There is basically only one pattern for verb endings, with predictable variations dependent on the phonological context.
Some verb pairs only differ in the presence or absence of the -ik ending, while they are unrelated in meaning, such as ér ('be worth something' or 'arrive') and érik ('ripen').
Since this (3rd person singular indefinite) -ik ending coincides with the -ik ending of the 3rd person plural definite form, only the type of the object makes it possible to identify the subject: In fact, most -ik verbs are intransitive, and the context may clarify the question even if the subject is not made explicit.
Verbs ending in -zik, which refer to using some tool, almost exclusively take the -k, such as biciklizik "ride the bicycle", gitározik "play the guitar" or mobilozik "use the mobile phone".
Examples: The regular non -ik verb könyörög "beg" has a hypercorrect first-person singular indefinite present form könyörgöm "I am begging" (used especially as an emphatic interjection to support an argument in spoken language), which conjugation mimics that of -ik verbs.
There is a variant -ani/eni, which is used with the following groups: Exceptions are állni "to stand", szállni "to fly", varrni "to sew", forrni "to boil", which have -ni despite the two consonants.
The verb lenni, to be, has three inflected tenses: past (volt = was), present (van = is) and future (lesz = will be).
The chart below compares the conjugation of the regular kér 'ask' ("have a request") and vár 'wait' (as examples for front and back vowels) with the sibilant-ending keres 'look for' and mászik 'climb.'
beszéltek can also have two interpretations (only indefinite forms involved, again) in writing because the letter 'e' represents two different vowels: ɛ IPA Number 303 and æ IPA Number 325: The syllable 'tek' always contains a closed ɛ in the meaning you [pl] (present) and always contains an open æ in the meaning third person plural past in speech.
This latter case is not possible with back-vowel verbs, due to the difference of the linking vowel: csináltok "you [pl] do something" vs. csináltak "they did something".
For example: • Below is a chart to review the conjugation differences between coinciding forms of unrelated verbs.
The only opposition between the 3rd person singular definite and indefinite forms is vowel length (although a–á and e–é differ in quality as well), which can be considered one of the rare fusional traits in Hungarian.
Meanings of the verbs below: kér 'ask (have a request)', vár 'wait', keres 'look for', olvas 'read', fest 'paint', szeret 'love', fut 'run', ment 'save', tanít 'teach', böngészik 'browse', mászik 'climb', ereszt 'let go', akaszt 'hang', néz 'look at', húz 'pull', edz 'train', lopódzik 'sneak'.
However, these forms may occur in constructions like végigfutja a távot 'run all through the distance', or perhaps even végiglopóddza az épületeket 'sneak through the buildings'.
This solution doesn't work, though, for the forms affecting the 2nd person (unless in a poetic, vocative sense), that is why they are marked with an asterisk.
Second person forms have a short and a long variant both in indefinite and definite conjugation, with minimal difference in style.
In Hungarian, verbs not only show agreement with their subjects but also carry information on the definiteness of their direct objects.
Examples: If no explicit object is present, the most common interpretation of the definite verb forms is including "him/her/it".
They are formed by adding the following suffixes to the verb stem: Since the past participle usually expresses a perfected action/event, the verb sometimes changes into its perfective counterpart by taking a verbal particle (igekötő) with this function, as seen in the above example (megírt levél).
This verbal particle may, however, be replaced by a noun, e.g. Annának írt levél ("a letter written to Anna").
The most common ones are meg- (perfective, but some other ones, too, can take this function), fel- ("up"), le- ("down"/"off"), be- ("in"), ki- ("out"), el- ("away"), vissza- ("back"), át- ("over"/"through"), oda- ("there"), ide- ("here"), össze- ("together"), szét- ("apart"), "rá-" ("on top").
In literary style, articles can be reduplicated to indicate a gradual or stuttering action: ki-kijött a mὁkus ("the squirrel crept out").
The difference is important in the above-mentioned syntactic cases when these elements will – naturally – not function like particles do.
– A similar case is fellebbez ("appeal [in court]"), from the adverb fellebb ("upper", today: feljebb), containing no particle.
This element, being part of the original noun, will not act as a particle of the derived verb befolyásol.
Kirándul ("go hiking") used to be a compound (ki + rándul), but people don't usually treat it like that anymore so they say, e.g., Kirándulni akar.
A common error among native speakers is the case of feltételez ("suppose" or "assume"), which comes from feltétel ("condition"), so the prefix is only part of the embedded noun, rather than of the full verb, but it is still often separated: ?fel sem tételezhetjük, ?fel kell tételeznünk ("we can't even assume, we must suppose"), instead of the correct forms nem is feltételezhetjük, feltételeznünk kell.
The verb szokik is conjugated like a regular past tense one (though it can have the indefinite and the definite forms, too), however, used with an infinitive, it has the meaning of a habitual action which includes the present time.
When the verb is used as a copula i.e. if one speaks about what someone or something is, it is omitted in the third person singular and plural of the present tense.
are preferred when it is considered impossible (e.g. Ha rózsa volnék, "if I were a rose"), but the limits are rather vague.