Verb Type Classes in Hungarian

In Brief

A Hungarian verb does not always keep one unchanged stem before the usual personal endings. High-frequency verbs such as eszik “eat,” iszik “drink,” vesz “take/buy,” and jön “come” switch between related stems or use special consonants in part of their paradigm. Learn these verbs as a small set of forms—especially the infinitive, third-person singular, and first- and second-person singular—rather than trying to derive every form from the dictionary entry alone.

Overview

By B2, you already know that Hungarian marks the subject on the verb and that many transitive verbs have two present-tense paradigms. The indefinite conjugation is normally used with no direct object or with an indefinite object; the definite conjugation is normally used with a definite direct object (the person or thing directly affected by the action). Verb type classes add another layer: the endings may be familiar, but the stem to which they attach is not always predictable.

Three labels are especially useful. -ik verbs have a third-person singular dictionary form ending in -ik, such as eszik and iszik. The small group often called sz-verbs includes tesz, vesz, visz, hisz, and lesz; their stems alternate in characteristic ways. v-stem verbs show a v in some forms, most notably jön → jövök, jövünk. These labels describe overlapping historical and conjugational patterns, not three perfectly uniform boxes.

English offers little preparation for this system. English usually changes only one present-tense form (I eat but she eats), whereas Hungarian endings identify every person. The practical challenge is therefore not merely remembering “an irregular form,” but knowing which stem and which ending occur together across a whole paradigm.

How It Works

Start with person, object type, and vowel harmony

Before choosing a form, ask three questions:

1. Who is the subject? Hungarian verb endings distinguish first, second, and third person in singular and plural.
2. Does the verb take a definite direct object here? Compare Eszem egy almát “I am eating an apple” with Eszem az almát “I am eating the apple.” With eszik, the two first-person forms happen to look identical.
3. Which stem variant does this verb use in that cell? This is the special issue covered in this article.

Vowel harmony still operates where endings have alternatives, but harmony cannot predict a changed stem. Knowing that jön has front rounded vowels helps select -ök in jövök; it does not by itself tell you that the stem contains v.

-ik verbs: a label, not one completely regular paradigm

The dictionary form of an -ik verb is its third-person singular indefinite form: eszik “he/she eats,” iszik “he/she drinks,” lakik “he/she lives,” dolgozik “he/she works.” Traditionally, many -ik verbs use -m rather than the ordinary indefinite first-person -k: eszem, iszom, lakom, dolgozom. Their second-person singular may use -ol/-el/-öl, especially after stems ending in a sibilant sound: eszel, iszol, dolgozol. Other verbs use a different ending, as in laksz “you live,” so the dictionary form alone does not determine every cell.

The two central irregular -ik verbs have these present indefinite forms:

Person	eszik — eat	iszik — drink
én	eszem	iszom
te	eszel	iszol
ő	eszik	iszik
mi	eszünk	iszunk
ti	esztek	isztok
ők	esznek	isznak

Both verbs are transitive, so they also have definite forms. Several forms resemble the indefinite ones, which makes the object—not the spelling alone—essential for interpretation.

Person	eszik + definite object	iszik + definite object
én	eszem	iszom
te	eszed	iszod
ő	eszi	issza
mi	esszük	isszuk
ti	eszitek	isszátok
ők	eszik	isszák

Compare Eszem levest “I am eating soup” and Eszem a levest “I am eating the soup.” The first-person singular verb form is the same; levest versus a levest tells you which construction is present. In other cells the contrast is visible: Eszel egy almát? versus Eszed az almát?

Not every verb ending in -ik behaves exactly like eszik or iszik. Many productive or derived -ik verbs follow mostly regular stems, while contemporary speech also shows variation between traditional -m forms and analogical -k forms for some verbs. For a learner, the safest standard forms of very common verbs should be memorized as they appear in reliable dictionaries and edited texts.

The sz-verbs

The traditional “sz-verb” group consists of a few extremely frequent verbs whose short third-person singular form ends in -sz: tesz “put/do,” vesz “take/buy,” visz “carry/take,” hisz “believe,” and lesz “become/will be.” Their other forms retain sz but may change the vowel or double the consonant in particular definite forms.

