---|---|---|
| (én) | szeretek | szeretnék |
| (te) | szeretsz | szeretnél |
| (ő/Ön) | szeret | szeretne |
| (mi) | szeretünk | szeretnénk |
| (ti) | szerettek | szeretnétek |
| (ők) | szeretnek | szeretnének |
The superessive case is one that expresses a spatial relation. As with the inessive , the superessive usually conforms to an English preposition and has forms based on vowel harmony.
It's easy for English speakers, as it sounds like the preposition ‘on’! -n/-on/-en/ön
| English | Hungarian |
|---|---|
| the ship | a hajó |
| on the ship | a hajón |
| the sidewalk | a járda |
| on the sidewalk | a járdán |
| the table | az asztal |
| on the table | az asztalon |
| the airplane | a repülőgép |
| on the airplane | a repülőgépen |
| the ground | a föld |
| on the ground | a földön |
Using the suffixes -n/-on/-en/ön is like using the English preposition on, but after the word.
If a word ends in a vowel (except for “a” and “e”) you can add the ending “-n” directly .
If the word ends in “-a” or “-e” it gets the “-n” but “-a” becomes “-á” and “-e” becomes “-é”.
For words ending in a consonant you also have to consider vowel harmony. Words containing only back vowels (or dominantly back vowels), like asztal, we add “-on”asztal-on. You will meet an exceptional vowel, the ”back -i”, like we had in “iszik”. The ‘-í’ in ‘híd’ (= bridge) behaves as a back vowel, so we will say ‘a hídon’ (= on the bridge). Memorization is our only recourse .
However, for words with only front vowels, the suffix is sometimes -en and sometimes -ön. As in verb conjugations, “-ön” is used if the last syllable contains -ö/-ő/-ü/-ű, like föld meaning ‘floor, ground, Earth’, it becomes földön ‘on the ground’.
For other front vowels (-e/-é/-i/-í) add “-en”, like szék, which becomes széken.
1: Express that “something is ON something”:
The cat sits on the car. = A macska az autón ül.
The coat is on the bag. = A kabát a táskán van.
The apple is on the table. = Az alma az asztalon van.
I live on a hill. = Egy hegyen élek.
The book is on the floor. = A könyv a földön van.
Compare with -ban/-ben: doboz = box
The pen is in the box. = A toll a dobozban van.
The pen is on the box. = A toll a dobozon van.
2: Express being somewhere, regardless of the preposition used in English, if that place is:
any means of transport: busz (bus), villamos (tram), vonat (train), hajó (ship) (but not a car!)
an open space: piac (market), utca (street), tér (square), pályaudvar (train station), repülőtér (airport), járda (sidewalk), udvar (yard)
an event: kiállítás (exhibition), megbeszélés (meeting)
or an exception… see this list: posta (post office), folyosó (corridor), menza (canteen), egyetem (university)
I am on the bus. = A buszon vagyok.
Are you at the market? = A piacon vagy?
We are not running on the sidewalk. = Nem a járdán futunk.
3: Do you remember the days of the week? We added this same suffix to them (except for vasárnap, which doesn’t get any suffix).
Also two seasons nyár ( = summer) and tél (= winter) get the same suffix:
nyáron = in summer
télen = in winter
In English, demonstratives are : this, that, these, those, and so on. In Hungarian, ez and az are this and that.
The plurals are mostly regular:
ez + -ek = ezek ‘these’
az + -ok = azok ‘those’
ez + -ek + -ben = ezekben ‘in these’
But... : When the singular demonstratives ez and az are followed by a case suffix like -nak/-nek (dative), -ban/-ben (inessive), -nál/-nél, etc., the -z assimilates to the first consonant of the suffix:
ez + -ben = ebben ‘in this’
az + -nál = annál ‘at that’
ez + -nek = ennek
When using a demonstrative with a noun, both the demonstrative AND the noun have to have the plural and the case suffixes on BOTH :
(ez + ben )
ebben a házban ‘in this house’
(ezek + ben )
ezekben a házakban ‘in these houses’
azoknál a kerteknél ‘by those gardens’
Hungarian gets a bit more complicated when you combine a demonstrative and a noun like ez a ház ‘this house’ with a POSTposition like mellett ‘next to‘ : if the postposition starts with a consonant, the z disappears, and we get a , e instead of az, ez:
e mellett a ház mellett ‘next to this house’
a fölött a kert fölött ‘above that garden’
ez alatt a fa alatt ‘under this tree’
az alatt a fa alatt ‘under that tree’
In this skill you will learn a bunch of new adjectives. We tried to vary the sentence structures to make you practice them. There will be:
This is a [adjective] [noun]. = Ez egy [adjective] [noun].
This is a black car. = Ez egy fekete autó.
This [noun] is [adjective]. Ez a(z) [noun] [adjective].
This car is black. Ez az autó fekete.
Use idős and öreg for people, and régi for objects.
Ez egy régi ház. This is an old house.
A nagymamám öreg. My grandmother is old.
A nagymamám idős. My grandmother is elderly.
Idős is more like elderly, it is more polite to say, while saying öreg is less polite - in some situations.
“Régi” has a special meaning when used for people :
egy régi barátom = an old friend of mine . We have been friends for a long time. The friend is not necessarily old .
egy öreg / idős barátom = an old friend of mine (the friend is actually old)
Immediately before a noun (or before another adjective that refers to the same noun) we can use either kis or kicsi.
egy kicsi ház = egy kis ház = a small house
egy kis piros labda = egy kicsi piros labda = a small red ball
And, kis- can be used to form compound words: kislány (little girl) kismacska (little cat).
But, AFTER the noun, only kicsi works ! You’re making a statement , you're forming a sentence.
A ház kicsi. = The house is small.
Ez a kék autó kicsi. = This blue car is small.
Az a piros labda kicsi. = That red ball is small.
But * A ház kis. would be wrong.
There is a / an [noun] = Van egy [singular noun ]
There are [noun in plural] = Vannak [plural noun ]
There isn't any [noun] = Nincs [singular noun ]
There aren't any [plural noun ] = Nincsenek [plural noun ]
For the structure "There is (not).../There are (not)..." we recommend :
OR
SO
1st type:
Van egy macska az asztal alatt. = There is a cat under the table.
Vannak állatok az állatkertben. = There are animals in the zoo.
Nincs víz a pohárban. = There isn't any water in the glass.
Nincsenek macskák a kertben. = There aren't any cats in the garden.
OR
2nd type:
Az asztal alatt van egy macska. = Under the table, there is a cat.
Az állatkertben vannak állatok. = In the zoo there are animals.
A pohárban nincs víz. = In the glass, there isn't any water.
A kertben nincsenek macskák. = In the garden, there aren't any cats.
Tricky parts in this skill:
I. There are many... = Van sok... Since "sok" is a quantity, we don't use plurals after it . This also means that "van" must stay in the singular. Compare:
Az állatkertben van sok állat. = There are many animals in the zoo.
A fán sok szép alma van. = There are many beautiful apples in the tree.
A kertben vannak fák. = There are trees in the garden.
A kertben van sok fa. = There are many trees in the garden.
II. For describing what somebody is wearing, you can use "van valakin valami", literally, there is something on somebody. So add the -n/-on/-en/-ön ending to the person who is wearing that clothing.
A fiún van sál. = The boy is wearing a scarf. / He has a scarf on.
A lányon van kabát. = The girl is wearing a coat. / She has a coat on.
III. For extra credit we added "Tűz van!" [Fire!] which is worth remembering . Following this you can also say: "Baj van!" [There's a problem!] as an imprecation when you're facing a difficulty .
IV. Articles in Hungarian and in English usually work the same way: "a / an" is usually "egy", "the" is usually "a /az". But When talking about generalities, English and Hungarian have different strategies. Compare:
Apples are red. = Az alma piros.
English without article but in plural
Hungarian with article (a/az or egy) but in singular
Tigers are striped. = A tigris csíkos.
Tigers are striped animals. = A tigris egy csíkos állat.
Elephants are big animals. = Az elefántok nagy állatok. / Az elefánt nagy állat.
V. But when talking about one specific animal/animals ( not a generality ) the articles behave the same way.
The tigers are next to the lions. = A tigrisek az oroszlánok mellett vannak.
The elephants are standing next to the water. = Az elefántok a víz mellett állnak
VI. This little "a/az" can change the meaning of the sentence. Please compare:
Az oroszlánok mellett vannak a zsiráfok. = The giraffes are next to the lions.
BUT
Az oroszlánok mellett vannak zsiráfok. = Next to the lions there are giraffes.
VII. In Hungarian we tend to ask negative questions to express surprise or to be polite and avoid embarassement. But negative sentences, in English, aren't used the same way . Nevertheless we thought that it might be useful to show you this .
To express surprise or politeness, we would choose "nincs" instead of "van":
Nincs mozi a városban? = There is no cinema in the city, is there?
Nincs tej a süteményben? = Is there milk in the cookie?
In the following three sentences the words are the same, the only differnce is their order, which changes slightly the meaning of the 3rd sentence. You can use the 1st and the 2nd sentences interchangeably , but the 3rd has a different meaning.
Van egy cica a fán. = There is a cat in the tree.
A fán van egy cica. = In the tree, there is a cat.
Egy cica van a fán. = It is a cat that is in the tree. / It is one cat that is in the tree.
Word order is complicated in Hungarian. For a longer and deeper explanation, please read these forum posts :
[Once more on Hungarian Word Order] https://forum.duolingo.com/comment/23906912
[Structure and word order of a Hungarian sentence] https://forum.duolingo.com/comment/20169609
Really important advice : "Ask not where to put the verb, ask where to put everything else relative to the verb!”
Ordinal numbers (like first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, etc. ) are formed by using the number , itself , and -adik, -edik, and -ödik . The choice depends on vowel harmony.
If the number has a long vowel in the last syllable (like kettő, hét, négy, tíz or húsz), the vowel shortens:
tíz becomes tizedik ‘tenth’ (and négy -> negyedik, hét -> hetedik)
In három, the á shortens, and the o disappears, so we get harmadik ‘third‘.
And, like in English, second, is not derived from two (we don't use twoth!):
második ‘second’
(más = ‘different’ but also, ‘another‘)
| En | Hu |
|---|---|
| first | első |
| second | második |
| third | harmadik |
| fourth | negyedik |
| fifth | ötödik |
| sixth | hatodik |
| seventh | hetedik |
| eighth | nyolcadik |
| ninth | kilencedik |
| tenth | tizedik |
| eleventh | tizenegyedik |
| twelfth | tizenkettedik |
| thirteenth | tizenharmadik |
| fourteenth | tizennegyedik |
| fifteenth | tizenötödik |
Note that 11th, 12th, 21st, 22nd, 31st, 32nd (and so on) do not contain the words "első" and "második",
we say tizenegyedik, tizenkettedik, huszonegyedik, huszonkettedik, harmincegyedik, harminckettedik instead.
English does not have a word for "how manyeth" but Hungarian does. Hányadik? You can use this if you expect an ordinal number as an answer.
Hányadik emeleten laksz? - A harmadik emeleten lakom.
Hányadik megállóban szállunk le? - A kilencedik megállóban.
The illative case is used to show MOTION into something and it's like English into or to :
a házba ‘to the house’
The illative suffix also requires vowel harmony:
a kertbe ‘into the garden'
It's easy to confuse the illative case (into ) -ba / -be * with the inessive case -ban/-ben* , in , so be on the alert !
possessive endings
-m and -d
Ending with a vowel - just m or d
Ending with a consonant , back vowels, -am, -ad -om, -od
Ending with a consonant, front vowels, -em, -ed -öm, -öd
singular /plural
In some cases, the Hungarian phrase is singular, while the English is plural.
This happens often with paired clothing items (shoes, gloves, boots) and paired body parts (eyes, hands, ears...)
A cipőm fekete. My shoes are black (but literally my shoe is black)
A szemem kék. My eyes are blue (but literally my eye is blue)
Word order A kutyám fekete. vs Fekete a kutyám.
The sublative case indicates motion ONTO something. It corresponds to the English preposition onto and needs vowel harmony:
a házra ‘onto the house’
a tetőre ‘onto the roof’
and it can be a vertical surface or even a tree!
a falra = on(to) the wall
a fára = in(to) the tree
Plural adjectives
Hungarian differs from English in that adjectives have plural forms as well.
In English you say The women are German, the word German being the same for both singular and plural, but in Hungarian the adjective has to be in the plural as well:
A nők németek.
Look at Tips and Notes of the skill Plurals 1 to refresh your memory how to form the plurals of nouns.
Adjectives are a bit different: often, the plural suffix will be -ak even when an adjective has back vowels but ends in a neutral vowel like e, i.
amerikai + -k = amerikaiak ‘Americans’
kanadai + -k = kanadaiak ‘Canadians’
egyiptomi + -k = egyiptomiak ‘Egyptians’
If an adjective ends in a consonant, you can rely on what you've learned in Plurals 1:
brazil + -k = brazilok ‘Brazilians’
japán + -k = japánok ‘Japanese’ (plural)
Note that in Hungarian you don't have to capitalize words referring to nationalities, in English you do.
When talking about Brazil, be alert:
brazil = Brazilian (nationality of a person)
Brazília = Brazil (the country)
van in Hungarian
Remember that in Hungarian, the third person forms of to be do not always appear. When we talk about the properties of the subject and express those using adjectives, there is no verb in the Hungarian sentence.
In
A nők németek.
there is no verb. You can't omit it in English, of course!
Generic statements
You will come across generic statements. They express something that is true in general, for example:
Dogs have four legs.
This means that In general, dogs have four legs. There is a difference between such statements in English and Hungarian. While in English you don't use an article for the subject in such sentences, in Hungarian you usually do. Compare the following:
Dutch people are tall. A hollandok magasak.
In Hungarian, you can't say Hollandok magasak to mean Dutch people are tall, you have to add the definite article a(z).
The allative is a movement case, expressing movement TO something. In English, it can be translated with up to - but not in !
It also requires vowel harmony, and there are two front suffixes, based on whether the vowels in the noun are rounded, like ö and ü, or not (like e ) .
a kerthez - ‘up to the garden’
a tükörhöz - ‘up to the mirror’
a házhoz - ‘up to the house’
This skill is about the accusative case. In Hungarian, the accusative case is marked by the suffix -t - on the direct object. A noun like fiú ’boy’ becomes fiút when it is in the accusative.
In English, direct objects generally follow the subject and the verb (predicate ), as in
a boy is the direct object, the girl is the subject, and sees is the verb.
In Hungarian, the word order can be freer, but the direct object is marked with a -t, so in Hungarian it's easier to see and hear :
The subject is a lány which does not have a case ending (it is in the “nominative” case). The verb is lát and egy fiút is the direct object, with its accusative -t !
In the first lesson, this -t is added directly to the word:
In later skills, you'll see that sometimes we have to add a vowel before the -t, for example:
The vowel is determined by vowel harmony, as with verbs! Words with front vowels get a front vowel before the -t, words with back vowels get a back vowel.
| front vowels | back vowels |
|---|---|
| i, í, ü, ű | u, ú |
| e, é, ö, ő | o, ó |
| a, á |
A note on word order
In sentences with a subject, a verb and an object, Hungarian has a very flexible word order. All of the following can be used in certain contexts:
While they all mean ‘Péter sees a house.’, each conveys slightly different information with respect to which element is in focus (or stressed ). A focused phrase appears right in front of the verb in Hungarian and it usually shows new information or contrast.
The first sentence above would be a valid answer to a question like ‘Who sees a house?’ but the second sentence would be egy házat because ‘a house’ immediately precedes the verb and is therefore in focus.
This can be tricky, but English has similar constructions! If you have the following question
the question word is in focus and asks for new information. In the reply, the answer to what will also be new information and in focus. In English you can say,
or
It is rare to answer the question with:
The analogy is the following: the X in the “It is X that ...” is that the X comes right before the verb in Hungarian.
Word order in questions
Question words generally ask for some (new) information and in Hungarian they behave like other focused parts of the sentence. So in a question like ‘Who(m) does Mary know?’ ’who(m)’ is in focus in Hungarian and has to appear right before the verb:
In Hungarian: preverbs, verbal modifiers or verbal prefixes (igekötő in Hungarian) are very common . These modifiers USUALLY mean motion TOWARD something: ki ‘toward the outside’, be ‘toward the inside’, le ‘down‘, el ‘away‘, ide ‘toward here‘, oda ‘toward there‘.
