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This page is aboutverbs inHungarian grammar.

There is basically only one pattern for verb endings, with predictable variations dependent on the phonological context.

Thelemma or citation form is always the third person singular indefinite present. This usually has a ∅ suffix, e.g.kér ("ask", "have a request").

A slight variation to the standard pattern is with certain verbs which have third person singular indefinite present ending with-ik, e.g.dolgozik ("s/he works"), and 1st singular indefinite present usually with-om/-em/-öm. The stem for this is reached by removing-ik. These verbs are one of the reasons why this form is the citation form.

The-ik verbs were originallymiddle voice,reflexive orpassive in meaning, which can still be seen e.g. about the pairtör ("s/he breaks something") vstörik ("something breaks" / "something gets broken"). However, most of them have lost this connection (they can have active meanings) so historically speaking they are likedeponent verbs. Some verb pairs only differ in the presence or absence of the-ik ending, while they are unrelated in meaning, such asér ('be worth something' or 'arrive') andérik ('ripen').

With these verbs, the third person singular (present indefinite indicative) form (i.e., the lemma) consistently uses the-ik form. What is more, new-ik words continue to be created (e.g.netezik "use the Internet").

However, the first person singular (present indefinite indicative) suffix is often assimilated to the "normal" conjugation (as it has happened to the other-ik-specific forms), so most verbs usually take the regular form for this person (e.g.hazudok; *hazudom would be taken ashypercorrect or incorrect). Nevertheless, with some basic-ik verbs, the assimilated variant is stigmatized (e.g.eszem is expected in educated speech, rather than *eszek), so with these verbs, the traditional form is advised. At any rate, such non-traditional, assimilated variants are not rare in colloquial spoken language.

Since this (3rd personsingular indefinite)-ik ending coincides with the-ik ending of the 3rd personplural definite form, only the type of the object makes it possible to identify the subject:

• eszik egy almát:egy almát "an apple" is indefinite, so the verb must be a singular form, i.e. "s/he is eating an apple;"
• eszik az almát:az almát "the apple" is definite, so the verb must be a plural form, i.e. "they are eating the apple."

In fact, most-ik verbs are intransitive, and the context may clarify the question even if the subject is not made explicit.

Some important "traditional"-ik verbs are the following. A person may appear uneducated if s/he uses the-k ending with them for the 1st person singular form:

aggódik "worry",álmodik "dream",alszik "sleep",bízik "trust",dicsekszik "brag",dohányzik "smoke",dolgozik "work",emlékszik "remember",érdeklődik "be interested or inquire",érkezik "arrive",esküszik "swear",eszik "eat",fázik "be cold",fekszik "lie" ("recline"),foglalkozik "deal with",gondolkodik orgondolkozik "be thinking",gondoskodik "look after",gyanakszik "suspect",gyönyörködik "delight in",hallatszik "be audible",haragszik "be angry",hiányzik "be missing",igyekszik "strive, hurry",iszik "drink",játszik "play",jelentkezik "apply",költözik "move (residence)",következik "follow",különbözik "differ",lakik "live" (inhabit),látszik "be visible",működik "function",növekszik "grow",nyugszik "rest",öregszik "grow old",panaszkodik "complain",származik "originate from",találkozik "meet",tartozik "owe" or "belong",tartózkodik "stay" ("reside"),törődik "care about",unatkozik "be bored",vágyik "desire",változik "change" (refl.),verekszik "fight" (e.g. at school),veszekszik "quarrel",vetkőzik "take off clothes",viselkedik "behave" andvitatkozik "argue".^[1]

For most other verbs, the-k ending is common in the indefinite meaning, especially in casual speech. Verbs ending in-zik, which refer to using some tool, almost exclusively take the-k, such asbiciklizik "ride the bicycle",gitározik "play the guitar" ormobilozik "use the mobile phone".

There are a few non-traditional-ik verbs where the-m ending is impossible and ungrammatical (except in the definite conjugation, if meaningful). These are called "pseudo-ik verbs"(álikes igék) in Hungarian. Examples:

bomlik "dissolve",(el)bújik "hide",egerészik "catch mice",érik "ripen",folyik "flow",gyűlik "assemble" (refl.),hazudik "tell a lie",hullik "fall",illik "suit",kopik "wear off",megjelenik "appear",múlik "pass",nyílik "open" (refl.),ömlik "pour" (refl.),születik "be born",(meg)szűnik "discontinue",telik "fill up",tojik "lay (eggs)",törik "get broken",tűnik "seem",válik "become" or "divorce",züllik "become depraved".^[2]

The regular non-ik verbkönyörög "beg" has a hypercorrect first-person singular indefinite present formkönyörgöm "I am begging" (used especially as an emphatic interjection to support an argument in spoken language), which conjugation mimics that of-ik verbs. The correct form would bekönyörgök. However, it is argued by some^[3][4] that the formkönyörgöm is not unacceptable, either, and it reflects an idiomatic expressionkönyörgöm (magát/az Istent) "I am begging (you/God)", which has eventually lost its object and in which the formkönyörgöm actually (correctly) follows definite conjugation.

