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

real conditional
imperative
repeated action
possibility
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
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 
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 
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 
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 
PR  veszel  you buy 
PR  veszed  you buy it 
PA  vettél  you bought 
PA  vetted  you bought it 
PR  veszegetsz  you repeatedly buy 
PR  veszegeted  you repeatedly buy it 
PA  veszegettél  you repeatedly bought 
PA  veszegetted  you repeatedly bought it 
vennél  you would buy 
10  vennéd  you would buy it 
11  CR  veszegetnél  you would buy repeatedly 
12  CR  veszegetnéd  you would buy it repeatedly 
13  vegyél  let you buy 
14  vegyed  let you buy it 
15  IR  veszegessél  let you buy repeatedly 
16  IR  veszegessed  let you buy it repeatedly 
17  vehetsz  you may buy 
18  veheted  you may buy it 
19  PR  veszegethetsz  you may buy repeatedly 
20  PR  veszegetheted  you may buy it repeatedly 
21  vetetsz  you have sg bought 
22  veteted  you have it bought 
23  DR  vetegetsz  you have sg bought repeatedly 
24  DR  vetegeted  you have it bought repeatedly 
25  CP  vehetnél  you would be able to buy 
26  CP  vehetnéd  you would be able to buy it 
27  CPR  veszegethetnél  you would be able to buy repeatedly 
28  CPR  veszegethetnéd  you would be able to buy it repeatedly 
29  CD  vetetnél  you would have sg bought 
30  CD  vetetnéd  you would have it bought 
31  CDR  vetetgetnél  you would have sg bought repeatedly 
32  CDR  vetetgetnéd  you would have it bought repeatedly 
33  IP  vehessél  let you be able to buy 
34  IP  vehessed  let you be able to buy it 
35  IPR  vehetgessél  let you be able to buy repeatedly 
36  IPR  vehetgessed  let you be able to buy it repeatedly 
37  ID  vetessél  let you have sg bought 
38  ID  vetessed  let you have it bought 
39  IDR  vetetgessél  let you have sg bought repeatedly 
40  IDR  vetetgessed  let you have it bought repeatedly 
41  PD  vetethetsz  you may have sg bought 
42  PD  vetetheted  you may have it bought 
43  PDR  vetegethetsz  you may have sg bought repeatedly 
44  PDR  vetetgetheted  you may have it bought repeatedly 
45  CPD  vehettetnél  you would be able to have sg bought 
46  CPD  vehettetnéd  you would be able to have it bought 
47  CPDR vehettetgetnél  you would be able to have sg bought repeatedly 
48  CPDR vehettetgetnéd  you would be able to have it bought repeatedly 
49  IPD  vetethessél  let you be able to have sg bought 
50  IPD  vetethessed  let you be able to have it bought 
51  IPDR vetetgethessél  let you be able to have sg bought repeatedly 
52  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 
PR  veszlek  I buy you 
PA  vettelek  I bought you 
PR  veszegetlek  I buy you repeatedly 
PA  veszegettelek  I bought you repeatedly 
vennélek  I would buy you 
CR  veszegetnélek  I would buy you repeatedly 
vegyelek  let me buy you 
IR  veszegesselek  let me buy you repeatedly 
vehetlek  I may buy you 
10  PR  vehetgetlek  I may buy you repeatedly 
11  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