Hungarian form	English	Pattern
teszek, teszel, tesz	I put, you put, he/she puts	Present forms with tesz-
veszek, veszel, vesz	I take/buy, you take/buy, he/she takes/buys	Present forms with vesz-
viszek, viszel, visz	I carry, you carry, he/she carries	Present forms with visz-
hiszek, hiszel, hisz	I believe, you believe, he/she believes	Present forms with hisz-
leszek, leszel, lesz	I become/will be, you become/will be, he/she becomes/will be	Present forms with lesz-

Here are full indefinite paradigms for vesz and tesz:

Person	vesz — take/buy	tesz — put/do
én	veszek	teszek
te	veszel	teszel
ő	vesz	tesz
mi	veszünk	teszünk
ti	vesztek	tesztek
ők	vesznek	tesznek

With a definite object, vesz and tesz behave as follows:

Person	vesz + definite object	tesz + definite object
én	veszem	teszem
te	veszed	teszed
ő	veszi	teszi
mi	vesszük	tesszük
ti	veszitek	teszitek
ők	veszik	teszik

The doubled consonant in vesszük and tesszük is easy to overlook. Similar patterns occur with visszük “we carry it” and hisszük “we believe it.” By contrast, lesz normally has no definite paradigm because “become/be” does not take a direct object.

Do not confuse vesz “take/buy” with vész “perish” or with the noun vész “danger.” The accents and context matter.

The v-stem of jön

The most useful v-stem verb is jön “come.” A v appears in first-person forms, but other cells use jön-, jössz-, jött- or jönn-:

Person	Present indefinite of jön
én	jövök
te	jössz
ő	jön
mi	jövünk
ti	jöttök
ők	jönnek

Because jön is intransitive—it does not take a direct object—it has no definite-object paradigm. A place expression such as Budapestre “to Budapest” is not a direct object and does not trigger definite conjugation: Holnap Budapestre jövök.

The infinitive jönni and past form jött show that “v-stem” does not mean inserting v everywhere. Treat jön, jövök, jössz, jövünk, jöttök, jönnek; jönni; jött as a connected family.

Keep other irregulars separate

Some common verbs are irregular without belonging neatly to the patterns above. For example, megy “go” has megyek, mész, megy, megyünk, mentek, mennek. Its past is ment, while the past of jön is jött. Grouping every unusual verb under one label hides the forms you actually need to retrieve.

A useful dictionary card therefore records several principal forms (forms that reveal the main stem changes):

• eszik — eszem — eszel — enni — evett
• iszik — iszom — iszol — inni — ivott
• vesz — veszek — venni — vett
• tesz — teszek — tenni — tett
• visz — viszek — vinni — vitt
• hisz — hiszek — hinni — hitt
• jön — jövök — jönni — jött

The infinitives and past forms reveal further changes beyond the present tense. They are included here so that the verb is learned as a usable whole, not as an isolated present-tense puzzle.

Examples in Context

Hungarian	English	Note
Reggel hétkor eszem.	I eat at seven in the morning.	eszik, no object
Eszem egy almát.	I am eating an apple.	Indefinite object
Eszem az almát.	I am eating the apple.	Definite object; same 1st-person form
Eszed a levest?	Are you eating the soup?	Definite 2nd person
A gyerekek megisszák a tejet.	The children drink up the milk.	Definite plural; isszák
Mit iszol?	What are you drinking?	Indefinite 2nd person
Veszek egy új kabátot.	I am buying a new coat.	Indefinite object
Megveszem ezt a könyvet.	I will buy this book.	Definite object; veszem
Hova tesszük a kulcsokat?	Where shall we put the keys?	Definite 1st-person plural
Nem hiszem el a történetet.	I do not believe the story.	Definite hiszem; separated prefix el
Minden nap viszek ebédet.	I take lunch every day.	Indefinite form
Mi visszük a dobozokat.	We are carrying the boxes.	Definite visszük
Mikor jössz vissza?	When are you coming back?	jön, 2nd person
Holnap korábban jövök.	I am coming earlier tomorrow.	v-stem jöv-
A vendégek este jönnek.	The guests are coming in the evening.	3rd-person plural

Common Mistakes

Building an -ik form from the regular -k pattern

• Wrong: Én iszek vizet. (when aiming for the standard form taught here)
• Right: Én iszom vizet.
• Why: The established first-person singular form of iszik is iszom. Variation exists in modern usage, but iszom is the dependable neutral standard for learners.

Using the indefinite form with a definite object

• Wrong: Te eszel az almát.
• Right: Te eszed az almát.
• Why: Az almát means “the apple,” a definite direct object, so eszik takes the definite form eszed.