Theinfinitive of a verb is the form suffixed by-ni, e.g.várni, kérni. There is a variant-ani/eni, which is used with the following groups:

• verbs ending in two consonants (e.g.játszani, tartani, küldeni, választani, festeni, mondani, hallani, ajánlani),
• verbs ending in a long vowel +t (e.g.fűteni, véteni, tanítani, bocsátani) and
• the wordsvéd andedz (védeni andedzeni respectively).

Exceptions areállni "to stand",szállni "to fly",varrni "to sew",forrni "to boil", which have-ni despite the two consonants.This is due to the fact that, in written language, the "long" 'l' or 'r' of the stem has to be kepteven in the forms where it is pronounced short.

When an infinitive is used with an impersonal verb, the personal suffixes may be added to the infinitive to indicate the person, as inPortuguese. Except in the 3rd person singular and plural, the-i of the infinitive is dropped, e.g.Mennem kell. ("I have to go."). The person can also be indicated using-nak/-nek, e.g.Nekem kell mennem. ("I have to go.),Jánosnak mennie kell ("János has to go.")

These forms use theo/e/ö set of suffixes (Type II, like possessive suffixes do), seePersonal suffixes and link vowels.

Most verbs have two inflected tenses, past and present, and a future form using an auxiliary verb. The verblenni,to be, has three inflected tenses: past (volt =was), present (van =is) and future (lesz =will be).

In the present tense, onlysibilant-ending verbs differ from the rest, such as verbs ending in-s, -sz, -z and-dz. The chart below compares the conjugation of the regularkér 'ask' ("have a request") andvár 'wait' (as examples for front and back vowels) with the sibilant-endingkeres 'look for' andmászik 'climb.' Example of verbs ending in the other two possible sonorants,-z and-dz, arehúz 'pull' andedz 'train', which similarly double their stem consonants where-s and-sz are doubled (e.g.húzzuk, eddzük in the first person plural).

*:mászik being an-ik verb, its indefinite 1st person singular form can bemászom instead ofmászok in literary style. Theik ending in its indefinite 3rd person singular form naturally doesn't apply to verbs without this ending.

The forms marked in bold are those where the suffix of sibilant-ending verbs differ from the suffix of other verbs: either because of the alternative 2nd person endingl (to avoid two sibilants getting next to each other), or because of the assimilation ofj. Incidentally, the latter forms (with doubled stem consonants) coincide with the subjunctive (or imperative) forms.

Futurity can be expressed in a variety of ways:

1. By the auxiliary verbfog for any verb, expressing a strong intention or a necessity of events brought about by circumstances (fog menni = "will go",fog beszélni = "will speak",fog lenni = "will be".)
2. The verbvan, uniquely, has an inflected future tense (leszek, leszel etc.). (Seevan (to be).)
3. By the present tense, when this is clearly a reference to a future time (e.g. the presence of explicit temporal adverbs, e.g.majd = soon) or in the case of verbs withperfective aspect). (Compare, eg "We're visiting Disneyland" in English: normally this indicates present tense, but adding "next July" makes it unambiguously future tense).

The past tense is expressed with the suffix-t or-ott/-ett/-ött and inflects for person and number. As in the present tense, there are specialindefinite forms for intransitive verbs and transitive verbs with direct objects that are 1st or 2nd person or indefinite, whiledefinite forms are used for transitive verbs with definite, 3rd person direct objects, and there is a special form used just for instances where there is a 1st person subject and 2nd person direct object.

As far as the two phonetic variants are concerned, there are three types:

• Type I never uses link vowel (mostly those with "soft" ending consonants, i.e.sonorants)
• Type II only uses link vowel in the 3rd person singular indefinite (those that could be regarded as "middle-hard" consonants)
• Type III uses link vowel in every form (mostly those ending in the "hard" consonantt or a consonant cluster).

Note: Strike-through Roman numbers in the last row refer to the types which would apply if the verbs concerned were regular.

If the above phonetic guidelines don't help, it may be useful as a rule of thumb to learn the rules and exceptions only for Type I and Type III and use Type II otherwise, because this latter type comprises the broadest range of verbs.

Front-vowel unrounded verbs that end in consonant +-t may have ambiguous (coinciding, homophonous) forms between plain and causative forms forms in writing because the letter 'e' represents two different vowels:ɛIPA Number 303 andæIPA Number 325. The syllable 'tet' always contains a closedɛ in the meaning 1 and always contains an openæ in the meaning 2 in speech. This homonymy only exists in writing if the speaker is sophisticated.•. Approximately a hundred verbs are concerned that end in one of the following endings:-jt, -lt, -mt, -nt, -rt, -st, -szt.

