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Here is some stuff that may go into the website later

Abbreviations

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# Consonant Assimilation

In Hungarian, there are certain suffixes that, when used as an attachment to another word, will change, or assimilate, to the adjacent consonant. This is simply to make the language more natural-sounding and easier to say.

Assimilation of Noun Cases

There are two noun cases in Hungarian that do this assimilation: -vá, -vé (translative) and -val, -vel (instrumental).

For more information on these noun cases and their uses, refer to noun case summary.

When one of these suffixes is added to a word, if the word ends in a consonant, the "v" will change and become that consonant.

root + suffix combined meaning
tej + vel tejvel tejjel with milk
barátom + val barátomval barátommal with my friend
boldog + vá boldogvá boldoggá become happy
gyerek + vé gyerekvé gyerekké become child

Challenge!

Szeretnék egy kávét tejjel és cukorral.

I would like a coffee with milk and sugar.

Assimilation of ez/az

Another scenario in which consonant assimilation occurs in Hungarian is with the articles/pronouns ez and az. Because these end with "z," the "z" will assimilate to the adjacent consonant in a suffix. With an exception: if the suffix starts with "v," the "z" will dominate.

root + suffix combined meaning
ez + ben ezben ebben in this
az + ra azra arra onto that
az + tól aztól attól from that
ez + vel ezvel ezzel with this
az + vá azvá azzá become that

For more information on ez and az, refer to articles; for the locative cases in this example, see locatives

Assimilation with the Imperative Mood

Basically the imperative mood is turning verbs into orders/commands. You can identify this in sentences by seeing a -j directly after the verb (don't confuse this with the indicative mood, though!). Depending on the ending of the verb, this -j can get assimilated into a different form. Check out these imperatives in the second person.

[sibilant] [sibilant] + t [short vowel] + t [long vowel/normal consonant] + t meaning
vigyázj vigyázz! watch out!
játszj játssz velem! play with me!
ásj áss! dig!
először edzj eddz, aztán elmehetsz first train, then you can leave
bölcsen választj válassz choose wisely
festj fess le valamit! paint something!
ne zavargatj zavargass! don't bother me!
sietj siess már! hurry up!
sütj süss egy tortát nekem! bake a cake for me!
Lyric: te kölyök ne ugratj ugrass, rossz vicc! bad joke you kid, don't pull my leg!
gyújtsd meg a tüzet! light the fire!
tartj tarts ki! hold on!
bocsátj bocsáss meg! (exception) forgive me!
látj láss (exception) see

There are also seven irregular verbs that take a -gy ending.

Verb Assimilated
lesz legyél/légy
vesz (he/she/it buys/takes) vegyél/végy
tesz (he/she/it puts/does) tegyél/tégy
hisz (he/she/it believes) higgyél/higgy
visz (he/she/it brings) viggyél/viggy
eszik (he/she/it eats) egyél
iszik (he/she/it drinks) igyál

For more, check out the section on imperatives

This/That

In English, we use the pronoun/definite article "this" when we are talking about something near to us, in either space or time, and "that" when it is further away. Hungarian uses ez and az similarly. Take note that the one used in each specific situation can vary slightly from English; familiarity will come with practice.

ez - this
az - that

Just like English, these can be used in different ways. Firstly, its use as a definite article, to specify proximity of a noun to the speaker:

  • ez a kutyá - (this dog)
  • ez az alma - (this apple)
  • az a fá - (that tree)
  • az az óra - (that clock)

There are two things to be noted from these examples.

  1. Unlike in English, the definite article a/az must also be used.
  2. In the section above, we explained how when the next word starts with a vowel sound, the definite article a becomes az. Therefore, az can have two meanings, and a phrase such as az az óra (that clock) is possible. The first az means "that" and the second means "the."

Secondly, it is used as a pronoun and can be used in place of a noun:

  • ez kutyá - (this is a dog)
  • az víz - (that is water)
  • ez egy macska - (this is a cat)
  • látom azt - (I see that) note the accusative case used here

ez and az can be used to ask a question about the identity of an object.