Forgetting consonant doubling

• Wrong: Mi teszük az asztalra.
• Right: Mi tesszük az asztalra.
• Why: The first-person plural definite form of tesz is tesszük. Compare vesszük, visszük, and hisszük.

Extending the v-stem to every form of jön

• Wrong: Te jövsz holnap?
• Right: Te jössz holnap?
• Why: The v appears in jövök and jövünk, but the second-person singular is jössz.

Treating a destination as a definite object

• Wrong: Jövöm Budapestre.
• Right: Jövök Budapestre.
• Why: Budapestre is a destination (“to Budapest”), not a direct object. Jön remains in the indefinite conjugation.

Assuming one present stem predicts the infinitive or past

• Wrong: veszni for “to take/buy” or veszett for “took/bought”
• Right: venni and vett
• Why: These verbs use additional stem variants outside the present. (Veszni is a different verb, “to be lost/perish.”)

Usage Notes

Personal pronouns are usually omitted because the ending already identifies the subject: Jövök normally sounds more natural than Én jövök. State the pronoun for contrast—Én jövök, ő marad “I’m coming; he/she is staying”—or when clarification is needed.

Verbal prefixes frequently combine with these verbs and may separate according to Hungarian word-order rules: megveszem “I buy it,” but nem veszem meg “I do not buy it”; visszajön “he/she comes back,” but mikor jön vissza? “when is he/she coming back?” The underlying irregular conjugation remains: visszajövök, nem jövök vissza, visszajöttem.

Modern Hungarian does not maintain every traditional -ik distinction with equal consistency. Some speakers use analogical first-person forms in -k with certain -ik verbs, and dictionaries may list variants. This does not make all choices interchangeable in every register. For the high-frequency verbs in this article, learn the common neutral forms eszem, iszom, lakom, and dolgozom, then notice documented variation when reading or listening.

Spelling carries grammatical information. Long vowels and doubled consonants are not decoration: iszom and issza, or teszünk and tesszük, represent different forms. Train them visually as well as orally.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

The same stem alternations recur in moods, tenses, infinitives, and derived forms, but not always with the same visible stem. Compare tesz “puts,” tett “put” in the past, tenni “to put,” and tegyen “let him/her put.” Likewise, eszik belongs with enni, evett, and the imperative egyél. These families reflect older sound changes; a historical explanation can be interesting, but it is rarely the fastest route to fluent production.

Definite and indefinite forms can also be identical on the surface. Besides first-person eszem, third-person plural eszik may mean either “they eat” or “they eat it,” depending on the object and context. Hungarian listeners resolve this just as English listeners resolve other ambiguous forms: from the surrounding sentence.

A further trap is accidental overlap between unrelated words. Lesz belongs to the verb lenni and can express becoming or future “will be”: Orvos lesz “He/she will become a doctor” or “He/she will be a doctor.” Meanwhile, vesz means “take/buy,” and prefixed forms can develop specialized meanings: felvesz may mean “pick up,” “put on,” “record,” or “admit,” depending on context. The conjugation pattern stays recognizable even when the lexical meaning changes: felveszem a kabátot “I put on the coat.”

At an advanced level, it is better to think in paradigms (organized sets of forms) than in labels alone. “-ik verb” alerts you to a possible pattern, but the compact bundle iszik—iszom—iszol—inni—ivott predicts real usage much more reliably.

Practice Tips

1. Learn contrastive mini-sets. Say eszel egy almát / eszed az almát and veszünk egy könyvet / vesszük a könyvet. Changing only the object makes the conjugation choice audible.
2. Use principal-form cards. Put jön — jövök — jössz — jönni — jött on one card. Recall the entire line aloud rather than drilling jön in isolation.
3. Transform short sentences. Start with Megveszem a könyvet, then make it negative (Nem veszem meg a könyvet), past (Megvettem a könyvet), and plural (Megvesszük a könyvet). This combines stem practice with object definiteness and prefix position.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Present Definite Conjugation — explains why a definite direct object selects a second conjugation.
• Useful foundation: Present Indefinite Conjugation — provides the regular endings against which these classes stand out.
• Related: Advanced Conjugation Rules — covers less obvious definiteness triggers and the special -lak/-lek form.
• Related: Verbal Prefixes — shows how prefixes change meaning while the verb retains its conjugation pattern.
• Next step: Prefix Position — explains why forms such as megveszem become nem veszem meg.