Tag Archives: hungarian language

Phrasal Verbs Part 1

There will be three parts on this topic to make sure we cover everything.

English has phrasal verbs, too: go out, look up, looking forward to

Hungarian phrasal verbs are called igekötős igék. The word ‘igekötő’ can be translated as verbal prefix which normally precedes the verb is written together with it:

go out – kimegy
look up – felnéz
tear apart – széttép
…

Now lets see some Hungarian phrasal verbs and their meaning!

ABBA-
No English equivalent for it. It is used with certain verbs.

abbahagy – to stop
abbamarad – to stop, to break off

Hagyd abba! – Stop it!
A földrengés abbamaradt. – The earthquake has ceased.

AGYON-
It comes from the noun agy (brain). It expresses an activity which has reached a critical stage, or is exaggerated. Sometimes it can be translated as: to death.

agyonlő – to shoot sy to death
agyondolgozza magát – to overwork oneself
agyonvág – to strike dead

A katona agyonlőtte a foglyot.
The soldier shot the prisoner to death.

Az orvos azt mondta, agyondolgozom magam.
The doctor said I’ve been overworking myself.

A szerelőt agyonvágta az áram.
The technician’s got an electric shock.

ALÁ-
Equivalent: under-

aláír – to sign
alátámaszt – to support
aláaknáz – to undermine

Az elnök holnap aláírja a dokumentumot.
The president will sign the document tomorrow.

A bizonyíték alátámasztja a gyanúmat.
The evidence affirms my suspicion.

Csapatok aláaknázták a területet.
Troops have undermined the area.

ÁT-
Equivalent: through

átmegy – to cross, to pass
átvészel – to go through, to get over
átkarol – to embrace

Átmegy a hídon. – He crosses the bridge.
Átmegy a vizsgán. – He passes the exam.
Átvészelik a telet. – They go through the winter.
Átkarolja a barátját. – She embraces/hugs her boyfriend.

BE-
Equivalent: in, inside

bemegy vhova – to enter
belát vmt – to understand, to admit
behoz vmt – to make up
berobban – to blow in; to implode; to be a big hit

Bemegy a házba. – She enters the house.
Belátom, tévedtem. – I admit/Now I see I was wrong.
Behozta a lemaradást. – He made up arrears.

Az új hip-hop szám berobbant a köztudatba.
The new hip-hop song was a big hit.

BELE-
Equivalent: in, inside

beleun vmbe – to get tired of sg
beleszól vmbe – to intervene in sg
belemegy vmbe – to be in, to agree with sg
belejön vmbe – to become better and better, to get into sg

Lassan beleunok az írásba. – I’m getting tired of writing.
Mindenbe beleszól. – He puts in his oars, no matter what.
Belemész a válásba? – Do you agree with getting divorced?
Kezdesz belejönni! – You’re getting into it.

EGYBE-
Equivalent: together. Literally: in one.

egybeír – to write together/as one word
egybeesik vmvel – to coincide with sg

A „rövidnadrágot” egybeírjuk.
The word „rövidnadrág” is written as one word.

A névnapom egybeesik a szülinapommal.
My name-day coincides with my birth-day.

EL-
Equivalent: away, off, wrong

elír vmt – to write sg wrong
eljár vhova – to frequent
elsírja magát – to burst out crying
elfut – to run away
elmond vmt – to tell (about) sg
elront vmt – to mess sg up
elalszik – to fall asleep
eltér vmtől – to differ from sg

Elírták a címet. – There’s a typo in the title.
Eljár a diszkóba. – He often goes to the discotheque.
Hirtelen elsírta magát. – All of a sudden she burst out crying.
Ijedtemben elfutottam. – I was so scared I ran away.
Elmondjuk, amit hallottunk. – We’ll tell you what we heard.
Elrontottátok a tesztet. – You guys blew the test.
Éjféltájt alszok el. – I fall asleep towards midnight.

Ez a könyv eltér az eredetitől.
This book is different from the original.

ELLEN-
Equivalent: counter-, anti-, against

ellenáll vmnek – to resist
ellenőriz vmt – to control

Ellenáll a kísértésnek. – He resists temptation.
Ellenőrizd a féket! – Check the brake please.

ELŐ-
Equivalent: the actual meaning is fore-, but it can’t be really translated.

előad – to play, to perform
előjön – to come out
elővesz – to produce

Előadják a Hamlet-et. – They play Hamlet.
Előjönnek a bokorból. – They come out the bush.
Elővesz egy tollat a zsebéből. – He produces a pen from his pocket.

