The 5070 different forms of each Hungarian verb

In the Hungarian language the subject, the object, and the tense of a verb is expressed by suffixes. The meaning of a verb can also be modified by suffixes and prefixes.

tenses

present simple (PR) or past simple (PA)

The future tense is not expressed by a suffix but by an auxiliary. This auxiliary has suffixes as well depending on the subject. Unfortunately the perfect and continous tenses died out in the end of the 19th century and are readable only in old texts and poems.

subject

I, you, (he,she,it), we, you, they

object

with or without an object

modes

C  real conditional
I  imperative
R  repeated action
P  possibility
D  someone is doing it for us

(The past (unreal) conditional is expressed by an auxiliary )


The sample word is venni = to buy
 
subject tense object mode Hungarian English
I  PR  no  -  veszek  I buy 
you  PR  no  -  veszel  you buy 
he,she,it  PR  no  -  vesz  he buys 
we  PR  no  -  veszünk  we buy 
you  PR  no  -  vesztek  you buy 
they  PR  no  -  vesznek  they buy 
I  PR  yes  -  veszem  I buy it
you  PR  yes  -  veszed  you buy it 
he,she,it PR  yes  -  veszi  he buys it 
we  PR  yes  -  vesszük  we buy it 
you  PR  yes  -  veszitek  you buy it 
they  PR  yes  -  veszik  they buy it 
I  PA  no  -  vettem  I bought
you  PA  no  -  vettél  you bought 
he,she,it  PA  no  -  vett  he bought 
we  PA  no  -  vettünk  we bought 
you  PA  no  -  vettétek  you bought 
they  PA  no  -  vették  they bought 
I  PA  yes -  vettem  I bought it
you  PA  yes  -  vetted  you bought it
he,she,it  PA  yes  -  vette  he bought it 
we  PA  yes  -  vettük  we bought it 
you  PA  yes  -  vettétek  you bought it 
they  PA  yes  -  vették  they bought it 

For brevity the further combinations are presented
with subject you (singular) only:

 
tense object mode Hungarian  English 
1  PR  n  -  veszel  you buy 
2  PR  y  -  veszed  you buy it 
3  PA  n  -  vettél  you bought 
4  PA  y  -  vetted  you bought it 
5  PR  n  R  veszegetsz  you repeatedly buy 
6  PR  y  R  veszegeted  you repeatedly buy it 
7  PA  n  R  veszegettél  you repeatedly bought 
8  PA  y  R  veszegetted  you repeatedly bought it 
9  -  n  C  vennél  you would buy 
10  -  y  C  vennéd  you would buy it 
11  -  n  CR  veszegetnél  you would buy repeatedly 
12  -  y  CR  veszegetnéd  you would buy it repeatedly 
13  -  n  I  vegyél  let you buy 
14  -  y  I  vegyed  let you buy it 
15  -  n  IR  veszegessél  let you buy repeatedly 
16  -  y  IR  veszegessed  let you buy it repeatedly 
17  -  n  P  vehetsz  you may buy 
18  -  y  P  veheted  you may buy it 
19  -  n  PR  veszegethetsz  you may buy repeatedly 
20  -  y  PR  veszegetheted  you may buy it repeatedly 
21  -  n  D  vetetsz  you have sg bought 
22  -  y  D  veteted  you have it bought 
23  -  n  DR  vetegetsz  you have sg bought repeatedly 
24  -  y  DR  vetegeted  you have it bought repeatedly 
25  -  n  CP  vehetnél  you would be able to buy 
26  -  y  CP  vehetnéd  you would be able to buy it 
27  -  n  CPR  veszegethetnél  you would be able to buy repeatedly 
28  -  y  CPR  veszegethetnéd  you would be able to buy it repeatedly 
29  -  n  CD  vetetnél  you would have sg bought 
30  -  y  CD  vetetnéd  you would have it bought 
31  -  n  CDR  vetetgetnél  you would have sg bought repeatedly 
32  -  y  CDR  vetetgetnéd  you would have it bought repeatedly 
33  -  n  IP  vehessél  let you be able to buy 
34  -  y  IP  vehessed  let you be able to buy it 
35  -  n  IPR  vehetgessél  let you be able to buy repeatedly 
36  -  y  IPR  vehetgessed  let you be able to buy it repeatedly 
37  -  n  ID  vetessél  let you have sg bought 
38  -  y  ID  vetessed  let you have it bought 
39  -  n  IDR  vetetgessél  let you have sg bought repeatedly 
40  -  y  IDR  vetetgessed  let you have it bought repeatedly 
41  -  n  PD  vetethetsz  you may have sg bought 
42  -  y  PD  vetetheted  you may have it bought 
43  -  n  PDR  vetegethetsz  you may have sg bought repeatedly 
44  -  y  PDR  vetetgetheted  you may have it bought repeatedly 
45  -  n  CPD  vehettetnél  you would be able to have sg bought 
46  -  y  CPD  vehettetnéd  you would be able to have it bought 
47  -  n  CPDR vehettetgetnél  you would be able to have sg bought repeatedly 
48  -  y  CPDR vehettetgetnéd  you would be able to have it bought repeatedly 
49  -  n  IPD  vetethessél  let you be able to have sg bought 
50  -  y  IPD  vetethessed  let you be able to have it bought 
51  -  n  IPDR vetetgethessél  let you be able to have sg bought repeatedly 
52  -  y  IPDR vetetgethessed  let you be able to have it bought repeatedly 

