Causation – Műveltetés

CAUSATION

The Hungarian term for causation is: műveltetés. This word is a causation in itself! Watch this:

művel + -tet + -és = műveltetés
to do + to cause + -ation = causation

Hungarian verbs are made causative with the suffixes. These suffixes do not require any link vowel.

-at, -et, -tat, -tet

English expresses causation with these verbs: to make, to cause, to get, to have sg done.

Now the question arises: Is there a difference between -at, -et and -tat, -tet? Sure there is! 🙂

GROUP 1
-Generally speaking, all Hungarian verbs
–Verbs ending in two consonants
-The V-verb lő
> take the suffixes -AT, -ET in causation.

rakat – get sy to put
mondat – make sy say
várat – keep sy waiting
ölet – get sy to kill sy
sejtet – suggest, foreshadow
lövet – to bomb (literally: have sg shot OR make sy shoot sg)

NOTE! The verbs lövet and sejtet are NOT CAUSATIVE verbs in English!

GROUP 2
-The verbs vesz, hisz, visz
-The -ik verbs
> take the suffixes -TAT, -TET in causation.

eszik – etet > to feed
iszik – itat > to give sg to drink
alszik – altat         > to put sy to sleep
nyugszik – nyugtat > to calm sy down
fekszik – fektet > to get sy to bed; to lay down
tűnik – tüntet > to make a demonstration
vesz – vetet > to get sy to buy
hisz – hitet > make sy believe
visz – vitet > to get sy to bring

GROUP 3
-The verb tesz
> can take both the suffixes -ET and -TET in causation! It is because tesz has two different meanings: to put, to do

If it means to put, it takes: -et > tetet = to get sy to put
If it means to do, it takes: -tet > tettet = to pretend

John odateteti Ádámmal a széket. – John has Adam put the chair over there.
John tetteti, hogy beteg. – John pretends to be ill.

GROUP 4
-Two verbs not in need of causation in Hungarian:

elejt = to let sg fall
elenged = to let sy go

Elejtettem a tollam. – I let my pen fall.
Engedje el a túszokat! – Let the hostages go.

GROUP 5
rávesz = to persuade
kényszerít = to force

A fiú rávette a lányt egy csókra.
The boy persuaded the girl to kiss him.

Emiatt a lány arra kényszerítette a fiú arcát, hogy az öklébe essen.
That made the girl force the boy’s face to fall in her fist.

These sentences show two Hungarian verbs in causation, but English can have three in the case of ’that made’. The expression ’that made’ is translated as:

emiatt = because of this

The words emiatt, amiatt, miatt can also be translated in English as: to cause sy to. However, it is not always a good solution.

His anger caused him to strangle the woman.
Dühében megfojtotta a nőt.

The literal Hungarian translation is: In his anger he strangled the woman.

GROUP 6
Verbs that definitely CANNOT SUFFER CAUSATION:
-the substantive verbs: van, lesz
-these two verbs expressing motion: jön, megy
-V-verbs: nő, sző, ró (except lő!)

IMPORTANT! I’ve mentioned before that the verb rí is an almost extinct verb because sír is used instead. That statement is still as true as it can be. However, when it comes to causation, rí is used in this form: ríkat = make sy cry

It’s important since sír also has a causative form: sirat = to bewail, to mourn

A szerelmes történetek megríkatják a nőket.
Love stories make women cry.

Az anya siratja a fiát.
The mother is mourning his son.

Of course, causative verbs can be conjugated in indefinite and/or definite conjugation depending on what the verb means. They can be put in past tense, conditional mood, imperative mood, as well.

When in imperative mood, the final t of the suffixes -at, -et, -tat, -tet becomes double ss!

sirassa, etesse, lövesse, tetesse / tettesse, altassa…

The person you get to do something is in instrumental case in Hungarian, that is you use the suffixes -val, -vel.

Megcsináltatom vele a kocsit. – I’ll have him repair the car.
Idehozatja velük a bort. – He has the wine brought by them over here.