ELŐRE-
Equivalent: fore-, in advance

előrelát – to foresee
előre megmond – to foretell
előrebocsát – to mention in advance

Előrelátta a halálát. – He foresaw his own death.

Előre megmondtam, hogy ez lesz.
I told you this was going to happen.

Szeretném előrebocsátani, hogy…
I’d like to mention in advance that…

FEL-, FÖL-
Equivalent: up

felmegy – to go up, to climb
felkiált – to shout out
felad – to give up sg

Felmegyünk a hegyre.
We’re going up to the mountain.

Felkiáltott: „Hajó a láthatáron!”
He shouted out loud ’Ship on the horizon!’

Soha ne add fel! – Never give up!

Felkopik az álla.
He’ll perish with hunger.

FÉLBE-
Equivalent: in two, inter-. Literally: in half.

félbehagy – to stop doing sg (but it’s not finished yet); to do half the job
félbeszakít – to interrupt

Félbehagyta a munkát.
She broke off her work.

A tanárt félbeszakította a csengő.
The teacher was interrupted by the bell.

FÉLRE-
Equivalent: aside

félreáll – to stand clear, to step aside
félreért – to misunderstand

Félreáll az ajtóból. – He steps aside from the door.
Ne érts félre! – Don’t get me wrong.

FELÜL, -FÖLÜL-
Equivalent: super-

felülmúl – to surpass
felülbírál – to supervise; to overrule

Minden várakozást felülmúl.
It’s beyond expectations.

A bíró felülbírálta a döntést.
The judge overruled the decision.

FENN-, FÖNN-
Equivalent: up

fennmarad – to survive
fennáll – to stand, to exist

A neve örökre fennmarad.
His name will be known forever.

Amióta a cégünk fennáll…
Since our firm exists…

HÁTRA-
Equivalent: backwards, over-

hátraesik – to fall back

A kisfiú hátraesett játék közben.
The little boy fell backwards while playing.

HAZA-
Equivalent: home

hazamegy – to go home

Most hazamegyek. – I’m going home now.
hazafelé menet – on my way home

HELYRE-
Equivalent: to its place, right

helyretesz – to put sg right; to haul sy over the coal

Az anyuka helyretette a lányát.
The mother reprehended her daughter.

HOZZÁ-
Equivalent: to him/her/it

hozzámegy vkhez – to marry him/her
hozzákezd vmhez – to start doing sg

Petra hozzáment Ödönhöz.
Petra married Ödön.

Holnap hozzákezdenek az építkezéshez.
Construction begins tomorrow.

IDE-, ODA-
Equivalent: here, there

ideszól – to tell, to call
odaszalad – to run up to

Ha jössz, szólj ide! – If you come, call me.

A gyerek odaszaladt az apukájához.
The child ran up to his father.

KERESZTÜL-
Equivalent: through, across. It can be used like át- except with some verbs.

keresztülmegy – to go through

Sok mindenen ment keresztül. – She’s been through a lot.

KETTÉ-
Equivalent: in two, apart

kettétörik – to break in two

Kettétört a lemez. – The disk has broken in two.

KI-
Equivalent: out

kifakad – to fulminate
kifest – to paint

Ezekre a szavakra kifakadtam.
On hearing these words I foamed with rage.

Kifestitek a szobát? – Will you paint the room?

KÖRÜL-
Equivalent: around

körülvesz – to surround
körülír – to paraphrase, to circumscribe

Idiótákkal vagyok körülvéve.
I’m surrounded by idiots.

Megpróbálom körülírni, milyen volt.
I’m trying to describe what it felt like.

KÖZBE-
Equivalent: inter-

közbevág – to interrupt

Ekkor a nő közbevágott.
And then the woman interposed a remark.

KÖZRE-
No equivalent.

közreműködik – to contribute, to participate

A másik csapat is közreműködik a filmben.
The other team will participate in the movie, too.

KÜLÖN-
Equivalent: apart

különválik – to get divorced

A házaspár különválik.
The married couple will get divorced.

LE-
Equivalent: down

lemond – to give up; to resign
lefekszik – to go to bed

Az elnök lemondott.
The president has resigned from his office.

Lefekszek aludni. – I’m going to bed.

