Impersonal Evaluations

In English, we say 'I must go.' In Hungarian, the structure is more like 'To me, it is necessary to go.'

1. The Dative Participant
The person involved takes the dative suffix -nak/-nek. If using a pronoun, you use the dative forms: nekem, neked, neki, nekünk, nektek, nekik. These pronouns are often omitted because the personal infinitive endings (explained below) already indicate who the statement applies to.

2. Common Predicates
This pattern is required with:

• Modals: kell (must/need), muszáj (must - stronger), szabad (allowed), lehet (possible), tilos (forbidden).
• Evaluations: fontos (important), nehéz (difficult), jó (good).

Note: Verbs like tetszik (to like/please) and fáj (to hurt) also take dative experiencers. However, tetszik takes a noun subject (Nekem tetszik ez a könyv - I like this book), while fáj can take an infinitive action as its subject (e.g., Fáj látnom - It hurts me to see).

3. The Action (Infinitive)
When using modals like kell or szabad, the action is expressed with an infinitive.

• General Statements: Use the plain -ni ending when no specific person is intended (e.g., Sokat kell aludni - One must sleep a lot).
• Specific Subjects: When a specific person is involved, you can use either the plain infinitive or personal infinitive endings. While both forms are used (e.g., Jánosnak mennie kell and Jánosnak kell menni), the personal infinitive is the formal standard, whereas the plain infinitive is considered colloquial or casual. To form the personal infinitive, drop the -i from the -ni ending for the 1st and 2nd person and add possessive-style endings, using link vowels based on vowel harmony (e.g., olvasni → olvasnom). However, for the 3rd person singular and plural, the -i is retained (e.g., -nia/-nie, -niuk/-niük).

4. Tense and Negation
How you change the tense depends on the type of word used as the predicate:

• Modal/Quasi-auxiliary verbs: Words like kell, lehet, and sikerül act as modal or quasi-auxiliary verbs and conjugate directly for tense (e.g., kellett - it was necessary, lehetett - it was possible).
• Non-Verbs: Adjectives and nouns like szabad, tilos, muszáj, or fontos require the auxiliary van in the past (volt) or future (lesz). Example: Szabad volt menned (You were allowed to go).

For negation, place nem before the predicate. Crucial difference: nem kell means a lack of obligation ("don't have to"), whereas nem szabad or tilos expresses prohibition ("must not"). Example: Nem kell menned (You don't have to go) vs. Nem szabad menned (You must not go).

5. Word Order and Verbal Prefixes
In neutral sentences without prefixes, the infinitive often precedes the modal (e.g., Mennem kell), though the reverse is also common (Kell mennem). When an infinitive has a verbal prefix (like el- or meg-), the word order depends on the predicate used:

• With kell, szabad, lehet: In affirmative sentences, the prefix jumps in front of the modal verb (e.g., El kell mennem - I must go away). In negative sentences, the negation word nem comes first, followed by the modal, and the prefix stays attached to the infinitive (e.g., Nem kell elmennem - I don't have to go away).
• With muszáj and evaluative adjectives: Words like muszáj, fontos, or nehéz generally do not split the verbal prefix from the infinitive (e.g., Muszáj elmennem - I absolutely must go).