USE INDEFINITE CONJUGATION:
-WITH THE INDEFINITE ARTICLE. The article is egy in singular. There is no form for it in plural or it can be expressed with néhány (some). The indefinite article and néhány are not mandatory to use. When we omit them, the noun in accusative case begins the sentence. Also, note that néhány requires the noun to be singular.
|
Singular |
Plural |
| egy | NO ARTICLE or néhány |
Let’s see a comparison with indefinite and definite conjugation:
|
SINGULAR |
PLURAL |
| Akarok egy kanapét. Kanapét akarok. I want a sofa. |
Akarok néhány kanapét. Kanapékat akarok. I want some sofas. |
| >Akarom a kanapét/a kanapékat. >I want the sofa/the sofas. |
|
| Takarítunk egy szobát. Szobát takarítunk. We tidy up a room. |
Takarítunk néhány szobát. Szobákat takarítunk. We tidy up some rooms. |
| >Takarítjuk a szobát/ a szobákat. >We tidy up the room/the rooms. |
|
| Vakolnak egy házfalat. Házfalat vakolnak. They plaster a house wall. |
Vakolnak néhány házfalat. Házfalakat vakolnak. They plaster some house walls. |
| >Vakolják a házfalat/a házfalakat. >They plaster the house wall(s). |
|
| Írtok egy dolgozatot. Dolgozatot írtok. You write a test. |
Írtok néhány dolgozatot. Dolgozatokat írtok. You write some tests. |
| >Írjátok a dolgozatot/a dolgozatokat. >You write the test/the tests. |
-WITH INDEFINITE PRONOUNS. There is a great number of words we can put in this category. Just a few of them: sok (many, much), kevés (a few, a little), valami (something), valaki (someone), bármi (anything), bárki (anyone), néhány (some), egy-két (one or two), sehány (none), senki (nobody), semmi (nothing), minden (every), mindenki (everyone), az összes (all)
Although this does not belong to our conjugation topic, it is important to know that the indefinite pronouns require the words following them to be in singular form. Watch the difference in English:
kevés ember – a few people
(NOT kevés emberek)
sok kérdés – many questions
(NOT sok kérdések)
néhány ház – some houses
(NOT néhány házak)
akárhány könyv – no matter how many books
(NOT akárhány könyvek)
Minden filmet megnézek, ami bűnüggyel kapcsolatos.
I watch every movie that’s related to crime.
Ha ismersz valakit, aki ért a kocsikhoz, szólj!
If you know anyone who has a grasp for cars, tell me.
Mennyi gyümölcs van ebben a kertben, és mennyit ettünk belőle!
So many fruits in this garden and so many we ate!
Túl sokat dolgozol. Lepihensz egy kicsit?
You’re working too much. Will you get a little rest?
Keveset isztok, emiatt érzitek rosszul magatokat.
You drink little. That’s why you feel bad.
Senkit nem érdekel, mi van velem.
No one cares about what’s with me.
–Az összes fényképet eldobta?
-Did he throw all the photos away?
-Igen, az összeset eldobta.
-Yes, he threw all away.
-Csak egyet dobott el.
–He only threw one away.
-WITH THE INTERROGATIVE PRONOUNS when asking about the unknown. If you don’t know something, it is unknown to you, so it is not possible to ask such questions with verbs conjugated with definite suffixes.
And the verb in the answer either agrees with the question or not. That is, if the answer contains the indefinite article, indefinite pronouns, interrogative pronouns or simply refers to something unspecific/unknown, then the verb is conjugated with indefinite suffixes.
However, if we answer with something specific, we have to conjugate the verb with the definite suffixes, even though it is conjugated with the indefinite ones in the question.
-Mit tanulsz?
-What are you learning?
-Történelmet tanulok.
–I’m learning history.
–A magyar igeragozást tanulom.
–I’m learning the Hungarian verb conjugation.
-Mit tud felhozni mentségére?
-What can he mention in his defence?
-Nos, sok dolgot tud felhozni.
-Well, he can mention lots of things.
-Nos, a fáradságot tudja felhozni.
-Well, he can mention the tiredness.
-Mit esznek? – What are they eating?
-Almát/Egy almát esznek. – They’re eating an apple.
-Almákat/Néhány almát esznek. – They’re eating some apples.
–Azt az almát eszik, amelyiket tegnap hoztad.
–They’re eating the apple you brought yesterday.
-Mit kérdezel tőle?
-What are you going to ask him?
–Bármit is kérdezhetek.
–I ask whatever I want to.
–A három vizsgakérdést kérdezem tőle.
–I’m going to ask him the three exam questions.
-Kérdezek tőle valamit, amit nem tud.
–I’m going to ask him something he doesn’t know.
-Azt kérdezem tőle, kit szeret a legjobban.
–I’m going to ask him who he loves the most.
A T T E N T I O N!
Of course, if you ask about something specific, you use definite conjugation in questions, as well.
