-i (birtoktöbbesítő jel)

Plural Possessed Items

Level 2

In Hungarian, when you own more than one thing, the standard plural marker -k is replaced by -i. This marker sits between the noun stem and the personal ending.

How It Works

When expressing possession in Hungarian, we usually use singular possessive suffixes for one item. However, if you own multiple items, the structure changes:

1. The Marker: The plural marker for possessed items is -i.
2. The Placement: For vowel stems, it is inserted after the stem and before the personal ending. For consonant stems, it follows the linking vowel (e.g., könyv + e + i + m). For the 3rd person singular (his/her/its), the -i is the final suffix and no further ending is added.
3. The 3rd Person Singular Hack: For consonant stems, a great rule of thumb to form the plural possessive is to take the 3rd person singular possessive form (his/her X), add -i-, and then add the personal ending. For example: könyv → könyve (his/her book) → könyve + i + m = könyveim (my books). This trick usually handles linking vowels and the -j- rule, though there are exceptions that drop the -j- in the plural possessive (e.g., barát → barátja but barátaim).
4. The -j- Rule: If a noun requires a -j- filler in the singular possessive (e.g., darabja), it usually retains it in the plural (e.g., darabjai). For vowel stems, most drop the -j- in the plural possessive (e.g., autója becomes autói, kutyája becomes kutyái). However, there is a small class of irregular nouns (like idő and erdő) that retain the 'j' because their possessive stem actually ends in a consonant (e.g., idejei, erdejei). Nouns ending in -i also usually retain the -j- to avoid a double 'i' sound, borrowing the linking-vowel suffixes used for consonant stems (e.g., kiflijei).
5. Vowel Harmony: While the -i marker itself is invariant, the linking vowels and personal endings that surround it follow vowel harmony rules.

Common Forms (Consonant Stems):

  • -aim / -eim / -jaim / -jeim: My [items] (e.g., darabjaim)
  • -aid / -eid / -jaid / -jeid: Your [items] (e.g., kulcsaid)
  • -ai / -ei / -jai / -jei: His/her/its [items] (e.g., könyvei)
  • -aink / -eink / -jaink / -jeink: Our [items] (e.g., házaink)
  • -aitok / -eitek / -jaitok / -jeitek: Your (pl.) [items] (e.g., kertjeitek)
  • -aik / -eik / -jaik / -jeik: Their [items] (e.g., darabjaik)

Common Forms (Vowel Stems):

  • -im: My [items] (e.g., autóim)
  • -id: Your [items] (e.g., kávéid)
  • -i: His/her/its [items] (e.g., cipői)
  • -ink: Our [items] (e.g., autóink)
  • -itok / -itek: Your (pl.) [items] (e.g., kávéitok)
  • -ik: Their [items] (e.g., cipőik)

Their Item vs. Their Items: Be careful to distinguish between multiple people owning ONE thing vs. MULTIPLE things. Explicitly, the 3rd person plural possessor drops the usual -uk/-ük entirely when the possessed items are plural, replacing it with -ik (or -aik/-eik/-jaik/-jeik). For example, 'their shoe' (one shoe, multiple owners) is cipőjük, but 'their shoes' (multiple shoes, multiple owners) is cipőik.

Stem Changes: If a noun ends in -a or -e, these vowels undergo low-vowel lengthening to -á and -é before the plural possessive marker (e.g., kutya → kutyái).

Examples (4)

  1. Hol vannak a kulcsaid?

    Where are your keys?

    Word by Word: Where are the keys-your-plural?

    Here, 'kulcs' (key) takes the '-aid' ending to show that there are multiple keys belonging to 'you'.

  2. A barátaimmal megyek moziba.

    I am going to the movies with my friends.

    Word by Word: The friends-my-plural-with I-go movie-into.

    The word 'barát' (friend) uses '-aim' to indicate multiple friends, followed by the with suffix.

  3. Péter eladta a régi könyveit.

    Peter sold his old books.

    Word by Word: Peter sold the old books-his-plural.

    The '-ei' marker shows that Peter owned multiple books. The '-t' at the end is the accusative case.

  4. A macskám szereti a játékaimat.

    My cat likes my toys.

    Word by Word: The cat-my likes the toys-my-plural.

    Contrast 'macskám' (my one cat) with 'játékaimat' (my multiple toys).

Common Mistakes

  • Using the standard plural -k with possessive suffixes.

    autómok
    autóim

    You cannot use the standard '-k' plural marker and a possessive suffix together. The '-i' marker replaces the '-k' entirely in possessive constructions.

  • Using kutyáik (their dogs) when you mean his or her dogs.

    Different Meaningkutyáik
    kutyái

    '-i' means one person owns multiple things. '-ik' means multiple people own MULTIPLE things. 'Kutyái' is 'his dogs', while 'kutyáik' is 'their dogs'. If multiple people own ONE thing, you use '-uk/-ük' or '-juk/-jük' (e.g., 'kutyájuk' = 'their dog').

  • Forgetting to lengthen the final -a or -e of the stem.

    kutyai
    kutyái

    In Hungarian, a final 'a' becomes 'á' and 'e' becomes 'é' before most suffixes, including the possessive plural marker.

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-i (birtoktöbbesítő jel)Level 2Plural Possessed Items

Learn This First

To understand how to mark multiple possessed items (e.g., 'my books' vs 'my book'), you must first be familiar with the basic singular and plural possessive suffixes for a single item. The -i marker acts as a specific pluralizer that replaces the standard -k plural marker when a possessive suffix is present.

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Words in This Pattern

-i