In the simplest cases, a verb with a preverb corresponds, in English, to a verb plus an adverb :
kimegyek ‘I go out‘
bemész ‘you (sg.) go to‘, ‘you (sg.) enter‘
elmegy ‘s/he goes away‘
leülünk ‘we sit down‘
ideültök ‘you (pl.) sit down here‘
odaülnek ‘they sit down there‘
In English, the distinction between a location and a direction is not always explicit: she is running there can mean she is there and she is running or she is moving from here to there by running. Hungarian makes this explicit : the former meaning would be ott fut and the latter, with a verbal modifier or preverb, odafut (runs over to there... ) .
These verbal modifiers can have big effects on word order! Word order, in Hungarian, is much freer than in English, but there are some restrictions .
In general, a verbal modifier precedes the verb and they are written as one word:
However, the modifier can also be separated from the verb:
While this still means that Mari enters , the information it conveys is more like :
Mari is in focus because Mari immediately precedes the verb. Whenever there is a focused word or phrase , the particle follows the verb - and is detached .
Important ! The particle follows the verb when there is negation or in questions with question words:
Nem mész el. ‘You do not go away.‘
Ki ül le? ‘Who is sitting down?’
The phrase that corresponds to that question word, in an answer, is also always in focus. The answer to the question Ki ül le? could be:
The boldface in the second English translation indicates stress on the word. Say the English answer out loud and you'll hear what this means.
Hungarian word order is very strict in another respect: the order of topic, focus (new information) and the verb. English generally has
but Hungarian generally has
order.
There can be more than one topic!
Mari a kertben ül le. ‘Mari is sitting down in the garden.’ or ‘It's in the garden that Mari is sitting down.’
A kertben Mari ül le. ‘Mari is sitting down in the garden.‘ or ‘It's Mari who is sitting down in the garden.‘
In both sentences, that someone (Mari) is sitting down somewhere (in the garden) is conveyed, but Hungarian focuses on different parts of the sentence. In the first example, the new information is a kertben ‘in the garden’. This is indicated by the word order: a kertben immediately precedes the verb. In English, the word order stays the same, but stress or prominence changes. Compare It's in the garden ... and It's Mary ....
You can also have an unfocused sentence:
This is a neutral sentence. The subject (Mari ) is the topic, but not in focus (the "le " keeps it from being immediately before the verb ) , and neither is a kertben. And, the corresponding sentence, in English, does not have any particular stress on any phrase or word.
Word order is a complicated matter in Hungarian. For a longer explanation, see this forum post:
On Emphasis and Word Order in Hungarian
https://forum.duolingo.com/comment/18806754
When you talk about paired body parts (eyes, ears, legs), use the singular in Hungarian most of the time.
Kék a szeme. - His eyes are blue.
Nagy a füle. - Her ears are big.
Hungarian and English differ in how they form phrases like five students. In English, nouns that follow a number are in the plural, but in Hungarian, they are in the singular.
Rather than using the plural, diákok, we use the singular after number words in Hungarian: diák.
Accordingly, the verb in Hungarian takes the third person singular form, rather than the plural. Compare:
The numbers from one through nine are quite different from most other European languages (if you speak some Finnish or Estonian, you might recognise some, though):
egy kettő három négy öt hat hét nyolc kilenc tíz
From ten to one hundred, we have the following:
tíz húsz harminc negyven ötven hatvan hetven nyolcvan kilencven száz
As you can see, from 40-90, you use the forms above and add -van or -ven (compare English -ty).
Putting these together is straightforward. The multiples of ten precede the multiples of one, thus:
sixty-one = hatvanegy
Only from tíz to húsz do you add an infix and the vowel is shortened:
eleven = tizenegy
twelve = tizenkettő
twenty-three = huszonhárom etc.
Higher numbers work in the same way:
one hundred and twenty three = százhuszonhárom
In Hungarian, there are two words for the number 2: kettő and két. This carries on to other numbers ending with two: 12 is tizenkettő or tizenkét, 42 is negyvenkettő or negyvenkét.
What is the difference? Use két to quantify a noun.
Examples: Két alma. Two apples. Két asztal. Two tables. Két szép gyerek. Two beautiful children.
Use kettő if it stands by itself, so we are talking about the number 2. Example: Kettő meg kettő az négy. Two plus two is four.
Két sounds very like hét (seven), so to avoid ambiguity and to emphasize that you are talking about two, it is allowed to use kettő in front of a noun. Kettő alma, kettő asztal.
But do not use két by itself.
The definite conjugation is a bit of Hungarian that we don't have in English.
In sentences with an accusative (a direct object), the form of the verb depends on whether the direct object is definite or not. So far, all the verbs have been in the indefinite conjugation. When a direct object is definite, the verb must be in the definite conjugation.
(i) Látok egy kutyát. I see a dog .
(ii) Látom a kutyát. I see the dog .
In (i), the object is indefinite, meaning ’a dog’. In (ii), it is definite, meaning ’THE dog’. In (ii), the verb changes to látom. The ending -om is part of the definite conjugation.
Important: if you use the definite conjugation, it IMPLIES an object, even if you don't see one:
(iii) Látom. = ‘I see IT.’
You only use the definite with a definite direct object. First there has to BE a direct object. Then it has to be 'definite ' .
Plus, vowel harmony! Here are the definite verb forms of hallani - and keresni - :
| SG | PL | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | hallom ‘I hear it’ | halljuk ‘we hear it’ |
| 2 | hallod ‘you hear it’ | halljátok ‘you (pl) hear it’ |
| 3 | hallja ‘s/he hears it’ | hallják ‘they hear it’ |
| SG | PL | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | keresem ‘I am looking for it’ | keressük ‘we are looking for it’ |
| 2 | keresed ‘you are looking for it’ | keresitek ‘you (pl) are looking for it’ |
| 3 | keresi ‘s/he is looking for it’ | keresik ‘they are looking for it’ |
Important: the -j- does not always appear in the definite conjugation. And, if it follows -s, -z, -sz, or -zs, the consonant is doubled and loses the -j-:
Singular form comparisons. In this skill, you will meet the following four verbs:
| indefinite | definite | |
|---|---|---|
| 1SG | látok ‘I see’ | látom ‘I see it’ |
| 2SG | látsz ‘you see’ | látod ‘you see it’ |
| 3SG | lát ‘s/he sees’ | látja ‘s/he sees it’ |
| indefinite | definite | |
|---|---|---|
| 1SG | várok ‘I wait’ | várom ‘I wait for it’ |
| 2SG | vársz ‘you wait’ | várod ‘you wait for it’ |
| 3SG | vár ‘s/he waits’ | várja ‘s/he waits for it’ |
if the verb ends with s/z/ sz, then the indefinite 2SG form ends with -ol - el- öl, and the 3SG definite form assimilates the -ja ending -> olvassa, hozza
| indefinite | definite | |
|---|---|---|
| 1SG | olvasok ‘I read’ | olvasom ‘I read it’ |
| 2SG | olvasol ‘you read’ | olvasod ‘you read it’ |
| 3SG | olvas ‘s/he reads’ | olvassa ‘s/he reads it’ |
| indefinite | definite | |
|---|---|---|
| 1SG | hozok ‘I bring’ | hozom ‘I bring it’ |
| 2SG | hozol ‘you bring’ | hozod ‘you bring it’ |
| 3SG | hoz ‘s/he brings’ | hozza ‘s/he brings it’ |
How to recognize the indefinite ? egy ... / no article/ valamit
Vs. signs of the definite: a, az, azt a, ezt a, proper names ( Katit, Zsuzsát, Pétert)
You will see what happens if the object is a personal pronoun in a later skill.
Here are more sentences using the illative case (plus some preverbs you learned recently). It is used to show motion to something and it corresponds to English to and implies "into " :
a házba ‘to the house’
It will not come as a surprise to you that the illative suffix is also subject to vowel harmony:
a kertbe ‘to the garden'
Hungarian uses four different words for older/younger brother, older/younger sister, not just brother and sister.
For example:
A bátyám orvos. My older brother is a doctor.
Hol van az öcséd? Where is your younger brother?
A húgom óvónő. My younger sister is a kindergarten teacher.
A nővérem mérnök. My older sister is an engineer.
| Hungarian | English |
|---|---|
| anya | mother |
| apa | father |
| testvér | sibling |
| báty | older brother |
| öcs | younger brother |
| nővér | older sister |
| húg | younger sister |
| nagymama | grandmother |
| nagypapa | grandfather |
| unoka | grandchild |
| nagynéni | aunt |
| nagybácsi | uncle |
| unokatestvér | cousin |
| unokahúg | niece |
| unokaöcs | nephew |
| férj | husband |
| feleség | wife |
| após | father-in-law |
| anyós | mother-in-law |
| sógor | brother-in-law |
| sógornő | sister-in-law |
More sublative case: motion onto something . It corresponds to the preposition onto and requires vowel harmony:
a házra = onto the house , a tetőre = onto the roof
Here, you'll find sentences using "separable " verbs, from the lesson on "Preverbs" , like felszállni ‘to get on’ . For example :
Sometimes, Hungarian is more explicit than English , in expressing this kind of motion. For example, - Mari leül a székre means Mari sits down onto the chair - which sounds a bit odd in English.
The important point is that ra and -re express the direction of the motion onto - which also includes surfaces like "walls " and trees .
The allative is a movement case, showing movement TO something. In English, it can be translated with up to but not in. The allative requires vowel harmony - with a special quirk: there are two front suffixes, based on whether the vowels in the noun are rounded, like ö and ü, or not, like e.
a házhoz ‘to the house’ a kerthez ‘to the garden’ a tükörhöz ‘to the mirror’
Here, you'll use these forms with some of the preverbs you have already learned.
In Germany is Németországban, but in Hungary is Magyarországon. But why do they have different endings?
Most towns in Hungary take surface suffixes (-n,-on -en -ön ), while the majority of places outside of Hungary use inside suffixes (-ban, -ben ):
• Szegedre - Szegeden - Szegedről: to, in, from Szeged
• Bécsbe - Bécsben - Bécsből: to, in, from Vienna
• Magyarországra - Magyarországon - Magyarországról: to, in, from Hungary
• Svédországba - Svédországban - Svédországból: to, in, from Sweden
Exception to these rules are Hungarian towns that end with : -i, -j, -m, -n, -ny, and -r (unless it is in -vár ... ) ! These take the inside suffixes: Tamásiból, Tokajban, Veszprémben, Debrecenből, Tihanyba, Egerben.
| Takes the -ban-ben case | Takes the -on -en -ön case |
|---|---|
| Countries: | Countries: |
| Most foreign countries | Magyarország |
| (a few islands) | most islands |
| Japánban, Kubában | Izlandon, Máltán, Korzikán, Krétán, Madagaszkáron |
| - | ending with -föld |
| - | Thaiföldön |
| Cities/Towns: | Cities/Towns: |
| Cities outside Hungary | Most Hungarian towns |
| Londonban, Berlinben | Budapesten, Szegeden |
| Hungarian cities ending -i, -j, -m, -n, and -ny | In neighboring countries, towns with Hungarian names |
| Debrecenben, Veszprémben | Kassán, Aradon (but: Bécsben) |
See also this link: Myhunlang blog: Suffixes / Adverbs of Place
In the case of Pécs and a few other towns there's a third, archaic, suffix in use: Pécsett. Others are Győrött and Székesfehérvárott. But Duo also accepts the regular forms: Pécsen, Győrben, Székesfehérváron.
Names of rivers, lakes, islands, hills, mountains, roads, streets, squares, buildings, and institutes tend to have a definite article, even if it's not used in the English translation.
A Margitsziget
A Parlament
A Budai Vár
A Kékestető
A Duna
A Tisza
A Balaton
A Margitszigetre megyek. - I am going to Margaret Island.
A Duna mellett sétálunk. - We are walking next to the Danube.
City and town names are used without an article.
Budapesten lakom. - I live in Budapest
The definite conjugation is a bit of Hungarian that we don't have in English !
In sentences with an "accusative " (a direct object), the conjugation depends on whether that object is "definite " or not. The forms we have learned so far are in the indefinite conjugation.
When a direct object is definite, the verb must be in the definite conjugation !
(i) Lát-ok egy kutyá-t.
(ii) Lát-om a kutyá-t.
In (i), the object is indefinite, ’a dog’. In (ii), it is definite, ’THE dog’. In (ii), the verb changes to látom. The ending -om is in the definite conjugation.
(iii) Látom .
(iii) means ‘I see IT .’ The definite conjugation is only used with a definite direct object, so there is an object - even if you don't see it !
Plus, vowel harmony!
Here are the definite verb forms of hallani ‘to hear’, szeretni ‘to like/love’ and keresni ‘to be looking for’.
| SG | PL | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | hallom ‘I hear it’ | halljuk ‘we hear it’ |
| 2 | hallod ‘you hear it’ | halljátok ‘you (pl) hear it’ |
| 3 | hallja ‘s/he hears it’ | hallják ‘they hear it’ |
| SG | PL | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | szeretem ‘I love it’ | szeretjük ‘we love it’ |
| 2 | szereted ‘you love it’ | szeretitek ‘you (pl) love it’ |
| 3 | szereti ‘s/he loves it’ | szeretik ‘they love it’ |
| SG | PL | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | keresem ‘I am looking for it’ | keressük ‘we are looking for it’ |
| 2 | keresed ‘you are looking for it’ | keresitek ‘you (pl) are looking for it’ |
| 3 | keresi ‘s/he is looking for it’ | keresik ‘they are looking for it’ |
Important ! the -j- does not always appear in the definite conjugation. And, when the j follows -s, -z, -sz, or -zs, the consonant is doubled and loses the -j- (ss, zz, ssz, zzs ) :
Verb prefixes
Another thing to keep in mind for this lesson is that many Hungarian verbs come with a verbal particle, as :
meg-látogatja ‘s/he visits’ (with a definite object!)
This particle/prefix attaches to the front of the verb, but in questions - or when the sentence is stressing information about a subject or an object - it is detached and follows the verb .
(v) Ki látogatja meg Pétert? ‘Who visits Péter?’
(vi) Péter látogatja meg Zsuzsát. ‘PETER is visiting Zsuzsa.‘
The Hungarian word order in (vi) stresses PETER: you are stressing that the sentence is about Peter, not about someone, or something else.
You know how to form the accusative (direct object) of a noun. But, pronouns have special forms (like they do in English!).
| Person/Number | Nominative | Accusative |
|---|---|---|
| 1SG | én ‘I’ | engem ‘me’ |
| 2SG | te ‘you (sg.)’ | téged ‘you (sg., obj.)’ |
| 3SG | ő ‘he/she’ | őt ‘him/her’ |
| 1PL | mi ‘we’ | minket ‘us’ |
| 2PL | ti ‘you (pl.)’ | titeket ‘you (pl., obj.)’ |
| 3PL | ők ‘they’ | őket ‘them’ |
| formal2SG | Ön ‘you’ | Önt ‘you’ |
| formal2PL | Önök ‘you’ | Önöket ‘you’ |
When the direct object is a personal pronoun, the situation is a bit more complicated.
Whether the verb is in the definite or indefinite depends on the person of the pronoun. When the object is őt or őket, (the third person singular and plural pronoun ), the verb is ALWAYS in the definite conjugation:
When the object is the first person, engem ‘me’ or minket ‘us’, the verb is ALWAYS in the indefinite conjugation:
Summary:
Use indefinite conjugation if the object is: téged, titeket, engem, minket
Use definite conjugation if the object is: őt, őket, Önt, Önöket, (magát, magukat), magamat, magadat, egymást
One extra ending:
When the object is the second person, téged ‘you (sg.)’ and titeket ‘you (pl.)’, we have to take the subject into account. With third person subjects, we use the indefinite conjugation:
When the subject is the first person singular, we encounter a verb form (lak / lek ) we have only seen before in the expression szeret-lek ‘I love you’:
This table shows this complicated system (don't worry about the gaps). The bold forms indicate the indefinite conjugation, and the italic ones indicate the definite conjugation. Bold and italic indicates the -lak/-lek ending.
| subject → object | 1 | 2 | 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Én látlak téged. | Én látom őt/őket. | |
| 2 | Te látsz engem. | Te látod őt/őket. | |
| 3 | Ő lát engem. | Ő lát téged. | Ő látja őt/őket. |
This lesson is about demonstratives (this, that, these, those ) used with : -ba/-be, -hoz/-hez/-ho:z, and -ra/-re.
These undergo assimilation . The consonant -z in the demonstrative changes to the consonant in the case:
This does not happen in the plural, so we get:
Attach the ending to BOTH the demonstrative AND the noun:
Some verbs receive an extra vowel in the middle, in the te, ti and ők forms, indefinite conjugation.