Verbal Noun – Condition – Határozói igenév

”CONDITION” PARTICIPLE

This is a typical Hungarian form of expressing a condition. It can be translated with past participle, or the -ing ending. It expresses a mood, condition of some sort. Formation:

High-vowel: van/vannak + 3PS indefinite conjugation + -ve
Deep-vowel: van/vannak + 3PS indefinite conjugation + -va
Negation only with NINCS/NINCSENEK in present tense!!!

Meg vagyok fázva.
I have a cold.

A bolt nyitva/zárva van.
The shop is open/closed.

A dolog még nincs elintézve.
The matter hasn’t been settled yet.

Nevetve szaladt a barátaihoz.
He was running up to his friends laughing.

Sírva mondta el, mi történt vele.
She told what happened to her crying.

Be careful! English would say ’The shop is closed”, that is it uses past participle.

Don’t use Hungarian past participle in such sentences!

Unfortunately, the media are full of this crap. They use past participle instead of the proper Hungarian condition form (adverbial noun) due to the influence of foreign languages. The most common mistakes:

1. A bűnössége még nem bizonyított.
His guilt is not proved yet.

2. …melynek ténye még nem igazolt.
…the fact of which is not verified yet.

3. Az ügy még nem elintézett.
The matter is not settled yet.

As you see, there’s no problem with the English sentences. The problem is the Hungarian sentences using past participle like English. Why is it a huge problem? Because it sounds unnatural. Typical sentences for those who think they’re really smart and they prove not to be by saying nonsense like that. We understand what they’re getting at, but the actual meaning of the Hungarian sentences above is:

1. His guilt hasn’t proved anything yet.
2. …the fact of which hasn’t verified anything yet.
3. (I would say it can’t be even translated, complete nonsense)

The proper Hungarian sentences should be as follows:

1. A bűnössége még nincs bizonyítva.
2. …melynek ténye még nincs igazolva.
3. Az ügy még nincs elintézve.

Or you can use 3rd PP form as ”passive sentence”.

1. A bűnösségét még nem bizonyították.
2. …melynek tényét még nem igazolták.
3. Az ügyet még nem intézték el.

These sentences can be said in the wrong way because we don’t really feel them as a condition, so the media make their mistakes. But take a look at these sentences:

1. A bolt nyitva van. – The shop is open.
2. A bolt nyitott. – The ship is opened.

Nobody would make the mistake saying the second one: A bolt nyitott.

1. A bolt nyitva van. > it means that it is time to go shopping, you can enter the building because the doors are open. = CONDITION

2. A bolt nyitott. > it means maybe the shop has a roof that can be opened. = The shop is opened = QUALITY, CHARATERISTIC, FEATURE of the shop

Verbal Nouns – Future Participle – Beálló melléknévi igenév

FUTURE PARTICIPLE

The origins of this method reaches back to the old times of the Hungarian language. Originally, it was used to express future tense, but during the centuries it had lost its true function. Nowadays people use it when something is yet to be done. It has an adjectival or subjective function. English equivalent: to be + past participle. Formation:

High-vowel: 3PS indefinite conjugation present tense+ -endő
Deep-vowel: 3PS indefinite conjugation present tense+ -andó

Examples:

elolvas + -andó = elolvasandó
tesz + -endő = teendő (IRREGULAR!)
kidob + -andó = kidobandó
lesz + -endő = leendő (IRREGULAR!)

az elolvasandó könyv – the book to be read
Mi a teendő? – What is to be done?
Az árú egy év után kidobandó. – The goods are to be thrown away after a year.
A leendő férjem gazdag. – My future husband is rich.

IRREGULAR VERBS IN FUTURE PARTICIPLE

lesz – leendő > future, to-be
tesz – teendő > (things) to be done
vesz – veendő > (things) to be bought
jön – jövendő > coming, (things) to come

Verbal Nouns – Past Participle – Múlt idejű melléknévi igenév

PAST PARTICIPLE

Hungarian past participle is formed like this:

sétált – walked
látott – seen
evett – eaten

Summary:

High-vowel: 3PS indefinite conjugation + -t, -tt
Deep-vowel: 3PS indefinite conjugation + -t, -tt
+ plural suffix -k if needed + accusative suffix -t if needed
If you need a link vowel: -ett, -ött, -ott

AS ADJECTIVES

számozott házak – numbered houses
az étteremben megevett étel – the food eaten in the restaurant
az űrbe fellőtt rakéta – the rocket launched in space
múlt idő – past tense (literally: passed tense)

AS NOUNS

A meghívottak jól szórakoztak.
The invited were having a great time.

