The Hungarian word

order

Source: Carol H. Rounds/ Hungarian - An essential grammar

 In general
Hungarian allows a freedom of word order
unknown in English. This does not mean that
hungarian word order is free; word order is
used instead as a means of backgrounding and/or
highlighting information.
2 main sentence types exist in Hungarian
regarding the word order. The 1st is the
‘neutral sentence’, the other is the ‘focus
sentence’.

Before discussing their characteristics, we get

to know the main sentence elements and their
positions.
Sentence elements & positions
Topic Preverb Verb X

Neutral Preverb Focus Preverb

Neutral sentence Focus sentence

structure structure
The sentence elements
 Topic
The topic position is in the
beginning of the sentence and is
usually filled with subject(s),
general time expressions, and any
other information which serves to set
the background for more essential
information to come. It may contain
several constituents or remain empty.
 „X”
This position is filled by any part of
speech (except the conjugated verb); it may
contain several constituents; it may occur
empty. For the most part, the constituents
may occur in the X position in any order
without a difference is meaning. In
sentences with focus, however it is usual
that the 1st element of X is the element
that was removed from the neutral preverb
position.
 Preverb
The preverb occupies the position
immediately before the conjugated
verb. It is the crux of the sentence
for it is primarily here that the
grammaticality of a sentence is
determined. It is filled by different
elements of speech depending on
whether the sentence is neutral or
focused.
The sentence types
I. Neutral sentence structure
Neutral sentences have a level
intonation pattern; they are further
characterized by not containing
 elements with heavy stress
 interrogatives
 answers
 negation
Examples
 Topic Neutral Verb X
Preverb

itt
Attila van -

szépen
Klára énekel -

Budapesten
Múlt
laktak a szülei.
évben
Múlt Budapesten
évben a laktak -
szülei
 Topic Neutral Verb X
Preverb

Reggel a a kertben
játszanak -
gyerekek
a kertben a
Reggel játszanak
gyerekek.
Amerikaiak
- vagyunk -

Péter jól meg- tanulta a leckét.

el utazni
Zsuzsa akar
Prágába.
 What might fill the role of a
neutral preverb?
 a coverb
 an adverb
 a verbal complement
Verbal complements
Types of verbal complements 1.

 Predicate nominative/ adjective

 Én mérnök vagyok.
 Magasak vagytok.
 ‘Have’ constuctions
 Nekem 2 testvérem van.
 Lacinak kevés ideje van.
Types of verbal complements 2.
 Generic activities with no reference to
specifics
 Dénes könyvet olvas.
 Jánost tollat keres.
 Tévét nézek.
 Holnap moziba megyünk.
 Adri egyetemre jár.
 Kovácsék vidéken laknak.
II. Focus sentence structure
Focussed sentences have an
intonation pattern containing the
main stress on the focussed
elements. Focus affects the word
order of neutral sentences by
taking away the preverb position
for itself & removing the neutral
preverb element to a position
immediately behind the verb. The
topic postion remains unaffected.
II. Focus sentence structure
 Containing
 emphasis
 Csak Dénes FOCUS PREVERB olvasVERB könyvetX.
 interrogative
 Ki FOCUS PREVERB olvasVERB könyvetX?
 answers to previous questions
 Dénes FOCUS PREVERB olvasVERB könyvetX.
 negation
 DénesTOPIC nem FOCUS PREVERB olvasVERB könyvetX.
Examples
 Topic Focus Verb X
Type

of
preverb
focus

Q Reggel kik játszanak a kertben?

a gyerekek
Q Reggel játszanak a kertben?

a gyerekek
A Reggel játszanak a kertben.

Mikor a gyerekek a
Q - játszanak
kertben?
mikor
Q A gyerekek játszanak a kertben?

reggel
A A gyerekek játszanak a kertben.
 Topic Focus Verb X
Type

of
preverb
focus

a kertben
N A gyerekek sohasem játszanak
reggel.

A gyerekek nem reggel a kertben,

N játszanak hanem
délután.
csak reggel a kertben, este
E A gyerekek játszanak
soha.
Reggel a csak a
E gyerekek kertben játszanak, a házban soha.
 The position of coverbs
(simple cases)
Topic Preverb Verb X
Sent
ence
type

a barátaimmal 2
N Tegnap meg- ittam
sört.

N Tegnap nem ittam meg

2 sört a
barátaimmal
Meg- 2 sört a
Q - ittam barátaimmal
tegnap?

Q - Mit ittam
tegnap a
barátaimmal?
E Tegnap 2 sört ittam meg a barátaimmal.

Én ittam meg
a barátaimmal 2
sört, és nem te.
 The End

Next:
Word order of the quasi – auxiliary verbs
(kell, akar, tud, lehet, szokott, tetszik, fog)