The Hungarian conditional

The conditional covers English "would", "could" in polite requests, and the verb of an "if" clause. It is one of the most regular parts of Hungarian morphology: one marker, -na/-ne, with the same shape for every regular verb. It also matters socially, because Kérnék, Szeretnék and Tudna...? are the standard ways to ask for things politely.

How the conditional is formed

Take the verb stem and add the conditional marker, then a personal ending. The marker is -na after back vowels and -ne after front vowels (rounded or not: főzne, never *főznö). Before most personal endings the vowel is long: -ná-/-né-.

• Short vowel only in the 3sg indefinite: látna, kérne.
• 1sg indefinite is always -nék, with a front vowel even in back-vowel verbs: látnék, várnék, olvasnék.
• Linking vowel after two consonants or -ít, as in the present: tanítana, mondana, értene, küldene.
• No sibilant changes: olvasna, nézne attach the ending directly.

Full paradigms: indefinite and definite

lát (see) and kér (ask for)

tanít (teach) and olvas (read)

Patterns in the tables

• The 1pl and 2pl are identical in both conjugations (látnánk, látnátok). The definite/indefinite distinction lives only in the singular and the 3pl.
• The definite set is simply "long vowel + short ending": -m, -d, (none), -nk, -tok/-tek, -k.
• Front-vowel homonym: kérnék is both "I would ask for" (1sg indefinite) and "they would ask for it" (3pl definite). Back-vowel verbs keep them apart: látnék vs látnák.

For -ik verbs, the 1sg also has a traditional form in -nám/-ném (innám, laknám) next to the everyday innék, laknék; see -ik verbs. For "I to you", use -nálak/-nélek: Szívesen segítenék. but Szívesen elvinnélek. ("I'd gladly give you a lift.") See -lak/-lek.

Irregular stems

Irregular verbs use their infinitive stem (the infinitive minus -ni), which makes them easy to derive once you know the infinitive.

For "be", lenne is the everyday form: lennék, lennél, lenne, lennénk, lennétek, lennének. Volna is a synonym heard mostly in the 3sg (Jó volna. "It would be good.") and is also the auxiliary of the past conditional. More in irregular verbs.

The past conditional: láttam volna

For "would have done", combine the ordinary past tense with the invariable word volna. All the person and definiteness information sits on the past form.

• Szívesen eljöttem volna. I would gladly have come.
• Nem mentem volna el. I wouldn't have gone.
• Meg kellett volna kérdeznem. I should have asked.

Volna normally follows the past verb directly. When the prefix is separated by negation or focus, the order is verb, volna, prefix: Nem mentem volna el.

Ha clauses: both halves in the conditional

This is the biggest structural difference from English. In an unreal condition, English uses a past form after "if" (if I had time), but Hungarian puts both clauses in the conditional.

• Ha gazdag lennék, vennék egy házat a Balatonnál. If I were rich, I'd buy a house at Lake Balaton.
• Mit csinálnál, ha nyernél a lottón? What would you do if you won the lottery?
• Ha tudtam volna, szóltam volna. If I had known, I would have told you.

Polite requests, advice and wishes

The conditional is the backbone of polite Hungarian. The most useful formulas:

• Kérnék egy kávét. I'd like a coffee, please.
• Szeretnék fizetni. I'd like to pay.
• Szeretném a számlát. I'd like the bill. (definite object)
• Tudna segíteni? Could you help me? (formal)
• Meg tudná mondani, hol van az állomás? Could you tell me where the station is? (formal)
• Lenne szíves becsukni az ajtót? Would you be so kind as to close the door? (formal)
• Kinyitnád az ablakot? Would you open the window? (informal)
• El kellene mennünk. We should go. (kéne in casual speech)

Note the definiteness at work: Kérnék egy kávét but Kérném a számlát; Szeretnék egy jegyet but Szeretném ezt a jegyet. Formal requests use the 3sg because Ön is grammatically third person (see formal and informal you).

A politeness ladder

The same request can be made more or less politely. Moving down the table, each step adds distance and courtesy.

Advice and softened opinions

The conditional also softens advice and opinions, much like English "I would..." or "you should...". The form kellene (casual kéne) is the conditional of kell ("must") and translates "should".

• A helyedben nem venném meg. If I were you, I wouldn't buy it.
• Többet kellene aludnod. You should sleep more.
• Azt mondanám, hogy ez túl drága. I'd say this is too expensive.
• Mehetnénk moziba. We could go to the cinema. (potential -het + conditional)

The last example combines the conditional with the potential suffix -hat/-het ("can, may") to make a suggestion; see -hat/-het.

Wishes with bárcsak

Bárcsak (or the shorter bár) introduces a wish, followed by the present conditional for the present and the past conditional for the past.

• Bárcsak itt lennél! I wish you were here!
• Bárcsak tudnék úszni! If only I could swim!
• Bárcsak ne mondtam volna semmit! I wish I hadn't said anything!
• De jó lenne, ha holnap nem esne! How nice it would be if it didn't rain tomorrow!

Negative wishes use ne, not nem, as in the third example (see nem, ne, sem).

Common learner errors

1. *Ha lenne volna időm... Correct: Ha lett volna időm... The past conditional is built on the past form (lett), not the conditional.
2. *Ha van időm, eljönnék. Mixing a real condition with an unreal result. Choose Ha van időm, eljövök or Ha lenne időm, eljönnék.
3. *Szeretnék a számlát. Correct: Szeretném a számlát. Definite object, definite conditional.
4. *Én látnák. Correct: Én látnék. See nákolás above.
5. *Szeretném, hogy eljönnél. Correct: Szeretném, ha eljönnél. (or Szeretném, hogy eljöjj with the subjunctive, see imperative and subjunctive).

Sources and further reading

• Carol H. Rounds, Hungarian: An Essential Grammar (2nd ed., Routledge, 2009), conditional mood
• Miklós Törkenczy, Hungarian Verbs and Essentials of Grammar (2nd ed., McGraw-Hill, 2008)
• István Kenesei, Robert M. Vago and Anna Fenyvesi, Hungarian (Descriptive Grammars series, Routledge, 1998)
• Nyelvtudományi Kutatóközpont (HUN-REN Hungarian Research Centre for Linguistics), language advice service (e-nyelv.hu / nyelvtudomanyi.hu)

Frequently asked questions