Languages Around the World

Dative Case

Dative is an ending that takes the places of for or to (IOP).

If noun ends in a or e lengthen to á and é and add nak or nek

anya: anyának
cseresznye: cseresznyének

Otherwise no other change but adding nak or nak

ember: embernek
kolbász: kolbásznak
bőrönd: bőröndnek
szomszédok: szomszédoknak

Pronouns do not attach to word endings and have seperate forms:

nekem
neked
neki

nekünk
nektek
nekik

Az and ex have irregular singular dative forms which are ennek and annok though their plurals are regular and are ezeknek and azoknak.

Dative Examples:

Indirect Object:

She is writing to the historian.
ők írsz történésznek.

Hungarian Verb Requisite:

telefonál

I am calling them.
Telefonálok nekik.

örül

I am happy about the trip.
Örülök az utazásnak.

Tetsik (gustar verb)

Do you like that woman?
Tetszik neked az nő?

Irregular Verbs

jön and megy never have a direct object, are irregular and do not have definite forms:

megyek
mész
megy

megyünk
mentek
mennek

--

jövök
jössz
jön

jövünk
jöttök
jönnek

Mikor jön Tamás?
Mikor jöttök?
Merre jössz?
Mikor jönnek a szülők?
Mikor jön Lilla a repülőtérre?
Megyünk?

Possesive

Attach endings instead of seperate words and precede by definite article

If it ends in a or e lengthen to á and é, other vowels add:

m
d
ja-je

nk
tok-tek-tök
juk-jük

If it ends in a consonant add:

om-em-öm
od-ed-öd
(j)a-(j)e

unk-ünk
otok-etek-ötök
(j)uk-(j)ük

3rd person j endings are unpredictable but words ending in c, cs, gy, j, ly, ny, s, sz, ty, z, and zs never allow j-endings.

A strong tendancy is for back words ending in b, d, g, p, t, and k to take the back ending.

When comparing contrasting or putting emphasis use pronouns in between articles and the noun but ők does not exist, just ő

When adding endings add possesives before cases. To add the accusative you need a linking vowel (except for 3rd person singular) a or e. For 3rd person lengthen a and e to á and é and add t. Most other cases don not need a linking vowel though e and a still have to be lengthened.

Family

To have a more respecful and formal name add édes so mother would be édesanya

Definite Conjugation

In hungarian there are two types of conjugation. The indefinite we already learned but the definite is used for a definite direct object.

Definite if:

-preceded by definite article
-modified by or just demonstrative
-proper noun
-possessive ending
-3rd person pronoun (even unstated)
-uses each other
-has melyik
-when used to introduce a subordinate "that" clause which may or may not use hogy

Examples:

Does she know when the plane will land?
Tudja mikor érkezik a gép?

Conjugation:

én: om-em-öm
te: od-ed-öd
ő: ja-i

mi: juk-jük
ti: játok-itek
ők: ják-ik

When adding j endings the following change occurs:


sj: ss
szj: ssz
zj; zz
dzj: ddz

Want

To say you would like something in hebrew usually you can just say אני רוצה however you can say הייתי רוצה in more formal settings.

Throaty Five

When one of the throaty five sounds - ר, ע, ח, ה, א appear in a verb they change the pronunciation. In the verb ohev an a is added in the plural versions - ohavim, ohavot

Et

את is a particle that must be used before definite direct objects.

I'm writing the letter.
אני כותבת את המכתב

I see a waitress.
אני רואה מלצרית

When using this/that as adjectives you need et as well.

Plural Nouns

Masculine nouns pluralize with ים and feminine nouns with ות.

Adjectives

Adjectives follow their nouns. They must agree in gender and number. Most singular feminine adjectives end in ה/ית. The plurals are the same for nouns, ים and ות. If a noun has a definite article the adjective must take one too. Many adjectives have the f/mpl/fpl with a shortened vowel to ease pronunciation.

the soft pear
האגס הרך

the pear is soft
האגס רך

There Is(n't)

These words are יש and אין and unlike most things in hebrew are indeclinable

Accusative

The ending for the accusative is -t, which is for direct objects.

I would like an egg.
Kérek tojást.

-noun ends in a or e lengthen to á or é and add a t

anya, anyát
csésze, csészét

-for nouns ending in other vowels add -t

hajó, hajót
fiú, fiút

-nouns ending in r, l, ny, n, j, ly, s, sz, z, zs add -t

papír, papírt
lany, lanyt

-nouns eending in other consonants add o-e-ö

nap, napot
bőrönd, bőröndöt
zöldség, zöldséget

Quantity

Use the singular after all expressions of quantity. Fruits and vegetable normally take the singular too.

Future

Thee future version of van is lesz and the infinitive is lenni.

Two and Small

Two and small have two forms. If they precede thee noun use két or kis, if not use kettő or kicsi.

This car is small.
Ez a kocsi kicsi.

This is a small car.
Ez kis kocsi.

Inseperable Prepositions + The

When you combine the with in or to the "the" gets dropped by the pronunciation of l changes to la and b to ba.

in a room
בחדר
b'kheder

in the room
בחדר
ba'kheder

from the room
מחדר
m'kheder

Time Words

To say this+time you instead say the+time so this morning is הבוקר ו and today is היום

Can/Need

To say can+verb you say is it possible+to+verb

Is it possible to meet tonight?
אפשׁר להיפגשׁ הלילה

To negate you add i/איו before is it possible.

*Note: The hebrew infinitive like english includes to before it.

Now the word for need is tsarikh/צריך and it is technically an adjective but works just like can.

You need a taxi.
אתה צריך מונית
Atah tsarikh monit.

To negate precede tsarikh with lo. The feminine form is tsarikhah.

