All Forms of Hungarian Verb

This document is a copy of the original at: http://garfield.chem.elte.hu/Turanyi/mige.html

The 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

Creal conditional
Iimperative
Rrepeated action
Ppossibility
Dsomeone is doing it for us

(The past (unreal) conditional is expressed by an auxiliary )


The sample word is venni = to buy

subjecttenseobjectmodeHungarianEnglish
IPRno-veszekI buy
youPRno-veszelyou buy
he,she,itPRno-veszhe buys
wePRno-veszünkwe buy
youPRno-vesztekyou buy
theyPRno-vesznekthey buy
      
IPRyes-veszemI buy it
youPRyes-veszedyou buy it
he,she,itPRyes-veszihe buys it
wePRyes-vesszükwe buy it
youPRyes-veszitekyou buy it
theyPRyes-veszikthey buy it
      
IPAno-vettemI bought
youPAno-vettélyou bought
he,she,itPAno-vetthe bought
wePAno-vettünkwe bought
youPAno-vettétekyou bought
theyPAno-vettékthey bought
      
IPAyes-vettemI bought it
youPAyes-vettedyou bought it
he,she,itPAyes-vettehe bought it
wePAyes-vettükwe bought it
youPAyes-vettétekyou bought it
theyPAyes-vettékthey bought it

For brevity the further combinations are presented
with subject you (singular) only:
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 tenseobjectmodeHungarianEnglish
1PRn-veszelyou buy
2PRy-veszedyou buy it
3PAn-vettélyou bought
4PAy-vettedyou bought it
5PRnRveszegetszyou repeatedly buy
6PRyRveszegetedyou repeatedly buy it
7PAnRveszegettélyou repeatedly bought
8PAyRveszegettedyou repeatedly bought it
9-nCvennélyou would buy
10-yCvennédyou would buy it
11-nCRveszegetnélyou would buy repeatedly
12-yCRveszegetnédyou would buy it repeatedly
13-nIvegyéllet you buy
14-yIvegyedlet you buy it
15-nIRveszegesséllet you buy repeatedly
16-yIRveszegessedlet you buy it repeatedly
17-nPvehetszyou may buy
18-yPvehetedyou may buy it
19-nPRveszegethetszyou may buy repeatedly
20-yPRveszegethetedyou may buy it repeatedly
21-nDvetetszyou have sg bought
22-yDvetetedyou have it bought
23-nDRvetegetszyou have sg bought repeatedly
24-yDRvetegetedyou have it bought repeatedly
25-nCPvehetnélyou would be able to buy
26-yCPvehetnédyou would be able to buy it
27-nCPRveszegethetnélyou would be able to buy repeatedly
28-yCPRveszegethetnédyou would be able to buy it repeatedly
29-nCDvetetnélyou would have sg bought
30-yCDvetetnédyou would have it bought
31-nCDRvetetgetnélyou would have sg bought repeatedly
32-yCDRvetetgetnédyou would have it bought repeatedly
33-nIPvehesséllet you be able to buy
34-yIPvehessedlet you be able to buy it
35-nIPRvehetgesséllet you be able to buy repeatedly
36-yIPRvehetgessedlet you be able to buy it repeatedly
37-nIDvetesséllet you have sg bought
38-yIDvetessedlet you have it bought
39-nIDRvetetgesséllet you have sg bought repeatedly
40-yIDRvetetgessedlet you have it bought repeatedly
41-nPDvetethetszyou may have sg bought
42-yPDvetethetedyou may have it bought
43-nPDRvetegethetszyou may have sg bought repeatedly
44-yPDRvetetgethetedyou may have it bought repeatedly
45-nCPDvehettetnélyou would be able to have sg bought
46-yCPDvehettetnédyou would be able to have it bought
47-nCPDRvehettetgetnélyou would be able to have sg bought repeatedly
48-yCPDRvehettetgetnédyou would be able to have it bought repeatedly
49-nIPDvetethesséllet you be able to have sg bought
50-yIPDvetethessedlet you be able to have it bought
51-nIPDRvetetgethesséllet you be able to have sg bought repeatedly
52-yIPDRvetetgethessedlet 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'.

 tensemodeHungarianEnglish
1PR-veszlekI buy you
2PA-vettelekI bought you
3PRRveszegetlekI buy you repeatedly
4PARveszegettelekI bought you repeatedly
5-CvennélekI would buy you
6-CRveszegetnélekI would buy you repeatedly
7-Ivegyeleklet me buy you
8-IRveszegesseleklet me buy you repeatedly
9-PvehetlekI may buy you
10-PRvehetgetlekI may buy you repeatedly
11-DvetetlekI have you bought
12-DRvetetgetlekI have you bought repeatedly
13-CPvehetnélekI would be able to buy you
14-CPRveszegethetnélekI would be able to buy you repeatedly
15-CDvetetnélekI would have you bought
16-CDRvetetgetnélekI would have you bought repeatedly
17-IPvehesseleklet me be able to buy you
18-IPRvehetgesseleklet me be able to buy you repeatedly
19-IDvetesseleklet me have you bought
20-IDRvetetgesseleklet me have you bought repeatedly
21-PDvetethetlekI may have you bought
22-PDRvetetgethetlekI may have you bought repeatedly
23-CPDvetethetnélekI would be able to have you bought
24-CPDRvetethetgetnélekI would be able to have you bought repeatedly
25-IPDvetethesseleklet me be able to have you bought
26-IPDRvetetgethesseleklet 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.


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