The past tenses ofsejt ("suspect", Type III) andsejtet ("make them suspect something", Type II) are identical, except for the third person indefinite form where it issejt|ett forsejt, butsejtet|ett forsejtet. However, it usually turns out from the argument structure and the context which meaning is intended.

This ambiguity doesn't occur with back-vowel verbs because the linking vowel is different for the normal past tense and the causative, e.g.bontotta "s/he demolished it" (bont- +-otta) vs.bontatta "s/he had it demolished" (bont- +-at- +-ta). The linking vowel can only beo for back-vowel verbs (as stated above:-ott/-ett/-ött) and the causative can only havea with back vowels (-at/-et). Similarly, it doesn't occur with front-vowel verbs with a rounded vowel, either: e.g.gyűjtötte ("s/he collected them") vsgyűjtette (s/he had them collected").

Below is a chart to review the conjugation differences between coinciding forms of thesame verb. Ambiguous forms in the same person are marked in bold.

Another kind of ambiguity can arise with type I verbs between the second person plural plain form and the first person singular causative form, e.g.beszéltetek (only indefinite forms involved):

• "you [pl] spoke":beszél ("speak") +-t- (past) +-etek ("you [pl]")
• "I make somebody speak":beszél +-tet- (causative) +-ek ("I")

It can also occur with similar back-vowel verbs, e.g.csináltatok "you [pl] did something" or "I have something done".

beszéltek can also have two interpretations (only indefinite forms involved, again) in writing because the letter 'e' represents two different vowels:ɛIPA Number 303 andæIPA Number 325:

• "you [pl] speak":beszél +-tek ("you [pl]")
• "they spoke":beszél +-t- (past) +-ek ("they")

The syllable 'tek' always contains a closedɛ in the meaning you [pl] (present) and always contains an openæ in the meaning third person plural past in speech. This homonymy only exists in writing if the speaker is sophisticated.

This latter case is not possible with back-vowel verbs, due to the difference of the linking vowel:csináltok "you [pl] do something" vs.csináltak "they did something". If the affix contains the back-vowel 'o' then it is the counterpart of the front-vowel 'e' which always a closedɛ. If the affix contains the back-vowel 'a' then it is the counterpart of the front-vowel 'e' which always an openæ.

Below is a chart to review the conjugation differences between coinciding forms of thesame verb (again). Ambiguous forms in different persons are marked with asterisks.

Front-vowel verbs in type III that end in-t may cause ambiguity, like between the past tense of a verb and the present tense of another. For example:

•

Below is a chart to review the conjugation differences between coinciding forms ofunrelated verbs. Ambiguous forms in the same person are marked in bold; ambiguous forms in different persons are marked with asterisks.

The correct pronunciation of 'féltem' "I was afraid" is 'feltæm'.The correct pronunciation of 'féltem' "I fear for him/her/it" is 'feltɛm'.
The correct pronunciation of 'féltetek' "you were afraid" is 'feltætɛk'.The correct pronunciation of 'féltetek' "you fear for somebody" is 'feltɛtɛk'.
The correct pronunciation of 'féltek' "They were afraid" is 'feltæk'.The correct pronunciation of 'féltek' "I fear for somebody" is 'feltɛk'.
These homonyms only exist in writing if the speaker is sophisticated.

Hungarian verbs have 3moods:indicative,conditional andsubjunctive /imperative. The indicative has a past and non-past tense. The conditional has a non-past tense and a past form, made up of the past tense indicative as the finite verb with the non-finite verbvolna. The subjunctive only has a single tense.

Use of the conditional:

In a sentence with "if", unlike in English, the appropriate conditional tense is used in both the "if" clause and the main clause. The present conditional is used to talk about unlikely or impossible events in the present or future, e.g.Ha találkoznál a királynővel, mit mondanál? ("If you met [lit.:would meet] the Queen, what would you say?"). The past conditional is used for past events which did not happen, e.g.Ha nem találkoztunk volna a királynővel, órákkal ezelőtt megérkeztünk volna. ("If we hadn't [lit.:wouldn't have] met the Queen, we would have arrived hours ago.") (cf. the Englishcounterfactual conditional).

The front-vowel suffix at the end of the 1st person singular indefinite form of the back-vowel verb(várnék) is an apparent exception from the vowel harmony: it may serve to distinguish from the 3rd person plural definite form(várnák). (The indefinitekérnék forms still coincide, just like the 1st and 2nd person plural endings.)

The only opposition between the 3rd person singular definite and indefinite forms is vowel length (althougha–á ande–é differ in quality as well), which can be considered one of the rarefusional traits in Hungarian.

A linking vowel is inserted into verbs with a consonant cluster or long vowel +t at the end, e.g.festenék 'I would paint',tanítanék 'I would teach', analogously to the rules given for theinfinitive form.

