Aspect marking (Hungarian)

PerifA: Aspect is expressed periphrastically.

PrefA: Aspect is expressed through the use of a special prefix.

SuffA: Aspect is expressed through the use of a special suffix.

PartRdpA: Aspect is expressed through the use of partial reduplication.

RdpA: Aspect is expressed through the use of total reduplication.


(1) mindig későn kel-ek.

always late wake-prs.1sg

‘I always wake up late.’ (habitual)


(2) anya tortá-t süt.

mother cake-acc bake.prs.3sg

‘My mother is baking a cake.’ (imperfective)


(3) anya meg-süt-i a tortá-t.

mother pref-bake-prs.obj.3sg the cake-acc

‘My mother is going to bake a cake.’ (perfective)


(4) a tanár be-néz-ett a szobá-ba.

the teacher in-look-pst.3sg the room-ill

‘The teacher looked into the room.’ (perfective)


(5) a tanár be-be-néz-ett a szobá-ba.

the teacher in-in-look-pst.3sg the room-ill

‘From time to time, the teacher looked into the room.’ (frequentative)


(6) a ház fel van épít-ve.

the house up be.prs.3sg build-conv

‘The house has been built up.’ (perfective)


Aspect is expressed by lexical and morphological means in Hungarian. Aspect can be coded by adverbials (1), verbal prefixes (cf. 2–3), choosing the determinate or the indeterminate conjugation (cf. 2–3), derivational suffixes, partial or complete reduplication (cf. 4–5), and converbal constructions (6). Aspect, however, is not marked systematically in the verbal paradigm.

Author: 

Nikolett F. Gulyás