This happens if the stem ends with -ít (example: tanít),
or the stem ends with two consonants (example: tüsszent, fest),
and some verbs ending in -ll also behave like this. (example: hall)
| fest (paint) | tanít (teach) | tüsszent (sneeze) | hall (hear) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (én) | festek | tanítok | tüsszentek | hallok |
| (te) | festesz | tanítasz | tüsszentesz | hallasz |
| (ő / Ön / Maga) | fest | tanít | tüsszent | hall |
| (mi) | festünk | tanítunk | tüsszentünk | hallunk |
| (ti) | festetek | tanítotok | tüsszentetek | hallotok |
| (ők / Önök / Maguk) | festenek | tanítanak | tüsszentenek | hallanak |
You may have already seen the postpositions alatt ‘under’, fölött ‘above’, mögött ‘behind’ and között ‘between‘.
They all share the -tt ending, which is an old Hungarian suffix for location.
To express motion towards a location, we can take their roots and add an -á/-é suffix ,
alá ‘towards underneath it’
fölé ‘towards above it’
mögé ‘towards behind it’
and közé toward between somethings . . .
Be careful, though: in English, a phrase like behind the house can be both a ház mögött - for where something is happening - or a ház mögé if there is motion involved.
Look for motion in this lesson !
| English | movement to | place | |
|---|---|---|---|
| beside | mellé | mellett | |
| under | alá | alatt | |
| in front of | elé | előtt | |
| behind | mögé | mögött | |
| between, among | közé | között |
When the subject is the first person singular, we encounter a verb form (lak / lek ) we have only seen before in the expression szeret-lek ‘I love you’:
So the lak-lek ending shows both the subject and the object!
Szeretlek. I love you.
Látlak. I see you.
Hallak. I hear you.
Utállak. I hate you.
This -lak-lek ending works for both the singular and the plural you (te, ti). But not for the formal (ön, önök) versions.
BUT:
The following table shows this system (don't worry about the gaps). The bold forms indicate the indefinite conjugation, and the italic ones indicate the definite conjugation. Bold and italic indicates the -lak/-lek ending.
| subject → object | 1 | 2 | 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Én látlak téged. | Én látom őt/őket. | |
| 2 | Te látsz engem. | Te látod őt/őket. | |
| 3 | Ő lát engem. | Ő lát téged. | Ő látja őt/őket. |
Like in English, the adjective precedes the noun it modifies. (This is called an attributive adjective.) In this case, the adjective is not pluralized.
A piros alma = The red apple.
A piros almák = The red apples.
Ezek piros almák =These are red apples.
Sometimes you see an adjective that comes after the noun. In English, the adjective usually comes after is/are. However, in the Hungarian translation van or vannak is dropped. (This is called a predicative adjective.) In this case the adjective has to be plural when the subject is plural.
Az alma piros = The apple is red.
Az almák pirosak = The apples are red.
Ezek az almák pirosak =These apples are red.
A német házak szépek. = German houses are beautiful.
BUT: Be careful, the rule is not about if the adjective is before or after the noun. (Even though sometimes we say it this way because it is an easier explanation.) The real rule about whether it is an attributive adjective or predicative adjective.
Example: Politicians are rich. "A politikusok gazdagok" and "Gazdagok a politikusok." is the same thing grammatically, just the word order is rearranged.
Pirosak az almák. Szépek a német házak. These are also correct.
Milyen and milyenek work the same way as adjectives.
attributive:
Milyen autó ez? What kind of car is this?
Milyen város ez? What kind of city is this?
Milyen városokat ismersz? What kind of cities do you know?
Milyen autók ezek? What kind of cars are these?
predicative:
Milyenek a brazil sportolók? A brazil sportolók milyenek? What are the Brazilian athletes like?
Milyenek az orvosok itt? What are the doctors like here?
Milyen az orvos? What is the doctor like?
Milyen az a ház? What is that house like?
Add -ak, -ok -ek -ök or -k to the end of the word:
If the adjective ends with a vowel:
-K : after ó ő, a, e and the word kicsi. (Note that a e will turn into á é)
olcsó, olcsók, jó, jók, önző, önzők, sárga, sárgák, fekete, feketék, kicsi, kicsik, gyenge, gyengék, drága, drágák, olcsó, olcsók, szőke, szőkék, csúnya, csúnyák, tiszta, tiszták, hülye, hülyék, furcsa, furcsák,
-AK: after i, ú, back and mixed vowel words. amerikai, amerikaiak, koreai, koreaiak, kínai, kínaiak... hosszú, hosszúak, lassú, lassúak, szomorú, szomorúak,
-EK: after after i, ű, front vowel words.
keleti, keletiek, jókedvű, jókedvűek, keserű, keserűek, könnyű, könnyűek, régi, régiek, nemzeti, nemzetiek, népszerű, népszerűek, gyönyörű, gyönyörűek, nagyszerű, nagyszerűek,
If the adjective ends with a consonant:
-AK: most adjectives with mixed and back vowels
rossz, rosszak, magas, magasak, vékony, vékonyak, piros, pirosak, barátságos, barátságosak, fáradt, fáradtak, sovány, soványak, fontos, fontosak, gyors, gyorsak, új, újak, száraz, szárazak, okos, okosak, hasznos, hasznosak, csinos, csinosak, hatékony, hatékonyak, szomjas, szomjasak, unalmas, unalmasak
-OK: after -atlan/-talan, nationalities, and a few other mixed/back vowel adjectives
magyar, magyarok, angol, angolok, orosz, oroszok, olasz, olaszok, holland, hollandok, / nyugtalan, nyugtalanok, sótlan, sótlanok, / fiatal fiatalok, nagy, nagyok, vastag, vastagok, gazdag, gazdagok, boldog, boldogok, szabad, szabadok,
-EK: all other adjectives with front vowels
szép, szépek, szegény, szegények, rövid, rövidek, meleg, melegek, hideg, hidegek, nedves, nedvesek, keskeny, keskenyek, széles, szélesek, sekély, sekélyek, mély, mélyek, erős, erősek, híres, híresek, kövér, kövérek, idős, idősek, öreg, öregek, lehetséges, lehetségesek, lehetetlen, lehetetlenek, ügyes, ügyesek, ingyenes, ingyenesek, modern, modernek, üres, üresek, tökéletes, tökéletesek, helyes, helyesek, friss, frissek, beteg, betegek, éhes, éhesek,
nehéz, nehezek,
-ÖK : the words török, görög.
török, törökök, görög, görögök
More verbs with prefixes.
Here, you'll learn about a common particle : preverbs, verb modifiers or verbal prefixes (igekötő in Hungarian). Many have a meaning expressing motion towards something : ki ‘towards the outside’, be ‘to ’, le ‘down‘, el ‘away‘, ide ‘towards here‘, oda ‘towards there‘.
A verb with a modifier usually corresponds to a verb plus an adverb:
kimegyek ‘I go out‘
bemész ‘you (sg.) go to‘, ‘you (sg.) enter‘
elmegy ‘s/he goes away‘
leülünk ‘we sit down‘
ideültök ‘you (pl.) sit down here‘
odaülnek ‘they sit down there‘
In English, the distinction between a location and a direction is not always explicit: she is running there can mean she is there and she is running or she is moving from here to there by running. Hungarian makes this explicit: the former would be ott fut and the latter, with a verbal modifier or preverb, odafut.
These verbal modifiers can have big effects on word order! As you know by now, word order in Hungarian is much freer than in English, but ...
in general, a verbal modifier precedes the verb and they're written as one word:
However, the modifier can also be separated from the verb:
While the sentence still means that Mari goes to something, the information it conveys corresponds more to :
In the above example, Mari is in focus because Mari immediately precedes the verb. This is called the focus position. Whenever there is a focused phrase or word in this position, the particle follows the verb.
In addition, the particle follows the verb when there is negation or in questions with question words:
Nem mész el. ‘You are not going away.‘
Ki ül le? ‘Who is sitting down?’
The phrase that responds to a question word is in focus. The answer to the question Ki ül le? could be:
The boldface in the second translation shows stress on the word. Try saying the English answer out loud and you'll hear what this means.
Hungarian word order is fairly free : the subject does not have to precede the verb and the object - as it mostly does in English.
Hungarian word order is very strict in one respect: the order of topic, focus and the verb. Focus points out new information in a sentence. The topic of a sentence is what the sentence is about. English usually has
word order . Hungarian usually has
order.
Mari a kertben ül le. ‘Mari is sitting down in the garden.’ Or ‘It's in the garden that Mari is sitting down.’
A kertben Mari ül le. ‘Mari is sitting down in the garden.‘ Or ‘It's Mari who is sitting down in the garden.‘
In both sentences, someone (Mari) is sitting down somewhere (in the garden), but we focus on different parts of the sentence. In the first example, the new or important information is a kertben ‘in the garden’. This is indicated by the word order: a kertben immediately precedes the verb. In English, the word order stays the same, but stress or prominence changes.
Finally, let's have a look at:
The subject (Mari ) is the topic, but is not in focus, because the prefix (le ) has taken the focus position. In cases like these, the verbal modifier stays attached to the verb.
The sentence it corresponds to, in English, will not have prominence, or stress, on any phrase or word.
w
You learned how to spot, form and use the accusative case, but so far only in the singular.
Remember the plural of Hungarian nouns is formed with the -k, often preceded by a vowel.
Let's take the demonstrative determiners (demonstrative adjectives ) ez ‘this’ and az ’that’ first.
Which vowel? Remember vowel harmony ? Ez has a front vowel, and az has a back vowel.
| front vowels | back vowels |
|---|---|
| i, í, ü, ű | u, ú |
| e, é, ö, ő | o, ó |
| a, á |
Thus the vowel before the plural ending -k will be front or back. So we get ezek and azok.
When a word ends in a vowel, like a or e, for example alma ‘apple’, the vowel lengthens :
When words are both plural and in the accusative, we have to arrange the plural -k and the accusative -t . Note that if both are there, we will need a vowel between the -k and the -t!
If we want to use these or those as objects, we get:
When an object in the accusative is definite, the form of the verb changes slightly.
Important: Definite phrases have a definite article a or az ‘the’ , or demonstratives like ez ‘this‘ or az ‘that‘, or there will be someone's name(s) .
So when you see apples, you say:
Látok almákat ‘I see apples’ Látsz almákat ‘you (sg.) see apples’
Almákat is indefinite. *Látok * is in the indefinite .
When you want to say I see those, which is now definite (because of the demonstrative adjective 'azok ' , you say:
Látom azokat ‘I see those’ or Látod azokat ‘you (sg.) see those’
You can also use látom, without an object, to say ‘I see it ’. In this lesson, you'll see a few examples of the definite conjugation .
| SG | |
|---|---|
| 1 | hallom ‘I hear it’ |
| 2 | hallod ‘you hear it’ |
| SG | |
|---|---|
| 1 | keresem ‘I am looking for it’ |
| 2 | keresed ‘you are looking for it’ |
The ablative case -tól/-től shows motion away from something.
It can usually be translated with from , but not all uses of from can be translated with the ablative!
A folyótól jövök. ‘I am coming from the river.’
Az épülettől indul a busz. ‘The bus is leaving from the building.’
There are nine different cases that are related to location. We can arrange them in a 3 x 3 matrix. The triads of movement are :
| goal | position | source | |
|---|---|---|---|
| SPACES | -ba -be | -ban -ben | -ból -ből |
| SURFACES | -ra -re | -on -en -ön -n | -ról -ről |
| SOLIDS | -hoz -hez -höz | -nál -nél | -tól -től |
spaces:
Bemegyek a házba. - I go into the house.
A házban vagyok. - I am in the house.
Kimegyek a házból. - I go out of the house.
surfaces:
Az asztalra rakom a könyvet. - I put the book on the table.
A könyv az asztalon van. - The book is on the table.
Elveszem az asztalról a könyvet. - I take the book away from the table.
solids:
Odamegyek a szoborhoz. - I go over to the statue.
A szobornál várok. - I wait at the statue.
Elmegyek a szobortól. - I go away from the statue.
When combining a singular demonstrative pronoun (this, that - ez, az ) with these case endings, the -z of the demonstrative (ez, az ) turns into the first consonant of the suffix:
In the plural (ezek / azok ) , the plural suffix -k remains, so the case suffix is simply added:
When using a demonstrative with a noun, both the demonstrative and the noun must have plural and case suffixes:
ebből a házból ‘out of this house’
azoktól a kertektől ‘from those gardens’
Notice that the suffix on the demonstrative and the suffix on the noun may use different vowels.
After all, vowel harmony is determined on a word-by-word basis .
You'll see some postpositions you already know but in a different form: direction FROM somewhere.
The suffixes -ól / -ől / -ül attach to stems like al- el- mög- etc. :
Postpositions come after nouns:
Here is a chart showing how movement from words originate :
| English | movement to | place | movement from |
|---|---|---|---|
| beside | mellé | mellett | mellől |
| under | alá | alatt | alól |
| in front of | elé | előtt | elől |
| behind | mögé | mögött | mögül |
| between, among | közé | között | közül |
We've learned how to form and use the direct object accusative -t . But, so far, all our examples have been singular.
The plural is formed by adding -k, sometimes , though, it needs a vowel.
Let's take the demonstrative adjectives ez ‘this’ and az ’that’ first.
Which vowel ? Vowel harmony will tell you ! Ez has a front vowel, and az has a back vowel.
| front vowels | back vowels |
|---|---|
| i, í, ü, ű | u, ú |
| e, é, ö, ő | o, ó |
| a, á |
So, the vowel before the plural ending -k will also be front or back. So we get ezek and azok.
If a word ends in a (or e), like alma ‘apple’, the "a ", before the plural ending, lengthens - :
When words are plural AND accusative, we have to arrange the plural's -k and the accusative's -t . If both are there, we need a vowel between the -k and the -t !
If we want these and those as direct objects, we get:
Hungarian word order is less free in sentences that express a contrast.
The judge is looking for lawyers and finds actors.
Here, there is one subject, namely judge.
But there are two different verbs, is looking for and finds and each of these have their own object, lawyers and actors.
When contrasting two verbs and objects like this, they have to show the same word order: and the objects must come in front of their respective verbs:
A bíró ügyvédeket keres és színészeket talál.
Like in English, the adjective precedes the noun it modifies. (This is called an attributive adjective.) In this case, the adjective is not pluralized.
A piros alma = The red apple.
A piros almák = The red apples.
Ezek piros almák =These are red apples.
Sometimes you see an adjective that comes after the noun. In English, the adjective usually comes after is/are. However, in the Hungarian translation van or vannak is dropped. (This is called a predicative adjective.) In this case the adjective has to be plural when the subject is plural.
Az alma piros = The apple is red.
Az almák pirosak = The apples are red.
Ezek az almák pirosak =These apples are red.
A német házak szépek. = German houses are beautiful.
BUT: Be careful, the rule is not about if the adjective is before or after the noun. (Even though sometimes we say it this way because it is an easier explanation.) The real rule about whether it is an attributive adjective or predicative adjective.
Example: Politicians are rich. "A politikusok gazdagok" and "Gazdagok a politikusok." is the same thing grammatically, just the word order is rearranged.
Pirosak az almák. Szépek a német házak. These are also correct.
Milyen and milyenek work the same way as adjectives.
attributive:
Milyen autó ez? What kind of car is this?
Milyen város ez? What kind of city is this?
Milyen városokat ismersz? What kind of cities do you know?
Milyen autók ezek? What kind of cars are these?
predicative:
Milyenek a brazil sportolók? A brazil sportolók milyenek? What are the Brazilian athletes like?
Milyenek az orvosok itt? What are the doctors like here?
Milyen az orvos? What is the doctor like?
Milyen az a ház? What is that house like?