Uses of the subjunctive:

1. For a command (i.e. an imperative)
2. For a request
3. For hesitant questions with 1st singular subject (cf. English "Shall I …?")
4. For suggestions for joint action with 1st plural subject (cf. English "Let's …")
5. For wishes (3rd person singular and plural)
6. In subordinate clauses after verbs expressing orders, requests, suggestions, wishes, permission, etc.
7. Inhogy subordinate clauses expressing purpose

In the subjunctive or imperative mood, verbs with asibilant ort ending differ from the rest, with two groups for thet ending: those with a preceding short vowel, and those with a preceding long vowel or a consonant.

Meanings of the verbs below:kér 'ask (have a request)',vár 'wait',keres 'look for',olvas 'read',fest 'paint',szeret 'love',fut 'run',ment 'save',tanít 'teach',böngészik 'browse',mászik 'climb',ereszt 'let go',akaszt 'hang',néz 'look at',húz 'pull',edz 'train',lopódzik 'sneak'.

Note 1:Fest 'paint' is the only single example (according to the Reverse-alphabetical dictionary of the Hungarian Language) that ends inst, and there is no-ik verb with these two ending consonants. This verb is conjugated like theszeret, fut type:fessek, fess(él), fessen, fessünk, fessetek, fessenek; fessem, fes(se)d, fesse, fessük, fessétek, fessék; fesselek.

Note 2: the definite conjugation may be ungrammatical for verbs that cannot have an object, e.g.fut 'run',lopódzik 'sneak'. However, these forms may occur in constructions likevégigfutja a távot 'run all through the distance', or perhaps evenvégiglopóddza az épületeket 'sneak through the buildings'. This solution doesn't work, though, for the forms affecting the 2nd person (unless in a poetic, vocative sense), that is why they are marked with an asterisk.

Forms marked with a preceding equality sign are identical with the indicative forms.

Second person forms have a short and a long variant both in indefinite and definite conjugation, with minimal difference in style.

In Hungarian, verbs not only show agreement with their subjects but also carry information on the definiteness of their direct objects. This results in two types ofconjugations: definite (used if there is a definite object) and indefinite (if there is no definite object):

Basically, theindefinite conjugation is used if there is no definite object, that is i) if there is no object at all, or ii) if the object is indefinite (see details below). However, exceptionally, the indefinite conjugation is also used if the object is a 1st- or 2nd-person pronoun, either stated or not (even though the reference of personal pronouns is definite by nature).

An object is indefinite if it is:

1. a noun with no determiner
2. a noun with an indefinite article
3. a noun with a numeral or an indefinite determiner (e.g. "any, some, every" but not "all [the]")
4. an indefinite pronoun such as "something, anything, everyone" etc.
5. an interrogative pronoun (except "which?")
6. a first- or second-person pronoun, whether stated or unstated
7. a relative pronoun

Thedefinite conjugation is used if the verb has a definite object, which can be:

1. a proper noun (some types with zero article, other types preceded by a definite article)
2. a noun with a definite article
3. a noun with the determinersmelyik,hányadik ('which'),mindegyik ('each'), oraz összes ('all'); the noun may be omitted in these constructions
4. a 3rd-person pronoun, either stated or unstated
5. the reflexive pronoun (a form ofmaga, '-self')
6. a demonstrative pronoun ("this, that")
7. the indefinite pronounmind ('all [of something]'), includingmindkét ('both'), or a noun phrase determined by it
8. a subordinate clause (like "[the fact] that…" or "if/whether…")

A special suffix (-lak/-lek) is used if the verb has a first-person singular subject AND a second-person (singular or plural) object (in the informal conjugation), e.g.Szeretlek. ("I love you" ― singular),Szeretlek titeket. ("I love you all" ― plural).

Examples:

If no explicit object is present, the most common interpretation of thedefinite verb forms is including"him/her/it". If anindefinite verb form semantically requires an object,"me" or"you [sg]" or – obviously – an indefinite object (third person) can be inferred:"something". (The plural forms are generally made explicit.) This difference makes it possible for the writer or speaker to refer to people without making them explicit. In most cases it is enough through the context to differentiate between 3rd-person and non-3rd-person pronouns.

Definite examples:

• olvassa ("s/he is reading") – most common meaning: s/he is readingit (the book etc.)
• nézi ("s/he is looking") – most common meaning: s/he is looking athim/her/it

Indefinite examples:

• fut ("s/he is running") – usually can't have an object so its meaning is unambiguous
• olvas ("s/he is reading") – most common meaning: s/he is readingsomething (the object may be omitted like in English)
• néz ("s/he is looking") – most common meaning: s/he is looking atme oryou (or: gazing in the air)

Hungarian uses active forms not only in the active sense (e.g. "He opened the door") and in themiddle voice sense (e.g. "The door opened"), but also uses the third person plural active form to express the passive (e.g. "The door was opened"). For example,Megvizsgálják a gyereket literally means "They examine the child", but it is more commonly meant like "The child is examined". The passive voice meaning is shown by the fact that the third personplural form can be used even when only oneagent is meant (the child is examined byone doctor).