MELLÉ-
Equivalent: mis-; by

melléfog – to make a blunder
melléáll – to stand by sy

Jól melléfogtam. – That was a huge blunder for me.
Melléd állok, ne aggódj! – I’ll stand by you. Don’t worry!

NEKI-
Equivalent: to him/her/it OR not to be translated

nekilát vmnek – to get down to

Nekilát a munkának. – He’ll get down to work.

ÖSSZE-
Equivalent: together

összejön – to be successful, to make it
összecsinálja magát – to crap one’s pants

Végül is összejött! – We made it after all!

Majd összecsinálta magát ijedtében!
He almost crapped his pants with fear.

RÁ-
Equivalent: onto him/her/it

rátalál vkre – to find sy
ráhibáz vmre – to make a lucky hit
ráfog vmt vkre – to blame sy for sg

A mentőcsapat további öt emberrel talált rá.
The rescue team have found other five people.

Ráhibáztál!
That was a lucky hit of yours!

Mindent rám fogsz.
You blame me for everything.

RAJTA-
Equivalent: on him/her/it

rajtakap – to catch sy in fault

Rajtakapták a lopáson. – He’s been caught on stealing.

SZÉT-, -SZÉJJEL- See: ketté-

SZEMBE-
Equivalent: against

szembeszáll vkvel – to fight sy
szembenéz vmvel – to face sg

Szembeszállok vele. – I’ll fight him.
Nézzünk szembe a tényekkel! – Let’s face the facts.

SZERTE-
Equivalent: everywhere, apart

szerteágazik – to fork, to diversify

A vélemények szerteágaznak. – Opinions are all different.

TELE-
Equivalent: full

teleeszi magát – to stuff oneself
telebeszéli vknek a fejét – to talk sy’s head off

Teleették magukat. – They’ve stuffed themselves.

Telebeszéled a fejem minden hülyeséggel.
You’re talking my head off with nonsense.

TOVÁBB-
Equivalent: on. This word itself can also mean ’to continue’.

továbbcsinál – to go on doing sg
továbbolvas –  to continue reading

Továbbcsinálom, akkor is, ha nem tetszik.
I’ll keep doing it even if you don’t like it.

Továbbolvassa a könyvet.
He continues reading the book.

TÖNKRE-
Equivalent: No equivalent. I could describe it as: ’until something is in ruins’.

tönkremegy – to go awry; to go bankrupt
tönkretesz – to bring sg to ruin

Tönkrement a mosógép. – The washing machine has had it.
Tönkretted az estémet. – You messed up this evening for me.

TÚL-
Equivalent: over-

túlárad – to overflow
túlbecsül – to overestimate

Túláradnak az örömtől. – They bubble over with joy.
Túlbecsültem. – I overestimated him.

ÚJJÁ-
Equivalent: re-; to become new

újjáépít – to rebuild
újjáéled – to resuscitate

Újjáépítem a házam. – I’ll rebuild my house.
A természet tavasszal újjáéled. – Nature resuscitates in spring.

ÚJRA
Equivalent: re-, again

újra csinál – to do it again

Csináld újra! – Do it again.

NOTE! This adverb is always written separately from the verb!

UTÁNA-
Equivalent: after

utánanéz – to see about, to look after

Megteszed, hogy utánanézel?
Will you do me a favour and see about it?

VÉGBE-
Equivalent: to the end

végbemegy – to take place

Elképesztő, mi megy itt végbe!
Unbelievable what kind of things are going on here.

VÉGHEZ-
Equivalent: to the end; ’to do sg so that it’s surely done’

véghezvisz – to bring to effect

Az a hegymászó nagy tettet vitt véghez.
That mountainer has made quite an achievement.

VÉGIG-
Equivalent: until the end

végigcsinál – to go through with sg, to do sg until it’s finished

Végigcsinálom a tanfolyamot.
I’m going to finish with the course.

Végigfut a hátamon a hideg tőle.
It gives me the creeps.

VISSZA-
Equivalent: back

visszamegy – to go back

Visszamegyek Budapestre.
I’m going back to Budapest.

Visszahúz a szívem.
I’m homesick.

…and some notes…

Be careful with certain verbs!

 betűz = to spell NOT EQUAL TO betűz = to stick in

kiált = to shout NOT EQUAL TO kiállt = he stood up (for)

More Examples For Passive + Passive Question

Examples for “passive voice”:

The order is: Hungarian sentence, English active sentence, English passive sentence

A leckét meg kell írni.
One must write the homework.
The homework must be written.

