Marking of the object (Hungarian)

PNPnonobl: The object may be optionally marked through the explicit use of the noun or an independent pronoun.

+Agr: The object is marked through the use of morphosyntactic agreement on the verb.


(1) én lát-ok egy lány-t / valaki-t.

I see-prs.1sg a girl-acc somebody-acc

‘I see a girl/ somebody.’


(2) lát-ok. mi-t lát-sz?

see-prs.1sg we-acc see-prs.2sg

‘I see something. What do you see?


(3) én lát-om az-t a lány-t / ő-t.

I see-prs.obj.1sg det-acc the girl-acc she-acc

‘I see that girl/her.’


(4) lát-od az-t a lány-t / ő-t?

see-prs.obj.2sg det-acc the girl-acc she-acc

‘Do you see that girl/her?’


(5) lát-om.

see- prs.obj.1sg

‘I see (that/her/him/it).’


(6) mindjárt jöv-ök. meg-vár-lak.

soon come-prs.1sg pref-wait-prs.2obj.1sg

‘I’ll be back in a minute. I’ll wait for you.’


In Hungarian, there are two verb conjugations: one of them is used to refer to indefinite/generic objects (1)–(2), while the other indicates the presence of a definite object (3)–(6). The appearance of the object is optional in both conjugations, irrespective whether the object is coded by a pronoun or a noun (1)–(4). Moreover, the subject can also be omitted in both conjugations (5)–(6). The verb form in the definite (transitive/determinate) conjugation reflects only the definiteness of the object. In the indefinite (nominative/indeterminate) conjugation the -lak/-lek suffix indicates that the object is a second person personal pronoun (6), which can also be omitted in the sentence (cf. Kugler 2000a: 104‒123, Kiefer 2003: 212‒222). There is no accepted explanation why the two conjugations evolved this way in Hungarian (cf. Havas 2005, 2008, Csepregi 2010b, É. Kiss 2010, 2013, Honti 2008, Sárosi 2003).

Author: 

Nikolett F. Gulyás