There is more to Hungarian than goulash! by László Ragoncsa GRAMMAR COURSE FOR BEGINNERS Copyright © 2010, László Ragoncsa, THERE IS MORE TO HUNGARIAN THAN GOULASH! ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. PREFACE This is the revised version of my book you can download on my blog (hunlang.wordpress.com). After reading it through a couple of times, I realized some mistakes I shouldn’t have made and saw a few possibilities to improve things. To excuse myself a little bit, I wrote this book alone. I had nobody to help me or a reader to supervise me, thus all the difficulties and the responsibility lie on my shoulders. Given the extent of the book, however, mistakes are nothing to be surprised about. The improvement comprehends a better grouping of nouns and verbs. Even though there was no superfluous rambling about grammatical topics in the first book, I gave it a harder try to stick to the point. I hope the layout will allow you to follow my explanations and examples in a much more intelligible way. As for the exercises, you can practise consonants and vowels right below the explanations about them. Those tasks have no solution key to them because they help you with the pronunciation and finding words in the dictionary. You can find more excercises to different topics with a solution key at the end of the book (but no key to Exercise 32 – dictionary task). All in all, the content of the book is the same as the previous one, only with the attempt to extend and arrange certain grammatical elements better. Good luck with your studies! The author Copyright © 2010, László Ragoncsa THERE IS MORE TO HUNGARIAN THAN GOULASH! ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 2 CONTENT PREFACE 2 INTRODUCTION 9 PHONETICS 13 CONSONANTS IN DETAILS 14 MORE ABOUT GEMINATION / HOMONYMS 21 VOWELS IN DETAILS 22 MORE EXERCISES ON VOWELS / VOWEL HARMONY 29 WHICH SYLLABLE IS ACCENTUATED ? 30 NOUNS AND PLURAL FORMS 31 GROUP 1 32 GROUP 2 33 GROUP 3 34 GROUP 4 35 GROUP 5 36 GROUP 6 37 GROUP 7 38 GROUP 8 / GROUP 9 / SUPPLEMENTAL 39 ACCUSATIVE CASE 40 PLURAL FOR ACCUSATIVE CASE 42 DATIVE CASE 42 ADJECTIVES 43 ATTRIBUTIVE ADJECTIVES / PREDICATIVE ADJECTIVES 43 PLURAL ADJECTIVES / GROUP 1 / GROUP 2 / GROUP 3 44 GROUP 4 / GROUP 5 45 COMPARISON OF ADJECTIVES 46 IRREGULAR ADJECTIVES WHEN IN COMPARISON 47 ACCUSATIVE FOR ADJECTIVES / ADJECTIVAL EXPRESSIONS / ADJECTIVES DEPRIVED 48 ARTICLES 49 POSSESSION 51 POSSESSIVE CASE 52 POSSESSIVE ENDINGS 52 GROUP 1 / GROUP 2 54 GROUP 3 / DEFINITE ARTICLES AND POSSESSIVE CASE 55 PLURAL IN POSSESSIVE CASE 56 Copyright © 2010, László Ragoncsa THERE IS MORE TO HUNGARIAN THAN GOULASH! ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 3 POSSESSIVE CASE IN ACCUSATIVE CASE / SHOULD I SAY E OR É? 57 EMPHASIS ON THE POSSESSOR 58 POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS 59 THE SUFFIX –É AND THE POSSESSIVE QUESTION / BELONG TO 60 COMPARISON OF THE POSSESSIVE ENDINGS AND POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS 61 OF VS . ’S 62 PRONOUNS 63 PERSONAL PRONOUNS 64 ACCUSATIVE PRONOUNS 66 DATIVE PRONOUNS 68 REFLEXIVE PRONOUNS 69 ACCUSATIVE AND DATIVE CASE FOR REFLEXIVE PRONOUNS 70 RECIPROCAL PRONOUNS 71 DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUNS 72 DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUNS OF VICINITY 72 DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUNS OF QUALITY 74 DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUNS OF MANNER 75 DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUNS EXPRESSING SIZE 76 DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUNS OF PLACE 76 DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUNS FOR THE SAME 77 INTERROGATIVE PRONOUNS 78 MI? KI? 79 MIÉRT ? MIKOR ? 