That/Who/Which

שׁ / she means that, which, and who. It joins seperate parts of a sentence. There is also the word asher/אשׁר but it is more formal. She is inseperable just like and, to, etc.


Roots

Hebrew consists of roots which give you a hint to the meaning. The root of li'khtov is k-t-k. It is also a group 1 verb, and all verbs in the same class conjugate the same.

Verbs are conjugated by masculine singular, masculine plural, feminine singular, and feminine plural.

ms: kotev/כותב
fs: kotevet/כותבת
mpl: kotvim/כותבים
fpl: kotvot/כותבות

Another group 1 verb is to want - li'rtsot/לרצות whose root is r-ts-h. Since it's root ends in an h it is a slightly different pattern.

ms: rotseh/רוצה
fs: rotsah/רוצה
mpl: rotsim/רוצים
fpl: rotsot/רוצות

Present Tense

The 3rd person singular determines how to conjugate, not the infinitive. Like plurals there are different endings depending on vowel harmony. The exception to this are the ik verbs, where you have to drop ik and then add the endings. Also in the én form the endings are om - em - öm but colloquially ok - ek - ök are often used.

én: ok - ek - ök
te: sz
ő: -

mi: unk - ünk
ti: tok - tek - tök
ők: nak - nek

Examples:

tud: knows how

én tudok
te tudsz
ő tud

mi tudunk
ti tudtok
ők tudnak

Alterations

To ease pronunciation if you have a verb ending in 2 consonants or ít then you need a linking vowel before attaching the ending, but only for te, ti, and ők.

te: a - e
ti: o - e - ö
ők: a - e

A second alteration happens when the verb ends in s, sz, or z. For the te ending only it is ol - el - öl.

Examples:

főz: cooks

főzök
főzöl
főz

főzünk
főztök
főznek

dohányzik: smokes

dohányzom
dohányzol
dohanyzik

dohányzunk
dohányztok
dohányznak

tanít: teaches

tanítok
tanítasz
tanít

tanítunk
tanítotok
tanítanak

ért: understands

értek
értesz
ért

értünk
értetek
értenek

Infinitives

There are infinitives, and they are easy to form. Add ni to the 3rd person and if an ítt or double consonant verb then link with a or e.

I like to play the piano.
Szeretek zongorázikni.

Languages

To say you express yourself in a language you need to use the case ending ul-ül. If adding to an a or e lengthen to á and é.

I like to talk in German.
Szeretek németül beszélni.

I can read French and speak Spanish well too.
Tudok franciául olvasni és jó beszélek spanyolul is.

Showing Prefereces

There is no verb meaning to prefer. Instead you use the adverb inkább.

She doesn't like to sing. She prefers to play the piano.
Nem szeret énekelni. Inkább zongorázik szeret.

I prefer to speak Hungarian.
Inkább magyarul beszélek.

I prefer speaking French over Japanese.
Inkább franciául beszélek, mint japánul beszélek.

Mint is a word meaning than you use when saying you prefer one thing over another.

This/That

If instead of saying "This is a black table" you want to say "This black table" or "this black one" or "those red ones" or "Those red windows" you say ez/az/ezek/azok + a/az + noun.

This is a black table.
Ez fekete asztal.

This black table
Ez a fekete asztal

This black one
Ez a fekete

Those red ones
Azok a piros

Those red windows
Azok a piros ablakak.

Note on colours: When saying dark (sötét) or light (világos) they form one word so light blue is világoskék.

Israel

An alternative name for Israel is בארץ ba'aretz meaning in the land.

Nominative Pronouns

אני
אתה – את
הוא – היא

אנחנו
אתם – אתן
הם – הן

ani
atah - at
hu - hi

anakhnu
atem - aten
hem - hen

The

Just like the inseparable pronouns the article the, ה ha is attached to the noun.

the taxi driver
הנהג מונית
the'driver taxi

And

The word and, ו v works like the. You can also use multiple pre-fixes.

you and me
אתה ואני
ani v'atah

the flower and the king
הפרח וחמלך
ha'perakh v'ha'melekh

Where

When asking where someone is from the correct term is where, מאין me'ayin but many Israelis incorrectly use מאיפה me'eyfoh meaning from where.

Gender

Nouns are masculine or feminine. Feminine singular nouns end in ah/it/et most often. Counntries and cities are always feminine.

Hi

To greet you can say shalom/שׁלום which literally means peace. It is also said to mean goodbye. Other greetings like good morning are often used with shalom.

שׁלום! בוקר תוב
Shalom! Boker Tov
Peace! Morning good

To Be

Hebrew doesn't use the verb to be in the present tense. You just say the noun/pronoun followed by the predicate.

I'm Stacey.
אני סטיטי
Ani Stacey.

Questions

For yes-no questions word-order doesn't change, only intonation.

You are from London. Are you from London?
אתה מלונדין. אתה לונדון
Atah mi'london? Atah mi'london?

Negation

Put the word lo/לא after the negated word.

I am not a profesor.
אני לא פרופסור
Ani lo profesor.

Inseperable Prepositions

These are prepositions that aren't seperate words but attach to the word, like mi/מ, b/ב, l/ל

The hebrew alphabet is called the alefbet.

Letters in Order

א ב ג ד ה ו ז ח ט י כ ל מ נ ס ע פ צ ק ר שׁ ש ת

Sounds/Transcription

א none (glottal stop)
ב b/v
ג g
ד d
ה h
ו v/o/u
ז z
ח kh
ט t
י y/i
כ k/kh
ל l
מ m
נ n
ס s
ע none (glottal stop)
פ p/f
צ ts
ק k
ר r
ש sh
שׂ s