Negative Concord

In Hungarian, negative pronouns are formed by adding a prefix to question words. The negative prefix takes three forms: sem- (used in words like semmi, semmilyen), sen- (senki), and se- (sehol, sehova, semennyi, semelyik). For 'never', the standard words are soha, sosem, or sohasem (while semmikor exists, it is used specifically to mean 'at no time' and is much less common).

Key rules for this pattern:

• Mandatory Pairing: You cannot say 'Senki jött'. You must use a negative particle, saying either 'Senki nem jött' or 'Senki sem jött' (Nobody came). If the negative pronoun follows the verb, the negative particle is mandatory before the verb: 'Nem láttam semmit' (I didn't see anything). For added emphasis, you can optionally add sem (or se) after the post-verbal negative pronoun: 'Nem láttam semmit sem'. This creates a 'triple negation' (Nem + semmit + sem), which is perfectly natural and grammatically correct in Hungarian.
• Multiple Negative Pronouns: If a sentence contains multiple indefinite pronouns (like anyone, anything, anywhere), all of them must take the negative form in Hungarian. For example: Senki nem látott semmit sehol (Nobody saw anything anywhere).
• Suffixes on Negative Pronouns: Negative pronouns can take all standard noun suffixes (such as the accusative, dative, or instrumental cases). The negative concord rules apply exactly the same way regardless of the suffix. For example: Senkivel nem beszéltem (I didn't speak with anyone).
• Nem vs. Sem: Use nem for standard negation. The particle sem is the negative counterpart of is (also/too). It is used for additive negation meaning 'neither' or 'not either', and can also be used for emphasis. Importantly, sem has a strict word-order restriction: unlike nem, it cannot stand alone before the verb, except in the sem... sem... (neither... nor...) construction. Otherwise, it must immediately follow the negative pronoun or the negated topic (e.g., Semmit sem láttam is correct, but *Sem láttam semmit is incorrect unless part of a 'neither... nor...' pair).
• Commands and Requests: In negative commands, nem becomes ne and sem becomes se. Example: Senki ne menjen ki! (Nobody go out!). Note that while se is required in commands, it is also widely used as a colloquial alternative to sem in regular indicative sentences (e.g., Senki se jött is just as natural as Senki sem jött).
• Prefix Separation: When you negate a verb that has a verbal prefix, the prefix must move after the verb. Example: Senki nem ment el (Nobody went away).
• Existential Negation: When using 'there is not', nem + van becomes nincs (or nincsenek for plural subjects). If you use the additive sem, sem + van becomes sincs (or sincsenek for plural). Example: Itt nincs semmi (There is nothing here) vs. Ott sincsenek gondok (There aren't any problems there either).