All Forms of Hungarian Verb
This document is a copy of the original at: http://garfield.chem.elte.hu/Turanyi/mige.htmlThe 5070 different forms of each Hungarian verb
In the Hungarian language the subject, the object, and the tense of a verb is expressed by suffixes. The meaning of a verb can also be modified by suffixes and prefixes.
tenses
present simple (PR) or past simple (PA)
The future tense is not expressed by a suffix but by an auxiliary. This auxiliary has suffixes as well depending on the subject. Unfortunately the perfect and continous tenses died out in the end of the 19th century and are readable only in old texts and poems.
subject
I, you, (he,she,it), we, you, they
object
with or without an object
modes
| C | real conditional |
| I | imperative |
| R | repeated action |
| P | possibility |
| D | someone is doing it for us |
(The past (unreal) conditional is expressed by an auxiliary )
The sample word is venni = to buy
| subject | tense | object | mode | Hungarian | English |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I | PR | no | - | veszek | I buy |
| you | PR | no | - | veszel | you buy |
| he,she,it | PR | no | - | vesz | he buys |
| we | PR | no | - | veszünk | we buy |
| you | PR | no | - | vesztek | you buy |
| they | PR | no | - | vesznek | they buy |
| I | PR | yes | - | veszem | I buy it |
| you | PR | yes | - | veszed | you buy it |
| he,she,it | PR | yes | - | veszi | he buys it |
| we | PR | yes | - | vesszük | we buy it |
| you | PR | yes | - | veszitek | you buy it |
| they | PR | yes | - | veszik | they buy it |
| I | PA | no | - | vettem | I bought |
| you | PA | no | - | vettél | you bought |
| he,she,it | PA | no | - | vett | he bought |
| we | PA | no | - | vettünk | we bought |
| you | PA | no | - | vettétek | you bought |
| they | PA | no | - | vették | they bought |
| I | PA | yes | - | vettem | I bought it |
| you | PA | yes | - | vetted | you bought it |
| he,she,it | PA | yes | - | vette | he bought it |
| we | PA | yes | - | vettük | we bought it |
| you | PA | yes | - | vettétek | you bought it |
| they | PA | yes | - | vették | they bought it |
For brevity the further combinations are presented
with subject you (singular) only:
|| border="1"
| tense | object | mode | Hungarian | English | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | PR | n | - | veszel | you buy |
| 2 | PR | y | - | veszed | you buy it |
| 3 | PA | n | - | vettél | you bought |
| 4 | PA | y | - | vetted | you bought it |
| 5 | PR | n | R | veszegetsz | you repeatedly buy |
| 6 | PR | y | R | veszegeted | you repeatedly buy it |
| 7 | PA | n | R | veszegettél | you repeatedly bought |
| 8 | PA | y | R | veszegetted | you repeatedly bought it |
| 9 | - | n | C | vennél | you would buy |
| 10 | - | y | C | vennéd | you would buy it |
| 11 | - | n | CR | veszegetnél | you would buy repeatedly |
| 12 | - | y | CR | veszegetnéd | you would buy it repeatedly |
| 13 | - | n | I | vegyél | let you buy |
| 14 | - | y | I | vegyed | let you buy it |
| 15 | - | n | IR | veszegessél | let you buy repeatedly |
| 16 | - | y | IR | veszegessed | let you buy it repeatedly |
| 17 | - | n | P | vehetsz | you may buy |
| 18 | - | y | P | veheted | you may buy it |
| 19 | - | n | PR | veszegethetsz | you may buy repeatedly |
| 20 | - | y | PR | veszegetheted | you may buy it repeatedly |
| 21 | - | n | D | vetetsz | you have sg bought |
| 22 | - | y | D | veteted | you have it bought |
| 23 | - | n | DR | vetegetsz | you have sg bought repeatedly |
| 24 | - | y | DR | vetegeted | you have it bought repeatedly |
| 25 | - | n | CP | vehetnél | you would be able to buy |
| 26 | - | y | CP | vehetnéd | you would be able to buy it |
| 27 | - | n | CPR | veszegethetnél | you would be able to buy repeatedly |
| 28 | - | y | CPR | veszegethetnéd | you would be able to buy it repeatedly |
| 29 | - | n | CD | vetetnél | you would have sg bought |
| 30 | - | y | CD | vetetnéd | you would have it bought |
| 31 | - | n | CDR | vetetgetnél | you would have sg bought repeatedly |
| 32 | - | y | CDR | vetetgetnéd | you would have it bought repeatedly |