Add -ak, -ok -ek -ök or -k to the end of the word:
If the adjective ends with a vowel:
-K : after ó ő, a, e and the word kicsi. (Note that a e will turn into á é)
olcsó, olcsók, jó, jók, önző, önzők, sárga, sárgák, fekete, feketék, kicsi, kicsik, gyenge, gyengék, drága, drágák, olcsó, olcsók, szőke, szőkék, csúnya, csúnyák, tiszta, tiszták, hülye, hülyék, furcsa, furcsák,
-AK: after i, ú, back and mixed vowel words. amerikai, amerikaiak, koreai, koreaiak, kínai, kínaiak... hosszú, hosszúak, lassú, lassúak, szomorú, szomorúak,
-EK: after after i, ű, front vowel words.
keleti, keletiek, jókedvű, jókedvűek, keserű, keserűek, könnyű, könnyűek, régi, régiek, nemzeti, nemzetiek, népszerű, népszerűek, gyönyörű, gyönyörűek, nagyszerű, nagyszerűek,
If the adjective ends with a consonant:
-AK: most adjectives with mixed and back vowels
rossz, rosszak, magas, magasak, vékony, vékonyak, piros, pirosak, barátságos, barátságosak, fáradt, fáradtak, sovány, soványak, fontos, fontosak, gyors, gyorsak, új, újak, száraz, szárazak, okos, okosak, hasznos, hasznosak, csinos, csinosak, hatékony, hatékonyak, szomjas, szomjasak, unalmas, unalmasak
-OK: after -atlan/-talan, nationalities, and a few other mixed/back vowel adjectives
magyar, magyarok, angol, angolok, orosz, oroszok, olasz, olaszok, holland, hollandok, / nyugtalan, nyugtalanok, sótlan, sótlanok, / fiatal fiatalok, nagy, nagyok, vastag, vastagok, gazdag, gazdagok, boldog, boldogok, szabad, szabadok,
-EK: all other adjectives with front vowels
szép, szépek, szegény, szegények, rövid, rövidek, meleg, melegek, hideg, hidegek, nedves, nedvesek, keskeny, keskenyek, széles, szélesek, sekély, sekélyek, mély, mélyek, erős, erősek, híres, híresek, kövér, kövérek, idős, idősek, öreg, öregek, lehetséges, lehetségesek, lehetetlen, lehetetlenek, ügyes, ügyesek, ingyenes, ingyenesek, modern, modernek, üres, üresek, tökéletes, tökéletesek, helyes, helyesek, friss, frissek, beteg, betegek, éhes, éhesek,
nehéz, nehezek,
-ÖK : the words török, görög.
török, törökök, görög, görögök
You've learned some of the following:
These can appear as relative pronouns as well. In the following English sentence, that introduces the relative clause:
or
The first English example might sound a bit awkward, but it will help with understanding the way Hungarian works here:
onnan means ‘from there’ or ’from that place’; the relative pronoun ahonnan means ‘from where’ in exactly the sense highlighted in the above English example. While in the second English example, we can easily drop the ‘from that place’ in the first part of the sentence, Hungarian does not like this: we want to have onnan here as well.
The gist of this is that we get pairs like onnan ‘from there’ — ahonnan ‘from where’. You'll see some more of these in this lesson:
Note how the English pairs have that in the main clause and which in the relative clause... that's the basic pattern!
Consider these sentences:
Ott nincs bank, ahova ezek a turisták mennek.
Ott ebédelünk, ahonnan a villamos visszajön.
Ott lakik Péter, ahol Éva dolgozik.
We can see a "Onnan verb1 subject1, ahonnan subject2 verb2". pattern
If you start with the subject:
Subject1 onnan verb1, ahonnan subject2 verb2.
If we have preverbs too:
Oda megy be Anna, ahonnan Béla kijön.
or: Anna oda megy be, ahonnan Béla kijön.
Why? ott/oda/onnan attracts focus, it likes to be directly in front of the verb.
But ahol/ahova/ahonnan avoids focus. Put the verb further away from them, or at least, do not separate the preverb.
(Not all the sentences in this skill follow this order, but several of them.)
Demonstrative adjectives and relative pronouns .
In English you can use that as a relative pronoun, as well as which:
I like that book which you like too.
Szeretem azt a könyvet, amelyiket te is szeretsz.
The focus in this lesson is on the pair azt — amelyik(et): ‘that one ... which’.
Demonstratives and relative pronouns can have all kinds of cases:
An example:
Note that translations of the English or Hungarian sentences will not always use the same words.
Abból eszem, amin nincs kép
means ‘I eat from that one, on which there is no picture.’ This is not a very natural translation. This could be used where there are some plates and one of them doesn't have a picture on it (while the others do). The Hungarian sentence, above, is fine, but its English translation would be:
I eat off (of ) the one on which there is no picture.
Depending on the context, a demonstrative in Hungarian can be translated with (or by ) a demonstrative or with a definite article plus one in English.
Abból eszem, amin nincs kép. I eat from the one on which there is no picture.
Here the object is not named: I eat from the one... Abból eszem...
Abból a tálból eszem, amelyiken nincs kép. I eat from the bowl, on which there is no picture.
Here the object (the bowl) is named. Abból a tálból eszem....
Hungarian has more cases than other European languages, but they are less scary than you might think.
Many languages, like English, use prepositions to express spatial concepts, Hungarian uses case suffixes.
| English | Hungarian |
|---|---|
| the shop | az üzlet |
| in the shop | az üzletben |
| the hotel | a szálloda |
| in the hotel | a szállodában |
Using the suffix -ban/-ben is like using the English preposition in, but AFTER the word and attached .
When -ban and when -ben? The vowels in the stem determine the vowels in the suffix :
| Front vowels | Back vowels |
|---|---|
| i/í | u/ú |
| ü/ű | o/ó |
| e/é | |
| ö/ő | a/á |
Since üzlet has front vowels, the vowel in the suffix has to be a front vowel: we put -ben.
In szálloda, we have back vowels, so we choose -ban.
When you combine a demonstrative and a noun like ez a ház ‘this house’ with a postposition like mellett ‘next to‘, the resulting form is like with the case suffixes above:
e mellett a ház mellett ‘next to this house’
a fölött a kert fölött ‘above that garden’
az alatt a fa alatt ‘under that tree’
You've seen sentences like:
Annál a banknál állunk, amelyikben sok ember dolgozik. We are standing at the bank, in which a lot of people are working.
These sentences answer to "Which?"
Which bank are we standing at? - There, where a lot of people work.
In this skill, we combine these two tricks, the "az alatt a fa alatt" construction with the "Az a ..., amelyik ..." construction, and get:
A színészek a mögül a függöny mögül jönnek ki, amelyiken egy nagy pillangó van.
The actors come out from behind the curtain on which there is a large butterfly.
The adessive case expresses a spatial relation like by or next to. Like other cases, it needs vowel harmony and can appear as -nál (back vowels) and -nél (front vowels). Hint: both forms have a diacritic (accent ) .
| English | Hungarian |
|---|---|
| the table | az asztal |
| by the table | az asztalnál |
| the shop | az üzlet |
| by the shop | az üzletnél |
-Nál and -nél approximate English prepositions by or next to .
Vowel harmony has exceptions that you need to memorize when you come across them. The word for bridge ,híd , for example, takes the suffix -nál:
hídnál ‘by the bridge’
One way to say what someone is wearing is to say:
A férfin pulóver van.
literally: There is a sweater on the man.
meaning: The man is wearing a sweater.
You've already learned the superessive case: -on/-en/-ön. In this skill, you'll get to use it a lot!
Another way is to use the -ban/-ben ending:
A férfi pulóverben van.
Literally The man is in a sweater.
again, that is, ‘the man is wearing a sweater’.
With shoes (or socks, boots...) we usually use the singular when we talk about one pair of shoes.
For example: Cipőben vagyok. 'I am wearing shoes'
(Literally: I am in a shoe )
If you need to talk about one shoe - not a pair - you can say:
egy fél pár cipő (literally: a half pair of shoes.)
Remember that Hungarian does not always use the verb *lenni * (to be ) when English does.
Ez egy szép ajtó. ’This is a nice door.’
You do have to use van and vannak, though, when you translate sentences about existence, like There is an apple on the table or There are some apples on the table. ,
and when you talk about location -where something is.
Van a polcon egy alma.
‘There is an apple on the shelf.’ or 'On the shelf, there is an apple ' .
Ők a házban vannak.
‘They are in the house.’
Postpositions
Hungarian mostly has postpositions, as opposed to prepositions. You will find some of these in this section.
We say under the picture in English but in Hungarian the noun comes first: a kép alatt.
In English the word between comes before the noun(s):
between the houses
In Hungarian, the order changes:
a házak között
You saw az (a) ... amelyik and ott...ahol earlier.
Now it's time for another two-part conjunction:
olyan ... mint / olyan ...amilyen
For example:
(Én) olyan vagyok, mint te.
(Én) olyan vagyok, amilyen te.
I am like you.
A kutya olyan, mint a macska.
A kutya olyan, amilyen a macska.
The dog is like the cat.
For the plural version, use olyanok ... mint / olyanok ...amilyenek
A kutyák olyanok, mint a macskák.
A kutyák olyanok, amilyenek a macskák.
The dogs are like the cats.
You use possessive adjectives to express who an object belongs to:
Hungarian does not have possessive adjectives like my or her but possessive suffixes. They are very similar to possessive adjectives in that they indicate the person and number of the possessor but they appear attached to the noun:
az asztalom ‘my table’
a cipője ‘her/his shoe’
The forms are as follows:
| Hungarian | English | |
|---|---|---|
| 1SG | -öm, -om, -m | my |
| 2SG | -öd, -ed, -od, -d | your (sg.) |
| 3SG | -je, -ja, -a | his/her/its |
| 1PL | -ünk, -unk, -nk | our |
| 2PL | -(ö)tök, -(e)tek, -(o)tok | your (pl.) |
| 3PL | -jük, -juk, -uk | their |
cipő ‘shoe’ has front vowels and ends in a vowel, so its possessive forms are:
| Hungarian | English | |
|---|---|---|
| 1SG | cipő-m | my shoe |
| 2SG | cipő-d | your (sg.) shoe |
| 3SG | cipő-je | her/his shoe |
| 1PL | cipő-nk | our shoe |
| 2PL | cipő-tök | your (pl.) shoe |
| 3PL | cipő-jük | their shoe |
asztal ‘table' has back vowels and ends in a consonant, so its possessive forms are:
| Hungarian | English | |
|---|---|---|
| 1SG | asztal-om | my table |
| 2SG | asztal-od | your (sg.) table |
| 3SG | asztal-a | her/his table |
| 1PL | asztal-unk | our table |
| 2PL | asztal-otok | your (pl.) table |
| 3PL | asztal-uk | their table |
Hungarian has two ways of expressing possession , a bit like the two English constructions a friend's book and a book of a friend.
Possessors can be nominative, a lány, or dative, e.g. a lánynak:
As you can see, the constructions can be the same, but they differ in some ways. The dative (a lánynak) is followed by a ‘the’ and you have to use the dative in questions with whose:
whose in this sentence is ki-nek, the dative of ki ‘who’.
As usual, there are exceptions to the general rule. When the possessor is third person plural, the forms change in one of two ways. First, when the possessor is a pronoun, ők ‘they’, the pronoun loses its -k. (This only happens with ők, all other pronouns stay intact.)
So it looks like a singular possessor, but it's still plural. Second, when the possessor is a noun in the plural, like a lányok, the possessed noun loses its plural ending -(j)uk or -(j)ük:
Hungarian also has possessive pronouns mine, yours. They always include the definite article a :
| Hungarian | English | |
|---|---|---|
| 1SG | az enyém | mine |
| 2SG | a tiéd or a tied | yours (sg.) |
| 3SG | az övé | hers/his |
| 1PL | a miénk | ours |
| 2PL | a tiétek | yours (pl.) |
| 3PL | az övék | theirs |
You can use these forms in sentences like:
Ez a cipő az enyém. ‘This shoe is mine.’
Words related to location or direction.
| Movement from | Place | Movement to | |
|---|---|---|---|
| every | mindenhonnan | mindenhol | mindenhova |
| some | valahonnan | valahol | valahova |
| none | sehonnan | sehol | sehova |
| Movement from | Place | Movement to | |
|---|---|---|---|
| every | mindenfelől | - | mindenfelé |
| some | valamerről | - | valamerre |
| none | semerről | - | semerre |
mindenfelől is not a location, it is a directional indicator. The closest translation is ‘from every direction’. mindenhonnan can be translated as ‘from everywhere’.
to everywhere — mindenhova
from every direction — mindenfelől
There is no third option here, since we cannot use a direction as a location.
You use possessive adjectives to express who an object belongs to:
Hungarian does not have possessive adjectives like my or her but possessive suffixes. They are very similar to possessive adjectives in that they indicate the person and number of the possessor but they appear attached to the noun:
az asztalom ‘my table’
a cipője ‘her/his shoe’
The forms are as follows:
| Hungarian | English | |
|---|---|---|
| 1SG | -öm, -om, -m | my |
| 2SG | -öd, -ed, -od, -d | your (sg.) |
| 3SG | -je, -ja, -a | his/her/its |
| 1PL | -ünk, -unk, -nk | our |
| 2PL | -(ö)tök, -(e)tek, -(o)tok | your (pl.) |
| 3PL | -jük, -juk, -uk | their |
cipő ‘shoe’ has front vowels and ends in a vowel, so its possessive forms are:
| Hungarian | English | |
|---|---|---|
| 1SG | cipő-m | my shoe |
| 2SG | cipő-d | your (sg.) shoe |
| 3SG | cipő-je | her/his shoe |
| 1PL | cipő-nk | our shoe |
| 2PL | cipő-tök | your (pl.) shoe |
| 3PL | cipő-jük | their shoe |
asztal ‘table' has back vowels and ends in a consonant, so its possessive forms are:
| Hungarian | English | |
|---|---|---|
| 1SG | asztal-om | my table |
| 2SG | asztal-od | your (sg.) table |
| 3SG | asztal-a | her/his table |
| 1PL | asztal-unk | our table |
| 2PL | asztal-otok | your (pl.) table |
| 3PL | asztal-uk | their table |
Hungarian has two ways of expressing possession , a bit like the two English constructions a friend's book and a book of a friend.
Possessors can be nominative, a lány, or dative, e.g. a lánynak:
As you can see, the constructions can be the same, but they differ in some ways. The dative (a lánynak) is followed by a ‘the’ and you have to use the dative in questions with whose:
whose in this sentence is ki-nek, the dative of ki ‘who’.
As usual, there are exceptions to the general rule. When the possessor is third person plural, the forms change in one of two ways. First, when the possessor is a pronoun, ők ‘they’, the pronoun loses its -k. (This only happens with ők, all other pronouns stay intact.)
So it looks like a singular possessor, but it's still plural. Second, when the possessor is a noun in the plural, like a lányok, the possessed noun loses its plural ending -(j)uk or *-(j)ük*:
Hungarian also has possessive pronouns mine, yours. They always include the definite article a :
| Hungarian | English | |
|---|---|---|
| 1SG | az enyém | mine |
| 2SG | a tiéd or a tied | yours (sg.) |
| 3SG | az övé | hers/his |
| 1PL | a miénk | ours |
| 2PL | a tiétek | yours (pl.) |
| 3PL | az övék | theirs |
You can use these forms in sentences like:
Ez a cipő az enyém. ‘This shoe is mine.’
In this unit, you'll learn how to express date and time. You'll learn a few past tense expressions (more on that later), the days of the week, and months.
In the past tense you can mostly use the same verb endings as before, verbbut in the verb endings, a -t- indicates that it is in the past tense:
| csinál ‘to make/do’ | |
|---|---|
| 1SG | csinál-t-am ‘I made’ |
| 2SG | csinál-t-ál ‘you (sg.) made’ |
| 3SG | csinál-t ‘he made’ |
| 1PL | csinál-t-unk ‘we made’ |
| 2PL | csinál-t-atok ‘you (pl.) made’ |
| 3PL | csinál-t-ak ‘they made’ |
You'll learn more about the past tense later !
As in many languages, you can use the present tense to talk about things in the future. It is fine to say.
to mean ‘I will go tomorrow.’
The word nap means both ‘day’ and ‘sun’ in Hungarian. But it only shows up in one of the week days, which are :
If you speak a Slavic language, some of these might sound familiar to you! To express that something happened on a certain day, Hungarian uses a case-suffix that we'll see later on (and which is also used for some of the seasons):
As in the plural, the vowel in the suffix depends on the vowels in the stem, so we get either -en, -ön or -on.
Note that there is an exception: vasárnap - 'Sunday' and ‘on Sunday’ For Sunday, we don't need the -on ending.
In Hungarian, the names of the months are similar to the names of the months in many other European languages, including English.
To say that something happened in a certain month, Hungarian uses the case suffix -ban or -ben:
While English uses in or during to express that something is happening in a season, Hungarian is a bit different. The seasons, first of all are the following:
But, there are two different case-suffixes to mark what's happening during a season:
In the previous skill, you learned how to express possession in Hungarian. In this skill, you'll learn another way to show possession: how to make sentences which use the verb to have.
Hungarian does not have a verb that means to have. Instead, Hungarian uses the verb van ‘there is’ with a dative (for the possessor) and a nominative (for the possessed noun):
This construction means something like There is a car to Mary. .
