Hungarian grammar

Number, Case, and Person are expressed by means of Suffixes.

There are also suffixes to express place and direction.

These suffixes are joined to the root, which sometimes undergoes orthographical changes.

Place and direction are also indicated by means of postpositions, which, like the suffixes mentioned above, are equivalent to the prepositions of English grammar, but which, as their name indicates, follow the noun instead of preceding it.

Postpositions only differ from the suffixes which also indicate place and direction by being separate from the noun.

Number.

Rule.—The plural is formed by adding -k to nouns ending with a vowel, or -ak, -ok, -ek, or -ök to nouns ending with a consonant.

a and e at the end of a noun become lengthened in the plural.

Nouns ending with a consonant preceded by á or é shorten these vowels in the plural, except those ending in -ság, -ség, -ás, or -és, and a few monosyllabic nouns.

If the final consonants of the last two syllables in polysyllabic nouns would admit of an easy pronunciation without the intervention of a vowel, the vowel of the last syllable is generally dropped in the plural. This contraction mostly takes place when the consonants m-r, k-r, k-l, or reversed, r-m, r-k, and l-k meet.

The following monosyllabic nouns ending with a vowel take v in the plural; some of them at the same time shorten their vowel:—

Collective nouns are used in the plural when several lots or quantities of the same genus are referred to, but in all other cases they are used in the singular. In Hungarian all generic names are collective nouns, as, for instance, the names of fruits, corn, vegetables, minerals, &c., and stand in the singular.

Exercise II.

A házak magasak és a kertek nagyok. A rigók madarak. A vetések zöldek. Az ökrök erősek. A tavak kékek. A hó fehér és hideg. A ló és a kutya házi állatok. A kertben sok szép virág van. Az emberek a kertben vannak.

Apples and pears are pleasant fruits. The dog and the cat are domestic animals. Many strong horses are in the stable. Three beautiful trees are in the garden. Dogs are faithful friends.

Cases of the Noun.

There are four cases:—Nominative, Genitive or Possessive, Dative and Accusative.

The Nominative is the subject of the verb and is the simple word.

The Genitive.

Two different suffixes are used to indicate the genitive or possessive case.

(1) When the names of the possessor and the thing possessed are both mentioned the name of the possessor takes the suffix -nak for flat-sounding words and -nek for sharp-sounding words to indicate the possessive case.

At the same time the name of the thing possessed takes the personal suffix -a, -e or -ja, -je (see Chapter IV.).

The genitive with -nak, -nek, stands in an adjectival relation to the thing possessed. In Péternek kertje, Péternek is the attribute to kertje.

This construction, while grammatically correct, is somewhat cumbersome, and as a rule, when the possessive stands only as attribute to its object, it is not inflected, as the object is already inflected with the personal suffix, which expresses amply the relation between possessor and thing possessed.

Thus, Péter kert-je is more usual than Péter-nek kert-je; in fact, this construction is almost invariably employed.

VAN. VANNAK.

The Hungarian has no word corresponding to the English verb “to have,” but expresses possession by the possessive case with the verb van, “is,” or other parts of the verb lenni, “to be.”

The form of the possessive with the verb van is called its subjective form, and is always to be translated into English by the nominative and the verb “to have.” With this construction, -nek or -nak must never be omitted if the name of the possessor is mentioned, while the thing possessed must always take the personal ending.

The other form, where it governs its object directly, that is, without van, is called its attributive form, and is to be rendered in English by the possessive case.

(2) When the name of the thing possessed is suppressed, the possessive case is indicated by the suffix -é or -éi; -é, if the thing possessed is a single object, -éi, when two or more objects are possessed.

This sentence in full would be: Az a ház az atyám háza, but háza is suppressed and the suffix -é is substituted for it.

This suffix -é or -éi is added to the plural if there are more than one possessor.

Exercise III.

A madarak dala szép. A fák lombja zöld. Péter háza és kertje nagy. A háznak sok ablaka van. Az ökrök járma erős. Jánosnak négy lova van. A rózsáknak édes illata van. Kinek a kertje ez? A szomszédé.

The scent of the flowers is pleasant. Whose are those fine horses? They belong to the king. The colour of the roses of that garden is lovely. That tall house belongs to Peter. The neighbour has a large garden.

The Dative.

The dative suffix is also -nak or -nek, which corresponds to the English “to” or “for.”

The Accusative.

The distinctive mark of the accusative, both in the singular and in the plural, is the ending -t.

Rule 1.—This -t is added directly to

(a) all substantives ending in a vowel.

(b) Substantives ending in j, l, if they are not monosyllables, ny, s (if preceded by a long vowel), dissyllables ending in sz and z, and monosyllables ending in r (except vár, a castle).

Rule 2. -t is preceded by a vowel in the case of words ending with a consonant.

(a) By a (for flat words).

In monosyllabic substantives containing a long or short a (excepting those covered by the preceding rule).

In most monosyllables containing i.

Also, in many nouns which shorten the long á of their last syllable.

(b) By o (for flat words).

(c) By e (for sharp words).

In all substantives whose roots have i, e, or é, for their radical vowels.

In monosyllables with a final l, or with another final consonant preceded by l or r.

(d) By ö (for sharp words).

In substantives having as their radical vowels ö, ő, ü, or ű, and not covered by the preceding rules.

Contraction.

The rule for contraction is the same in the case of the addition of the accusative ending as in that of the addition of the plural ending (see page 8).

A substantive is declined in the plural in the same way as in the singular.

Exercise IV.

Buzát adok a madaraknak. Képeket mutatok a gyermekeknek. Az ember vizet visz a lovaknak és az ökröknek. A hó takarót ad a földnek. A kert gyümölcsöt hoz a gazdának. A tónak a partja virágos és a vize tiszta. A kert füve zöld és fái magasak. Látok egy gazdaságot, két házat és három lovat. A munka díja nagy. A madarat a kertben látom.

The men have a beautiful garden. The king’s palace is an imposing building. I do not much admire the houses. Whose books are those? They belong to the student. I shall give this gun to the hunter. I like beautiful flowers.