In my learning journal #2 I want to reflect a little bit more on my Hungarian grammar learning progress and reflect a little bit on the topics that me and my community partner covered in the first two chapters of the MagyarOK A1-A2 grammar book. There was definitely some repetition in the first couple of chapters such as topics of past tense, nouns, articles, prepositions of place, time, and others. However, there was one particular, very interesting and challenging topic that I would like to write about in this journal.
“Érdekel” is the Hungarian verb which translates to English as “to interest”. Instead of saying “I am interested in it”, Hungarians use this verb to say “it interests me”, “it interests you”, and other forms depending on the subject. In order to use the verb correctly, one needs to know how to form the direct-object pronouns (who does the object interests). In addition to that, one also needs to know which suffixes should be added to the verb, and whether these should be definite or indefinite. I think it is a little bit tough to understand this concept, so let me give you some examples:
First, let’s look at the personal pronouns in both nominative and accusative cases.
Nominative Case (Alanyeset) | Accusative Case (Tárgyeset) |
én (I) | engem (me) |
te (you, singular, informal) | téged (you, singular, informal) |
ő (he/she) | őt (him/her) |
mi (we) | minket (us) |
ti (you, plural, or formal singular) | titeket (you, plural, or formal singular) |
ők (they) | őket (them) |
Second, let’s look at the conjugation of the verb “érdekel” (both definitive and indefinite).
Indefinitive | Definitive |
Érdeklek (én) | Érdeklem (én) |
Érdekelsz (te) | Érdekled (te) |
Érdekli (ő) | Érdekli (ő) |
Érdeklünk (mi) | Érdekeljük (mi) |
Érdekeltek (ti) | Érdeklitek (ti) |
Érdekelnek (ők) | Érdeklik (ők) |
Now let’s try to create a sentence.
- Ő érdekli Polinát. -Polina is interested in him/her/it.
Even though the sentence starts with the object (him/her/it), the main focus is still on Polina - subject who is interested.
- Polina érdekli őt. -He/she/it is interested in Polina.
The sentence again starts with the object (Polina in this case), however, the focus is still on the subject - he/she/it.
*If you notice, there is an extra consonant ‘-t’ at the end of ‘Polina’ and ‘ő’in order to objectify the word.
This is such a minor detail in Hungarian grammar, however, it is a very challenging concept to understand especially if there is nothing similar in your native language. I hope you enjoyed learning about the Hungarian verb “érdekel”:)
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