| 33 | - | n | IP | vehessél | let you be able to buy |
| 34 | - | y | IP | vehessed | let you be able to buy it |
| 35 | - | n | IPR | vehetgessél | let you be able to buy repeatedly |
| 36 | - | y | IPR | vehetgessed | let you be able to buy it repeatedly |
| 37 | - | n | ID | vetessél | let you have sg bought |
| 38 | - | y | ID | vetessed | let you have it bought |
| 39 | - | n | IDR | vetetgessél | let you have sg bought repeatedly |
| 40 | - | y | IDR | vetetgessed | let you have it bought repeatedly |
| 41 | - | n | PD | vetethetsz | you may have sg bought |
| 42 | - | y | PD | vetetheted | you may have it bought |
| 43 | - | n | PDR | vetegethetsz | you may have sg bought repeatedly |
| 44 | - | y | PDR | vetetgetheted | you may have it bought repeatedly |
| 45 | - | n | CPD | vehettetnél | you would be able to have sg bought |
| 46 | - | y | CPD | vehettetnéd | you would be able to have it bought |
| 47 | - | n | CPDR | vehettetgetnél | you would be able to have sg bought repeatedly |
| 48 | - | y | CPDR | vehettetgetnéd | you would be able to have it bought repeatedly |
| 49 | - | n | IPD | vetethessél | let you be able to have sg bought |
| 50 | - | y | IPD | vetethessed | let you be able to have it bought |
| 51 | - | n | IPDR | vetetgethessél | let you be able to have sg bought repeatedly |
| 52 | - | y | IPDR | vetetgethessed | let you be able to have it bought repeatedly |
There are 52 possible suffixes to each of the 6 possible subjects. This makes 52 x 6 = 312 combinations. Also, there are special suffixes if the subject is `I' and the object is `you'.
| tense | mode | Hungarian | English | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | PR | - | veszlek | I buy you |
| 2 | PA | - | vettelek | I bought you |
| 3 | PR | R | veszegetlek | I buy you repeatedly |
| 4 | PA | R | veszegettelek | I bought you repeatedly |
| 5 | - | C | vennélek | I would buy you |
| 6 | - | CR | veszegetnélek | I would buy you repeatedly |
| 7 | - | I | vegyelek | let me buy you |
| 8 | - | IR | veszegesselek | let me buy you repeatedly |
| 9 | - | P | vehetlek | I may buy you |
| 10 | - | PR | vehetgetlek | I may buy you repeatedly |
| 11 | - | D | vetetlek | I have you bought |
| 12 | - | DR | vetetgetlek | I have you bought repeatedly |
| 13 | - | CP | vehetnélek | I would be able to buy you |
| 14 | - | CPR | veszegethetnélek | I would be able to buy you repeatedly |
| 15 | - | CD | vetetnélek | I would have you bought |
| 16 | - | CDR | vetetgetnélek | I would have you bought repeatedly |
| 17 | - | IP | vehesselek | let me be able to buy you |
| 18 | - | IPR | vehetgesselek | let me be able to buy you repeatedly |
| 19 | - | ID | vetesselek | let me have you bought |
| 20 | - | IDR | vetetgesselek | let me have you bought repeatedly |
| 21 | - | PD | vetethetlek | I may have you bought |
| 22 | - | PDR | vetetgethetlek | I may have you bought repeatedly |
| 23 | - | CPD | vetethetnélek | I would be able to have you bought |
| 24 | - | CPDR | vetethetgetnélek | I would be able to have you bought repeatedly |
| 25 | - | IPD | vetethesselek | let me be able to have you bought |
| 26 | - | IPDR | vetetgethesselek | let me be able to have you bought repeatedly |
Considering the above suffixes as well the possible number of different suffixes is 338 (312+26). The prepositions are expressed by prefixes. The most frequent prefixes are meg- (completed action), be- (in), ki- (out), le- (down), fel- (up), el- (away), át- (through), rá- (upon), ide- (here), oda- (there), szét- (apart), össze- (together), vissza- (back), végig- (to the end). These prefixes modify the meaning of the verb and sometimes completely alter it (cf. the phrasal verbs in English (look after, come across) ). Taking into account all the possible prefixes and suffixes gives the 5070 (338 x 15) possible forms of each Hungarian verb.
Notes:
- I have made these tables for my own pleasure only. It is likely that professional linguists could find other possibilities.
- It would be a challenge to make a meaningful sentence with some of the above words. Tamás Turányi.