A törvényt tisztelni kell.
One must respect the law.
The law must be respected.

A rendőrök megtiltották a tüntetést.
The police have forbidden the manifestation.
The manifestation has been forbidden by the police.

Azelőtt jelentették fel a tanárt, hogy hallottam róla.
They had denounced the teacher long before I heard of it.
The teacher had been denounced long before I heard of it.

Három hónap után végre megvették a kocsimat.
After three month they bought my car at last.
My car was bought at last after three month.

In the the first two sentences the verbs express an action generally. Someone must do something, but we don’t know who. In this case, Hungarian uses impersonal verbs which do not require a subject. English says ‘one’ or uses passive voice.

Meg kellene neki mondani, hogy siessen.
One should tell him to hurry up.
He should be told to hurry up.

Don’t worry about such sentences. We’ll deal with them when discussing modal verbs.

PASSIVE QUESTION

Sinc there’s no passive voice in Hungarian, there’s no passive question, either. You simply form such questions with active sentences.

Ki ette meg az ebédet?
Who ate the lunch?
Who was the lunch eaten by?

Mi ölte meg a férfit?
What killed the man?
What was the man killed by?

Miért nem szóltak nekem?
Why didn’t they told me?
Why wasn’t I told?

and so on…

BY = ÁLTAL

Actually, it is possible to form somewhat passive statements when it comes to sentences like:

The solution offered by them is not achievable.
Az általuk felkínált megoldás nem megvalósítható.

So the equivalent for BY is ÁLTAL which precedes the past participle (contrary to English). The personal forms are:

by me – általam
by you – általad
by he/she/it – általa
by us – általunk
by you – általatok
by them – általuk

OR with proper names and professions:

by Peter – Péter által
by the doctor – az orvos által
…

A Péter által elmondott történet igaz.
The story told by Peter is true.

If there are more people involved, által stays singular!

A Péter és János által elmondott történet igaz.
The story told by Peter and John is true.

I think I told you everything you need about the non-existing Hungarian passive voice. If you have a question, drop me a comment and I’ll answer it. Next time phrasal verbs.

Bye! 🙂

“Passive voice”

To begin with, Hungarian stopped using passive voice a long time ago. People talked like that a hundred years ago, but not anymore. It was expressed with these suffixes: -atik, -etik. Examples:

it is said – mondatik
it is proclaimed – kihirdettetik

You can find such verbs in old texts. And what about the present time?

Hungarian expresses passive voice WITH ACTIVE SENTENCES!!!

So the formation goes like this:

3rd PP form of the verb with definite or indefinite conjugation

Examples:

The house was sold. – A házat eladták.
The soup is cooked. – A levest megfőzték.
The cars will be mended. – A kocsikat meg fogják javítani.

So Hungarian says they sold, they cooked, they will mend even if we don’t know who we’re talking about.

For a native English speaker the problem comes with Present Simple and Present Perfect if you want to translate English passive voice in Hungarian. Look at this:

to build = építeni > they built = építették
meg > verbal prefix expressing completeness

The house is built. – A házat megépítették.
The has been built. – A házat megépítették / építik.

Both sentences are translated with past tense in Hungarian. Why? Because the first Present Simple sentence says the house is built, so it is finished. And it had to be built in the past so that we can say it is built. Therefore Hungarian uses past tense.
As for the Present Perfect sentence, it can express the completeness or the continuity of an action, therefore Hungarian uses past tense for completeness and present tense for continuity.

The house has been built at last!
A házat végre megépítették!

The house has been built for a year now.
A házat már egy éve építik.

See what I mean? The first sentences refers to a house already finished, the second refers to a house still being built.

The rest of the tenses shouldn’t be a problem. You just use the same tense as in English. Examples:

Past Simple
The house was built.
A házat megépítették.

Future Simple
The house will be built.
A házat meg fogják építeni.

If it comes to a continous tense, you can put ÉPPEN before the verb, but it is not necessary. Hungarian verbs without a verbal prefix (like meg-) express continuity by themselves.

Present Simple Continuous
The house is being built.
A házat éppen építik.

Past Simple Continuous
The house was being built.
A házat éppen építették.

Future Simple Continuous
The house will be being built.
A házat éppen építeni fogják.

First digest the stuff above, and in the next entry I’ll write more examples and more stuff to learn about “passive voice”.

