Let’s LearnHungarian

Lesson 73 of 74 · B1, Unit 3: Advanced grammar

The singing bird, the broken glass: participles

Add -ó or -ő to a verb stem and you get an adjective meaning 'doing': énekel ('sing') → az éneklő madár ('the singing bird'), fut ('run') → a futó gyerek ('the running child'). Many everyday nouns started this way: olvasó ('reader'), író ('writer').

The past participle, 'done', looks like the past-tense 'he/she' form: eltörik ('break') → az eltört pohár ('the broken glass'), főz ('cook') → főtt tojás ('boiled egg'). And -andó/-endő means 'to be done': a fizetendő összeg ('the amount to be paid').

By the end you can:

  • form and use -ó/-ő present participles
  • form and use -t/-tt past participles
  • recognise -andó/-endő on forms, signs and bills

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