The Dative Case & Possession

The Dative Case

Recall that the accusative case marks the direct object.

Whenever something/someone does something/someone else, the something/someone else becomes the direct object.

The dative case marks the indirect object. Whenever something/someone does something to/for something/someone else, now this something/someone else becomes the indirect object. Here are some examples in English:

• I gave a book to the boy. (The boy is the indirect object).
• Mother cooked food for us. (The pronoun us is the indirect object).
• Did you write a letter to Joe? (Joe is the indirect object).

Vowel Harmony & Examples

The conjugation is -nak,-nek depending on whether the noun is front or back.

Similar to how azt,ezt is the accusative of that and this, annak, ennek is the dative form.

• Adtam egy könyvet a fiúnak. - (I gave a book to the boy)
• Virágokat veszek Hajninak. - (I’m buying flowers for Hajni.)
• Kinek írsz levelet? - (Who are you writing a letter to?)
• Csokit hoztam a gyerekeknek. - (I brought chocolate for the kids.)
• Hála Istennek! - (Thank God! lit. Gratitude to God!)

Challenge!

Ezt a folyót Dunának hívják. (Free photo by Daniel Olah, fetched from unsplash.com)

They call this river the Duna.

Just like with the accusative case, pronouns change if they are in the dative case.

• Sajnos megígértem magamnak, hogy azon a napon megtisztítom a házat. - (Unfortunately I promised myself that I (would) clean up the house that day.)
• December 6-on, adunk apróságokat egymásnak. - (On December 6th, we give little gifts to each other.)
• Úgy tűnik nekem, hogy ő szerelmes beléd. - (It appears/seems to me that he/she is in love with you.)

Possession

In Hungarian, the possessive is marked with a suffix, and goes on the possessed noun. The vowel harmony is a tad more in-depth than other cases.

Here are some examples:

• Álmodtam egy világot magamnak, itt állok a kapui előtt. - (Lyric: I dreamt a world for myself, here I stand in front of its gates.)
• Milyen napod volt? - (How was your day? lit. What kind of day did you have?)
• A Csend Hangja. - (The Sound of Silence.)
• Az időnk mint a tenger. - (Idiom: We have a lot of time lit. Our time is like the sea.)
• A kutyáim szomorúak, mert nincs több kajájuk. - (My dogs are sad because they have no more dog-food.)
• Az egyik hobbim az olvasás. - (One of my hobbies is reading.)

Things to note:

• Possessions are usually referred to with the definite article.
• Multiple possessions is almost the same, just with an added -i.
• Because of this, plural case is not used with the possessive.
• There are some similarities with indicative verb conjugation. E.g. -nk endings match 1st person plural indef present conjugation -nk.
• Some nouns will change with possessives. E.g. In the 3rd person idő --> ideje.
• There is no rule as to when to use the endings that start with -j.

It is ok to drop the accusative if the possessive is the direct object, but this can lead to ambiguity if there is not enough context.

• A kutyám üldözi a macskám. - Either of my animals could be chasing the other.

The dative case can be added to the possessor to emphasise who the owner is/stress the point.

• A barátom macskájának tálja - (My friend’s cat’s bowl.)
• Ennek semmi értelme. - (This makes no sense. lit. This has no sense.)
• A falnak is füle van! - (Idiom: Even the walls have ears!)

Using demonstrative pronouns, with possession markers forces you to use the dative case, lest the meaning be changed.

• Annak a mókusnak makkja. - (That squirrel’s acorn.)
• Az a mókus makkja. - (That’s the squirrel’s acorn.)

Challenges!

- Ezek nem a te könyveid? (Original image, merging free images together)

Are these not your books?

Barnabás: Kit láttál?

Alex: A Zöld Bagoly Óvónőit.

Who did you see?

The Kindergarten Teachers of the Green Owl

Stating possessions

In Hungarian, there is no verb to have, instead you state what belongs to you through the verb van. So it follows that you can state what does not belong to you with nincs,sincs. Stating multiple possessions requires using vannak as well as the appropriate ending, so there’s a handshake that goes on.

• Van egy macskám. - (I have a cat.)
• Bárcsak lenne egy kutyám! - (I wish I had a dog!)
• Persze, hogy vannak barátaim! - (Of course I have friends!)
• Egyszer volt egy madaram. - (I had a bird once.)
• Nincs kedved moziba jönni? - (Are you in the mood to go to the movies? lit. Do you not have the mood to come to the movies?)

Alex: Van barátnőd? (barátnő - girlfriend)

Barnabás: Nincs

Alex: Nekem sincs

Listening

Shifu Mester and Tai Lung are talking, try to work out what they are saying! Taken from Kung Fu Panda (film).

Transcript Translation Clear

Pronouns & -é

You can use pronouns with posessions to stress that the noun belongs to you, without actually attributing it to this noun.

Naturally, there are pronouns for the possessives as well, these are equivalent to mine, yours, etc.

• All possessive pronouns excluding az enyém, az enyéimcan be said without accents.

• Petőfi Rádió, a te slágered. - (Petőfi Radio, your hit.)
• Ez a toll az enyém - (This pen is mine.)

If you want to show this unattributed belonging without using pronouns, just use -é.

• Bátyámé volt - (It was my brother’s.)
• Ez a tányér Marcié, tegnap este itthagyta. - (This plate is Marci’s, he left it here last evening.)

Challenge!

- Mikor tanulod már meg végre? Mikor tanulod már meg végre, hogy a tetteidnek következményei vannak? (Free image fetched from clker.com)

When will you learn? When will you learn that your actions have consequences?

More on Postpositions

Recall the section on spatial postpositions. If the relationship involves pronouns, then you attach the pronoun-possession ending onto the pronoun.

There are also pronouns not pertaining to location, and so they only have one form alongside pronoun endings. Here are some examples:

• …de nem Alex. Szerinte ez a legviccesebb dolog, amit valaha látott. - (…but not Alex. According to him, this is the funniest thing he’s ever seen.)
• Azt akarod, hogy én vigyem ki helyetted? - (Do you want me to carry it instead?)
• Tegnap kutyákat láttunk a parkban, lehet, hogy miattuk vannak ott azok a lyukak - (Yesterday we saw dogs in the park. It’s possible that those holes are there due to them.)
• Ha nem melletem állsz, az ellenségem vagy! - (Quote (Anakin - Star Wars III):If you don’t stand with (lit. next to) me, you are my enemy!)

Yet to Learn

• ki- and meg-, el- demonstrate directionality and telicity respectively
• kell is used for expressing need

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