Another way to express the passive meaning is withmiddle voice lexical forms orunaccusative verbs, e.g.épül: "being built"/ intransitive (vs.épít "build"/ transitive),alakul: "developing form"/ intransitive (cf.alakít "form"/ transitive). Here the suffix-ul/-ül expresses the middle voice (creating intransitive verbs), as opposed to-ít which expresses the active (creatingtransitive verbs). Middle voice forms can also be created from some plain verbs by adding-ódik/-ődik, e.g.íródik "get written" (fromír "write"),ütődik "get hit" (fromüt "hit"). These active/middle pairs are available for a considerable proportion of Hungarian verbs.

In theperfect, there is a third way to express passive meaning: the existential verbvan (seevan (to be)) plus the adverbial participle ending in-va/-ve (seeAdverb derivation), e.g.meg van írva "it is written" (frommegír "write"). It is used when theresult of the action is emphasized. It can be formed in the past perfect and future perfect, too, with the past and future forms ofvan. – A similar structure is used in a past meaning withlett:meg lett írva "it was written" or "it has been written" (sometimes "it had been written").

Though generally considered obsolete, the actual passive form does occur, formed with-atik/-etik or-tatik/-tetik (that is, adding-ik to acausative suffix). The only common example isszületik ("be born", fromszül "give birth"). However, the construction can be used more generally, as inadatik ("be given", fromad "give"),viseltetik ("owe somebody certain feelings", fromvisel "bear"),foglaltatik ("be included", from(magába) foglal "include"). These can be formed by .

Here is a regular verb,kér ("ask, request"). The personal suffixes are marked in bold.

Hungarian has two forms which can be added to any verb stem to modify the meaning. These are sometimes referred to as "infixes", since they appear between the verb stem and its conjugation suffixes, but technically, trueinfixes are inserted inside a morpheme.

The suffix-hat-/-het- has amodal meaning of permission or opportunity, e.g.beszélek "I speak",beszélhetek "I may speak" or "I am allowed to speak".

Note: Ability is usually expressed with the auxiliar verbtud (Tudokbeszélni, "I can speak").SeeAuxiliary verbs (modal and temporal).

The suffix-at-/-et- and-tat-/-tet- have acausative meaning. It can express "having something done" or "having/making someone do something". For example:beszélek "I speak",beszéltetek "I make somebody speak",beszéltetem "I make him/her/it speak". (Coincidentally, this is the same form as "you [pl] spoke", analysedbeszél|t|etek, seePast tense.)

The suffix-tat/-tet is used if the word ends in vowel +-t or if the stem ends in a consonant different from-t, but it has two or more syllables (excluding the verbal particle). In other cases,-at/-et is used: that is, with words ending in a consonant +t and with one-syllable words ending in a consonant different from-t.

The monosyllabic words which don't end in vowel +-t, but have-tat/-tet in the causative areáz·ik (áztat), buk·ik (buktat), kop·ik (koptat), él (éltet), kel (keltet), lép (léptet), szűn·ik (szüntet [!]), szök·ik (szöktet).

Some monosyllabic words not ending in vowel +-t have both-at/-et and-tat/-tet as causative forms, with differences in meaning. For example:

• szop·ik (szopat: to make someone suck on something;szoptat: to allow someone to suck on something, e.g. during breastfeeding)
• hány^[5][6] (hányat: to make someone throw something (e.g. firewood) into a heap;hánytat: to help someone vomit)
• jár^[7][8] (járat: to ensure someone (e.g. a child) goes somewhere (e.g. to school) regularly, to start and operate (e.g. a machine);jártat: to lead someone or something (e.g. an animal) while walking).

A noun is formed from a verb by adding-ás/-és to the verb stem (cf.gerund in English), e.g.Az úszás egészséges. ("Swimming is healthy.")

There are threeparticiples in Hungarian. They are formed by adding the following suffixes to the verb stem:

• -ó/-ő - present participle, e.g.író ember ("awriting person")
• -ott/-ett/-ött/-t - past participle, e.g.megírt levél ("awritten letter" /"the letter that has been written")
• -andó/-endő - future participle, e.g.írandó levél ("a letterto be written")

Since thepast participle usually expresses a perfected action/event, the verb sometimes changes into itsperfective counterpart by taking a verbal particle(igekötő) with this function, as seen in the above example(megírt levél). This verbal particle may, however, be replaced by a noun, e.g.Annának írt levél ("a letter written to Anna"). –See more underHungarian syntax.

Hungarian verbs can have verb particles or prefixes, similar tophrasal verbs in English. The most common ones aremeg- (perfective, but some other ones, too, can take this function),fel- ("up"),le- ("down"/"off"),be- ("in"),ki- ("out"),el- ("away"),vissza- ("back"),át- ("over"/"through"),oda- ("there"),ide- ("here"),össze- ("together"),szét- ("apart"), "rá-" ("on top").