80 MELYIK ? 81 HOGY ? MILYEN ? MIÓTA ? MEDDIG ? 82 HÁNY ? MENNYI ? 83 INDEFINITE PRONOUNS 84 SOK 85 KEVÉS 86 EGY KEVÉS , EGY KIS , NÉHÁNY 87 NÉHÁNY , EGY -KÉT , EGY PÁR 88 JÓ NÉHÁNY , ELÉG SOK 89 JÓ SOK , RENGETEG 90 TÚL SOK , TÚL KEVÉS 91 A LEGTÖBB , A LEGKEVESEBB 92 MINDEN , AZ ÖSSZES , MINDEN EGYES , AZ EGÉSZ , EGÉSZ 93 MINDKETTŐ , EGYIK SEM , VALAMELYIK 94 MÁS , A MÁSIK , A TÖBBI , A TÖBBIEK 95 SUMMARY TABLE FOR INDEFINITE PRONOUNS 96 RELATIVE PRONOUNS 97 VERBS AND TENSES 99 INFINITIVE 100 DEFINITE AND INDEFINITE CONJUGATION 101 Copyright © 2010, László Ragoncsa THERE IS MORE TO HUNGARIAN THAN GOULASH! ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 4 PRESENT TENSE 103 HIGH - AND DEEP -VOWEL VERBS WITH INDEFINITE CONJUGATION 103 HIGH - AND DEEP -VOWEL VERBS WITH DEFINITE CONJUGATION 105 DEFINITE CONJUGATION + -LAK , -LEK 106 MIXED VERBS 107 VERBS IN -S, -SZ , -Z 108 THE –IK VERBS 109 17 IRREGULAR VERBS 110 EXPRESSING FUTURE ACTS WITH PRESENT TENSE / TIME EXPRESSIONS FOR PRESENT TENSE / ÉPPEN 114 PAST TENSE 115 HIGH - AND DEEP -VOWEL VERBS WITH INDEFINITE CONJUGATION 116 HIGH - AND DEEP -VOWEL VERBS WITH DEFINITE CONJUGATION 116 GROUP 3 117 EXCEPTION VERBS AND IRREGULAR VERBS 118 PRESENT , PAST OR BOTH ? 120 FUTURE TENSE 121 MAJD 122 MOODS 123 IMPERATIVE MOOD 123 CONJUGATION FOR IMPERATIVE MOOD 124 EXCEPTIONS AND IRREGULAR VERBS 125 IRREGULAR VERBS 126 CONDITIONAL MOOD 128 PRESENT CONDITIONAL 128 IRREGULAR VERBS 129 POLITE EXPRESSIONS / WISHES 130 PAST CONDITIONAL / HOW WOULD I HAVE BEEN ? 131 CONDITIONAL CLAUSES 132 HA NEM + PRESENT CONDITIONAL / PAST CONDITIONAL 133 CAUSATION 134 PASSIVE VOICE 137 PASSIVE QUESTION / BY = ÁLTAL 139 REPORTED SPEECH 140 REPORTED QUESTION 141 Copyright © 2010, László Ragoncsa THERE IS MORE TO HUNGARIAN THAN GOULASH! ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 5 PHRASAL VERBS 142 RULES OF WRITING VERBAL PREFIXES 153 MEG / ANSWERING WITH VERBAL PREFIXES 154 VERBS REQUIRING WHAT ? 155 EXPRESSIONS WITH ELEMENTARY VERBS 156 CONJUNCTIONS 163 DOUBLE CONJUNCTIONS 172 HOGY 173 ADVERBS OF PLACE 175 OCCURRENCE INSIDE AN OBJECT 176 OCCURRENCE ON THE SURFACE OF AN OBJECT 177 OCCURRENCE NEXT TO AN OBJECT 178 SUFFIXES LOVE THE DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUNS EZ , AZ 179 SUFFIXES FOR FOREIGN COUNTRIES 180 DIFFERENT POINT OF VIEW FROM ENGLISH / PERSONAL ADVERBS OF PLACE FORMED FROM SUFFIXES 181 EMPHASIS ON THE PERSON / ACCUMULATION OF SUFFIXES 182 OCCURRENCE IN A WIDER AREA – POSTPOSITIONS / POSTPOSITIONS FOR ADVERBS OF PLACE 183 PERSONAL POSTPOSITIONS 184 POSTPOSITIONS WITH VERBAL PREFIXES / EMPHASIS ON THE PERSON 185 DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUNS WITH POSTPOSITIONS 185 LET ’S GO HERE AND THERE ! / OTHER FUNDAMENTAL ADVERBS OF PLACE 186 PERSONAL FORMS FOR ADVERBS WITH SOMEBODY , SOMETHING / EGYÜTT , SZEMBEN , ELLEN 188 SUMMARY TABLE FOR ADVERBS OF PLACE 190 ADVERBS OF TIME 191 -VAL , -VEL 191 -VAL , -VEL WITH DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUNS / ”WITH ” TIME 192 -KOR 193 MOMENTS OR PERIODS WITH –IG / -RA , -RE 194 HOW LONG ? / MÚLVA / -N, -ON , -EN , -ÖN BELÜL 195 ELŐTT , UTÁN / -VAL , -VEL EZELŐTT / -(O)NTA , -(E)NTE , -NKÉNT 196 THE DEFINITE ARTICLE AZ / FELÉ / KÖZÖTT / TÁJBAN , TÁJT , KÖRÜL / IN PROGRESS 197 -N, -ON , -EN , -ÖN KERESZTÜL , ÁT / MIELŐTT / SOME FREQUENT ADVERBS OF TIME / WHICH YEAR ? 198 SUMMARY TABLE FOR ADVERBS OF TIME / DATE AND TIME 199 ADVERBS OF MANNER 204 SETTLE DOWN TO DINNER 204 -ÉRT IN DETAILS / THE DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUNS EZ , AZ / HOGY ? 