-na/-ne/-ná/-né

The conditional mood is formed by adding the mood marker -na/-ne or -ná/-né to the verb stem, followed by specific personal endings. The short markers (-na/-ne) are used only in the 3rd person singular indefinite. In most other forms, the vowel lengthens to -ná-/-né-, except for the 1st person singular indefinite, which always uses -nék.

1. Vowel Harmony:

• Back-vowel verbs: Use -na/-ná- (e.g., várna - he would wait, várnál - you would wait).
• Front-vowel verbs: Use -ne/-né- (e.g., kérne - he would ask, kérnél - you would ask).

2. Personal Endings:

• 1st Person Singular: Indefinite is always -nék (e.g., várnék, kérnék). Definite follows vowel harmony: -nám/-ném (e.g., várnám, kérném).
• 2nd Person Singular: Indefinite uses -nál/-nél; Definite uses -nád/-néd (e.g., várnád, kérnéd).
• 3rd Person Singular: Indefinite uses -na/-ne; Definite uses -ná/-né (e.g., várná, kérné).
• 1st Person Plural: Uses -nánk/-nénk for both indefinite and definite (e.g., várnánk, kérnénk).
• 2nd Person Plural: Uses -nátok/-nétek for both indefinite and definite (e.g., várnátok, kérnétek).
• 3rd Person Plural: Indefinite uses -nának/-nének; Definite uses -nák/-nék (e.g., várnák, kérnék).
• I... You Form: Uses -nálak/-nélek (e.g., várnálak - I would wait for you, kérnélek - I would ask you).

Note: For front-vowel verbs, the 1st person singular indefinite and the 3rd person plural definite are identical (e.g., szeretnék can mean 'I would love' or 'they would love it').

3. Linking Vowels:
If a verb stem ends in two consonants or a long vowel + t, a linking vowel (-a- or -e-) is required before the marker (e.g., hallana, tanítana).
Exceptions: The specific verbs áll, száll, varr, forr, and lát are exceptions and do not take a linking vowel (e.g., állna, varrna, látna).

4. -ik Verbs and Irregular Stems:

• -ik Verbs: Drop the -ik suffix before adding the conditional marker (e.g., lakik becomes lakna).
• Irregular stems: van → lenne (would be), megy → menne (would go), jön → jönne (would come), tesz → tenne (would put/do), vesz → venne (would buy/take), visz → vinne (would take/carry), hisz → hinne (would believe), eszik → enne (would eat), iszik → inna (would drink).

5. Past Conditional:
To form the past conditional, use the past tense of the verb followed by the uninflected word volna (e.g., vártam volna - I would have waited).

6. Usage in 'If' Clauses:
When using ha (if), Hungarian requires the conditional mood in both parts of the sentence if the condition is hypothetical: Ha gazdag lennék, utaznék. (If I were rich, I would travel.)

7. Polite Requests and Wishes:
The conditional mood is frequently used to make polite requests or express wishes, softening the tone compared to the present tense or imperative: Kérnék egy kávét. (I would like a coffee.) or Segítenél nekem? (Would you help me?).