Nyelvtani tema
Irregular Verbs and Multi-Stem Verbs (megy, jön, eszik, iszik, tesz, vesz, van)
Some very common Hungarian verbs are difficult because they use two or even three stems in different forms. These are worth memorizing early.
1. Motion verbs: megy (go) and jön (come)
This pair is close to English “go” and “come,” and both are irregular.
| Person | megy (to go) | jön (to come) |
|---|---|---|
| én | megyek | jövök |
| te | mész | jössz |
| ő, Ön | megy | jön |
| mi | megyünk | jövünk |
| ti | mentek | jöttök |
| ők, Önök | mennek | jönnek |
2. Multi-stem verbs ending in -sz or using a -v stem
These verbs use an -sz stem in the present, but other forms can change. Note: eszik and iszik are also -ik verbs.
| Person | eszik (eat) | iszik (drink) | tesz (put, do) | vesz (take, buy) | visz (carry) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| én | eszem | iszom | teszek | veszek | viszek |
| te | eszel | iszol | teszel | veszel | viszel |
| ő, Ön | eszik | iszik | tesz | vesz | visz |
| mi | eszünk | iszunk | teszünk | veszünk | viszünk |
| ti | esztek | isztok | tesztek | vesztek | visztek |
| ők | esznek | isznak | tesznek | vesznek | visznek |
3. The verb van: to be / to be located
This is the most important irregular verb in Hungarian. The 3rd-person forms behave differently depending on whether you are describing identity or location.
- én vagyok - I am / I am located
- te vagy - you are / you are located
- ő van - he/she/it is located
- mi vagyunk - we are / we are located
- ti vagytok - you are / you are located
- ők vannak - they are located