The possessed noun has a possessive suffix which matches in person and number with the dative possessor. In the above example, Mari is third person singular, so the possessed noun gets ja.
Dative possessors can be proper names (like Mari), regular nouns, as well as pronouns, of course.
Using a pronoun in such cases usually adds some emphasis on the possessor: pronouns are natural in answers to question:
Remember also that in Hungarian, the question word ki ‘who’ has separate singular and plural forms, so the sentence
is asking if there are several possessors: in English, this distinction does not exist, and the sentence can be translated with a singular subject.
You know that the regular plural suffix in Hungarian is -k. But when a noun is possessed, we use a different suffix: -i.
This suffix always follows a possessive (generally ja/je or a_/_e), and precedes the suffix indicating the person and number of the possessor:
Hungarian uses four different words for older/younger brother, older/younger sister, not just brother and sister.
For example:
A bátyám orvos. My older brother is a doctor.
Hol van az öcséd? Where is your younger brother?
A húgom óvónő. My younger sister is a kindergarten teacher.
A nővérem mérnök. My older sister is an engineer.
| Hungarian | English |
|---|---|
| anya | mother |
| apa | father |
| testvér | sibling |
| báty | older brother |
| öcs | younger brother |
| nővér | older sister |
| húg | younger sister |
| nagymama | grandmother |
| nagypapa | grandfather |
| unoka | grandchild |
| nagynéni | aunt |
| nagybácsi | uncle |
| unokatestvér | cousin |
| unokahúg | niece |
| unokaöcs | nephew |
| férj | husband |
| feleség | wife |
| após | father-in-law |
| anyós | mother-in-law |
| sógor | brother-in-law |
| sógornő | sister-in-law |
In English, demonstratives are : this, that, these, those, and so on. In Hungarian, ez and az are this and that.
The plurals are mostly regular:
ez + -ek = ezek ‘these’
az + -ok = azok ‘those’
ez + -ek + -ben = ezekben ‘in these’
But... : When the singular demonstratives ez and az are followed by a case suffix like -nak/-nek (dative), -ban/-ben (inessive), -nál/-nél, etc., the -z assimilates to the first consonant of the suffix:
ez + -ben = ebben ‘in this’
az + -nál = annál ‘at that’
ez + -nek = ennek
When using a demonstrative with a noun, both the demonstrative AND the noun have to have the plural and the case suffixes on BOTH :
(ez + ben )
ebben a házban ‘in this house’
(ezek + ben )
ezekben a házakban ‘in these houses’
azoknál a kerteknél ‘by those gardens’
Hungarian gets a bit more complicated when you combine a demonstrative and a noun like ez a ház ‘this house’ with a POSTposition like mellett ‘next to‘ : if the postposition starts with a consonant, the z disappears, and we get a , e instead of az, ez:
e mellett a ház mellett ‘next to this house’
a fölött a kert fölött ‘above that garden’
ez alatt a fa alatt ‘under this tree’
az alatt a fa alatt ‘under that tree’
The past tense in Hungarian is relatively simple (really!). In contrast to English, there is only a single past tense, and it is mostly regular.
The past is formed by adding a -t with or without a vowel to the verb stem, followed by the personal endings. This is first shown for the indefinite paradigm of lát, a verb with a back vowel.
• lát-ok → lát-t-am ‘I saw’
• lát-sz → lát-t-ál ‘you (sg.) saw’
• lát → lát-ott ‘she/he/it saw’
• lát-unk → lát-t-unk ‘we saw’
• lát-tok → lát-ta-tok ‘you (pl.) saw’
• lát-nak → lát-t-ak ‘they saw’
For verbs with front vowels, the suffixes are slightly different:
• keres-ek → keres-t-em ‘I was looking for’
• keres-el → keres-t-él ‘you (sg.) were looking for’
• keres → keres-ett ‘she/he/it was looking for’
• keres-ünk → keres-t-ünk ‘we were looking for’
• keres-tek → keres-te-tek ‘you (pl.) were looking for’
• keres-nek → keres-t-ek ‘they were looking for’
Notice that in the first person singular, the ending is -m for both the indefinite and the definite forms, unlike in the present tense. This makes your life easier (you’ll learn the definite forms soon).
There is another group of verbs where the past tense singular third person form does not end with -ott -ett or -ött just simply with a -t.
• talál-ok → talál-t-am ‘I found’
• talál-sz → talál-t-ál ‘you (sg.) found’
• talál → talál-t ‘she/he/it found’
• talál-unk → talál-t-unk ‘we found’
• talál-tok → talál-ta-tok ‘you (pl.) found’
• talál-nak → talál-t-ak ‘they found’
There are a few exceptional stems which look slightly different in the present and the past tense:
• vagyok, van, ... → _voltam ‘I was’, volt ‘she/he/it was’, ...
• megyek, megy, ... → mentem ‘I went’, ment ‘she/he/it went’, ...
• eszem, eszik, ... → ettem ‘I ate’, evett ‘she/he/it ate’, ...
• iszom, iszik, ... → ittam ‘I drank’, ivott ‘she/he/it drank’, ...
Even these, as you can see, are somewhat regular. The -sz in verbs like eszik, iszik, vesz, tesz, lesz, disappears in the past tense: evett, ivott, vett, tett, lett.
In many languages, you use possessive adjectives to express who a certain object belongs to :
Hungarian does not have possessive adjectives like my or her instead possessive suffixes. They are similar to possessive adjectives in that they indicate the person and number of the possessor but they are attached to the noun:
az asztalom ‘my table’
a cipője ‘her/his shoe’
The forms are as follows:
| Hungarian | English | |
|---|---|---|
| 1SG | -öm, -om, -m | my |
| 2SG | -öd, -ed, -od, -d | your (sg.) |
| 3SG | -je, -ja, -a | his/her/its |
| 1PL | -ünk, -unk, -nk | our |
| 2PL | -(ö)tök, -(e)tek, -(o)tok | your (pl.) |
| 3PL | -jük, -juk, -uk | their |
They require vowel harmony so if a noun ends in a vowel... cipő ‘shoe’ has front vowels and ends in a vowel, so its forms are:
| Hungarian | English | |
|---|---|---|
| 1SG | cipő-m | my shoe |
| 2SG | cipő-d | your (sg.) shoe |
| 3SG | cipő-je | her/his shoe |
| 1PL | cipő-nk | our shoe |
| 2PL | cipő-tök | your (pl.) shoe |
| 3PL | cipő-jük | their shoe |
asztal ‘table' has back vowels and ends in a consonant, so its forms are:
| Hungarian | English | |
|---|---|---|
| 1SG | asztal-om | my table |
| 2SG | asztal-od | your (sg.) table |
| 3SG | asztal-a | her/his table |
| 1PL | asztal-unk | our table |
| 2PL | asztal-otok | your (pl.) table |
| 3PL | asztal-juk | their table |
Hungarian has two ways of expressing the possessor of something, like the two English constructions a friend's book and a book of a friend.
Possessors can be in the nominative case, e.g. a lány, or dative, e.g. a lánynak:
The constructions can mean the same, but they differ in some ways. The dative (a lánynak) is followed by a ‘the’ , and you have to use the dative in questions with whose:
whose in this sentence is ki-nek, the dative of ki ‘who’.
As usual, there are exceptions to the rule, and they're complicated ! When the possessor is third person plural, the forms change in one of two ways. First, when the possessor is a pronoun, like ők ‘they’, the pronoun loses its -k:
So it looks like a singular possessor, but it is still plural. Second, when the possessor is a noun in the plural, like a lányok, the possessed noun loses its plural ending -(j)uk or *-(j)ük*:
Hungarian also has possessive pronouns corresponding to mine, yours, etc. They always include the definite article a and are formed as follows:
| Hungarian | English | |
|---|---|---|
| 1SG | az enyém | mine |
| 2SG | a tiéd or a tied | yours (sg.) |
| 3SG | az övé | hers/his |
| 1PL | a miénk | ours |
| 2PL | a tiétek | yours (pl.) |
| 3PL | az övék | theirs |
You can use these forms in sentences like:
Ez a cipő az enyém. ‘This shoe is mine.’
Some words drop the last vowel in the plural /in the accusative case / in possessive forms. We can call this a "fleeting vowel".
For example:
étterem - restaurant
éttermek - restaurants
éttermet - restaurant (accusative)
étterme - his/her restaurant
éttermem - my restaurant
Here we show the accusative singular and the 3rd person singular possessive forms, the other possessive forms follow the pattern.
| English | HU nominative | accusative | 3SG possessive |
|---|---|---|---|
| restaurant | étterem | éttermet | étterme |
| room, hall | terem | termet | terme |
| strawberry | eper | epret | epre |
| mirror | tükör | tükröt | tükre |
| statue | szobor | szobrot | szobra |
| monkey | majom | majmot | majma |
| tail | farok | farkat | farka |
| bush | bokor | bokrot | bokra |
| dream | álom | álmot | álma |
| (lion) cub | kölyök | kölyköt | kölyke |
We often make general statements like :
Lions are carnivores.
In English, we can use a word without an article, like lions above, to express a general statement.
In Hungarian, general statements are expressed slightly differently. But sometimes we don't use the verb to be and, when talking about the properties of a third-person subject, in Hungarian, we need an article.
Thus the English sentence above becomes:
Az oroszlánok húsevők. = literally ‘the lions carnivores’ , translated: the lions are carnivores . . .
or
Az oroszlán húsevő. = both "the lion is a carnivore " and "lions are carnivores " ! . . .
The same is true with negation.
Dolphins are not fish.
becomes
A delfinek nem halak. = lit. ‘the dolphins not fish’
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As we saw earlier, usually we can choose between a short form and a long form to show possession:
the boy's dog = a fiú kutyája / a fiúnak a kutyája
the girl's cat = a lány macskája / a lánynak a macskája
However, if you use the possessor with this/that, you have to use the longer form (with the -nak-nek ending)
this boy's dog = ennek a fiúnak a kutyája
that boy's dog = annak a fiúnak a kutyája
this girl's cat = ennek a lánynak a macskája
that girl's cat = annak a lánynak a macskája
If the possessor is plural:
these boys' dog = ezeknek a fiúknak a kutyája
those girls' cat = azoknak a lányoknak a macskája
Let's refresh the possessive endings:
| Hungarian | English | |
|---|---|---|
| 1SG | -öm, -em, -om, -m | my |
| 2SG | -öd, -ed, -od, -d | your (sg.) |
| 3SG | -je, -ja, -e, -a | his/her/its |
| 1PL | -ünk, -unk, -nk | our |
| 2PL | -(ö)tök, -(e)tek, -(o)tok | your (pl.) |
| 3PL | -jük, -juk, -ük, -uk | their |
But we will see that the 3rd person plural behaves strangely.
Exceptions
As usual, there are a few exceptions to the general rule. When the possessor is third person plural, the forms change in one of two ways. First, when the possessor is a pronoun, ők ‘they’, the pronoun loses its -k. (This only happens with ők, all other pronouns stay intact.)
az ő cipőjük ‘their shoe’
az ő asztaluk ‘their table’
So it looks like a singular possessor, but is still plural. Second, when the possessor is a plural noun, like a lányok, the possessed noun loses its plural ending -(j)uk or -(j)ük
a lányok cipője ‘the girls' shoe’
a lányok asztala ‘the girls' table'
First, we have to make a distinction. Do we have a Possessive sentence, like The boy's dog is black. A fiú kutyája fekete.
or a To have sentence: The boy has a dog. A fiúnak van egy kutyája.
So, in total:
| Possessive sentence | To have sentence | |
|---|---|---|
| they | -juk | -juk |
| az ő kutyájuk | (nekik) van egy kutyájuk | |
| their dog | they have a dog | |
| plural noun | -ja | -juk |
| a fiúk kutyája, a fiúknak a kutyája | a fiúknak van egy kutyájuk | |
| the boys' dog | the boys have a dog | |
| önök, maguk | -ja | -juk |
| az önök kutyája | önöknek van egy kutyájuk | |
| your dog | you have a dog | |
| not named | -juk | -juk |
| a kutyájuk | van egy kutyájuk | |
| (their/your) dog | (they/you) have a dog |
One more thing, where Possessive sentence versus a To have sentence makes a big difference.
Annak a fiúnak a kutyája barna. That boy's dog is black.
(You have to write a kutyája here.)
Annak a fiúnak van egy kutyája. /Annak a fiúnak van kutyája. That boy has a dog.
(Here, egy kutyája or kutyája without article is possible.)
Hungarian has its own rules regarding colors, for example, two different words for red.
Piros, sometimes, for things that are not human or are unemotional: piros labda (ball), piros paradicsom (tomato), piros jelzőlámpa (traffic lights).
And vörös, sometimes, for living or emotional objects : vörös haj (hair), vörös zászló (flag - but not in piros, fehér, zöld [Hungary's flag's colors ] ) , vörös róka (red fox), vörös bor (red wine), vörös csillag (red star). Better just to memorize . . .
Orange: the fruit itself is narancs but its color is narancssárga.
Ordinal numbers (like first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, etc. ) are formed by using the number , itself , and -adik, -edik, and -ödik . The choice depends on vowel harmony.
If the number has a long vowel in the last syllable (like kettő, hét, négy, tíz or húsz), the vowel shortens:
tíz becomes tizedik ‘tenth’ (and négy -> negyedik, hét -> hetedik)
In három, the á shortens, and the o disappears, so we get harmadik ‘third‘.
And, like in English, second, is not derived from two (we don't use twoth!):
második ‘second’
(más = ‘different’ but also, ‘another‘)
| En | Hu |
|---|---|
| first | első |
| second | második |
| third | harmadik |
| fourth | negyedik |
| fifth | ötödik |
| sixth | hatodik |
| seventh | hetedik |
| eighth | nyolcadik |
| ninth | kilencedik |
| tenth | tizedik |
| eleventh | tizenegyedik |
| twelfth | tizenkettedik |
| thirteenth | tizenharmadik |
| fourteenth | tizennegyedik |
| fifteenth | tizenötödik |
Note that 11th, 12th, 21st, 22nd, 31st, 32nd (and so on) do not contain the words "első" and "második",
we say tizenegyedik, tizenkettedik, huszonegyedik, huszonkettedik, harmincegyedik, harminckettedik instead.
English does not have a word for "how manyeth" but Hungarian does. Hányadik? You can use this if you expect an ordinal number as an answer.
Hányadik emeleten laksz? - A harmadik emeleten lakom.
Hányadik megállóban szállunk le? - A kilencedik megállóban.
In Hungarian, is means too or also. We place is right after the word it refers to.
Examples:
I, too, like horses = Én is szeretem a lovakat.
I like horses too (stress on "I" and "too" in speech) = Én is szeretem a lovakat.
I like horses too = I like horses (in addition to something else that has already been mentioned) Szeretem a lovakat is.
Én is okos vagyok = I am also smart. (and someone else is smart as well)
Én okos is vagyok és szép is. = I am smart and beautiful too.
Some tips:
- Never put is at the beginning of the sentence. As we have seen, "is" refers to the word right before it. If it is the first word of the sentence, what does it refer to? Nothing. That does not work.
Szeretlek is meg nem is. = I love you and also don't love you.
Látom és hallom is a filmet. = I see and also hear the movie.
But these examples are rare, and do not come up in this Duolingo course, so as a survival tip on Duolingo, do not put is after the verb. :P
Sem means neither. It is the negated form of is.
Again, we place sem right after the word it refers to.
I also don't like horses (someone else also does not like them) = Én sem szeretem a lovakat.
I do not like horses either = I don't like horses (in addition to some other animals) Nem szeretem a lovakat sem. / A lovakat sem szeretem.
I do not like horses either = I don't like horses (in addition to not liking riding them) Nem is szeretem a lovakat.
Not as simple as the examples with is, but here I can say the same tips.
Do not put sem at the beginning of the sentence, since "sem" refers to the word right before it. (Well, there are some exceptions, but those are rare.)
Do not place it after the verb. Here, "szeretem sem" is impossible, we would use "nem is szeretem" instead.
Nem látom és nem is hallom a filmet. = I do see and also do not hear the movie.
You know nothing, Jon Snow! - Nem tudsz te semmit, Havas Jon!
Hungarian uses double negatives. In English, we say "I do not see anything", while the Hungarian version would be literally "I do not see nothing." - Nem látok semmit. This is considered bad grammar in English, but perfectly fine (and mandatory) in Hungarian.