205 -NKÉNT 207 -KÉNT , -KÉPP , -KÉPPEN , MINT / -VAL , -VEL / -STUL ,- STÜL / -BAN –BEN 208 NÉLKÜL / HELYETT / SZERINT / ÁLTAL 209 ELLEN / MIATT , VÉGETT / IRÁNT 210 JAVÁRA / SZÁMÁRA , RÉSZÉRE / FEJÉBEN / ALAPJÁN / NYOMÁN / RÉVÉN / NÉZVE 211 BELEÉRTVE , ELTEKINTVE / ILLETI / FOGVA / KAPCSÁN / ÉRDEKÉBEN 212 SUMMARY TABLE 212 Copyright © 2010, László Ragoncsa THERE IS MORE TO HUNGARIAN THAN GOULASH! ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 6 NUMERALS 213 CARDINAL NUMBERS 213 ORDINAL NUMBERS 214 FRACTIONS / DISTRIBUTIVE NUMBERS 215 MULTIPLICATIVE NUMBERS / NUMBERS WITH -OS , -ES , -ÖS / DECIMAL NUMBERS 216 MODAL VERBS 217 -HAT , -HET 218 TUD 219 KÉPES /K ÉPTELEN 220 SZABAD 221 CONJUGATING THE INFINITIVE / KELL 222 KELLENE / MUSZÁJ 223 SZÜKSÉGES / TILOS / LEHET 224 VERBAL NOUNS 225 INFINITIVE AND IMPERSONAL EXPRESSIONS / PRÓBÁL , MEGY , JÖN 225 PRESENT PARTICIPLE 226 PAST PARTICIPLE / FUTURE PARTICIPLE 227 ADVERB FOR CONDITION 228 ASSIMILATION 229 WORD FORMATION 231 WORD ORDER 234 DIRECT WORD ORDER , YES OR NO / DIRECT QUESTION 234 REARRANGING AND REARRANGING AND REARRANGING 235 UNALTERABLE RULES 236 QUESTION WITH A QUESTION WORD 237 NEGATION AND AFFIRMATION 238 NEM 238 NINCS 239 NE / SE , SEM / NEHOGY , HOGY …NE / SOHA 240 MEDLEY 241 GREETINGS 241 WRITING A LETTER 244 TIME 245 THERE IS , THERE ARE 246 TO BE TO , SUPPOSED TO / EATING AND DRINKING 247 WHEATER / AGE / THE ONE WHO 248 CLOTHING / WATCHING TV / PURPOSE CLAUSE 249 LISTEN VS . HEAR / GETTING USED TO 250 HAPPEN / TO PREFER 251 TAG QUESTION , I WONDER / EMPHASIS ON THE SUBJECT 252 Copyright © 2010, László Ragoncsa THERE IS MORE TO HUNGARIAN THAN GOULASH! ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 7 WHAT ! HOW ! / POLITE ADDRESSES / ADVICE 253 AS IF , AS THOUGH / PROVERBS AND LOCUTIONS 254 GENERALLY SPEAKING ABOUT PEOPLE 255 NAMES / NATIONALITIES 256 HUNGARY 259 MATH 260 EXERCISES 261 KEY 287 SUMMARY TABLES 311 Copyright © 2010, László Ragoncsa THERE IS MORE TO HUNGARIAN THAN GOULASH! ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 8 INTRODUCTION When a native English speaker sets about learning Hungarian, the most evident problem arises: English is a Germanic, Hungarian is an Uralic language. To explain what a bold enterprise you’re about to undertake, take a closer look at the following differences typical to Hungarian. GENERAL INFORMATION • Hungarian is a Uralic language belonging to the Finno-Ugric branch . • This points to the fact that it is an agglutinative language , so there are a variety of suffixes and endings attached to the end of a word or to the stem of a word. These suffixes and endings can be even accumulated if needed. This kind of word formation allows the speakers to express themselves short and to the point. • This phenomenon is reflected by topic-prominent aspect, frequent omission of the substantive verb, fitting verbs with suffixes in all numbers and persons , when it comes to tenses. • Speaking of tenses, Hungarian stays true to its nature in this respect, too. All you need is two tenses (present, past) and three moods (indicative, imperative, present / past conditional). • The future tense is often replaced with present tense or paraphrased like in English. For example: I will go. – Menni fog ok. • Besides, personal pronouns are often omitted due to the suffixes attached to the verbs. • Instead of prepositions, Hungarian expresses grammatical relations with suffixes, endings and postpositions which determine a number of cases (accusative, dative, instrumental…).