Hungarian Anthem and a Song about Budapest

The Hungarian National Anthem – A Magyar Nemzeti Himnusz (which I’m very proud of)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cisX40UmfIY

A funny song about Budapest

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNLBLXpNQ88&feature=related

Reported Question

Before taking a look at reported question, let’s see some more examples for reported speech.

Examples:

‘Take my hand’, John said to Mary.
“Fogd meg a kezem!” -mondta John Mary-nek.

John told Mary to take his hand.
John azt mondta Mary-nek, hogy fogja meg a kezét.

—

‘Stop it, son, or I’ll slap you in the face.’, the mother said.
“Hagyd abba, fiam vagy pofon ütlek téged.” -mondta az anya.

The mother told his son to stop it or she would slap him in the face.
Az anya azt mondta a fiának, hogy hagyja abba vagy pofon üti őt.

You see that the pronouns changed, just as the possessive endings according to reported or direct speech. And NOTE that Hungarian uses inversion and dash instead of a comma:

,the mother said = –mondta az anya

Furthermore, Hungarian uses double quotation marks, not just something like an apostrophe:

‘Stop it.‘ = “Hagyd abba!“

But the first quotation mark used in Hungarian at the beginning of the sentence is at the bottom of the letter and not at the top of the letter. I can’t write such things on this blog. It only allows me to write it as you see “…”.

REPORTED QUESTION

It is quite the same. Examples:

“Tényleg beteg?” –kérdezte Márk.
‘Is she really ill?’, Mark asked.

Márk azt kérdezte, hogy tényleg beteg-e.
Mark asked if she was really ill.

—

“Vettél uborkát is, Béla?” –kiváncsiskodott a feleség.
‘Did you buy some cucumber, Béla?’, the wife wondered.

A feleség arról kíváncsiskodott, hogy Béla vette-e uborkát.
The wife wondered if  Béla bought some cucumber.

It is not rare that the subordinate clause is introduced by IF, WHETHER whose Hungarian equivalents are:

-e, vajon

Take a look at the use:

He asked me if I would go to school.
Azt kérdezte, hogy megyek-e iskolába.

He asked me whether I would go to school.
Azt kérdezte, vajon megyek-e iskolába.

He asked me whether to go to school.
Azt kérdezte, elmegyek-e iskolába.

So most of the time you can just use -e in such sentences. However, when English says ‘I wonder if…’, then Hungarian uses vajon. And then, usually the Hungarian sentence is a question. But vajon is not always a good solution. Sometimes it’s better to translate it with the adjective kiváncsi!

I wonder if he comes. – Vajon eljön?

She wonders if you told the truth.
Kiváncsi, hogy az igazat mondtad-e.

Note that -e is connected with a hyphen to the verb: mondtad-e

So much for reported speech. Next time I’ll write stuff about the passive voice, then phrasal verbs.

Bye now! 🙂

Reported Speech

Reported speech means that you report something you heard from someone in a story-telling way. Direct speech, however, requires the speaker to quote exactly what one heard.

Examples:

DIRECT SPEECH
The Terminator said “I’ll be back“.
A Terminátor azt mondta, “Visszatérek“.

REPORTED SPEECH
The Terminator said he would be back.
A Terminátor azt mondta, hogy visszatér.

The English sentence changed its tense (will > would), but the Hungarian didn’t. This phenomenon, which doesn’t exist in Hungarian is called: SEQUENCE OF TENSES. It doesn’t exist in Hungarian because you need to have more past tenses so that you can actually apply a sequence for tenses. But Hungarian only has one past tense, so there’s nothing for the past verb in the main clause to agree with in the subordinate clause. As you see above, Hungarian used Present Tense in both sentences.

Take a look at this:

He says he is watching TV. – Azt mondja, hogy tévét néz.
He said he was watching TV. – Azt mondta, hogy tévét néz.

In the second sentence the English ‘he was watching’ refers to present tense, but it is expressed with the past tense due to the sequence of tenses. Hungarian just uses Present Tense again even if the main clause has a past tense verb. However, the second English sentence can also mean that ‘he was watching’ in the past. Look:

-What is he doing now? -He said he was watching TV.
‘was watching’ refers to present tense!

-What was he doing yesterday? -He said he was watching TV.
‘was watching’ refers to past tense!!

And then the Hungarian sentence looks like this:
Azt mondta, hogy tévét nézett.

Basically, sequence of tenses means that if the verb of the main clause is in past tense, then the verb of the subordinate clause must be in past tense, as well.