These can produce literal or figurative, idiomatic meanings. For exampleír ("write"),leír ("write down"),beír ("write into") can figuratively mean:leír ("declare as useless, write off"),beír ("write up a reprimand [to a schoolchild]"); alsorúg ("kick"),kirúg ("fire somebody, kick out"),berúg ("get drunk"). Prefixes can express subtle differences: e.g.meghízik "get fat" vs.elhízik "get obese", literally "fatten away")They often serve to change the verb into perfective (along with other factors).

When the particle precedes the verb without any other inserted word, they are used as one word, e.g.Leírja ("He writes it down"). The particle may instead follow the verb for various syntactic reasons. It may be displaced from the leading position by a stressed element of the sentence (the focus), e.g.Ő írja le ("It'shim who writes it down") or a negation, e.g.Nem írja le ("He doesn't write it down"), or in the imperative mood, e.g.Írjad le! ("Write it down!"). Finally, it may also indicatecontinuity, e.g.Lement a lépcsőn ("He went down the stairs") vs.Ment le a lépcsőn ("He was going down the stairs").

If the verb is in the infinitive, thefinite verb is placed between them, e.g.Le akarja írni ("He wants to write it down") orLe tudja írni ("He can write it down").

The particle may considerably affect thecase of thecomplement: for example, the verbkezd ("start something") can be modified by several different verb particles, but their complement (indirect object) agrees with the particle:

• elkezd valamit (accusative)
• nekikezd valaminek (dative)
• belekezd valamibe (illative)
• hozzákezd valamihez (allative)

When giving a short positive answer to a yes/no question, the particle can refer back to the whole sentence, seeYes/no questions. e.g.Elkezdted? El! ("Did you start it? Yes!")

In literary style, articles can be reduplicated to indicate a gradual or stuttering action:ki-kijött a mὁkus ("the squirrel crept out").

A few words begin with a syllable which is a homonym of a particle, e.g.felel ("reply"),lehel ("breathe/puff"),kiált ("give a shout") andbeszél ("speak"), where the first syllable is an integral part of the morpheme, not a particle modifying a verb stem. Another isfellebbez ("appeal [in court]"), from the adverbfellebb ("upper", today:feljebb). These syllables do not function as particles: compare the abovekiált (no compound) withki|áll ("stand out", a compound):nem kiált ("he doesn't give a shout"), butnem áll ki ("he doesn't stand out"). An entire verb may occasionally have such a homonym, e.g.betűz ("spell [with letters]", no compound), butbe|tűz ("stick in" or "blaze in", a compound).

In some cases, an original compound word has become fused into a single inseparable morpheme. For example,kirándul ("go hiking") was originally analyzed aski + rándul, but current usage isKirándulni akar ("s/he wants to go hiking"), notKi akar rándulni, which is obsolete and only used jokingly.

Some verbs do not admit separation because they are formed from a noun with a prefixed particle. An example isbefolyásol ("influence", v), derived from the nounbefolyás ("influence", n), itself acalque from GermanEinfluß, literally "in-flow". In the derived verbbefolyásol, the particlebe- cannot be separated, since there is no verbfolyásol. Another example iskivitelez ("implement") fromkivitel ("implementation, execution", literally "carrying out"). Similarly,ellenőriz 'check', derived from the nounellenőr ("inspector"), stays together asNem ellenőrzök ("I don't check"), in contrast toellenáll ("resist"), which separates as inNem állok ellen ("I don't resist"). A common solecism among native speakers is the case offeltételez ("suppose" or "assume"), which comes from the nounfeltétel ("condition"), but is still often separated:?fel sem tételezhetjük, ?fel kell tételeznünk ("we can't even assume, we must suppose"), instead of the correct formsnem is feltételezhetjük, feltételeznünk kell.

Most Hungarianauxiliary verbs are impersonal; beside them, the suffixed infinitive is used. A few are conjugated. (Note: personal suffixes are marked in bold.)

The suffix-hat/-het mentioned in the last row can be further conjugated, just like any verb.

The verblehet is used impersonally, e.g.oda lehet menni "one can go there".

The verbszokik is conjugated like a regular past tense one (though it can have the indefinite and the definite forms, too), however, used with an infinitive, it has the meaning of a habitual action which includes the present time.

Examples:

• Szoktam álmodni ("I dream usually")
• Meg szoktam mosni ("I usually wash it")

The verbsvan ("to be"),jön ("to come") andmegy ("to go") have an irregular present tense and irregular stems for different tenses.jön also has irregular forms in the subjunctive. A further group of 9 verbs have irregular stems for different tenses, but follow the same pattern of irregularity as each other. A few other verbs shorten or drop a vowel with certain suffixes.

The verb "to be" in Hungarian isvan (3rd person),lenni (infinitive).

When the verb is used as acopula i.e. if one speaks aboutwhat someone or somethingis, it is omitted in the third person singular and plural of the present tense. The verb is required in all other tenses ("volt", "lesz") and persons ("vagyok", "vagy", "vagyunk", "vagytok"), and also when speaking aboutwhere orhow something is, or to emphasize the existence or availability of something the verb is required too. There is a hierarchy according to which the "van" verb is omitted.

