HUNGARIAN VERB TENSES

Present (Definite)
Present (Indefinite)
Past (Definite & Indefinite)
Conditional (Definite & Indefinite)
Conditional Tense: Usage
Subjunctive/Imperative (Definite & Indefinite)
Subjunctive Tense: Usage
※ Imperative Tense: Usage – YOU ARE HERE

---

As mentioned previously, the subjunctive and imperative tenses are conjugated the same. In this post I will be going over just the imperative version and its uses. It’s relatively simple with just a few rules to remember, but you must be careful about how and with whom you use it, so some of the nuances can be difficult to grasp. However I will try my best to explain!

Imperative is the “command” tense, used to direct someone to do something, and as such you’ll really only be working with the 2nd person conjugations (keep in mind there is 2nd person singular (te), plural (ti), and the polite versions (Ön/maga (singular) and Önök/maguk (plural)).

Make sure to read how to conjugate the imperative/subjunctive before continuing!

---

When & How to Use

It’s important for me to mention that the imperative is not polite to use with strangers or any other people you would address with Ön/Önök. Even in the “polite” conjugated form, it can sound abrupt and rude. For family and friends, it may be fine, but it depends on the person. With informal speech, you can add “kérlek” or “légyszi” to make it a bit less harsh, but there still may be people who see this as demanding or rude. So be careful unless you know the person you’re addressing very well!

To ensure politeness in these cases, you would rather use the conditional form.

Let’s take a look at a sentence in various stages of politeness:

verb: becsuk (to close/shut)

Imperative (informal): Csukd be¹ az ablakot! (Close the window) – careful, use only with people you know well

¹Coverbs are removed and put after the imperative verb. It is still technically grammatically correct to put the coverb before, if you want to sound more forceful/demanding, but it’s rather archaic (think ‘old poetry’) and you will probably sound strange.

Imperative (formal): Csukja be az ablakot! (Close the window) – you won’t really use this because most of the time it will be impolite to use imperative with Ön/Önök.

Conditional (informal): Megtennéd, hogy becsukod¹ az ablakot? (Could you (please) close the window?) – good, OK, fine with friends and family

¹We actually use the regular present tense conjugation when putting “megtennéd/megtenné” at the beginning. Since the verb is not imperative in this case, the verb and coverb stay together (the coverb will still separate in negative versions of these sentences).

Note that “megtesz” will always be conjugated in definite, because the direct object (azt) that you are referring to is the action itself. Although it is not always added in front, in these types of sentences there is an unspoken “azt” before “megtennéd/megtenné” (i.e. ‘azt megtennéd, hogy becsukod az ablakot’)

Conditional (formal): Megtenné, hogy becsukja az ablakot? (Could you (please) close the window?) – good, OK, basic politeness for strangers or elders/superiors

Alternatively, if you want to be even MORE polite:

Szeretném megkérni, hogy csukja be² az ablakot (I would like to ask you to (please) close the window)

²This version uses the imperative polite form of “becsuk”, but it’s only acceptable in this case because of the “szeretném megkérni” at the beginning. Again, since it is the imperative form, the coverb is removed and put after the verb.

---

Negation

Note: using “megtennéd/megtenné” for negative commands/requests can sound a bit passive agressive if you aren’t careful with the tone, so it’s better to use another construction.

*To negate an imperative command, you’ll use “ne” in place of ‘nem’, and “se” instead of ‘sem’.

Option 1: Szeretném megkérni, hogy ne csukja be¹ az ablakot. (I would like to ask you to (please) not close the window) – quite formal, good for addressing customers and such

Option 2: Kérem, ne csukja be² az ablakot. (Please, don’t close the window) – still polite enough, can be used with friends/family or strangers, but you want to be careful of your tone

^1/2In both sentences, the coverb (be) is moved after the conjugated verb because it is negative. If you want to sound a lot more demanding or threatening about it, then you can place the coverb before the negation (i.e. “be ne csukja az ablakot!” – Don’t close the window, OR ELSE). There are other situations where you can do this to emphasise the importance or surprise of something, but I won’t get into that here in an effort to not be even more confusing.