THE ADJECTIVE
The adjective when used _attributively_ is indeclinable.
A =szép= rózsa, the beautiful rose.
A =szép= rózsák, the beautiful roses.
Látom a =szép= rózsákat, I see the beautiful roses.
But when used _predicatively_, the adjective is declinable.
A rózsák =szép-ek=, the roses are beautiful.
Also, when the adjective is used by itself as a substantive, it is
declinable.
Add nekem a könyvet. Melyiket? =A nagy-ot.=
Give me the book. Which one? The big (one).
Add nekem a könyveket. Melyikeket? =A nagy-okat.=
Give me the books. Which ones? The big (ones).
An adjective when declined is inflected in the same manner as a
substantive. In forming the plural, however, the following exceptions
occur.
Adjectives ending in =ü= take the plural ending =-ek=.
Adjectives ending in =i= take the plural ending =-ek= or =-ak=.
gyönyörü (lovely), plural gyönyörü=-ek=
régi (old) ” régi=-ek=
párisi (Parisian) ” párisi=-ak=
In all other cases adjectives follow the same rules as substantives.
Among adjectives are reckoned the participles of the verb, which, when
used as adjectives, are inflected like them.
COMPARISON OF ADJECTIVES.
The _comparative_ is formed by adding =-bb= to adjectives ending in a
vowel, or =-abb=, =-ebb=, or =-obb=, to those ending in a consonant.
gyönyörü (lovely), comp. gyönyörü=-bb=
nagy (great) ” nagy=-obb=
After sibilants, which would admit the sound b to be heard without an
intermediate vowel, often only =-b= is added to form the comparative, but
it is preferable to use a connecting vowel, unless it is not desired
to lengthen the word by a syllable, as, for instance, in poetry. It is
correct, for example, to write magasb (higher), though magasabb is more
usual.
Final _a_ and _e_ are lengthened when the comparative suffix _-bb_ is
added.
drága (dear), drágá-bb; fekete (black), feketé-bb.
Final _ó_ shortens its sound only in jó (good), jobb.
The following are somewhat irregular:—
szép (beautiful), comp. szebb
könnyű (easy) ” könnyebb
ifju (young) ” ifjabb
hosszú (long) ” hosszabb
sok (much) ” több
Comparisons are made with the aid of the conjunction =mint=, as, than.
Ez nagyobb mint az, this is greater than that.
A méter hosszabb mint a rőf, the metre is longer than the yard.
=as ... as ...= is expressed by =olyan ... mint ...=
Az én házam olyan nagy mint a tied, my house is as large as yours.
Egy font nem olyan nehéz mint egy kilogramm, a pound is not so heavy
as a kilogram.
When the comparative is used by itself as a substantive, it takes the
affix =-ik=.
szebb, a szebbik; nagyobb, a nagyobbik.
A két folyó közül ez a mélyebbik, of the two rivers, this is the deeper.
This rule applies also to the superlative.
The _superlative_ is invariably formed by _prefixing_ =leg-= to the
comparative.
drága, comp. drágább sup. leg-drágább
nagy ” nagyobb ” leg-nagyobb
erős ” erősebb ” leg-erősebb
sok ” több ” leg-több
_Cardinals._—These are declinable like other adjectives when the
substantives which they qualify are not expressed.
They also form derivatives which answer the question: hányan (how many)?
For instance: How many ran away? Hárman (= három-an, the _o_ being
dropped). The terminations of these derivatives are =-an= and =-en=,
as, négy-en, öt-en.
egy = egyedűl (alone), and kettő = ketten, form their derivatives
irregularly; három and ezer become contracted: hárman, ezren.
Száz (100), ezer (1000), and millió may be used as substantives and
form plurals if the number of hundreds, &c., is indefinite; as, százak
(hundreds), ezrek (thousands), milliók (millions). If, however, the
number is stated, the singular must be used; as három száz (three
hundred), tíz ezer (ten thousand).
_Numerals_
Cardinals. Ordinals. Fractionals. Multiplicatives.
1 egy első egyszer (once)
2[4] két, kettő második fél, 1/2 kétszer (twice)
3 három harmadik harmad, 1/3 háromszor
4 négy negyedik negyed, 1/4 négyszer
5 öt ötödik ötöd, 1/5 ötször
6 hat hatodik hatod, 1/6 hatszor
7 hét hetedik heted, 1/7 hétszer
8 nyolc nyolcadik nyolcad, 1/8 nyolcszor
9 kilenc kilencedik kilenced, 1/9 kilencszer
10 tíz tizedik tized, 1/10 tízszer
11 tizenegy tizenegyedik tizenegyed, 1/11 tizenegyszer
12[4] tizenkét tizenkettedik tizenketted, 1/12 tizenkétszer
(kettő)
20 húsz huszadik huszad, 1/20 húszszor
21 huszonegy huszonegyedik huszonegyed, 1/21 huszanegyszer
22[4] huszonkét huszonkettedik huszonketted, 1/22 huszankétszer
(kettő)
30 harminc harmincadik harmincad, 1/30 harmincszor
31 harmincegy harmincegyedik harmincegyed, 1/31 harmincegyszer
40 negyven negyvenedik negyvened, 1/40 negyvenszer
50 ötven ötvenedik ötvened, 1/50 ötvenszer
60 hatvan hatvanadik hatvanad, 1/60 hatvanszor
70 hetven hetvenedik hetvened, 1/70 hetvenszer
80 nyolcvan nyolcvanadik nyolcvanad, 1/80 nyolcvanszor
90 kilencven kilencvenedik kilencvened, 1/90 kilencvenszer
100 száz századik század, 1/100 százszor
1,000 ezer ezredik ezred, 1/1000 ezerszer
10,000 tízezer tízezredik tízezred, 1/10000 tízezerszer
100,000 százezer százezredik százezred, 1/100000 százezerszer
1,000,000 millió milliomodik milliomod, 1/1000000 milliomszor
_Ordinals._—These, like cardinals, are adjectives, and are declinable.
