Learn Participles in Hungarian Fast: Crash Course for Beginners

Let's go over the participles in Hungarian, which are important for describing actions and states related to nouns and verbs. These are used in both grammatical and descriptive contexts, adding versatility to the language. We'll look at three types of participles: adverbal participle, present participle, and past participle.

1. Adverbal Participle (-va/-ve)

The adverbal participle is used to describe how something is done. It often translates to English as an -ing form, indicating an action happening concurrently with the main verb. Helps to describe how and in what way something is done or was done or even is being done.

• Form: The suffix -va or -ve is added to the verb stem, with vowel harmony affecting which form to use.

• Example:

  • sietve (hurriedly) 

2. Present Participle (-ó, -ő)

The present participle describes an action that is currently happening. It often functions like an adjective, describing a noun that is performing the action.

• Form: For verbs ending in -ik, the participle form ends in -ő. For other verbs, the participle typically ends in -ó or -ő.

• Example:

  • tanuló (learning, student)
    • tanul (to learn) + -ó
  • író (writing, writer)
    • ír (to write) + -ó
  • futó (running, runner)
    • fut (to run) + -ó
  • olvasó (reading, reader)
    • olvas (to read) + -ó

3. Past Participle (-t)

The past participle is used to describe an action that has been completed in the past, similar to English’s -ed form. It is often used with auxiliary verbs to form compound tenses.

• Form: The past participle suffix is -t, which is added to the verb stem.

• Example:

  • írt (written)
    • ír (to write) + -t

Summary of the Participles:

• Adverbal Participle (-va/-ve): Describes how something is done (e.g., sietve – hurriedly, nevetve – laughing).
• Present Participle (-ó, -ő): Describes an ongoing action or the subject performing an action (e.g., tanuló – learning, író – writer).
• Past Participle (-t): Describes a completed action (e.g., írt – written, látott – seen).

These participles help convey nuanced meanings and are frequently used in both spoken and written Hungarian.