Better Hungarian

Category: Hungarian

  • [Hungarian] ‘van’ – To Be

    Previously I posted about using ‘van’ to mean ‘have’. Now I will be going over its use as a verb meaning ‘to be’. The initial concept is simple, but as with everything there are some nuances and situational exceptions that will also need to be explained. General Use & Conjugation…

  • [Hungarian] Articles

    Vous pouvez trouver la version française de cette leçon ici. If you don’t know already, articles are used to specify whether a noun is specific or general (you could also think of it as definite vs indefinite). In English, we have “the” (definite) and “a/an” (indefinite). It’s just as simple…

  • [Hungarian] ‘van’ – To Have

    Hungarian does not have a unique verb that equates to ‘have’ in English (in regards to possessing/owning something), so they use a combination of the dative case, possessive suffixes, and the verb ‘van’ (to be). It might sound complicated, but I will try to break it down simply enough here.…

  • [Hungarian] Personal Pronouns (basic, reflexive, possessive)

    Vous pouvez trouver la version française de cette leçon ici. In this post, we will be covering personal pronouns in Hungarian, including informal and formal (polite) manners of address. Basic Pronouns Pronouns English Reflexive Pronouns English én I magam myself te you (informal singular) magad yourself (informal singular) mi we…

  • [Hungarian] Adverbs

    Adverbs in Hungarian generally function the same as in English. There are a few different ways to form adverbs in Hungarian, depending on the adjective and its ending, which we will cover in this post. With regard to word order, adverbs typically go before the verb unless something else in…

  • [Hungarian] Superlatives & Comparisons

    Superlatives in Hungarian are quite simple, particularly compared to English. Adjectives will take on one of three endings: -abb, -ebb, or -bb. Which one it takes depends on A) whether the word ends in a vowel or consonant, and B) whether the word is a front-vowel or back-vowel word. Any…

  • [Hungarian] Coverbs: Overview

    A coverb is a word or prefix that accompanies a verb, thereby modifying it in some way. Hungarian coverbs can indicate the direction, manner, or completion of a verb. Sometimes a coverb can change the meaning of the word completely. In this post we’ll go over some of the common…

  • [Hungarian] Verbal Complements

    A verbal complement can be any part of speech and is considered an extension of the verb. Sometimes without it the verb would not make any sense, and other times the verb can stand alone. Consider this an extra detail in Hungarian grammar – it is not necessarily a requirement…

  • Hungarian Sentence Elements and Word Order: Quasi-Auxiliary Verbs

    Quasi-auxiliary verbs are verbs that express possibility and/or necessity. These verbs modify the voice, tense, or mood of another verb. In Hungarian, we have the following quasi-auxiliary verbs: Hungarian English Hungarian English akar to want bír  to be able to, to stand/endure fog will (to express future tense) kell must/have…

  • Hungarian Sentence Elements & Word Order: Focus Sentences

    I’ve already gone over neutral sentences, so now I’ll be talking about focus sentences – sentences with emphasis, as they are structured a little differently. The general setup is the same: topic || focus preverb || verb || X The focus preverb is different from the regular preverb in neutral…