The Accusative Case & Plurals
Plurals
In English, the plural form of a noun is generally given by adding an -s onto the end of a word. In Hungarian
this is done by adding -k.
Watch out! Some nouns end in
-kin their base state (nominal). E.g. gyerek (child), játék (toy, game).
Naturally, when adding the plural to our nominal noun, we have to obey vowel harmony. Here’s a collection of nouns to familiarise you with the usage.
| Noun | -ak | -ok | -ek | -ök | -k |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Férfi (man) | Férfiak | ||||
| Szó (word) | Szavak | ||||
| Madár (bird) | Madarak | ||||
| Híd (bridge) | Hidak | ||||
| Ló (horse) | Lovak | ||||
| Tó (lake) | Tavak | ||||
| Falu (village) | Falvak | ||||
| Játék (toy/game) | Játékok | ||||
| Bokor (bush) | Bokrok | ||||
| Bagoly (owl) | Baglyok | ||||
| Polc (shelf) | Polcok | ||||
| Csillag (star) | Csillagok | ||||
| Az | Azok | ||||
| Fű (grass) | Füvek | ||||
| Gyerek (child) | Gyerekek | ||||
| Ember (person) | Emberek | ||||
| Kő (stone) | Kövek | ||||
| Egér (mouse) | Egerek | ||||
| Ez | Ezek | ||||
| Tükör (mirror) | Tükrök | ||||
| Gyümölcs (fruit) | Gyümölcsök | ||||
| Bőrönd (suitcase) | Bőröndök | ||||
| Sör (beer) | Sörök | ||||
| Gyöngy (pearl) | Gyöngyök | ||||
| Kutya (dog) | Kutyák | ||||
| Kiwi | Kiwik | ||||
| Macska (cat) | Macskák | ||||
| Fiú (boy) | Fiúk | ||||
| Daru (crane) | Daruk/Darvak | ||||
| Satu (vice) | Satuk | ||||
| Tanú | Tanúk |
There’s a lot to be taken away from here. We can make some rules, but there will always be exceptions.
- The vowels of some two-letter-long nouns become shortened and get a
vattached as well as ak- Fű - Füvek
- Ló - Lovak
- Kő - Kövek
- Szó - Szavak
- Tó - Tavak
- Some nouns ending in i only get a
kattached.- Kifli - Kiflik (type of bread roll)
- Kiwi - Kiwik
- Most nouns ending in other unlengthened vowels become lengthened in the plural.
- Kutya - Kutyák
- Macska - Macskák
- Bögre - Bögrék (Mug)
- Most nouns ending in lengthened vowels only get a
kattached.- Betű - Betűk (Letter)
- Fiú - Fiúk
- Író - Írók (Writer)
- Most nouns that have an elongated vowel in the second syllable will lose it in the plural.
- Madár - Madarak
- Tehén - Tehenek (Cow)
- Darázs - Darazsak (Wasp)
- Some nouns become reduced if there is a repeated vowel.
- Bokor - Bokrok
- Tükör - Tükrök
- Dolog - Dolgok (thing)
RARE EXCEPTION: Nouns ending in
u! The last vowel does not become lengthened and sometimes the plural becomes-vak.
- Daruk - (cranes - machine)
- Darvak - (cranes - birds)
But wait, there’s more!
In Hungarian, when a noun becomes quantified (either by numbers or by adjectives) it becomes singular.
- Fák - (trees)
- Két fa - (Two trees)
- Sok fa - (Many trees)
- Néhány fa - (Some trees)
Nouns that usually come in pairs are considered singular.
- Zokni - (socks)
- Cipő - (shoes)
- Szem - (eyes)
To single them out, one can describe them or use egyik (one of).
- A bal zokni - (the left sock)
- Egyik cipő - (one of the shoes)
Last but not least, if you stress that a noun has a key attribute, the adjective needs to match the amount of nouns.
- A madarak zöldek/Zöldek a madarak - (The birds are green)
- Azok a drága autók magyarok - (Those expensive cars are hungarian)
The Accusative Case
The accusative case marks the direct object. Whenever something/someone does something/someone else,
the something/someone else becomes the direct object. The accusative case is simply marked with a -t at the end.
In English, there are only a few situations in which a noun uses a different form when it becomes a direct object.
- Can you see me? (me is the direct object)
- Whom did you see? (whom is the direct object)
| Noun | -at | -ot | -et | -öt | -t |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Játékok | Játékokat | ||||
| Kutyák | Kutyákat | ||||
| Madár | Madarat | ||||
| Bokor | Bokrokat | ||||
| Magyarázatok | Magyarázatokat | ||||
| Magyarázat (explanation) | Magyarázatot | ||||
| Bagoly | Baglyot | ||||
| Polc | Polcot | ||||
| Csillag | Csillagot | ||||
| Tükrök | Tükröket | ||||
| Gyerek | Gyereket | ||||
| Fű | Füvet | ||||
| Kövek | Köveket | ||||
| Festmények (paintings) | Festményeket | ||||
| Egerek | Egereket | ||||
| Hörcsög (hamster) | Hörcsögöt | ||||
| Gyümölcs | Gyümölcsöt | ||||
| Bőrönd | Bőröndöt | ||||
| Sör | Sörök | ||||
| Gyöngy | Gyöngyöt | ||||
| Ember | Embert | ||||
| Kiwi | Kiwit | ||||
| Macska | Macskát | ||||
| Férfi | Férfit | ||||
| Fiú | Fiút |
All the vowel harmony rules stated for the plural apply for the accusative as well.
It is also interesting to note how some vowel harmony for back-vowel words alternates between o and a.
- Magyarázat
okat - Játék
okat - Dolg
okat - Az
okat and so on and so forth…
Let’s see some hungarian sentences!
- Látom a fát. - I see the tree
- Hallom azokat a madarakat. - I hear those birds
- Megettem a tortát. - I ate the cake
This can be done in the format of questions
- Mit csinálsz? What are you doing?
- Kit látsz? Whom do you see?
- Látod azt? Do you see that?
Challenge!
Két kutya üldöz egy szarvast. (Original image, merging free images together)
Two dogs chase a deer.
Special conjugation
If the subject of the verb is I, and the object is you, then we use the special verb conjugation -lak/-lek.
- Szeretlek - I love you
- Látlak - I see you
This conjugation is used with the plural (by adding titeket) to address “you guys” as well.
Lastly, the pronouns change when in the accusative case.
| Pronoun | Accusative |
|---|---|
| én | engem |
| te | téged |
| ő | őt |
| mi | minket |
| ti | titeket |
| ők | őket |
Examples:
- Engem keresel? - Are you looking for me?
- Mi tesz téged boldoggá? - What makes you happy?
Yet to Learn
- definite conjugation seen in
látom - the translative case seen in
boldoggá
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