-Melyiket szereted? A szőke vagy a barna lányt?
-Which one do you love? The blonde or the brunette girl?
–A barnát szeretem. A szőkének nincs humora.
-I love the brunette one. The blonde one has no humor.
Sometimes you can ask in two ways:
| Indefinite | -Mikor főzöl ebédet? -Nemsokára. |
-When will you cook lunch? -Soon. |
| Definite | -Mikor főzöd meg az ebédet? -Nemsokára. |
-When will you cook the lunch? -Soon. |
USE DEFINITE CONJUGATION:
-WITH THE DEFINITE ARTICLES, DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUNS, POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS, POSSESSIVE ENDINGS AND PROPER NAMES.
A kék cipőt választom. – I’ll choose the blue shoes.
Az ebédet kihagyjuk. – We’ll skip lunch.
Ezt a lányt szeretem. – I love this girl.
Azokat az állatokat megmentjük.
We’re going to save those animals.
Látom Jánost, de a barátját nem látom.
I can see John, but I can’t see his friend.
Értik az elméletet, de a gyakorlati részét nem ismerik.
They understand the theory, but they don’t know the practice.
Annát nem kedvelem, de Viktóriát annál inkább bírom.
I don’t like Ann, but I dig Victoria all the more.
Az én házamat felépítem, de a tiédet nem építem fel.
I’m going to build my house, but I’m not going to build yours.
Szép kocsid van, de az övéket mindenki megbámulja.
You have a nice car, but everyone is staring at theirs.
Hunlang's Blog 
Thank you so much!!! That’s very helpful! Very clear and easy to understand… You must have put a lot of effort into this, thank you! Also, I really like how in Hungarian one uses the indefinite and definite conjugations for definite and indefinite things. Besides that, I really wanted to say that your book is very nice, and beautiful to me. I especially like pages 63-100. I really like pronouns and you describe them so beautifully, each with example sentences. Hungarian pronouns are so orderly and clean.
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You’re welcome!
Careful with pronouns like senki, semmi… They’re not quite orderly.
I wish you good luck in your Hungarian studies. If you have more questions, just shoot’em. 🙂
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Hello,
now that I am becoming a student in Hungary and take Hungarian Language as a course at uni, too, I feel that your book is ways more logical:)
I just struggle to learn the grammar. I learnt Japanese till fluency using the flashcard software Anki (check it out) and want to create flashcard decks for Hungarian words, too. I wonder what deck to choose. I would very grateful to receive a view tips. I think I will take your grammar book and then enter those words first I feel that I will need most of the time.
Szia!
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Hi there,
I’ll check that Anki software, but your approach is the best, I think. Practising words you use more frequently will help you have a solid vocabulary. But if you’re fluent in Japanese, you hardly need any advice. You must be really talented at languages.
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Hi You are so helpful with Hungarian. I can’t wait for your language book to be in the market.
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Thank you!
Actually, I started writing the book. I just don’t know when I will have finished it. 🙂
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Hi, thanks so much for this great post about the indefinite and definite conjugations! This is one of the things I struggle the most with as I am starting to learn Hungarian. I had one question about the indefinite pronoun ‘all’ – az összes. This fell under the section of when to use the indefinite conjugation, and you gave these examples:
–Az összes fényképet eldobta?
-Did he throw all the photos away?
-Igen, az összeset eldobta.
-Yes, he threw all away.
-Csak egyet dobott el.
–He only threw one away.
I may be completely mistaken, so please forgive my ignorance if I am, but it seems here that the ‘definite’ conjugation is being used with az összes. Is that correct? And if so, is this, then, an exception to the rule of using the indefinite conjugation with indefinite pronouns?
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Hi there,
The definite conjugation is used because the definite article is there, so we know what photos we talk about. If you use ‘minden-every’, the synonym of ‘az összes-all the’ then there is no definite article, so you would say: Minden fényképet eldobott(=indefinite conjugation).
definite article = definite conjugation
indefinite article or no article = indefinite conjugation 🙂
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Ahh, ok! I see now, here it’s the definite article that makes the difference. Thank you very much! By any chance could you comment on clauses that require the verb in another clause to be definite. For example, I was given these two sentences by a tutor the other day. But I’m unsure of the difference that makes the first indefinite and the second definite.
meg akarok tanulni biciklizni.
meg akarom tanulni, hogy(an) kell biciklizni.
The only thing I can think is that when you introduce a second clause with something like “hogy”, that there is then maybe a hidden “azt” in the first clause that refers to the second clause, and since it’s a demonstrative pronouns requires a definite conjugation?
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It is exactly the way you explain it. Because of azt(=accusative case) we use the definite conjugation.
Meg akarom tanulni azt, hogyan kell biciklizni. > azt=definite conjugation
Meg akarom tanulni a biciklizést. > a=definite conjugation
Meg akarok tanulni biciklizni. > no article or demonstrative pronoun a, az = indefinite conjugation
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