Understanding Plural Formation in Hungarian (Magyar)
In Hungarian, making nouns plural means changing the word to show there is more than one of something. Just like in English, where we add 's' or 'es' to words, Hungarian has its own rules to follow.
Basic Rule for Adding Plurals
The most common way to make a noun plural in Hungarian is by adding the ending '-k' to the word.
Examples
- kutya -> kutyák
- asztal -> asztalok
- ház -> házak
Hungarian is special because it uses vowel harmony. This means the vowels in a word need to match each other. So, when you add '-k', sometimes you also need to add a vowel before it to keep the harmony.
Important Points
- If a word has back vowels (like a, o, u), use '-ok'.
- If a word has front vowels (like e, i, ö, ü), use '-ek' or '-ök'.
Examples
- madár -> madarak
- szék -> székek
- könyv -> könyvek
Sometimes, words have special endings that change differently when they become plural.
Important Points
- Words ending in '-i' usually just add '-k'.
- Words ending in '-e' often change to '-ék'.
Examples
- hegyi -> hegyik
- zene -> zenék
The best way to get good at making plurals in Hungarian is to practice. Try changing different words into their plural forms and see how vowel harmony works.