Songs are proof
That someone understands
Turn off the music for half a second.
Got to concentrate.
One of the easier things to learn in Hungarian is the grammar around quantities.
Sure, sometimes it is different than English, but it is still relatively easy to work with.
Singular nouns get singular verbs, just like in English:
| Hungarian | Egy ember énekel. | singular noun with singular verb |
| English | A person sings. | same logic as Hungarian |
Plural nouns get plural verbs, just like in English:
| Hungarian | Emberek énekelnek. | plural noun with plural verb |
| English | People sing. | same logic as Hungarian |
But, unlike English, if a quantity modifies the noun, then in Hungarian the noun is singular, as is the verb.
| Hungarian | Négy ember énekel. | Quantity * singular noun with singular verb |
| English | Four people sing. | Quantity * plural noun with plural verb |
When looked at in terms of multiplication, Hungarian makes sense, and English does not:
Hungarian: [quantity] x 1 person who is doing something. [Makes sense]
English: [quantity] x a group of people who are all doing something. [Makes no sense.]
Same logic holds if an undetermined quantity modifies the noun like "how many?" "some," "many," "more."
Hungarian: [undetermined quantity] x 1 person who is doing something. [Makes sense.]
English: [undertermined quantity] x a group of people who are all doing something. [Makes no sense.]
| Hungarian | Hány ember énekel? | Undetermined quantity * singular noun with singular verb |
| English | How many people sing? | Undetermined quantity * plural noun with plural verb |
| **** | ||
| Hungarian | Néhány ember énekel. | Undetermined quantity * singular noun with singular verb |
| English | Some people sing. | Undetermined quantity * plural noun with plural verb |
| **** | ||
| Hungarian | Sok ember énekel. | Undetermined quantity * singular noun with singular verb |
| English | Many people sing. | Undetermined quantity * plural noun with plural verb |
| **** | ||
| Hungarian | Több ember énekel. | Undetermined quantity * singular noun with singular verb |
| English | More people sing. | Undetermined quantity * plural noun with plural verb |
- But pay attention if an undetermined quantity is a pronoun standing for people, rather than being a modifier of a noun. It will not have the "quantity x noun" structure. Insead it will be the same as a plural noun; and as such, will take on a plural verb:
| Hungarian | Hányan énekelnek? | plural pronoun with plural verb |
| English | How many sing? | same logic as Hungarian |
| **** | ||
| Hungarian | Néhányan énekelnek. | plural pronoun with plural verb |
| English | A few sing. | same logic as Hungarian |
| **** | ||
| Hungarian | Sokan énekelnek. | plural pronoun with plural verb |
| English | Many sing. | same logic as Hungarian |
| **** | ||
| Hungarian | Többen énekelnek. | both pronoun and verb are plural |
| English | More sing. | same logic as Hungarian |
| **** | ||
| Hungarian | A többiek énekelnek. | both pronoun and verb are plural |
| English | The others sing. | same logic as Hungarian |
...didn't want things to be too easy, right?... but we see the logic, yes?.... Now let's continue with this concept of grammar with quantities when we look at possessives:
Ok, now is where quantities get devilish. Possession. Hungarian has various possession-related structures. Here are some of them:
| Possessors | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| singular possession | plural possessions | ||
| mine | enyém | mine | enyéim |
| yours | tiéd (or tied) | yours | tiéid (or tieid) |
| yours (formal) | öné (or magáé) | yours (formal) | önéi (or magáéi) |
| his/hers/its | övé | his/hers/its | övéi |
| ours | miénk (or mienk) | ours | miéink (or mieink) |
| youse'all's | tiétek (or tietek) | youse'all's | tiéitek (or tieitek) |
| yours (formal) | önöké (or maguké) | yours (formal) | önökéi (or magukéi) |
| theirs | övék | theirs | övéik |
| Possessees | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| singular possession | plural possessions | ||
| thing possessed by me | a(z én) ____-m/-om/-am/-em/-öm | things possessed by me | a(z én) ____ -im/-aim/-eim/-jaim/-jeim |
| thing possessed by you | a (te) ___-d/-od/-ad/-ed/-öd | things possessed by you | a (te) ___-id/-aid/-eid/-jaid/-jeid |
| thing possessed by you (formal) | a(z ön/a maga) ___-a/-e/-ja/-je | things possessed by you (formal) | a(z ön/a maga) ___-i/-ai/-ei/-jai/-jei |
| thing possessed by him/her/it | a(z ő) ___-a/-e/-ja/-je | things possessed by him/her/it | a(z ő) ___-i/-ai/-ei/-jai/-jei |
| thing possessed by us | a (mi) ___-nk/-unk/-ünk | things possessed by us | a (mi) ___-ink/-aink/-eink/-jaink/-jeink |
| thing possessed by youse'all | a (ti) ___-tok/-tek/-tök/-otok/-atok/-etek/-ötök | thing possessed by youse'all | a (ti) ___-itok/-itek/-aitok/-eitek/-jaitok/-jeitek |
| thing possessed by youse'all (formal) | a (z önök/a maguk) ___-a/-e/-ja/-je | things possessed by youse'all (formal) | a(z önök/a maguk) ___-i/-ai/-ei/-jai/-jei |
| thing possessed by them (with named possessors) | a ___-a/-e/-ja/-je | things possessed by them (with named possessors) | a ___-i/-ai/-ei/-jai/-jei |
| thing possessed by them (with pronoun or no possessors named) | a(z ő) ___-uk/-ük/-juk/-jük | things possessed by them (with pronoun or no possessors named) | a(z ő) ___-ik/-aik/-eik/-jaik/-jeik |
Let's try to figure out the logic of the rows in green. These all show singular possessor endings. However the ones in bold are owned by plural possessors. Why do they not use plural possessor endings?
Well, let's back up a little. What are the various ways third person plural possessors might be depicted?
Huh? the pronoun "they" is "ők," not "ő".
Well, apparantly we have some sort of duplicative logic again. Or shall we say duplicitous?
We only have this issue with the third person plural possessor.
Why do we not have this problem with first and second person?
Well let's look at it this way: first and second person are considered indefinite. Treat them like imaginary numbers. Only third person can be definite, and as such, third person obeys similar laws of multiplication as the quantities multiplied with nouns and actions did in the discussion in the beginning of this page.
As to why the formal youse'all can keep its pronoun intact while the third person ők pronoun has to strip itself to a singularity, well perhaps that is because Önök and maguk are treated more as titles rather than as pronouns.
We can imagine logic for the grammar if we think hard enough. If we chew at it further we might discover flaws in our thinking and come up with a better way of piecing it together. But during the process we are playing with the rules and trying to familiarize ourselves with all their elusive aspects.
If you find this sort of logic useful, here is something more for you: why are firetrucks red?