Hungarian/Lesson 4
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| Lessons: 1 — 2 — 3 — 4 — Vocab |
€==Words part 3==
Contents |
[edit] Compound nouns
As you might have noticed, the nouns mentioned before are all simple nouns, but there are compound nouns in Hungarian as well that can be as long as the compound words used in German. The resemblance is not a coincidence, Hungarian neologists of the early 19th century loan translated lots of German compound nouns. One of these is anyanyelv=anya ("mother")+nyelv ("language") which means "native language" ("Muttersprache" in German).
We can group the compound nouns based on the relation between the constituents:
[edit] Simple verbs and conjugations
In Hungarian there are only three tenses: past,present and future. In this section we will cover only the present tense.
Infinitive forms end to "-ni". However in the dictionaries verbs are in present singular 3.rd person form.
| enni | to eat |
| eszik | eats |
| én eszek | mi eszünk |
| te eszel | ti esztek |
| ő eszik | ők esznek |
Every verb has an indefinite form, where the object (the item receiving the verb's action) of the verb is indefinite or where there is no object.
For an English example: I like fish. "I" is the subject, and "fish" is the object. Here we would use the indefinite Hungarian form of the verb, because the object is indefinite. The verb "to go" cannot take an object (it is intransitive), so in Hungarian we always use the indefinite form.
Some verbs have definite and indefinite forms as well. Definitive forms are always used with an object. In the phrase I like the fish, the verb acts on a definite object (the fish, not just a fish), so we would use the Hungarian definite form.
With the verbs that can use both forms, one must consider the object when conjugating.
Eszik has definitive form.
| én eszem | mi esszük |
| te eszed | ti eszitek |
| ő eszi | ők eszik |
| Joghurtot eszem. | I eat yoghurt. |
| Megeszem a (pohár) joghurtot. | I eat the (glass of) yoghurt. |
| Eszek egy (pohár) joghurtot. | I eat a (glass of) joghurt. |
| Milyen joghurtot eszel? | What kind of joghurt are you eating? |
| Melyik joghurtot eszed? | Which joghurt are you eating? |
Finally, note that the object of a verb needs to reflect that it is the object. The suffix -t is used to show that the words is in the accusative case. In the above examples, joghurt is the "dictionary" form of the word, but in the phrases is it an object (the yoghurt is being eaten), so it must have a -t suffix. The link vowel o in joghurtot is for vowel harmony.
[edit] Kis/kicsi, két/kettő
Hungarian has two words for small and two:
Kis, kicsi - small
Két/kettő - two.
Kis usually comes before a noun and kicsi elsewhere, however this is a loose rule, but in compound words, only kis appears (for example, kisgyerek - toddler).
Két/kettő. Again, you should use két before something (e.g. két dollár), but you have to note something. Kettő is more formal, but you can use két in daily speech. The problem with két is only that it sounds similar to hét (seven). So, it is better to use kettő when talking about money!
[edit] Yes-no questions
The yes-no questions are formed just as the sentences in declarative mode (you may call them declarative questions), but - of course - with a question-mark at the end instead of a full stop and with a different, rising-falling intonation.
| Józsi elment a boltba. | Joe went to the shop. / Joe has gone to the shop. |
| Józsi elment a boltba? | Did Joe go to the shop? / Has Joe gone to the shop? |
Stress is on Józsi. If I'm curious whether he went or not, I will ask:
Elment Józsi a boltba? listen (help·info)
[edit] General subject: ember
| ember | human, person |
| emberek | people |
| Az ember nem bízhat meg senkiben. | One cannot trust anybody. |
| Az emberek nem bíznak egymásban. | People doesn't trust each other. |
| Az emberiség sokat haladt az utóbbi húsz évben. | Mankind made a great progress in the last twenty years. |
| emberiség ellen elkövetett bűntettek | crimes against humanity |
[edit] Active/passive voice
In Hungarian passive voice isn't used except for a few simple cases. In complex sentences the usage of passive voice sounds strange, Hunglish.
| Az autó elromlott.1 | The car is broken down. (Literally: The car has broken down. ) |
| A pad frissen van festve.* | The bench is painted wet. |
| Az ablak be van törve.* | The window is broken. |
*: These are examples of the few exceptional cases when passive is used. These are made up with the auxilary verb "van" + "-va/-ve" for the main verb.
1: In this case past tense is used in Hungarian.
[edit] Examples (not strictly relating to the grammar in this lesson)
| Karodon ültem évekig, | I sat on your arm for years, |
| Akaratod rabja voltam. | I was a prisoner of your will. |
| A vágyak bennem egyre nőttek, | The lusts have been growing inside me, |
| Elfelejtem, hogy kölyköd voltam. | I forget that I was your kid. |
Notice: Kölyök is considered a bit vulgar. It is mostly used when referring to animals.
| kutya | dog |
| kölyökkutya | puppy |
| Hiába hívnál megtört szívvel, | You would call me (home) in vain with broken heart, |
| Elnyeltek a sűrű városok. | The dense cities engulfed me. |
| A tűzfalakra írtam éjjel: | I wrote on the firewalls at night: |
| Engem ne várjatok! | Don't wait for me ! |
Notice: várjatok is plural imperative form.
| szívvel-lélekkel | with heart and hand |
| lélek | soul |
[edit] Exercises
[edit] Solutions (Lesson 3)
[edit] Guessing
Scooter is called roller in Hungarian.
The left one is nagyi the right one is nagy i.
Capital i is called nagy i. (Notice the space/break.)
[edit] abc order
Éhes should be before Ember (long and short vowels are treated together)
Rövid should be after Rózsaszín (vowels with umlauts are considered separate letters)
Suffixes: könyvek, földek, körök (note the difference), sálak, kádak, lányok (note the difference), emberek, országok, városok, fogasok, hidak (irregular, í becomes i), narancsok, nyeremények, zsákok, kenyerek (irregular, é becomes e), rózsák, kutyák, csíkok (note that while the word is a front word, the suffix is a back suffix; the same with sípok ("fifes"), but szírek ("Syrians")), szőlők, tyúkok, nyarak (irregular, á becomes a)
[edit] Pronounciation
Using your knowledge on the Hungarian letters, try to pronounce (and memorise) the following Hungarian words, then listen to the audio file to check yourself:
| fürdő [bath] | kendő [kerchief] | ernyő [umbrella] |
| zöld [green] | tök [squash] | örök [ever] |
| híres [famous] | írt [cut out] | sírni [cry] |
| határ [border] | kabát [coat] | barát [friend] |
| ebéd [lunch] | elég [enough] | kevés [not enough] |
| bőr [skin] | erdő [forest] | tető [roof] |
| gyűrű [ring] | gyűjt [collect] | gyümölcs [fruit] |
Check your pronounciation (help·info)
[edit] New exercises
(TODO)
[edit] Vocabulary
(TODO)
| Lessons: 1 — 2 — 3 — 4 — Vocab |