A látottak alapján nem lesz ünneplés.
From what I saw there will be no celebration.

A hallottakból ítélve kedveli Japánt.
Judging from what I heard he likes Japan.

REPLACING VERBS

A diákok által látogatott iskola…
The school attended by the students…
Az iskola, amit a diákok látogatnak…
The school the students are attending…

Az eladó által eladott áruk…
The goods sold by the shop assistant…
Az áruk, amiket az eladó eladott…
The goods the shop-assistant have sold…

Verbal Nouns – Present Participle – Jelen idejű melléknévi igenév

PRESENT PARTICIPLE

Hungarian present participle is formed like this:

éneklő – singing
járó – going
evő – eating

Summary:

High-vowel: 3PS indefinite conjugation + -ő
Deep-vowel: 3PS indefinite conjugation + -ó

AS ADJECTIVE

helytálló meglátás – appropriate observation
kiabáló gyerek – shouting child
szenvedő szerkezet – passive voice
bejövő hívás – incoming call

Sometimes it is not possible to translate a present participle verb with -ing: helytálló – appropriate.

AS NOUN

A futó nagyon gyors. – The runner is very fast.
A bemondó mindig késik. – The announcer is always late.
A vevő szüntelenül panaszkodik. – The customer keeps complaining.

REPLACING VERBS

kutyát ábrázoló kép
a photo illustrating a dog
A kép, ami a kutyát ábrázolja…
The photo that illustrates the dog…

az iskolát látogató diákok
the students attending the school
A diákok, akik az iskolát látogatják…
The students who are attending the school…

a környéken lakó emberek
the people living in the neighbourhood
Az emberek, akik a környéken laknak…
The people who live in the neighbourhood…

a versenyben résztvevő játékosok
the contestants joining the race
A játékosok, akik a versenyben részt vesznek…
The contestants who join the race…

NOTE! You can make a present participle verb accusative, dative, plural and so on if needed.

Látom a vevőt.
I see the customer.

A tanulónak ötöst adok.
I give the student an A.

A látogatókkal beszélgetünk.
We’re talking to the visitors.

A lakók tele vannak gonddal.
The tenants have a lot of problems.

A résztvevőkben nem csalódtam.
I wasn’t disappointed in the contestants.

Verbal Noun – Infinitive – Főnévi igenév

INFINITIVE

You already know how to form the infinitive of a Hungarian verb: menni, látni, fogni. Sometimes you need a link vowel, especially with verbs in two consonants: mondani, gyűjteni

Now we’ll deal with possibilities allowing us to use infinitive:

IMPERSONAL VERBS AND EXPRESSIONS

Impersonal verbs and expressions are to be followed by the infinitive of the main verb. Impersonal verbs are: kell, kellene, szabad, lehet. Impersonal expressions are:

könnyű – easy
nehéz – difficult
ideje, hogy – it’s time to
épp ideje, hogy – it’s high time to
jó / rossz, hogy – it’s good / wrong to
jobb / rosszabb, hogy – it’s better / worse to
tilos – it’s forbidden to
szégyen – it’s a shame
helyes – it’s right to
helytelen – it’s wrong to

Könnyű nyelveket tanulni. – It’s easy to learn languages.
Nehéz nyelveket tanulni. – It’s difficult to learn languages.
Ideje aludni. – It’s time to sleep.
Épp ideje elmenni. – It’s high time to leave.
Jó magyarnak lenni. – It’s good to be Hungarian.
Jobb gazdagnak lenni. – It’s better to be rich.
Tilos az állatokat etetni. – It’s forbidden to feed the animals.
Szégyen ilyen ruhában kimenni. – It’s a shame to go out in these clothes.
Helyes elítélni a bűnözőket. – It’s right to condemn criminals.
Helytelen elítélni az ártatlanokat. – It’s wrong to condemn the innocent.

SUBJECT

Futni egészséges. – To run is healthy.
Reggelizni nagyon fontos. – To have breakfast is very important.