They sometimes drop the ending -ik if another word is joined to them.
This is not usually done, however, and occurs chiefly in words expressing
age, as, másod-éves, in the second year; (“two years old” would be
kétéves).
Ordinals form adverbs by dropping the ending -ik, and taking =-szor= or
=-szer= instead. Első is irregular, but the rest are regular.
első, first először, firstly
második, second másodszor, secondly
harmadik, third harmadszor, thirdly
negyedik, fourth negyedszer, fourthly, &c.
_Fractionals_ are also adjectives and declinable, but they do not form
adverbs. They may be used in the plural, as, negyedek (quarters); _e.g._
a negyedek nagyobbak mint a nyolcadok (quarters are larger than eighths).
If however, these fractionals are preceded by another numeral, they must
be used in the singular; as, három negyed (three-fourths).
_Multiplicatives_ are adverbs and therefore indeclinable.
Háromszor négy: tizenkettő, three times four are twelve.
Háromszor irtam levelet, I have written a letter three times.
These multiplicatives form adjectives by adding =-es= or =-os=.
Kétszer-es, double; háromszor-os, triple, &c.
Other multiples, almost identical in meaning with kétszeres, háromszoros,
&c., are:—
egyes, simple
kettős, double
hármas, triple
négyes, quadruple
ötös, quintuple
hatos, sextuple
hetes, septuple
nyolczas, octuple, &c.
By adding =-rétü= to the cardinal numbers another kind of multiplicative
is formed.
egyrétü, single; kétrétü, two-fold; hatrétü, six-fold, &c.
háromrétü vászon, three-fold linen.
_Indefinite Numerals:_—
sok, much, many
sokan ” ” } only of persons,
kevesen, few } and when not followed
néhányan ” } by a substantive.
kevés, few
néhány, a few
annyi, so much
számtalan, innumerable
_The Time._
The hours are expressed by the respective cardinal numbers, followed by
the word óra (hour).
egy óra (one o’clock); tizenegy óra (eleven o’clock).
The half-hours and quarters are expressed by the suitable fraction,
followed by the number of the next hour, which number may take the affix
-ra, -re.
A quarter-past two = negyed háromra (lit. a quarter towards three).
Half-past two = fél háromra (lit. a half towards three).
A quarter to three = három negyed háromra (lit. three-quarters towards
three).
_N.B._—The affix is frequently omitted.
The minutes are indicated as follows:—
2.5 öt percczel mult kettő (lit. 5 minutes past two).
2.10 tíz percczel mult kettő (lit. 10 minutes past two).
2.20 tíz percz mulva fél három (lit. 10 minutes before half three).
2.25 öt percz mulva fél három (lit. 5 minutes before half three).
2.35 tíz percz mulva három negyed három (lit. 10 minutes before
three-quarters of three).
2.40 öt percz mulva három negyed három (lit. 5 minutes before
three-quarters of three).
2.50 tíz percz mulva három (lit. 10 minutes before three).
2.55 öt percz mulva három (lit. 5 minutes before three).
To ask the time, one says: Hány óra van? or, Hány az óra. (Hány = how
much? how many?).
EXERCISE VII.
A liszt fehér, a czukor fehérebb és a hó a legfehérebb. A gazdag
országok hatalmasak. A gondolat gyorsabb mint a villám. Atyám birtoka
sokkal régibb mint a te atyádé. A kemény drágakövek a bányában vannak.
A drágakövek nagyon kemények. Az utczában ötvenkét ház van. Negyedik[5]
Henrik német császár és Hetedik[5] Gergely római pápa kortársak voltak. A
gyümölcs egy harmada az enyém, két harmada bátyámé. Négy óra mult nyolcz
percczel.
The richest men are not always the happiest. I see many lovely roses in
your father’s garden. My friend’s house is much larger than this. There
are seventeen houses in the street, and mine is the eleventh. I shall be
at home at twenty-five minutes past six. The king’s palace is the largest
building in Budapest.
czukor, sugar
gazdag, rich
ország, country
hatalmas, powerful
gondolat, thought
villám, lightning
birtok, estate
sokkal, (by) much
régi, old
kemény, hard
drágakő, precious stone
bánya, mine
utcza, street
Henrik, Henry
német, German
császár, emperor
Gergely, Gregory
római, Roman
pápa, pope
kortárs, contemporary
enyém, mine
bátya, elder brother
mindig, always
boldog, happy
itthon, at home (here)
leszek, I shall be
FOOTNOTES:
[4] két, if followed by a substantive, and kettő, if standing by itself:
két ember, two men; on the question, How many? kettő.
[5] When ordinals form part of a title, they precede the name.