Lesson Four: Using Verbs

Vocabulary
Grammar
Exercises

Vocabulary

ház (-at) - house
ismer - to know (to be acquainted with, French 'connaitre', Spanish 'conocer')
küld - to send
olvas - to read
könyv (-et) - book
szeret - to like, love
valami (-t) - something
gulyás (-t) - goulash (Hungarian stew)
akar - to want
kér - to ask for, to want (polite)
kérek/kérem - please (literally, 'I ask for')

Grammar

Direct Objects

A direct object is the receiver of the action of a verb. 'Cake' is the object in the sentence 'I eat the cake' and 'me' is the object in the sentence 'he likes me'. A verb which can take a direct object is called a transitive verb. Some verbs like 'be', 'go' and 'live' are unable to take direct objects. These are called intransitive verbs. In English, we can identify the direct object by word order. The sentences 'Mike likes Jane' and 'Jane likes Mike' contain the same words but are different because of the order in which they appear. In Hungarian word order is flexible and the direct object is recognizable by a suffix -t. This is called the accusative suffix. Many words ending in a consonant need a link vowel before the suffix, e for front words and most often o but sometimes a for back words. For words ending in vowels, often the final vowel is lengthened. This sounds tricky and it kind of is, so don't worry too much about the link vowel, the important part is the -t. Just try to learn each form as you come across it, and eventually you will get a feel for it. Look at the following sentences:

Látok egy házat.
I see a house.

Ismerek egy pincért
I know a waiter.

Magyart tanulok.
I am studying Hungarian.
Note: this means I am studying a Hungarian lesson (or something), for the general sense of 'I study Hungarian', most likely magyarul would be used.

Mit olvasol? (remember -sz becomes -l after stems ending in s,sz,z)
What are you reading?

There will be more examples with the accusative suffix following the next grammar section.

Indefinite and Definite Verb Conjugations

In Hungarian there are two types of verb conjugation for each tense. Last lesson you were presented with the indefinite and in this lesson you will learn the definite. This is an essential part of Hungarian grammar and it may seem difficult at the beginning. Here are the basic rules just to give you an idea of what we are dealing with here:

The indefinite conjugation is used when:


1. The verb is intransitive (incapable of taking a direct object).
2. The object of the transitive verb is indefinite (something general, preceded by the indefinite article egy). Also when there is no object as in the sentence 'Now I am reading'.
3. The object of the verb is a 1st or 2nd person, e.g. 'they like you', 'you like me'. It is not necessary to state the 1st or 2nd person object, the use of the indefinite is enough (see samples below).

The definite conjugation is used when:

1. The object of the transitive verb is definite (preceded by the article 'a, az'; a personal or place name)
2. The object of the verb is a 3rd person, e.g. 'I like him', 'We understand it', They like you (formal). Again it is not necessary to use the object, the use of the definite conjugation implies it.

Take at look at some English examples to help get a better understanding:

Indefinite Sentences	Definite Sentences
I eat a cake.	I am eating the cake.
I am going to the store.	I like the movie.
We ran today.	You understood the question.
Did you buy something?	He gave the gift to John.
What did you do?	I know Eva.
He likes me.	She likes him.
I live in Philadelphia.	Do you understand? (implied 'it')

The Definite Conjugation

Here are the suffixes for the definite conjugation in the present tense, followed by the conjugations of the back verb tud and the front verbs ért and küld


	singular	plural
1st person	-om, -em, -öm	-juk, -jük
2nd person	-od, -ed, -öd	-játok, -itek
3rd person	-ja, -i	-ják, -ik

tudni - to know

én tudom	mi tudjuk
te tudod	ti tudjátok
o" tudja	o"k tudják

érteni - to understand

én értem	mi értjük
te érted	ti értitek
o" érti	o"k értik

küldeni - to send

én küldöm	mi küldjük
te küldöd	ti külditek
o" küldi	o"k küldik

Some exceptions:

1. For verb stems ending in -s, -sz, or -z with any suffix beginning with the letter j, the j is dropped and the final consonant of the stem is doubled. Remember, sz becomes ssz when doubled. Here is the back verb olvasni 'to read' with the exceptional forms in bold: olvasom, olvasod, olvassa, olvassuk, olvassátok, olvassák.

2. For -ik verbs, the -ik suffix is dropped from the stem in all forms of the definite conjugation.

Olvasni szeretek. (indef.)
I like to read

Szeretem a könyvet. (def.)
I like the book.

Ez a pincér ismeri a no"t. (def.)
This waiter knows the woman.

Nem értem. (def.)
I don't understand (it).

Értesz? (indef.)
Do you understand me (or us)?

Egy házat akarok. (indef.)
I want a house.

A gulyást kérem. (def.)
I'd like (I ask for) the goulash. Also: The goulash, please.

Ismerem Rómát. (def.)
I know Rome.

Tanul magyarul? (indef.)
Does he study Hungarian?

Ismered a nyelvet? Igen, ismerem. (def., def.)
Do you know (Are you familiar with) the language? Yes, I know it (Yes, I do).

Hol dolgoztok? (indef.)
Where do you (plural) work?

Laci szeret. (indef.)
Laci loves me OR us OR you.
Note: In cases like this, context will usually make it clear.

Exercises

Translate the following sentences into English:

1. Jó reggelt, mit olvasol?
2. Szeretem a magyar nyelvet.
3. Hol tanulnak?
4. Én ismerem Évát, de o" nem ismer. (Note use of personal pronouns for emphasis)
5. Látsz egy asztalt? Ülni akarok.

Translate the following into Hungarian:

6. I would like (want) to speak Hungarian.
7. Do you see the woman there?
8. This house is very pretty.
9. Where is the restaurant? I don't see it.
10. We live in the city.

Click here for the answers.

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