VERBS REQUIRING THE INFINITIVE OF PRÓBÁL, MEGY, JÖN

Megpróbálom elkerülni, hogy találkozzak vele.
I’ll try to avoid meeting him.
Elmegyünk focizni. – We’re going play football.
Jöttök teniszezni? – Will you come play tennis?

Word Order – Verbal Prefix

VERBAL PREFIX

You already know this:

1. The verbal prefix precedes the verb and is written together with it in normal / general statements.

Felkelek. – I get up.
Megesszük a levest. – We eat up the soup.
Kitakarítják a szobát. – They tidy up the room.

2. The verbal prefix follows the verb and is written separately from it in imperative mood, negation.

Keljek fel? – Shall I get up?
Nem kelek fel? – I won’t get up.

Együk meg a levest! – Let’s eat up the soup.
Nem esszük meg a levest. – We won’t eat up the soup.

Takarítsák ki a szobát! – They’d better tidy up the room.
Nem takarítják ki a szobát! – They won’t tidy up the room.

3. The verbal prefix is written separately from the verb if a third word is inserted between them.

Fel akarok kelni. – I want to get up.
Meg kell ennünk a levest. – We must eat up the soup.
Ki tudják takarítani a szobát. – They can tidy up the room.

What you don’t know (yet) is that certain expressions require the verbal prefix to behave like in imperative mood and negation. These are expressions with contrasted / excluding / negative meaning. Examples:

alig, aligha, kevésbé, nem annyira, kevesen, nem sokan, nehezen, ritkán, csak, csupán, mindössze, kizárólag

Alig néztél bele a könyvbe. – You hardly looked into the book.
Nem annyira eszem meg a spenótot. – I don’t really like spinach.
Kevés nő mondja meg az életkorát. – Few women tell their age.
Nehezen írok le ilyesmit. – It’s difficult for me to write down such things.
Csak ketten jöttek el. – There were only two people.

WE’RE DONE WITH WORD ORDER. 🙂

Negation – Nem…Van or Nincs?

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN NEM…VAN AND NINCS

Take a look at these sentences and you’ll see what I mean, but first a small summary:

nem…van/vannak = is/are not
>expressing existence

nincs/nincsenek = there is/are no, there isn’t/aren’t any
>expressing something, someone is not to be found somewhere

POSITIVE SENTENCES:
Az autó a garázsban van. – The car is in the garage.
Az autók a garázsban vannak. – The cars are in the garage.
A labda a strandon van. – The ball is on the beach.
A labdák a strandon vannak. – The balls are on the beach.

NEGATIVE SENTENCES WITH NINCS:
Az autó nincs a garázsban. – There’s no car in the garage.
Az autók nincsenek a garázsban. – There are no cars in the garage.
A labda nincs a strandon. – There’s no ball on the beach.
A labdák nincsenek a strandon. – There are no balls on the beach.

NEGATIVE SENTENCES WITH NEM…VAN:
Az autó nem a garázsban van. – The car is not in the garage.
Az autók nem a garázsban vannak. – The cars are not in the garage.
A labda nem a strandon van. – The ball is not on the beach.
A labdák nem a strandon vannak. – The balls are not on the beach.

See what I mean? And the positive sentences are no problem. A positive existence or whereabouts is simply expressed with van, vannak which, however, can be translated in English as: is, are / there is, there are.

SUMMARY:
van = is, there is
vannak = are, there are
nincs = there is no, there isn’t any
nincsenek = there are no, there aren’t any
nem…van = is not
nem…vannak = are not

This is a problem only in present tense. In any other tense and mood you use the same forms for both existence and wherebouts.

PAST:
volt, voltak = was, were / there was, there were
nem volt, nem voltak = wasn’t, weren’t / there was no, there were no

FUTURE:
lesz, lesznek = will be / there will be
nem lesz, nem lesznek = won’t be / there won’t be

CONDITIONAL:
volna, volnának = would be / there would be
lenne, lennének
nem volna, nem volnának = wouldn’t be / there wouldn’t be
nem lenne, nem lennének

IMPERATIVE:
legyen, legyenek = (let) be / (let) there be / (there) should be / had better be
ne legyen, ne legyenek = don’t be / (there) shouldn’t be / had better not be

A few examples for the sentences above in other tenses and moods:

Az autó a garázsban lesz.
The car will be in the garage.
Az autó nem lesz a garázsban.
The car won’t be in the garage.

