Learn Hungarian Pronouns Fast: Crash Course for Beginners

Let's explore pronouns in Hungarian, including demonstrative, interrogative, personal, relative, reflexive pronouns, and the concept of omitting pronouns.

1. Demonstrative Pronouns

Demonstrative pronouns point out specific people or things. In Hungarian, they are used to indicate proximity (this, these) or distance (that, those).

Forms:

• ez (this - singular, near)
• az (that - singular, far)
• ezek (these - plural, near)
• azok (those - plural, far)

Examples:

• Ez a könyv nagyon érdekes. (This book is very interesting.)
• Az autó új. (That car is new.)
• Ezek a gyerekek. (These children.)
• Azok a házak régiek. (Those houses are old.)

2. Interrogative Pronouns

Interrogative pronouns are used to ask questions. They replace nouns in the sentence and are often used for inquiring about people or things.

Common Interrogative Pronouns:

• ki? (who?)
• mi? (what?)
• melyik? (which?)
• mennyit? (how much?)
• hány? (how many?)

Examples:

• Ki jön velem? (Who is coming with me?)
• Mi történt? (What happened?)
• Melyik könyvet olvasod? (Which book are you reading?)
• Mennyit kérsz? (How much do you want?)

3. Personal Pronouns

Personal pronouns refer to specific people or things and are essential for sentence construction. Hungarian personal pronouns change according to the case, including nominative, accusative, dative, and others.

Nominative (Subject Case):

• én (I)
• te (you, singular informal)
• ő (he, she, it)
• mi (we)
• ti (you, plural or formal singular)
• ők (they)

Examples:

• Szeretem a könyveket. (I like books.)
• Tanít. (He/she teaches.)
• Elmegyünk. (We are going.)

4. Relative Pronouns

Relative pronouns introduce relative clauses and refer to a noun mentioned earlier in the sentence. In Hungarian, the relative pronoun often matches the noun's case.

Forms:

• aki (who - for people, nominative)
• ami (what, which - for things, nominative)
• akik (who - plural, nominative)
• amik (what, which - plural, nominative)

Examples:

• A fiú, aki ott áll, az a testvérem. (The boy who is standing there, that's is my brother.)
• A ház, ami ott van, az az enyém. (The house that is over, that's mine.)
• Az emberek, akik ott ülnek. (The people who are sitting there)
• A könyvek, amik a polcon vannak, régiek. (The books that are on the shelf are old.)

5. Reflexive Pronouns (Self)

Reflexive pronouns are used when the subject and the object of the verb are the same, meaning the action is performed on the subject itself.

Forms:

• magam (myself)
• magad (yourself, singular informal)
• maga (himself, herself, itself)
• magunk (ourselves)
• magatok (yourselves, plural or formal singular)
• maguk (themselves)

Examples:

• Megölelem magam. (I hug myself.)
• Ne haragudj meg magadra! (Don’t be angry with yourself!)

6. Omitting Pronouns

In Hungarian, pronouns are often omitted because the verb conjugation provides enough information about the subject. This is particularly common in casual speech or writing.

Examples:

• Szeretem. (I love it / I like it.)
  • Here, the pronoun én (I) is omitted because the verb conjugation szeretem (I love) indicates the subject.
• Tanulok. (I am studying.)
  • The pronoun én is omitted as the verb form indicates that it’s the speaker who is studying.

This omission is very common in everyday speech, making the language more fluid and efficient.

Summary of Pronouns:

• Demonstrative Pronouns: Point out specific things or people (ez, az).
• Interrogative Pronouns: Used to ask questions (ki?, mi?, melyik?).
• Personal Pronouns: Indicate the subject of a sentence (én, te, ő).
• Relative Pronouns: Link clauses and refer to nouns (aki, ami).
• Reflexive Pronouns: Show that the subject is performing the action on itself (magam, magad).
• Omitting Pronouns: In Hungarian, pronouns are often dropped as the verb conveys enough information about the subject.

These pronouns play crucial roles in communication, simplifying sentence structure and making speech more fluid.