There are 52 possible suffixes to each of the 6 possible subjects. This makes 52 x 6 = 312 combinations.

Also, there are special suffixes if the subject is `I' and the object is `you'.
 
tense mode Hungarian  English 
1  PR  -  veszlek  I buy you 
2  PA  -  vettelek  I bought you 
3  PR  R  veszegetlek  I buy you repeatedly 
4  PA  R  veszegettelek  I bought you repeatedly 
5  -  C  vennélek  I would buy you 
6  -  CR  veszegetnélek  I would buy you repeatedly 
7  -  I  vegyelek  let me buy you 
8  -  IR  veszegesselek  let me buy you repeatedly 
9  -  P  vehetlek  I may buy you 
10  -  PR  vehetgetlek  I may buy you repeatedly 
11  -  D  vetetlek  I have you bought 
12  -  DR  vetetgetlek  I have you bought repeatedly 
13  -  CP  vehetnélek  I would be able to buy you 
14  -  CPR  veszegethetnélek  I would be able to buy you repeatedly 
15  -  CD  vetetnélek  I would have you bought 
16  -  CDR  vetetgetnélek  I would have you bought repeatedly 
17  -  IP  vehesselek  let me be able to buy you 
18  -  IPR  vehetgesselek  let me be able to buy you repeatedly 
19  -  ID  vetesselek  let me have you bought 
20  -  IDR  vetetgesselek  let me have you bought repeatedly 
21  -  PD  vetethetlek  I may have you bought 
22  -  PDR  vetetgethetlek  I may have you bought repeatedly 
23  -  CPD  vetethetnélek  I would be able to have you bought 
24  -  CPDR vetethetgetnélek  I would be able to have you bought repeatedly 
25  -  IPD  vetethesselek  let me be able to have you bought 
26  -  IPDR vetetgethesselek  let me be able to have you bought repeatedly 

Considering the above suffixes as well the possible number of different suffixes is 338 (312+26).

The prepositions are expressed by prefixes. The most frequent prefixes are meg- (completed action), be- (in), ki- (out), le- (down), fel- (up), el- (away), át- (through), rá- (upon), ide- (here), oda- (there), szét- (apart), össze- (together), vissza- (back), végig- (to the end).

These prefixes modify the meaning of the verb and sometimes completely alter it (cf. the phrasal verbs in English (look after, come across) ).

Taking into account all the possible prefixes and suffixes gives the 5070 (338 x 15) possible forms of each Hungarian verb.


Notes: 
  • I have made these tables for my own pleasure only. It is likely that professional linguists could find other possibilities. 
  • It would be a challenge to make a meaningful sentence with some of the above words.
Tamás Turányi