A labda a strandon legyen.
The ball had better be on the beach.
A labda ne legyen a strandon.
The ball had better not be on the beach.

Negation – Ne / Se, Sem / Nehogy / Soha

NE

It’s a negative word for imperative mood. Equivalent: DON’T

Ne mondj ilyet! – Don’t say such things!

Ne hagyják a tárcájukat a kocsiban, uraim!
Don’t leave your wallets in your cars, gentlemen!

Ne velem üvölts, üvölts az anyáddal!
Don’t roar at me. Roar at your mother!

Double negation again:

Ne csinálj semmit! / Semmit ne csinálj!
Don’t do anything!

SE, SEM

Equivalent: NOR, NEITHER, EITHER

Én sem tudom. – I don’t know, either.
Még ők se értik! – Even they don’t get it!

Semmit sem láttunk a tömegtől.
We didn’t see anything because of the crowd.

Egy percig sem habozik. – She doesn’t hesitate for a moment.

If you want to say ’neither, either’, then ’sem, se’ stays a single negation. Another example:

A fene se tudja! – The hell knows! (literally: Not even the hell knows!)

NEHOGY, HOGY…NE

Equivalent: lest, so that…don’t. You see you have two possibilities in Hungarian. These words are used in sentences expressing a purpose!

Vigyél kabátot, nehogy megfázz!
Take your jacket lest you catch a cold.

Vigyél kabátot, hogy meg ne fázz!
Take your jacket so that you don’t catch a cold.

Watch how they’re used. ’Nehogy’ is followed by full phrasal verbs, the verbal prefix stays with its verb! However, ’hogy…ne’ makes phrasal verbs split apart and verbal prefixes to precede ’ne’!

Use whichever you want to. One is heard as often as the other.

SOHA

Equivalent: NEVER. Used with double negation only unless it forms its own sentence!

Soha nem bántottalak. – I’ve never hurt you.

Soha semmit nem mondasz nekem.
You never tell me anything.

-Hallottál valaha ilyenről? –Soha. >Soha is the sentence itself.
-Have you ever heard about such a thing? –Never.

Another possibility: soha nem = sohasem

Sohasem bántottalak. – I’ve never hurt you.

Negation – Nincs, Nincsen

NINCS

This negative word is used if something doesn’t exist or something is not to be found somewhere. It also has a plural form: nincsenek. Equivalent:

SING: nincs, nincsen = there is no / there isn’t any
PLUR: nincsenek = there are no / there aren’t any
POSSESSION: nincs, nincsenek = have no / don’t have any

For explanation, watch the examples:

Nincs/Nincsen házam.
I have no house. I don’t have a house.

A tárcám nincs a széken.
My wallet is not on the chair.

Nincsenek könyveink.
We have no books. We don’t have any books.

A fiúk nincsenek az osztályban.
The boys are not in the classroom.

Note that nincs, nincsenek are only irregular in present tense.

Present tense: nincs/nincsen, nincsenek
Past tense: nem volt, nem voltak
Future tense: nem lesz, nem lesznek
Conditional: nem volna/lenne, nem lett volna, nem volnának/lennének, nem lettek volna
Imperative: ne legyen / ne legyenek

Nem volt házam.
I had no house. I didn’t have a house.

A tárcám nem lesz a széken.
My wallet will not be on the chair.

Nem voltak könyveink.
We had no books. We didn’t have any books.

A fiúk nem lesznek az osztályban.
The boys won’t be in the classroom.

Double negation is possible with nincs, too:

Nincs egy vasam se. – I haven’t got a red cent. / I’m broke.

Sometimes you can use single negation with sincs which is a combination of se + nincs!

Fogalmam sincs. – I have no idea.

Még tiszta zoknim sincs!
I don’t even have a pair of clean socks!

Nincs also expresses the English NONE:

-Van kerti törpétek? –Nincsen.
-Do you have any garden gnomes? -No, we have none.

-Van kerti törpétek? –Egy sincs.
-Do you have any garden gnomes? -No, we have none.

egy sincs/egy sincsen = none, not a single one