  • Mi ez? Ez egy asztal. - (What's this? It is a table.)

In this usage, egy is optional and is used to emphasise that fact that there is one. (and not a different number?) (is this right?) Note that in English, where there would be "is," in Hungarian there is nothing.

Modification of ez/az with Suffixes/Plural

Hungarian solves everything with suffixes, and ez/az is no exception.

The noun suffixes of Hungarian are explained further here: Plural & Accusative, Dative, Locative, Noun Case Summary

There is a rule here: whenever a suffix is attached to a noun, it is also attached to ez and az when they are describing the noun. Vowel harmony must be obeyed, as well as consonant assimilation of the "z."

Here are a few common suffixes and how they affect ez and az.

Suffix Meaning ez az Example
-k plural ezek azok Azok kutyák - (Those are dogs)
-t accusative (direct object) ezt azt Látod azt? - (Do you see that?)
-nak,-nek dative, possessor ennek annak Mi a neve ennek a madárnak magyarul? - (What is the name of this bird in Hungarian?)
-val,-vel instrumental (with) ezzel azzal Mit csinálsz ezzel? - (What are you doing with this?)
-ban,-ben inessive (in) ebben abban Ebben a házban sok ember él. - (Many people live in this house.)

Note the consonant assimilation occurring with the last two. With -val,-vel the v assimilates and becomes z, and with -ban,-ben, the z becomes b.

The suffixes can be combined, too:

Creating Adverbs

Here are two common adverb-making suffixes.

Essive-Modal (-l/ul/-ül)

Front-vowelled words take -ül, back-vowelled words take -ul and words ending in vowels take -l

Essively, meaning that a noun is given a role to fulfill, as something. This is done to nouns.

  • Például - (As an example) From példa
  • Ajándékul - (As a gift) From ajándék

Modally, describes the manner of the person/people doing the verb. This is done to adjectives.

  • Jól - (Well) From jó
  • Rosszul - (Badly) From rossz
  • Makacsul - (Stubbornly) From makacs
  • Remekül - (Superbly) From remek
  • Egyedül - (Alone)

It is also used to show the language someone speaks.

  • Magyarul - (lit. Hungarianly) From magyar
  • Angolul - (lit. Englishly) From angol
  • Németül - (lit. Germanly) From német
  • Finnül - (lit. Finnishly) From finn

Adverbial (-n/-an/-en/-on)

Front-vowelled words take -en, back-vowelled words take -an,-on and words ending in vowels take -n. This is done to adjectives.

  • Gyorsan - (Quickly) From gyors
  • Gyakran - (Frequently) From gyakor
  • Csendesen - (Silently) From csend
  • Szépen - (Beautifully/Nicely) From szép
  • Nagyon - (Very) From nagy
  • Gazdagon - (Richly) From gazdag
  • Ritkán - (Rarely) From ritka

Look out for irregularities!

  • Lassan - (Slowly) From lassú

Creating Nouns

There are two ways of creating nouns, the former deals with adjectives/nouns/verbs becoming nouns and the latter with only verbs becoming nouns.

"-ness"(-ság/-ség)

Front-vowelled words take -ség, back-vowelled words take -ság. Crudely speaking, this can be thought of as a "-ness" ending, but it also turns nouns and verbs into nouns.

  • Sötétség - (Darkness) From sötét
  • Segítség - (Help) From segít
  • Rendőrség - (Police) From rendőr
  • Igazság - (Truth) From igaz
  • Szabadság - (Freedom) From szabad
  • Barátság - (Friendship) From barát

Verb to Noun (-ás/-és)

Front-vowelled words take -ás, back-vowelled words take -és.

  • Utazás - (Journey) From utaz

*[Abbreviations]: This is an abbreviation

Footnotes

  1. Some crazy footnote definition. ↩