Better Hungarian

Tag: hungarian lessons

  • [Hungarian] Definite Verbs

    This post goes into depth about definite verb conjugation and its applications. To read the overview of definite vs indefinite conjugation, see the post here. To see how to conjugate definite verbs in the present tense, see the post here. The simplest application of definite verb conjugation is with definite…

  • [Hungarian] Pronouns and Definite vs Indefinite Conjugation

    My friend made a handy chart to reference when you should use definite or indefinite conjugation when it comes to pronouns. I tried to tweak it and make it as simple and comprehensive as possible, but don’t hesitate to message if you have any questions! A kind reader pointed out…

  • [Hungarian] Verbs: Definite vs Indefinite

    Hungarian has two types of verbs: Definite and Indefinite. This is probably one of the most difficult parts of the language for non-natives to grasp (unless your language does something similar). Don’t worry if you make mistakes here, because you will be understood regardless. Since I myself found this particular…

  • [Hungarian] Verbs: Present Tense (Definite)

    I’ve found that verb conjugation in Hungarian is fairly simple. There are only 4 tenses (technically 5, but the imperative and subjunctive are conjugated the same), and there are only about 10 or so major verbs that are irregular and therefore don’t conjugate like the rest (there will be a…

  • [Hungarian] Causal-Final Case: -ért + (Ezért vs Azért)

    The causal-final case can be translated as “for“, in the sense of “for the purpose of” or “towards“. The case does not change depending on back-vowel or front-vowel words; it is always “ért“. One common word you see this is in is the word “miért” (why). It is mi (what)…

  • Házasság magyarul : Marriage in Hungarian

    As I just got married recently, I figured I would post some Hungarian vocab related to weddings! A huge thanks to my friend for providing me with the correct translations! Keep in mind some of these words don’t have direct Hungarian translations, so all we have is the closest equivalent.…

  • [Hungarian] Instrumental Case: -val/-vel

    The instrumental case in Hungarian is quite simple. It is essentially used to mean “with“, and the two basic uses are to designate what you use to do something, or who you’re accompanying. FORMING THE INSTRUMENTAL There is a quirk to this case though. The above endings only apply if…

  • [Hungarian Cases] Allative | Adessive | Ablative

    These three all go together as cases of movement involving solids. They function like the other two groups we studied, but with solids instead of places or surfaces. Allative (-hoz/-hez/-höz) This, like -ba/-be and -ra/-re, means that something is moving. The difference is that -hoz/-hez/-höz is talking about moving something TOWARDS something, instead of inside of or onto. Where “a szekrénybe” means “into the wardrobe”, and…

  • [Hungarian Cases] Sublative | Superessive | Delative

    These three all go together as cases of movement involving surfaces. They function like the Illative/Inessive/Elative, but with surfaces instead of places. Sublative (-ra/-re) This, like -ba/-be, means that something is moving. The difference between -ra/-re and -ba/-be is that -ra/-re is talking about moving something ONTO something, instead of inside of. Where “a szekrénybe” means “into…

  • [Hungarian Cases] Illative | Inessive | Elative

    I’m putting these three in the same post, because they are all cases of movement involving places. Specifically, going into places, being in places, and coming out of places. Illative (-ba/-be) The first thing to know about this one is that it means something is moving. There is a destination at the…