Irregular Verb Stems

While most Hungarian verbs have a single stable stem, this group of essential verbs uses multiple stems based on the historical evolution of the language.

1. The sz-stem (Present Tense): This stem is the basis for the present tense conjugation. For non-ik verbs, the dictionary form uses this sz-stem (e.g., tesz, vesz, visz, hisz, lesz). For -ik verbs, the dictionary form adds the suffix to this stem (e.g., eszik, iszik).

2. The n-stem (Infinitive & Conditional): Used with the infinitive suffix -ni and as the basis for the conditional mood. Examples: tenni, venni, vinni, hinni, enni, lenni (infinitives) and tenne, enne, vinne (conditional). Note that megy (to go) and jön (to come) are partial members of this group. The verb megy alternates between the megy-, men-, and bare me- stems, while jön shares the n-stem (jönni), v-stem/t-stem (jövő, jött), and bare stem (jöhet). Both lack the sz-stem, and megy lacks the imperative gy-stem mutation (using the n-stem menj instead).

3. The v-stem (Participles): These verbs use a 'v' before the present participle suffix -ó/-ő (e.g., vevő, vivő, evő, hívő, jövő, lévő) and the adverbial participle. Note that short stem vowels (e, i) lengthen to é and í before the adverbial participle suffix (e.g., téve, véve, éve, íva). For the verb van (to be), the literary converb variant lévén is used as its adverbial participle. For hisz, the form híve exists, but hívén is often preferred to avoid confusion with the noun híve (believer/follower).

4. The t-stem (Past Tense): Verbs like eszik and iszik use the 'v' exclusively in the 3rd person singular indefinite past tense (evett, ivott). For all other persons and the definite conjugation (e.g., ette, itta), they revert to a t-stem (e.g., ettem, ettél, ittam, ittál). Other verbs use the t-stem throughout the paradigm, such as tesz (e.g., tettem, tettél, tett), vesz (vett), visz (vitt), hisz (hitt), lesz (lett), and jön (jött).

5. The gy-stem (Imperative): Used when forming the imperative or subjunctive. These verbs switch to a distinct gy-stem (e.g., tegy-, vegy-, vigy-). Examples: egyél (eat!), igyál (drink!), vegyél (buy!), vigyél (take!), legyél (be!). While most verbs in this group take a single 'gy' in the imperative, hisz takes a double consonant (higgyél or higgy). Note that the verb jön has highly irregular imperative forms: gyere (come!) and jöjj.

6. The bare vowel stem (Potential & Causative): Used before the potential suffix -hat/-het and causative suffixes. The stem drops the final consonant, leaving an open vowel (e.g., te-, ve-, vi-, hi-, e-, i-, le-, me-, jö-). Examples: tehet, vehet, ehet, mehet.