-nék

See also: nek, nec, neck, and -nek

Hungarian

Etymology

-né (conditional suffix) +‎ -k (personal suffix)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [neːk]

Suffix

-nék

1. (personal suffix) Used to form the first-person singular present tense of verbs (conditional mood, indefinite conjugation).

   olvas (“to read”) → Ma csak könyveket olvasnék. — Today I would read only books.

2. (personal suffix) Used to form the third-person plural present tense of verbs (conditional mood, definite conjugation).

   kér (“to ask”) → Ők azt kérnék, hogy hívd fel őket. — They would ask you to call them.

3. (personal suffix, archaic, only with -ik verbs) Used to form the third-person singular conditional present indefinite.
   • 1854, János Vajda, Béla királyfi (‘Prince Béla’)

     Legeléskor csöndes, ehhöz semmi kedve, ¶ Mintha szeretné, ha más ennék helyette.

     [the horse] is quiet when grazing, he has no mood for it, ¶ as if he preferred someone else to eat for him.

     (Literally, “…as if he preferred if someone else ate [would eat]…”)

   Synonym: (current form) -ne

Usage notes

    Conditional indefinite – personal endings

Person		Back     vowel	Front vowel
			unrounded	rounded
én	1st person singular	-nék
	after two consonants or a long vowel + t	-anék	-enék
te	2nd person singular	-nál	-nél
	after two consonants or a long vowel + t	-anál	-enél
ő maga ön	3rd person singular	-na	-ne
	after two consonants or a long vowel + t	-ana	-ene
mi	1st person plural	-nánk	-nénk
	after two consonants or a long vowel + t	-anánk	-enénk
ti	2nd person plural	-nátok	-nétek
	after two consonants or a long vowel + t	-anátok	-enétek
ők maguk önök	3rd person plural	-nának	-nének
	after two consonants or a long vowel + t	-anának	-enének
See also: present-tense definite-object suffixes and second-person-object suffixes for informal addressing.

• (personal suffix, indefinite first person singular) Harmonic variants:

  -nék is added to most verbs (there is no back vowel variant)

  vár (“to wait”) → várnék (“I would wait”)

  -anék is added to back vowel verbs ending in two consonants or in a long vowel + t (exceptions áll, száll, varr, forr, lát)

  mond (“to say something”) → mondanék (“I would say something”)

  tanít (“to teach”) → tanítanék (“I would teach”)

  -enék is added to front vowel verbs ending in two consonants or in a long vowel + t

  fest (“to paint”) → festenék (“I would paint”)

  segít (“to help”) → segítenék (“I would help”)

    Conditional definite – personal endings

Person		Back      vowel	Front vowel
			unrounded	rounded
én	1st person singular	-nám	-ném
	after two consonants or a long vowel + t	-anám	-eném
te	2nd person singular	-nád	-néd
	after two consonants or a long vowel + t	-anád	-enéd
ő maga ön	3rd person singular	-ná	-né
	after two consonants or a long vowel + t	-aná	-ené
mi	1st person plural	-nánk (archaic -nók)	-nénk (archaic -nők)
	after two consonants or a long vowel + t	-anánk (archaic -anók)	-enénk (archaic -enők)
ti	2nd person plural	-nátok	-nétek
	after two consonants or a long vowel + t	-anátok	-enétek
ők maguk önök	3rd person plural	-nák	-nék
	after two consonants or a long vowel + t	-anák	-enék
See also: present-tense indefinite-object suffixes and second-person-object suffixes for informal addressing.

• (personal suffix, definite third person plural) Harmonic variants:

  -nák is added to most back vowel verbs

  vár (“to wait”) → A szülők azt várnák, hogy a gyerekek tanuljanak. — The parents would expect the children to study.

  -nék is added to most front vowel verbs

  kér (“to ask”) → A szüleim azt kérnék, hogy hívd fel őket. — My parents would (like to) ask you to call them.

  -anák is added to back vowel verbs ending in two consonants or in a long vowel + t (exceptions áll, száll, varr, forr, lát)

  mond (“to say”) → Nem mondanák, ha nem lenne igaz. — They would not say it if it weren't true.

  tanít (“to teach”) → Ők tanítanák a gyerekeket. — They would teach the children.

  -enék is added to front vowel verbs ending in two consonants or in a long vowel + t

  fest (“to paint”) → Ők festenék a házat. — They would paint the house.

  segít (“to help”) → Ők segítenék a családot. — They would help the family.

See also

• Category:Hungarian verb forms
• Appendix:Hungarian suffixes