When the following pronouns are used in a negative sentence, we usually get a double negative. Pronouns in question are:
senki nobody
semmi nothing
sehol (sehová, sehonnan) (to/from) nowhere
soha never
When the above negative pronoun comes AFTER the predicate (verb in this context), we have an N-S pattern. That is, we use Nem and then Senki.
| Positive statement | English | Negative statement | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| Látok valakit | I see someone | Nem látok senkit | I don't see anyone |
| Van itt valami | Something is here | Itt nincs semmi | There is nothing here |
| Ági megy valahová | Ági is going somewhere | Ági nem megy sehová | Ági is not going anywhere |
When one of the above negative pronouns comes BEFORE the predicate, we have an S-S pattern. That is, we use Senki and then Sem. But in this case, using Nem instead of Sem also works. (Using sem is more natural.)
| Positive statement | English | Negative statement | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| Látok valakit | I see someone | Senkit sem látok / Senkit nem látok | I see noone |
| Van itt valami | Something is here | Semmi sincs itt / Semmi nincs itt | Nothing is here |
| Soha sem olvasok / Soha nem olvasok | I never read |
Caution: earlier we learned that sem alone means neither. But semmi sem and semmi nem (or senki sem and senki nem) are equivalent.
What's more, we can have a triple negation, with an N-S-S pattern.
Nem tudsz semmit sem. - You don't know anything.
Nem ismerek senkit sem itt. - I don't know anyone here.
Back to the "You know nothing" example, all of these are possible in Hungarian:
Nem tudsz semmit.
Semmit sem tudsz.
Semmit nem tudsz.
Nem tudsz semmit sem.
Take some postpositions, add moving away from something and attach some personal endings.
| English | Postposition | ... me | ... you | ... him/her |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (from) beside | mellől | mellőlem | mellőled | mellőle |
| (from) under | alól | alólam | alólad | alóla |
| (from) in front of | elől | előlem | előled | előle |
| (from) above | fölül | fölülem | fölüled | fölüle |
| (from) behind | mögül | mögülem | mögüled | mögüle |
In the previous skill, you learned how to express possession in Hungarian. In this skill, you'll learn another way to show possession: how to make sentences which use the verb to have.
Hungarian does not have a verb that means to have. Instead, Hungarian uses the verb van ‘there is’ with a dative (for the possessor) and a nominative (for the possessed noun):
This construction means something like There is a car to Mary. .
The possessed noun has a possessive suffix which matches in person and number with the dative possessor. In the above example, Mari is third person singular, so the possessed noun gets ja.
Dative possessors can be proper names (like Mari), regular nouns, as well as pronouns, of course.
Using a pronoun in such cases usually adds some emphasis on the possessor: pronouns are natural in answers to question:
Remember also that in Hungarian, the question word ki ‘who’ has separate singular and plural forms, so the sentence
is asking if there are several possessors: in English, this distinction does not exist, and the sentence can be translated with a singular subject.
You know that the regular plural suffix in Hungarian is -k. But when a noun is possessed, we use a different suffix: -i.
This suffix always follows a possessive (generally ja/je or a_/_e), and precedes the suffix indicating the person and number of the possessor:
Adessive Postpositional Pronouns
Take some postpositions, and attach some personal endings.
| English | Postposition | ... me | ... you | ... him/her |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| beside, next to | mellett | mellettem | melletted | mellette |
| under | alatt | alattam | alattad | alatta |
| in front of | előtt | előttem | előtted | előtte |
| above | fölött | fölöttem | fölötted | fölötte |
| behind | mögött | mögöttem | mögötted | mögötte |
| after | után | utánam | utánad | utána |
Take some postpositions, add moving towards something and attach some personal endings.
| English | Postposition | ...me | ... you | ... him/her |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (to) beside | mellé | mellém | melléd | mellé |
| (to) under | alá | alám | alád | alá |
| (to) in front of | elé | elém | eléd | elé |
| (to) above | fölé | fölém | föléd | fölé |
| (to) behind | mögé | mögém | mögéd | mögé |
| towards | felé | felém | feléd | felé |
| (to) around | köré | körém | köréd | köré |
You learned the case endings earlier. For example, in the house = a házban. In this skill, you will see constructions like "in me", "from you", "about him".
Pronouns of source
| Case ending | ...me | ... you | ... him/her | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| - ból - ből | belőlem | belőled | belőle | ||
| - ról - ről | rólam | rólad | róla | ||
| - tól - től | tőlem | tőled | tőle |
| Case ending | ...us | ... you (pl.) | ... them | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| - ból - ből | belőlünk | belőletek | belőlük | ||
| - ról - ről | rólunk | rólatok | róluk | ||
| - tól - től | tőlünk | tőletek | tőlük |
Pronouns of position
| Case ending | ...me | ... you | ... him/her | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| - ban - ben | bennem | benned | benne | ||
| - on - en -ön -n | rajtam | rajtad | rajta | ||
| - nál - nél | nálam | nálad | nála |
| Case ending | ...us | ... you (pl) | ... them | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| - ban - ben | bennünk | bennetek | bennük | ||
| - on - en -ön -n | rajtunk | rajtatok | rajtuk | ||
| - nál - nél | nálunk | nálatok | náluk |
Pronouns of goal
| Case ending | ...me | ... you | ... him/her | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| - ba - be | belém | beléd | belé | ||
| - ra -re | rám | rád | rá | ||
| - hoz -hez -höz | hozzám | hozzád | hozzá |
| Case ending | ...us | ... you (pl.) | ... them | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| - ba - be | belénk | belétek | beléjük | ||
| - ra -re | ránk | rátok | rájuk | ||
| - hoz -hez -höz | hozzánk | hozzátok | hozzájuk |
The illative case is used to show MOTION into something and it's like English into or to :
a házba ‘to the house’
The illative suffix also requires vowel harmony:
a kertbe ‘into the garden'
It's easy to confuse the illative case (into ) -ba / -be * with the inessive case -ban/-ben* , in , so be on the alert !
You've already learned quite a bit about possession in Hungarian. You might have noticed, however, that the examples so far were missing something, namely
plurals of possessed nouns.
While usually plurals of nouns are indicated by the suffix -k (with a vowel preceding it), when we're dealing with a possessed noun, like his bosses, the plural is formed in a different way, with -i. So:
The great thing about this suffix is that there's no vowel harmony. It's simply -i and remains -i. Thus:
Let's look at the plural forms of the words cipő and asztal that we discussed in the Tips and Notes of Possessives 1. Cipő ‘shoe’ has front vowels and ends in a vowel, so its possessed forms are:
| Hungarian | English | |
|---|---|---|
| 1SG | cipő-im | my shoes |
| 2SG | cipő-id | your (sg.) shoes |
| 3SG | cipő-i | her/his shoes |
| 1PL | cipő-ink | our shoes |
| 2PL | cipő-itek | your (pl.) shoes |
| 3PL | cipő-ik | their shoes |
asztal ‘table' has back vowels and ends in a consonant, so its possessed forms are:
| Hungarian | English | |
|---|---|---|
| 1SG | asztal-aim | my tables |
| 2SG | asztal-aid | your (sg.) tables |
| 3SG | asztal-ai | her/his tables |
| 1PL | asztal-aink | our tables |
| 2PL | asztal-aitok | your (pl.) tables |
| 3PL | asztal-aik | their tables |
Be careful, ők gets shortened to ő in some possessive structures, and only the possessive ending shows the possessor:
az ő széke - his/her chair
az ő székük - their chair
az ő székei - his/her chairs
az ő székeik - their chairs
az ő háza - his/her house
az ő házuk - their house
az ő házai - his/her houses
az ő házaik - their houses
The sublative case indicates motion ONTO something. It corresponds to the English preposition onto and needs vowel harmony:
a házra ‘onto the house’
a tetőre ‘onto the roof’
and it can be a vertical surface or even a tree!
a falra = on(to) the wall
a fára = in(to) the tree
The allative is a movement case, expressing movement TO something. In English, it can be translated with up to - but not in !
It also requires vowel harmony, and there are two front suffixes, based on whether the vowels in the noun are rounded, like ö and ü, or not (like e ) .
a kerthez - ‘up to the garden’
a tükörhöz - ‘up to the mirror’
a házhoz - ‘up to the house’
In Hungarian: preverbs, verbal modifiers or verbal prefixes (igekötő in Hungarian) are very common . These modifiers USUALLY mean motion TOWARD something: ki ‘toward the outside’, be ‘toward the inside’, le ‘down‘, el ‘away‘, ide ‘toward here‘, oda ‘toward there‘.
In the simplest cases, a verb with a preverb corresponds, in English, to a verb plus an adverb :
kimegyek ‘I go out‘
bemész ‘you (sg.) go to‘, ‘you (sg.) enter‘
elmegy ‘s/he goes away‘
leülünk ‘we sit down‘
ideültök ‘you (pl.) sit down here‘
odaülnek ‘they sit down there‘
In English, the distinction between a location and a direction is not always explicit: she is running there can mean she is there and she is running or she is moving from here to there by running. Hungarian makes this explicit : the former meaning would be ott fut and the latter, with a verbal modifier or preverb, odafut (runs over to there... ) .
These verbal modifiers can have big effects on word order! Word order, in Hungarian, is much freer than in English, but there are some restrictions .
In general, a verbal modifier precedes the verb and they are written as one word:
However, the modifier can also be separated from the verb:
While this still means that Mari enters , the information it conveys is more like :
Mari is in focus because Mari immediately precedes the verb. Whenever there is a focused word or phrase , the particle follows the verb - and is detached .
Important ! The particle follows the verb when there is negation or in questions with question words:
Nem mész el. ‘You do not go away.‘
Ki ül le? ‘Who is sitting down?’
The phrase that corresponds to that question word, in an answer, is also always in focus. The answer to the question Ki ül le? could be:
The boldface in the second English translation indicates stress on the word. Say the English answer out loud and you'll hear what this means.
Hungarian word order is very strict in another respect: the order of topic, focus (new information) and the verb. English generally has
but Hungarian generally has
order.
There can be more than one topic!
Mari a kertben ül le. ‘Mari is sitting down in the garden.’ or ‘It's in the garden that Mari is sitting down.’
A kertben Mari ül le. ‘Mari is sitting down in the garden.‘ or ‘It's Mari who is sitting down in the garden.‘
In both sentences, that someone (Mari) is sitting down somewhere (in the garden) is conveyed, but Hungarian focuses on different parts of the sentence. In the first example, the new information is a kertben ‘in the garden’. This is indicated by the word order: a kertben immediately precedes the verb. In English, the word order stays the same, but stress or prominence changes. Compare It's in the garden ... and It's Mary ....
You can also have an unfocused sentence:
This is a neutral sentence. The subject (Mari ) is the topic, but not in focus (the "le " keeps it from being immediately before the verb ) , and neither is a kertben. And, the corresponding sentence, in English, does not have any particular stress on any phrase or word.
Word order is a complicated matter in Hungarian. For a longer explanation, see this forum post:
On Emphasis and Word Order in Hungarian
https://forum.duolingo.com/comment/18806754
The past tense in Hungarian is relatively simple (really!). In contrast to English, there is only a single past tense, and it is mostly regular.
The past is formed by adding a -t with or without a vowel to the verb stem, followed by the personal endings. This is first shown for the indefinite paradigm of lát, a verb with a back vowel.
• lát-ok → lát-t-am ‘I saw’
• lát-sz → lát-t-ál ‘you (sg.) saw’
• lát → lát-ott ‘she/he/it saw’
• lát-unk → lát-t-unk ‘we saw’
• lát-tok → lát-ta-tok ‘you (pl.) saw’
• lát-nak → lát-t-ak ‘they saw’
For verbs with front vowels, the suffixes are slightly different:
• keres-ek → keres-t-em ‘I was looking for’
• keres-el → keres-t-él ‘you (sg.) were looking for’
• keres → keres-ett ‘she/he/it was looking for’
• keres-ünk → keres-t-ünk ‘we were looking for’
• keres-tek → keres-te-tek ‘you (pl.) were looking for’
• keres-nek → keres-t-ek ‘they were looking for’
Notice that in the first person singular, the ending is -m for both the indefinite and the definite forms, unlike in the present tense. This makes your life easier (you’ll learn the definite forms soon).
There is another group of verbs where the past tense singular third person form does not end with -ott -ett or -ött just simply with a -t.
• talál-ok → talál-t-am ‘I found’
• talál-sz → talál-t-ál ‘you (sg.) found’
• talál → talál-t ‘she/he/it found’
• talál-unk → talál-t-unk ‘we found’
• talál-tok → talál-ta-tok ‘you (pl.) found’
• talál-nak → talál-t-ak ‘they found’
There are a few exceptional stems which look slightly different in the present and the past tense:
• vagyok, van, ... → _voltam ‘I was’, volt ‘she/he/it was’, ...
• megyek, megy, ... → mentem ‘I went’, ment ‘she/he/it went’, ...
• eszem, eszik, ... → ettem ‘I ate’, evett ‘she/he/it ate’, ...
• iszom, iszik, ... → ittam ‘I drank’, ivott ‘she/he/it drank’, ...
Even these, as you can see, are somewhat regular. The -sz in verbs like eszik, iszik, vesz, tesz, lesz, disappears in the past tense: evett, ivott, vett, tett, lett.
In this lesson, you'll learn the Hungarian words for a number of fruits, vegetables and other foods, as well as the names of some Hungarian dishes.
As in earlier skills, when talking about something in general, Hungarian differs from English. Where English uses a bare noun, as in Cheese is tasty., in Hungarian you have to use a definite article plus a noun: A sajt finom.
Another difference between the two languages is that Hungarian sometimes uses a bare singular noun where English would use an article and a noun or a plural: Szőlőt eszem. translates to I am eating grapes.
Some of the dishes mentioned in the sentences in this skill are difficult to translate, since they are Hungarian specialties. So here is a very short little guide to Hungarian cuisine:
gulyás(leves) is a soup flavoured with some paprika with different vegetables and meat; it is soupier than "goulash soup" in other countries
lángos is a small, round piece of wheat dough (sometimes with potato as well) with yeast that is fried in oil or baked and eaten with garlic, cheese and/or sour dough
lecsó is a vegetable ragout or stew, made with onion, tomato, peppers, and paprika
pálinka is a fruit brandy that is often made from apricots (then usually called barack or barackpálinka), plums (szilvapálinka), or other fruit
paprikás is a dish made with paprika, onion, garlic and different meats or vegetables, such as chicken, mushrooms, potatoes, or beans; there are many varieties; this dish is sometimes known as "goulash" outside of Hungary
pörkölt is a stew usually made with (you guessed it!) paprika, onion, garlic and beef or pork; there are many different varieties, however; this dish is often known as "goulash" outside of Hungary
Here are more sentences using the illative case (plus some preverbs you learned recently). It is used to show motion to something and it corresponds to English to and implies "into " :
a házba ‘to the house’
It will not come as a surprise to you that the illative suffix is also subject to vowel harmony:
a kertbe ‘to the garden'
You have recently learned the past tense in Hungarian. As you remember, it is formed by adding a -t- to the stem followed by personal suffixes. However, as in the present tense, Hungarian distinguishes using a verb form whether the (third person) direct object is definite or not. In the skill Past 1, we showed you the forms without objects or with indefinite objects. Here are the forms for past tense verbs with definite objects.
We start with the verb lát, with a back vowel, e.g. láttuk ‘we saw it’. Note that the first person singular is the same for both. Some of the verb forms with definite objects are similar to the present tense forms: instead of -j-, we find a -t- in the 3SG and the plural forms.
| indefinite or no object | definite object | |
|---|---|---|
| 1SG | lát-t-am | lát-t-am |
| 2SG | lát-t-ál | lát-t-ad |
| 3SG | lát-ott | lát-t-a |
| 1PL | lát-t-unk | lát-t-uk |
| 2PL | lát-ta-tok | lát-t-átok |
| 3PL | lát-t-ak | lát-t-ák |
Now for a verb with front vowels, like keres, e.g. kerestük ‘we were looking for it’.
| indefinite or no object | definite object | |
|---|---|---|
| 1SG | keres-t-em | keres-t-em |
| 2SG | keres-t-él | keres-t-ed |
| 3SG | keres-ett | keres-t-e |
| 1PL | keres-t-ünk | keres-t-ük |
| 2PL | keres-te-tek | keres-t-étek |
| 3PL | keres-t-ek | keres-t-ék |
More sublative case: motion onto something . It corresponds to the preposition onto and requires vowel harmony:
a házra = onto the house , a tetőre = onto the roof
Here, you'll find sentences using "separable " verbs, from the lesson on "Preverbs" , like felszállni ‘to get on’ . For example :
Sometimes, Hungarian is more explicit than English , in expressing this kind of motion. For example, - Mari leül a székre means Mari sits down onto the chair - which sounds a bit odd in English.