Lets name these hierarchical steps the steps of "van's omission"

1. Would there be a verb in the sentence in the first place? - if so, then "van" might be omittable in thenext steps
2. Is the subject in third person singular form? - if it is, then it might be omittable in thenext steps
3. Is the sentencenot passive voice? - if it isnot, then it might be omittable in thenext steps
4. Is the sentence present tense? - if it is, then it might be omittable in thenext steps
5. Is the subjectnot possessed? - if it isnot, then it might be omittable in thenext step
6. Is the subjectstraight this, or that? - if it is, then "van"must be omittable by this time
7. "Van" is proven to be impossible to omitagainst all the effort in theprevious steps

Examples:

1. A több az jobb∅. - The more, the merrier∅
   • (both English, and Hungarian are using no verbs: "van's omission" 1. step)
2. Péter orvos∅. – Peteris a doctor (Who, orwhat is Peter?)
   • (speaking about what someoneis: "van's omission" 6. step)
3. Péter jólvan. – Peteris well (How is Peter?)
   • (speaking abouthow someone is: "van's omission" 6. step)
4. Péter ittvan. – Peteris here (Where is Peter?)
   • (speaking aboutwhere someone is: "van's omission" 6. step)
5. Péter Juliskánálvan. – Peteris at Juliet (Where is Peter?)
   • (speaking aboutwhere someone is: "van's omission" 6. step)
6. Péter Juliskáé∅. – Peteris Juliet's (Whose is Peter?)
   • (speaking about whatposssesses something: "van's omission" 5. step)
7. Péter jó fiú∅. - Peteris a good boy (Is Peter a good boy?)
   • (speaking aboutis someone something: "van's omission" 6. step)
8. Péter orvosvolt. – Peterwas a doctor (Whowas Peter?)
   • (speaking aboutwas someone something: "van's omission" 4. step)
9. Orvosvagyok. – Iam a doctor (Who ami?)
   • (speaking about ami something: "van's omission" 2. step)
10. Az ég kék∅. - The skyis blue. (What color is the sky?)
    • (speaking about something's attribute: "van's omission" 6. step)
11. A szobor kőbőlvan. - The statueis made out of stone. (What the statue is madeof?)
    • (speaking about what is something madeof: "van's omission" 6. step)
12. Szoborból négyvan. - Thereare four statues. (How many statues are there?)
    • (speaking abouthow many are there of something: "van's omission" 6. step)
13. Kékvagyok. - Iam blue. (What color ami?)
    • (speaking about ami something: "van's omission" 2. step)
14. Az égvagyok. - Iam the sky. (What ami?)
    • (speaking about ami something: "van's omission" 2. step)
15. Ő Péter∅ - Heis Peter (Who is that person?)
    • (speaking about what someoneis: "van's omission" 6. step)
16. Az ajtó zárvavan - The dooris closed (Is the door locked?)
    • (speaking with passive voice : "van's omission" 3. step)
17. A bolt nyitvavan - The shopis open (Is the door open(-ed)?)
    • (speaking with passive voice : "van's omission" 3. step)

The non-copula form ofvan is also used to express the equivalent of "There is/are":

• Van orvos a szobában. –There is a doctor in the room.

The negation of the third personvan (pluralvannak) as a non-copula verb is thesuppletivenincs (pluralnincsenek):

• Ittvan Péter. – Peteris here.
• Nincs itt Péter. – Peterisn't here.

Hungarian has no verb which is equivalent to "to have". Instead, ownership/possession are expressed in various other ways including to use "van" with a possessive suffix on the noun. This makes possessives in Hungarian very different to English:

1. Van egy könyvem -I have a book
2. Van könyvem - (Meaning is lost during translation)
   • In English it would roughly be translated to one of these (maybe all of these even):
     • ~I have the book
     • ~I do not lack at least one ofmy books
     • ~I have all the books atme that are necessary in this context
   • That is because the word for book can also be meant plural here without "i", and "k" marks, and because there isno article
3. Könyveim vannak - I have books
   • Contrary to "Van könyvem" in this case books are plural explicitly, and this makes translation possible to English while meaning is preserved
4. (Meaning is lost during translation) -I have the book
   • In Hungarian there isno "Van a könyvem" because the English version is not accusative, but invariant (does not regard it), however in Hungarian the word for book mustnot be in accusative case when using "van" to possess with. Also "van" doesnot mean "to have"word for word
   • The Hungarian version would roughly be ~megszereztem a könyvet~ which in English would roughly be "I have got the book"
   • Birtoklom a könyvet is a good candidate to translation, but that would rather mean "I possess the book", or "I own the book" with both translations are treating book in accusative case (marked with "t")
5. Az a könyvem van, amelyik... - I have the book, which...
   • In this case the word for book is no longer in accusative case, and is possible to say with definite article, and "van" verb in the same clause

Like the verb "to be" in many other languages,van is irregular. It comes from three (or four) bases:vagy- (orvan-),vol-, andlen-. These overlap to some extent with the verblesz ("become"). As it cannot have an object (except in passive voice), it does not have definite forms. It is the only verb in Hungarian which has a future form.