However, other elements change, too: pronouns, adverbs of place, adverbs of time. And these parts of speech also change in Hungarian.

now > then
most > akkor

today > that day
ma > aznap

tomorrow > the next day
holnap > a következő nap

the day after tomorrow > in two days
holnap > két nap múlva

yesterday > the day before
tegnap > az előző nap

the day before yesterday > two days ago
tegnapelőtt > két nappal ezelőtt

two weeks ago > two weeks before
két hete > két héttel azelőtt

last year > in the previous year
tavaly > az előző évben

next year > in the following year
jövőre > a következő évben

recently > shortly before
nemrégen > röviddel azelőtt

soon > soon after
nemsokára > nemsokára !!!

this, these > that, those
ez, ezek > az, azok

here > there
itt > ott

I think it’s enough for today. Next time we’ll see more examples and we’ll talk about reported question.

Were it not for…

This construction is expressed in Hungarian like this:

Were it nor for… = Ha nem + present/past conditional

Examples:

Were it nor for my friend, I wouldn’t pay the fine.
Ha nem a barátomról lenne szó, nem fizetném ki a bírságot.

Were it not for Peter, they wouldn’t care about it.
Ha nem Péterről volna szó, nem érdekelné őket.

Were it not for an old friend of mine, I wouldn’t have taken such a long journey.
Ha nem egy régi barátról lett volna szó, nem tettem volna meg ekkora utat.

An expression appears in such sentences many times:

szó van valamiről / valakiről = it’s about something / someone

The preposition about is equal to these suffixes: -ról, -ről (according to vowel harmony).

Were it not for you… – Ha nem rólad lenne szó…
Were it not for Peter… – Ha nem Péterről lenne szó…

So the literal translation from Hungarian would be: If it weren’t about you…

APART FROM THE TOPIC ABOVE…

English allows the speaker to put the main and subordinate clauses in different conditions. So does Hungarian.

If you hadn’t offended her, she would help us now.
Ha nem sértetted volna meg, most segítene nekünk.

English has this solution, too: Hadn’t you offended her…However, Hungarian must always say: HA!

So much for if-clauses and conditional mood.

If-Clauses

If-clauses are sentences like:

Condition 0: If you come with me, I am happy.
Condition 1: If you come with me, I will be happy.
Condition 2: If you came with me, I would be happy.
Condition 3: If you had come with me, I would have been happy.

Such sentences can be real (condition 1), possible (condition 2), impossible (condition 3). And English makes a difference between Condition 0 and Condition 1. Hungarian doesn’t. Let’s see what the Hungarian translation of those sentences look like! The Hungarian equivalent of the IF conjunction is HA.

Cond 0: Ha velem jössz, boldog vagyok/leszek.
Cond 1: Ha velem jössz, boldog vagyok/leszek.
Cond 2: Ha velem jönnél, boldog lennék.
Cond 3: Ha velem jöttél volna, boldog lettem volna.

Furthermore, we should talk about tenses and moods. English uses Past Simple or Past Perfect after the if conjunction (subordinate clause), and Present Conditional or Past Conditional in the main clause. Let’s see a summary for Hungarian use!

Condition 1
> Hungarian uses Present Tense for both main and subordinate clauses.

Condition 2
> Hungarian uses Present Conditional for both main and subordinate clauses.

Condition 3
> Hungarian uses Past Conditional for both main and subordinate clauses.

In Hungarian you can also use Future Tense in the main clause for Condition 1. That’s why there is no distinction between Cond. 0 and Cond 1.

More examples:

CONDITION 0 AND 1
Ha szeretsz, elmondod.
If you love me, you tell me.

Ha nem tanulnak, megbuknak.
If they don’t learn, they‘ll fail.

CONDITION 2
Ha szeretnél, elmondanád.
If you loved me, you would tell me.

Ha nem tanulnának, megbuknának.
If they didn’t learn, they‘d fail.

CONDITION 3
Ha szerettél volna, elmondtad volna.
If you had loved me, you would have told me.

Ha nem tanultak volna, megbuktak volna.
If they hadn’t learned, they would have failed.

NOTE! Both versions of the substantive verb can be used in conditional clauses. Examples:

Ha gazdag lennék, Ferrarit vennék.
Ha gazdag volnék, Ferrarit vennék.
If I were rich, I would buy a Ferrari.

Use whichever you want.

And finally, note that there is always a comma between the main and subordinate clause even if  the sentence begins with the main clause.