The important point is that ra and -re express the direction of the motion onto - which also includes surfaces like "walls " and trees .
The allative is a movement case, showing movement TO something. In English, it can be translated with up to but not in. The allative requires vowel harmony - with a special quirk: there are two front suffixes, based on whether the vowels in the noun are rounded, like ö and ü, or not, like e.
a házhoz ‘to the house’ a kerthez ‘to the garden’ a tükörhöz ‘to the mirror’
Here, you'll use these forms with some of the preverbs you have already learned.
In Germany is Németországban, but in Hungary is Magyarországon. But why do they have different endings?
Most towns in Hungary take surface suffixes (-n,-on -en -ön ), while the majority of places outside of Hungary use inside suffixes (-ban, -ben ):
• Szegedre - Szegeden - Szegedről: to, in, from Szeged
• Bécsbe - Bécsben - Bécsből: to, in, from Vienna
• Magyarországra - Magyarországon - Magyarországról: to, in, from Hungary
• Svédországba - Svédországban - Svédországból: to, in, from Sweden
Exception to these rules are Hungarian towns that end with : -i, -j, -m, -n, -ny, and -r (unless it is in -vár ... ) ! These take the inside suffixes: Tamásiból, Tokajban, Veszprémben, Debrecenből, Tihanyba, Egerben.
| Takes the -ban-ben case | Takes the -on -en -ön case |
|---|---|
| Countries: | Countries: |
| Most foreign countries | Magyarország |
| (a few islands) | most islands |
| Japánban, Kubában | Izlandon, Máltán, Korzikán, Krétán, Madagaszkáron |
| - | ending with -föld |
| - | Thaiföldön |
| Cities/Towns: | Cities/Towns: |
| Cities outside Hungary | Most Hungarian towns |
| Londonban, Berlinben | Budapesten, Szegeden |
| Hungarian cities ending -i, -j, -m, -n, and -ny | In neighboring countries, towns with Hungarian names |
| Debrecenben, Veszprémben | Kassán, Aradon (but: Bécsben) |
See also this link: Myhunlang blog: Suffixes / Adverbs of Place
In the case of Pécs and a few other towns there's a third, archaic, suffix in use: Pécsett. Others are Győrött and Székesfehérvárott. But Duo also accepts the regular forms: Pécsen, Győrben, Székesfehérváron.
Names of rivers, lakes, islands, hills, mountains, roads, streets, squares, buildings, and institutes tend to have a definite article, even if it's not used in the English translation.
A Margitsziget
A Parlament
A Budai Vár
A Kékestető
A Duna
A Tisza
A Balaton
A Margitszigetre megyek. - I am going to Margaret Island.
A Duna mellett sétálunk. - We are walking next to the Danube.
City and town names are used without an article.
Budapesten lakom. - I live in Budapest
This lesson is about demonstratives (this, that, these, those ) used with : -ba/-be, -hoz/-hez/-ho:z, and -ra/-re.
These undergo assimilation . The consonant -z in the demonstrative changes to the consonant in the case:
This does not happen in the plural, so we get:
Attach the ending to BOTH the demonstrative AND the noun:
Like in English, the adjective precedes the noun it modifies. (This is called an attributive adjective.) In this case, the adjective is not pluralized.
A piros alma = The red apple.
A piros almák = The red apples.
Ezek piros almák =These are red apples.
Sometimes you see an adjective that comes after the noun. In English, the adjective usually comes after is/are. However, in the Hungarian translation van or vannak is dropped. (This is called a predicative adjective.) In this case the adjective has to be plural when the subject is plural.
Az alma piros = The apple is red.
Az almák pirosak = The apples are red.
Ezek az almák pirosak =These apples are red.
A német házak szépek. = German houses are beautiful.
BUT: Be careful, the rule is not about if the adjective is before or after the noun. (Even though sometimes we say it this way because it is an easier explanation.) The real rule about whether it is an attributive adjective or predicative adjective.
Example: Politicians are rich. "A politikusok gazdagok" and "Gazdagok a politikusok." is the same thing grammatically, just the word order is rearranged.
Pirosak az almák. Szépek a német házak. These are also correct.
Milyen and milyenek work the same way as adjectives.
attributive:
Milyen autó ez? What kind of car is this?
Milyen város ez? What kind of city is this?
Milyen városokat ismersz? What kind of cities do you know?
Milyen autók ezek? What kind of cars are these?
predicative:
Milyenek a brazil sportolók? A brazil sportolók milyenek? What are the Brazilian athletes like?
Milyenek az orvosok itt? What are the doctors like here?
Milyen az orvos? What is the doctor like?
Milyen az a ház? What is that house like?
Add -ak, -ok -ek -ök or -k to the end of the word:
If the adjective ends with a vowel:
-K : after ó ő, a, e and the word kicsi. (Note that a e will turn into á é)
olcsó, olcsók, jó, jók, önző, önzők, sárga, sárgák, fekete, feketék, kicsi, kicsik, gyenge, gyengék, drága, drágák, olcsó, olcsók, szőke, szőkék, csúnya, csúnyák, tiszta, tiszták, hülye, hülyék, furcsa, furcsák,
-AK: after i, ú, back and mixed vowel words. amerikai, amerikaiak, koreai, koreaiak, kínai, kínaiak... hosszú, hosszúak, lassú, lassúak, szomorú, szomorúak,
-EK: after after i, ű, front vowel words.
keleti, keletiek, jókedvű, jókedvűek, keserű, keserűek, könnyű, könnyűek, régi, régiek, nemzeti, nemzetiek, népszerű, népszerűek, gyönyörű, gyönyörűek, nagyszerű, nagyszerűek,
If the adjective ends with a consonant:
-AK: most adjectives with mixed and back vowels
rossz, rosszak, magas, magasak, vékony, vékonyak, piros, pirosak, barátságos, barátságosak, fáradt, fáradtak, sovány, soványak, fontos, fontosak, gyors, gyorsak, új, újak, száraz, szárazak, okos, okosak, hasznos, hasznosak, csinos, csinosak, hatékony, hatékonyak, szomjas, szomjasak, unalmas, unalmasak
-OK: after -atlan/-talan, nationalities, and a few other mixed/back vowel adjectives
magyar, magyarok, angol, angolok, orosz, oroszok, olasz, olaszok, holland, hollandok, / nyugtalan, nyugtalanok, sótlan, sótlanok, / fiatal fiatalok, nagy, nagyok, vastag, vastagok, gazdag, gazdagok, boldog, boldogok, szabad, szabadok,
-EK: all other adjectives with front vowels
szép, szépek, szegény, szegények, rövid, rövidek, meleg, melegek, hideg, hidegek, nedves, nedvesek, keskeny, keskenyek, széles, szélesek, sekély, sekélyek, mély, mélyek, erős, erősek, híres, híresek, kövér, kövérek, idős, idősek, öreg, öregek, lehetséges, lehetségesek, lehetetlen, lehetetlenek, ügyes, ügyesek, ingyenes, ingyenesek, modern, modernek, üres, üresek, tökéletes, tökéletesek, helyes, helyesek, friss, frissek, beteg, betegek, éhes, éhesek,
nehéz, nehezek,
-ÖK : the words török, görög.
török, törökök, görög, görögök
Here, you will meet possessed direct objects, objects with both a possessive and an accusative suffix. The form is that the noun is followed by the possessive marker and by the accusative marker - in that order:
• ház → ház-am → ház-am-at ‘my house (obj.)’
The accusative is fairly regular, too. Recall that for a word like alma ‘apple’, adding the accusative lengthens the final vowel:
• alma → almá-t ‘apple (obj.)’
The same happens with possessive forms ending in -a:
• ház-a ‘his/her/its house’ → ház-á-t ‘his/her/its house (obj.)’
Note that possessed direct objects (nearly) always require the definite verb form, and they often appear with a definite determiner or possessor .
Finally, if the possessor is in the first or second person singular, the accusative can sometimes be omitted:
• Add a kezed! ‘Give me your hand!’
Here, it is fairly common to just use kezed instead of kezedet. But if the possessor is in the third person this is never possible.
More verbs with prefixes.
Here, you'll learn about a common particle : preverbs, verb modifiers or verbal prefixes (igekötő in Hungarian). Many have a meaning expressing motion towards something : ki ‘towards the outside’, be ‘to ’, le ‘down‘, el ‘away‘, ide ‘towards here‘, oda ‘towards there‘.
A verb with a modifier usually corresponds to a verb plus an adverb:
kimegyek ‘I go out‘
bemész ‘you (sg.) go to‘, ‘you (sg.) enter‘
elmegy ‘s/he goes away‘
leülünk ‘we sit down‘
ideültök ‘you (pl.) sit down here‘
odaülnek ‘they sit down there‘
In English, the distinction between a location and a direction is not always explicit: she is running there can mean she is there and she is running or she is moving from here to there by running. Hungarian makes this explicit: the former would be ott fut and the latter, with a verbal modifier or preverb, odafut.
These verbal modifiers can have big effects on word order! As you know by now, word order in Hungarian is much freer than in English, but ...
in general, a verbal modifier precedes the verb and they're written as one word:
However, the modifier can also be separated from the verb:
While the sentence still means that Mari goes to something, the information it conveys corresponds more to :
In the above example, Mari is in focus because Mari immediately precedes the verb. This is called the focus position. Whenever there is a focused phrase or word in this position, the particle follows the verb.
In addition, the particle follows the verb when there is negation or in questions with question words:
Nem mész el. ‘You are not going away.‘
Ki ül le? ‘Who is sitting down?’
The phrase that responds to a question word is in focus. The answer to the question Ki ül le? could be:
The boldface in the second translation shows stress on the word. Try saying the English answer out loud and you'll hear what this means.
Hungarian word order is fairly free : the subject does not have to precede the verb and the object - as it mostly does in English.
Hungarian word order is very strict in one respect: the order of topic, focus and the verb. Focus points out new information in a sentence. The topic of a sentence is what the sentence is about. English usually has
word order . Hungarian usually has
order.
Mari a kertben ül le. ‘Mari is sitting down in the garden.’ Or ‘It's in the garden that Mari is sitting down.’
A kertben Mari ül le. ‘Mari is sitting down in the garden.‘ Or ‘It's Mari who is sitting down in the garden.‘
In both sentences, someone (Mari) is sitting down somewhere (in the garden), but we focus on different parts of the sentence. In the first example, the new or important information is a kertben ‘in the garden’. This is indicated by the word order: a kertben immediately precedes the verb. In English, the word order stays the same, but stress or prominence changes.
Finally, let's have a look at:
The subject (Mari ) is the topic, but is not in focus, because the prefix (le ) has taken the focus position. In cases like these, the verbal modifier stays attached to the verb.
The sentence it corresponds to, in English, will not have prominence, or stress, on any phrase or word.
w
Another case! The elative case motion out of something. In English, you can translate it with out of.
Its forms are -ból/-ből . Tiny tip: they both have diacritics . Ból is attached to words with back vowels, ből to words with front vowels:
a házból ‘out of the house’
a kertből ‘out of the garden’
Now you know three cases (-ba/-be), (-ban/-ben) , and (-ból/-ből) which start with a -b : the inessive (-ban/-ben), the illative (-ba/-be) and the elative (-ból/-ből) .
What connects these is that they express motion related to the inside of something - into, in, and out of .
The delative case expresses motion away from the SURFACE of something and its forms are -ról/-ről . In English, you can use the prepositions from or off to translate it.
repülőtérről ‘from the airport’
pályaudvarról ‘from the train station’
Tiny tip: Hungarians think of both of these locations as SURFACES . They also think of many Hungarian cities close around Budapest as surfaces. And universities . . .
The delative is also used more abstractly, with verbs like beszél ‘talk’, where it means about:
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The ablative case -tól/-től shows motion away from something.
It can usually be translated with from , but not all uses of from can be translated with the ablative!
A folyótól jövök. ‘I am coming from the river.’
Az épülettől indul a busz. ‘The bus is leaving from the building.’
There are nine different cases that are related to location. We can arrange them in a 3 x 3 matrix. The triads of movement are :
| goal | position | source | |
|---|---|---|---|
| SPACES | -ba -be | -ban -ben | -ból -ből |
| SURFACES | -ra -re | -on -en -ön -n | -ról -ről |
| SOLIDS | -hoz -hez -höz | -nál -nél | -tól -től |
spaces:
Bemegyek a házba. - I go into the house.
A házban vagyok. - I am in the house.
Kimegyek a házból. - I go out of the house.
surfaces:
Az asztalra rakom a könyvet. - I put the book on the table.
A könyv az asztalon van. - The book is on the table.
Elveszem az asztalról a könyvet. - I take the book away from the table.
solids:
Odamegyek a szoborhoz. - I go over to the statue.
A szobornál várok. - I wait at the statue.
Elmegyek a szobortól. - I go away from the statue.
When combining a singular demonstrative pronoun (this, that - ez, az ) with these case endings, the -z of the demonstrative (ez, az ) turns into the first consonant of the suffix:
In the plural (ezek / azok ) , the plural suffix -k remains, so the case suffix is simply added:
When using a demonstrative with a noun, both the demonstrative and the noun must have plural and case suffixes:
ebből a házból ‘out of this house’
azoktól a kertektől ‘from those gardens’
Notice that the suffix on the demonstrative and the suffix on the noun may use different vowels.
After all, vowel harmony is determined on a word-by-word basis.
Hungarian gets a bit more complicated when you combine a demonstrative and a noun like ez a ház ‘this house’ with a POSTposition like mellett ‘next to‘ : if the postposition starts with a consonant, the z disappears, and we get a , e instead of az, ez:
e mellett a ház mellett ‘next to this house’
a fölött a kert fölött ‘above that garden’
ez alatt a fa alatt ‘under this tree’
az alatt a fa alatt ‘under that tree’
You may have already seen the postpositions alatt ‘under’, fölött ‘above’, mögött ‘behind’ and között ‘between‘.
They all share the -tt ending, which is an old Hungarian suffix for location.
To express motion towards a location, we can take their roots and add an -á/-é suffix ,
alá ‘towards underneath it’
fölé ‘towards above it’
mögé ‘towards behind it’
and közé toward between somethings . . .
Be careful, though: in English, a phrase like behind the house can be both a ház mögött - for where something is happening - or a ház mögé if there is motion involved.
Look for motion in this lesson !
| English | movement to | place | |
|---|---|---|---|
| beside | mellé | mellett | |
| under | alá | alatt | |
| in front of | elé | előtt | |
| behind | mögé | mögött | |
| between, among | közé | között | |
| above, over | fölé | fölött, felett | |
| around | köré | körül |
You'll see some postpositions you already know, but in a different form: direction FROM somewhere.
The suffixes -ól / -ől / -ül attach to stems like al- el- mög- etc. :
Postpositions come after nouns:
Here is a chart showing how movement from words originate:
| English | movement to | place | movement from |
|---|---|---|---|
| beside | mellé | mellett | mellől |
| under | alá | alatt | alól |
| in front of | elé | előtt | elől |
| behind | mögé | mögött | mögül |
| between, among | közé | között | közül |
In this lesson, you'll learn the Hungarian words for a number of fruits, vegetables and other foods, as well as the names of some Hungarian dishes.
As in earlier skills, when talking about something in general, Hungarian differs from English. Where English uses a bare noun, as in Cheese is tasty., in Hungarian you have to use a definite article plus a noun: A sajt finom.
Another difference between the two languages is that Hungarian sometimes uses a bare singular noun where English would use an article and a noun or a plural: Szőlőt eszem. translates to I am eating grapes.
Some of the dishes mentioned in the sentences in this skill are difficult to translate, since they are Hungarian specialties. So here is a very short little guide to Hungarian cuisine:
gulyás(leves) is a soup flavoured with some paprika with different vegetables and meat; it is soupier than "goulash soup" in other countries
lángos is a small, round piece of wheat dough (sometimes with potato as well) with yeast that is fried in oil or baked and eaten with garlic, cheese and/or sour dough
lecsó is a vegetable ragout or stew, made with onion, tomato, peppers, and paprika
pálinka is a fruit brandy that is often made from apricots (then usually called barack or barackpálinka), plums (szilvapálinka), or other fruit
paprikás is a dish made with paprika, onion, garlic and different meats or vegetables, such as chicken, mushrooms, potatoes, or beans; there are many varieties; this dish is sometimes known as "goulash" outside of Hungary
pörkölt is a stew usually made with (you guessed it!) paprika, onion, garlic and beef or pork; there are many different varieties, however; this dish is often known as "goulash" outside of Hungary
Some words in this skill (but not all the words)
LESSON 1
"múzeum" =museum
"szobor" =statue
"színház" =theater
"sarok" = corner
"térkép" =map
LESSON 2
"templom" = church
"iroda" = office
"mozi"= cinema/ movie theater
"kocsma" = pub
"pap" = priest
"autópálya" = highway, motorway
LESSON 3
"gyár" = factory
"állomás" = station
"torony" = tower
"könyvtár" =library
"kávézó" = café
"betörő" = burglar
LESSON 4
"egyetem" =university
"posta" = post office
"börtön" = prison, jail
LESSON 5
"rendőrség" = police station
"parkoló" =parking lot, car park
"pad" = bench
"stadion" =stadium
"temető" = cemetery
Hungarian has many ways of expressing movement - in several directions!