There is little difference between the two conditional forms. In theory,lennék etc. are preferred when an option is considered as possible (e.g.Ha otthon lennék, "if I were at home") andvolnék etc. are preferred when it is considered impossible (e.g.Ha rózsa volnék, "if I were a rose"), but the limits are rather vague. It is probably not by chance that the former is akin to the future form (leszek), which might still become true, and the latter to the past form (voltam), which is already determined. In practice, thelennék series is somewhat more frequently used in both senses.

Currently it is arguable whether "van" is the only present tense verb for "to be" considering "volt", and "lesz" with each of their own conjugations to their respective tenses.

• For example the verb "lesz" is arguably a better candidate to be the base form of infinitive verb "lenni" with its past tense is arguably "lett"
  • "volt" is arguably a better candidate to be the base form of infinitive verb "volni"
• Also both "volt", and "lesz" are arguably the base forms of "volna", and "lenne"
• Also considering "lehetett volna", and "volhatott volna" use cases, or conjugations of each of these verbs beside the other clues makes the respective "lesz", and "volt" verbs susceptible to rather be present tense verbs themselves instead of them past, and future tense conjugations of the "van" verb
  • This actually would be parallel to the English "will" auxiliary verb that is also arguably a present tense verb itself too with past tense "would", but that is used in future tense sentences
• Despite any of this "lesz", and "volt" verbs can be interpreted as the future, and past tense conjugations of the "van" verbindeed to a near impossible to foretell extent
  • One such extent is that the "van" verb will often be missing in present tense when its namely conjugations "volt", and "lesz" are present in their respective tenses given the same sentence in a different tense
  • Another such extent is that only the namely present tense "van" possesses a counter opposite word "nincs", and in other tenses these phenomena are composite using the word "nem" (meaning no, not) with the respective verbs "lesz", or "volt", but an expected conjugation to the word "nincs"
  • Another such extent is that the "van" verb is expected toalways miss from third person with the subject of a sentence "is" something, except it doesnot always miss. When the subject is missing (passive voice), "van" is not missing
    • For example in "A bolt be van zárva" - "The shop is closed" passive voice sentence the present tense "van" verb is present in the third person singular form, yet the subject is missing, so the lacking of it can not link the subject to its complement the linguistic theory copula suggestshere (There is no such thing alone as "A bolt bezárva" (although there might be when such things are listed one after the other - with explicit context))
  • Another such extent is that with "van" verb existence cannot be emphasized for the same reason it is missing, yet no verb is absent in Hungarian language when it must be emphasized.
    • For example "Ő okos" (She is smart) with emphasization: "Ő az okos" (She is the smart) - no "van" verb
    • The only other emphasization possible in the "van" verb's case is the "bb" suffix, and the "leg" + adjective + "bb" structure this case, not mentioning that the word "nincs" can not be emphasized the same.
    • For example "Ő okosabb" (She is smarter), and "Ő a legokosabb" (She is the smartest) - no "van" verb
    • In other words "van" is not even vaguely present, or meant in these sentences, so it is way too likely that it does not mean "to be" in English, yet it can be translated to it keeping a selective context in mind
    • "Van" is more like "there is" in English compared to "to be", but not exactly
  • Translation of "van" is somewhat similar to the Spanish words' to "to be" translation, except "van" is mainly present in Spanish "estar" verb's case, with a few exceptions of Spanish "ser" verb's case, otherwise it is missing implicitly in the Spanish "ser" verb's case
    • Exceptions of Spanish "ser" verb's case:
      1. Hungarian "vagyok", "vagy", "vagyunk", "vagytok" cases are told the Spanish "estar" verb's case, not "ser"
      2. Passive voice in these languages are using the opposite "to be" verb. In Spanish it is "ser" unlike in Hungarian in which the used verb for passive voice is closer to (if not exactly) Spanish "estar"
    • Looking at the Spanish using specifically different verbs for cases from which exactly "van" is expected to be just "omitted", verbs "vagyok", "vagy", "vagyunk", "vagytok" are arguably the conjugations of "vagy", but "van" (it is worth mentioning that possessions, and passive voices also include conjugations of "vagy" with "van"not omitted in Hungarian)

For a list of words relating to Hungarian verbs, see theHungarian verbs category of words inWiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Hungarian verb conjugator, with opportunity for testing and practising
• Online morphology charts at the website of the Research Institute for Linguistics of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences
• Hungarian verb conjugatorArchived 2021-02-25 at theWayback Machine Jargot.com's verb conjugator

• Hungarian grammar
• Verbs by language

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