Ha nem kelsz fel, elkésel. / Elkésel, ha nem kelsz fel.
If you don’t get up, you’ll be late. / You’ll be late if you don’t get up.

Next time we’ll learn how to say “Were it not for…” in Hungarian. Bye now! 🙂

Irregular Verbs in Conditional

The fun with the conditional mood is that even irregular verbs are not that irregular. But I think we should go through them nonetheless.

LENNI = TO BE
lesz: lennék, lennél, lenne, lennénk, lennétek, lennének
van: volnék, volnál, volna, volnánk, volnátok, volnának

MENNI, JÖNNI = TO GO, TO COME
megy: mennék, mennél, menne, mennénk, mennétek, mennének
jön: jönnék,  jönnél, jönne, jönnénk, jönnétek, jönnének

ENNI = TO EAT
Indef.: ennék, ennél, enne, ennénk, ennétek, ennének
Def.: enném, ennéd, enné, ennénk, ennétek, ennék

INNI = TO DRINK
Indef.: innék, innál, inna, innánk, innátok, innának
Def.: innám, innád, inná, innánk, innátok, innák

TENNI = TO DO,  TO PUT
Indef.: tennék, tennél, tenne, tennénk, tennétek, tennének
Def.: tenném, tennéd, tenné, tennénk, tennétek, tennék

VENNI = TO TAKE, TO BUY
Indef.: vennék, vennél, venne, vennénk, vennétek, vennének
Def.: venném, vennéd, venné, vennénk, vennétek, vennék

VINNI = TO BRING
Indef.: vinnék, vinnél, vinne, vinnénk, vinnétek, vinnének
Def.: vinném, vinnéd, vinné, vinnénk, vinnétek, vinnék

HINNI = TO BELIEVE
Indef.: hinnék, hinnél, hinne, hinnénk, hinnétek, hinnének
Def.: hinném, hinnéd, hinné, hinnénk, hinnétek, hinnék

The rest of the verbs we called irregular are actually regular. And as you see the verbs above, they are not that irregular, either. I just write the conjugation for nő and alszik because then you know sző, lő, ró, fekszik, nyugszik.

NŐNI = TO GROW
Indef: nőnék, nőnél, nőne, nőnénk, nőnétek, nőnének
Def: nőnék, nőnéd, nőné, nőnénk, nőnétek, nőnék

Nőni can be definite when a phrasal verb: kinőni

ALUDNI = TO SLEEP
Indef: aludnék, aludnál, aludna, aludnánk, aludnátok, aludnának
Def: aludnám, aludnád, aludná, aludnánk, aludnátok, aludnák

Aludni can be definite when a phrasal verb: kialudni

So much for irregular verbs. As I said, conditional mood is the easiest! Bye now. 🙂

Past Conditional

We will proceed like this: we discuss past conditional in this entry. In the next entry I’ll write is about irregular verbs and then if-clauses.

P A S T   C O N D I T I O N A L

Past conditional expresses a condition in the past :). The Hungarian past conditional is easy to form if you know how to form the indicative past tense.

All you need to do is to conjugate the verb in past tense and put the auxiliary verb VOLNA after it. ‘Volna’ is the 3rd PS conditional form of the substantive verb.

néztem + volna = I would have watched

Two examples for high and deep verbs:

NÉZ – TO WATCH
Indefinite / Definite:
néztem / néztem volna
néztél / nézted volna
nézett / nézte volna
néztünk / néztük volna
néztetek / néztétek volna
néztek / nézték volna

RAK = TO PUT
Indefinite / Definite:
raktam / raktam volna
raktál / raktad volna
rakott / rakta volna
raktunk / raktuk volna
raktatok / raktátok volna
raktak / rakták volna

The auxiliary verb volna and the main verb CANNOT BE SEPARATED!

I would have seen the movie.
Láttam volna a filmet. > CORRECT
Láttam a filmet volna. > INCORRECT

H O W   W O U L D   I   H A V E   B E E N?

It is an important question because there is no compound tense in Hungarian! English has compound tense: I have seen, I had seen…

The conjugation for VAN/LESZ is the same and that’s how you form the conditional past for them:

lettem volna – I would have been
lettél volna – you would have been
lett volna – he/she/it would have been
lettünk volna – we would have been
lettetek volna – you would have been
lettek volna – they would have been

So it’s just the past tense of lesz + volna!

Next time irregular verbs. Bye! 🙂