You may have already seen the words ide and oda which mean towards here (or hither) and towards there (or thither). English here and there can mean both a location and a direction, whereas Hungarian always makes a difference .
Motion ONTO A SURFACE is formed using the sublative case -ra/-re, motion AWAY from something by using the delative case -ról/-ről.
.
| towards something | away from something |
|---|---|
| merre ‘where to?’ | merről ‘where from?‘ |
| erre ‘towards here/this’ | erről ‘from here/this’ |
| arra ‘towards there/that‘ | arról ‘from there/that’ |
Also important are the compass directions north, east, south, and west:
.
| direction | towards ... | from ... |
|---|---|---|
| észak ‘north’ | északra | északról |
| kelet ‘east’ | keletre | keletről |
| nyugat ‘west' | nyugatra | nyugatról |
| dél ‘south’ | délre | délről |
.
The same cases are used for left and right: .
| direction | towards ... | from ... |
|---|---|---|
| bal ‘left’ | balra | balról |
| jobb ‘right’ | jobbra | jobbról |
You have recently learned the past tense in Hungarian. As you remember, it is formed by adding a -t- to the stem followed by personal suffixes. However, as in the present tense, Hungarian distinguishes using a verb form whether the (third person) direct object is definite or not. In the skill Past 1, we showed you the forms without objects or with indefinite objects. Here are the forms for past tense verbs with definite objects.
We start with the verb lát, with a back vowel, e.g. láttuk ‘we saw it’. Note that the first person singular is the same for both. Some of the verb forms with definite objects are similar to the present tense forms: instead of -j-, we find a -t- in the 3SG and the plural forms.
| indefinite or no object | definite object | |
|---|---|---|
| 1SG | lát-t-am | lát-t-am |
| 2SG | lát-t-ál | lát-t-ad |
| 3SG | lát-ott | lát-t-a |
| 1PL | lát-t-unk | lát-t-uk |
| 2PL | lát-ta-tok | lát-t-átok |
| 3PL | lát-t-ak | lát-t-ák |
Now for a verb with front vowels, like keres, e.g. kerestük ‘we were looking for it’.
| indefinite or no object | definite object | |
|---|---|---|
| 1SG | keres-t-em | keres-t-em |
| 2SG | keres-t-él | keres-t-ed |
| 3SG | keres-ett | keres-t-e |
| 1PL | keres-t-ünk | keres-t-ük |
| 2PL | keres-te-tek | keres-t-étek |
| 3PL | keres-t-ek | keres-t-ék |
melyik
Melyik means "which".
Melyik alma zöld? Which apple is green?
Ez az alma. This apple.
Az... amelyik
This construction is about identifying something or someone, then saying something about them. It works with Az... aki /Az .... amelyik / Az... ami
In the plural: Azok... akik /Azok .... amelyek / Azok... amik
The girl who is sitting over there is a student. Az a lány, aki ott ül, egy diák. Or, with different word order: Az a lány (egy) diák, aki ott ül.
The bridge that is between the mountains is big. Az a híd, amelyik a hegyek között van, nagy. / Az a híd nagy, amelyik a hegyek között van.
The bridges that are between the mountains are big. Azok a hidak, amelyek a hegyek között vannak, nagyok. / Azok a hidak nagyok, amelyek a hegyek között vannak.
The one who is sitting over there is a student. Az, aki ott ül, egy diák. / Az (egy) diák, aki ott ül.
The one between the mountains is big. Az, ami a hegyek között van, nagy. / Az nagy, ami a hegyek között van.
The ones between the mountains are big. Azok, amik a hegyek között vannak, nagyok. / Azok nagyok, amik a hegyek között vannak.
We usually use amelyik, when the subject is named, and ami, if the subject is not named. And aki for people.
While aki only used for people, amelyik works for both people and things (and abstract ideas.)
In many languages, you use possessive adjectives to express who a certain object belongs to :
Hungarian does not have possessive adjectives like my or her instead possessive suffixes. They are similar to possessive adjectives in that they indicate the person and number of the possessor but they are attached to the noun:
az asztalom ‘my table’
a cipője ‘her/his shoe’
The forms are as follows:
| Hungarian | English | |
|---|---|---|
| 1SG | -öm, -om, -m | my |
| 2SG | -öd, -ed, -od, -d | your (sg.) |
| 3SG | -je, -ja, -a | his/her/its |
| 1PL | -ünk, -unk, -nk | our |
| 2PL | -(ö)tök, -(e)tek, -(o)tok | your (pl.) |
| 3PL | -jük, -juk, -uk | their |
They require vowel harmony so if a noun ends in a vowel... cipő ‘shoe’ has front vowels and ends in a vowel, so its forms are:
| Hungarian | English | |
|---|---|---|
| 1SG | cipő-m | my shoe |
| 2SG | cipő-d | your (sg.) shoe |
| 3SG | cipő-je | her/his shoe |
| 1PL | cipő-nk | our shoe |
| 2PL | cipő-tök | your (pl.) shoe |
| 3PL | cipő-jük | their shoe |
asztal ‘table' has back vowels and ends in a consonant, so its forms are:
| Hungarian | English | |
|---|---|---|
| 1SG | asztal-om | my table |
| 2SG | asztal-od | your (sg.) table |
| 3SG | asztal-a | her/his table |
| 1PL | asztal-unk | our table |
| 2PL | asztal-otok | your (pl.) table |
| 3PL | asztal-juk | their table |
Hungarian has two ways of expressing the possessor of something, like the two English constructions a friend's book and a book of a friend.
Possessors can be in the nominative case, e.g. a lány, or dative, e.g. a lánynak:
The constructions can mean the same, but they differ in some ways. The dative (a lánynak) is followed by a ‘the’ , and you have to use the dative in questions with whose:
whose in this sentence is ki-nek, the dative of ki ‘who’.
As usual, there are exceptions to the rule, and they're complicated ! When the possessor is third person plural, the forms change in one of two ways. First, when the possessor is a pronoun, like ők ‘they’, the pronoun loses its -k:
So it looks like a singular possessor, but it is still plural. Second, when the possessor is a noun in the plural, like a lányok, the possessed noun loses its plural ending -(j)uk or -(j)ük:
Hungarian also has possessive pronouns corresponding to mine, yours, etc. They always include the definite article a and are formed as follows:
| Hungarian | English | |
|---|---|---|
| 1SG | az enyém | mine |
| 2SG | a tiéd or a tied | yours (sg.) |
| 3SG | az övé | hers/his |
| 1PL | a miénk | ours |
| 2PL | a tiétek | yours (pl.) |
| 3PL | az övék | theirs |
You can use these forms in sentences like:
Ez a cipő az enyém. ‘This shoe is mine.’
Some words drop the last vowel in the plural /in the accusative case / in possessive forms. We can call this a "fleeting vowel".
For example:
étterem - restaurant
éttermek - restaurants
éttermet - restaurant (accusative)
étterme - his/her restaurant
éttermem - my restaurant
Here we show the accusative singular and the 3rd person singular possessive forms, the other possessive forms follow the pattern.
| English | HU nominative | accusative | 3SG possessive |
|---|---|---|---|
| restaurant | étterem | éttermet | étterme |
| room, hall | terem | termet | terme |
| strawberry | eper | epret | epre |
| mirror | tükör | tükröt | tükre |
| statue | szobor | szobrot | szobra |
| monkey | majom | majmot | majma |
| tail | farok | farkat | farka |
| bush | bokor | bokrot | bokra |
| dream | álom | álmot | álma |
| (lion) cub | kölyök | kölyköt | kölyke |
Words related to location or direction.
| Movement from | Place | Movement to | |
|---|---|---|---|
| every | mindenhonnan | mindenhol | mindenhova |
| some | valahonnan | valahol | valahova |
| none | sehonnan | sehol | sehova |
| Movement from | Place | Movement to | |
|---|---|---|---|
| every | mindenfelől | - | mindenfelé |
| some | valamerről | - | valamerre |
| none | semerről | - | semerre |
mindenfelől is not a location, it is a directional indicator. The closest translation is ‘from every direction’. mindenhonnan can be translated as ‘from everywhere’.
to everywhere — mindenhova
from every direction — mindenfelől
There is no third option here, since we cannot use a direction as a location.
As we saw earlier, usually we can choose between a short form and a long form to show possession:
the boy's dog = a fiú kutyája / a fiúnak a kutyája
the girl's cat = a lány macskája / a lánynak a macskája
However, if you use the possessor with this/that, you have to use the longer form (with the -nak-nek ending)
this boy's dog = ennek a fiúnak a kutyája
that boy's dog = annak a fiúnak a kutyája
this girl's cat = ennek a lánynak a macskája
that girl's cat = annak a lánynak a macskája
If the possessor is plural:
these boys' dog = ezeknek a fiúknak a kutyája
those girls' cat = azoknak a lányoknak a macskája
Let's refresh the possessive endings:
| Hungarian | English | |
|---|---|---|
| 1SG | -öm, -em, -om, -m | my |
| 2SG | -öd, -ed, -od, -d | your (sg.) |
| 3SG | -je, -ja, -e, -a | his/her/its |
| 1PL | -ünk, -unk, -nk | our |
| 2PL | -(ö)tök, -(e)tek, -(o)tok | your (pl.) |
| 3PL | -jük, -juk, -ük, -uk | their |
But we will see that the 3rd person plural behaves strangely.
Exceptions
As usual, there are a few exceptions to the general rule. When the possessor is third person plural, the forms change in one of two ways. First, when the possessor is a pronoun, ők ‘they’, the pronoun loses its -k. (This only happens with ők, all other pronouns stay intact.)
az ő cipőjük ‘their shoe’
az ő asztaluk ‘their table’
So it looks like a singular possessor, but is still plural. Second, when the possessor is a plural noun, like a lányok, the possessed noun loses its plural ending -(j)uk or -(j)ük
a lányok cipője ‘the girls' shoe’
a lányok asztala ‘the girls' table'
First, we have to make a distinction. Do we have a Possessive sentence, like The boy's dog is black. A fiú kutyája fekete.
or a To have sentence: The boy has a dog. A fiúnak van egy kutyája.
So, in total:
| Possessive sentence | To have sentence | |
|---|---|---|
| they | -juk | -juk |
| az ő kutyájuk | (nekik) van egy kutyájuk | |
| their dog | they have a dog | |
| plural noun | -ja | -juk |
| a fiúk kutyája, a fiúknak a kutyája | a fiúknak van egy kutyájuk | |
| the boys' dog | the boys have a dog | |
| önök, maguk | -ja | -juk |
| az önök kutyája | önöknek van egy kutyájuk | |
| your dog | you have a dog | |
| not named | -juk | -juk |
| a kutyájuk | van egy kutyájuk | |
| (their/your) dog | (they/you) have a dog |
One more thing, where Possessive sentence versus a To have sentence makes a big difference.
Annak a fiúnak a kutyája barna. That boy's dog is black.
(You have to write a kutyája here.)
Annak a fiúnak van egy kutyája. /Annak a fiúnak van kutyája. That boy has a dog.
(Here, egy kutyája or kutyája without article is possible.)
Ablative Postpositional Pronouns
Take some postpositions, add moving away from something and attach some personal endings.
| English | Postposition | ... me | ... you | ... him/her |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (from) beside | mellől | mellőlem | mellőled | mellőle |
| (from) under | alól | alólam | alólad | alóla |
| (from) in front of | elől | előlem | előled | előle |
| (from) above | fölül | fölülem | fölüled | fölüle |
| (from) behind | mögül | mögülem | mögüled | mögüle |
Adessive Postpositional Pronouns
Take some postpositions, and attach some personal endings.
| English | Postposition | ... me | ... you | ... him/her |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| beside, next to | mellett | mellettem | melletted | mellette |
| under | alatt | alattam | alattad | alatta |
| in front of | előtt | előttem | előtted | előtte |
| above | fölött | fölöttem | fölötted | fölötte |
| behind | mögött | mögöttem | mögötted | mögötte |
| after | után | utánam | utánad | utána |
Allative Postpositional Pronouns
Take some postpositions, add moving towards something and attach some personal endings.
| English | Postposition | ...me | ... you | ... him/her |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (to) beside | mellé | mellém | melléd | mellé |
| (to) under | alá | alám | alád | alá |
| (to) in front of | elé | elém | eléd | elé |
| (to) above | fölé | fölém | föléd | fölé |
| (to) behind | mögé | mögém | mögéd | mögé |
| towards | felé | felém | feléd | felé |
| (to) around | köré | körém | köréd | köré |
You've already learned quite a bit about possession in Hungarian. You might have noticed, however, that the examples so far were missing something, namely
plurals of possessed nouns.
While usually plurals of nouns are indicated by the suffix -k (with a vowel preceding it), when we're dealing with a possessed noun, like his bosses, the plural is formed in a different way, with -i. So:
The great thing about this suffix is that there's no vowel harmony. It's simply -i and remains -i. Thus:
Let's look at the plural forms of the words cipő and asztal that we discussed in the Tips and Notes of "Ownership". Cipő ‘shoe’ has front vowels and ends in a vowel, so its possessed forms are:
| Hungarian | English | |
|---|---|---|
| 1SG | cipő-im | my shoes |
| 2SG | cipő-id | your (sg.) shoes |
| 3SG | cipő-i | her/his shoes |
| 1PL | cipő-ink | our shoes |
| 2PL | cipő-itek | your (pl.) shoes |
| 3PL | cipő-ik | their shoes |
asztal ‘table' has back vowels and ends in a consonant, so its possessed forms are:
| Hungarian | English | |
|---|---|---|
| 1SG | asztal-aim | my tables |
| 2SG | asztal-aid | your (sg.) tables |
| 3SG | asztal-ai | her/his tables |
| 1PL | asztal-aink | our tables |
| 2PL | asztal-aitok | your (pl.) tables |
| 3PL | asztal-aik | their tables |
Be careful, ők gets shortened to ő in some possessive structures, and only the possessive ending shows the possessor:
az ő széke - his/her chair
az ő székük - their chair
az ő székei - his/her chairs
az ő székeik - their chairs
az ő háza - his/her house
az ő házuk - their house
az ő házai - his/her houses
az ő házaik - their houses
You've already learned a whole lot about Hungarian verbs! They can be intransitive (not take an object) or transitive (take an object). When they are transitive, they can have different forms based on whether their object is definite or not! And of course, we can put them in the past tense, too.
So far, you were practising these skills separately, but in this skill, you'll have to concentrate on whether you're dealing with the present or the past, and with definite or indefinite objects!
This skill is about embedded clauses with verbs of believing, such as gondol ‘to believe’, and verbs of saying, such as kérdez ‘to ask’.
In English, the complement clause of believe is often introduced by that. In Hungarian, hogy has the same function (but it is preceded by a comma):
In Hungarian, however, the main clause also contains azt, the accusative form of the demonstrative az. This is necessary with the verbs gondol, hisz ‘to believe’ and válaszol ‘to reply’:
Here, you will meet possessed direct objects, objects with both a possessive and an accusative suffix. The form is that the noun is followed by the possessive marker and by the accusative marker - in that order:
• ház → ház-am → ház-am-at ‘my house (obj.)’
The accusative is fairly regular, too. Recall that for a word like alma ‘apple’, adding the accusative lengthens the final vowel:
• alma → almá-t ‘apple (obj.)’
The same happens with possessive forms ending in -a:
• ház-a ‘his/her/its house’ → ház-á-t ‘his/her/its house (obj.)’
Note that possessed direct objects (nearly) always require the definite verb form, and they often appear with a definite determiner or possessor .
Finally, if the possessor is in the first or second person singular, the accusative can sometimes be omitted:
• Add a kezed! ‘Give me your hand!’
Here, it is fairly common to just use kezed instead of kezedet. But if the possessor is in the third person this is never possible.