CHAPTER VII

THE ADJECTIVE

The adjective when used _attributively_ is indeclinable.

A =szép= rózsa, the beautiful rose. A =szép= rózsák, the beautiful roses. Látom a =szép= rózsákat, I see the beautiful roses.

But when used _predicatively_, the adjective is declinable.

A rózsák =szép-ek=, the roses are beautiful.

Also, when the adjective is used by itself as a substantive, it is declinable.

Add nekem a könyvet. Melyiket? =A nagy-ot.= Give me the book. Which one? The big (one).

Add nekem a könyveket. Melyikeket? =A nagy-okat.= Give me the books. Which ones? The big (ones).

An adjective when declined is inflected in the same manner as a substantive. In forming the plural, however, the following exceptions occur.

Adjectives ending in =ü= take the plural ending =-ek=.

Adjectives ending in =i= take the plural ending =-ek= or =-ak=.

gyönyörü (lovely), plural gyönyörü=-ek= régi (old) ” régi=-ek= párisi (Parisian) ” párisi=-ak=

In all other cases adjectives follow the same rules as substantives.

Among adjectives are reckoned the participles of the verb, which, when used as adjectives, are inflected like them.

COMPARISON OF ADJECTIVES.

The _comparative_ is formed by adding =-bb= to adjectives ending in a vowel, or =-abb=, =-ebb=, or =-obb=, to those ending in a consonant.

gyönyörü (lovely), comp. gyönyörü=-bb= nagy (great) ” nagy=-obb=

After sibilants, which would admit the sound b to be heard without an intermediate vowel, often only =-b= is added to form the comparative, but it is preferable to use a connecting vowel, unless it is not desired to lengthen the word by a syllable, as, for instance, in poetry. It is correct, for example, to write magasb (higher), though magasabb is more usual.

Final _a_ and _e_ are lengthened when the comparative suffix _-bb_ is added.

drága (dear), drágá-bb; fekete (black), feketé-bb.

Final _ó_ shortens its sound only in jó (good), jobb.

The following are somewhat irregular:—

szép (beautiful), comp. szebb könnyű (easy) ” könnyebb ifju (young) ” ifjabb hosszú (long) ” hosszabb sok (much) ” több

Comparisons are made with the aid of the conjunction =mint=, as, than.

Ez nagyobb mint az, this is greater than that. A méter hosszabb mint a rőf, the metre is longer than the yard.

=as ... as ...= is expressed by =olyan ... mint ...=

Az én házam olyan nagy mint a tied, my house is as large as yours. Egy font nem olyan nehéz mint egy kilogramm, a pound is not so heavy as a kilogram.

When the comparative is used by itself as a substantive, it takes the affix =-ik=.

szebb, a szebbik; nagyobb, a nagyobbik.

A két folyó közül ez a mélyebbik, of the two rivers, this is the deeper.

This rule applies also to the superlative.

The _superlative_ is invariably formed by _prefixing_ =leg-= to the comparative.

drága, comp. drágább sup. leg-drágább nagy ” nagyobb ” leg-nagyobb erős ” erősebb ” leg-erősebb sok ” több ” leg-több

_Cardinals._—These are declinable like other adjectives when the substantives which they qualify are not expressed.

They also form derivatives which answer the question: hányan (how many)? For instance: How many ran away? Hárman (= három-an, the _o_ being dropped). The terminations of these derivatives are =-an= and =-en=, as, négy-en, öt-en.

egy = egyedűl (alone), and kettő = ketten, form their derivatives irregularly; három and ezer become contracted: hárman, ezren.

Száz (100), ezer (1000), and millió may be used as substantives and form plurals if the number of hundreds, &c., is indefinite; as, százak (hundreds), ezrek (thousands), milliók (millions). If, however, the number is stated, the singular must be used; as három száz (three hundred), tíz ezer (ten thousand).

_Numerals_

Cardinals. Ordinals. Fractionals. Multiplicatives. 1 egy első egyszer (once) 2[4] két, kettő második fél, 1/2 kétszer (twice) 3 három harmadik harmad, 1/3 háromszor 4 négy negyedik negyed, 1/4 négyszer 5 öt ötödik ötöd, 1/5 ötször 6 hat hatodik hatod, 1/6 hatszor 7 hét hetedik heted, 1/7 hétszer 8 nyolc nyolcadik nyolcad, 1/8 nyolcszor 9 kilenc kilencedik kilenced, 1/9 kilencszer 10 tíz tizedik tized, 1/10 tízszer 11 tizenegy tizenegyedik tizenegyed, 1/11 tizenegyszer 12[4] tizenkét tizenkettedik tizenketted, 1/12 tizenkétszer (kettő) 20 húsz huszadik huszad, 1/20 húszszor 21 huszonegy huszonegyedik huszonegyed, 1/21 huszanegyszer 22[4] huszonkét huszonkettedik huszonketted, 1/22 huszankétszer (kettő) 30 harminc harmincadik harmincad, 1/30 harmincszor 31 harmincegy harmincegyedik harmincegyed, 1/31 harmincegyszer 40 negyven negyvenedik negyvened, 1/40 negyvenszer 50 ötven ötvenedik ötvened, 1/50 ötvenszer 60 hatvan hatvanadik hatvanad, 1/60 hatvanszor 70 hetven hetvenedik hetvened, 1/70 hetvenszer 80 nyolcvan nyolcvanadik nyolcvanad, 1/80 nyolcvanszor 90 kilencven kilencvenedik kilencvened, 1/90 kilencvenszer 100 száz századik század, 1/100 százszor 1,000 ezer ezredik ezred, 1/1000 ezerszer 10,000 tízezer tízezredik tízezred, 1/10000 tízezerszer 100,000 százezer százezredik százezred, 1/100000 százezerszer 1,000,000 millió milliomodik milliomod, 1/1000000 milliomszor

_Ordinals._—These, like cardinals, are adjectives, and are declinable. They sometimes drop the ending -ik if another word is joined to them. This is not usually done, however, and occurs chiefly in words expressing age, as, másod-éves, in the second year; (“two years old” would be kétéves).

Ordinals form adverbs by dropping the ending -ik, and taking =-szor= or =-szer= instead. Első is irregular, but the rest are regular.

első, first először, firstly második, second másodszor, secondly harmadik, third harmadszor, thirdly negyedik, fourth negyedszer, fourthly, &c.

_Fractionals_ are also adjectives and declinable, but they do not form adverbs. They may be used in the plural, as, negyedek (quarters); _e.g._ a negyedek nagyobbak mint a nyolcadok (quarters are larger than eighths). If however, these fractionals are preceded by another numeral, they must be used in the singular; as, három negyed (three-fourths).

_Multiplicatives_ are adverbs and therefore indeclinable.

Háromszor négy: tizenkettő, three times four are twelve. Háromszor irtam levelet, I have written a letter three times.

These multiplicatives form adjectives by adding =-es= or =-os=. Kétszer-es, double; háromszor-os, triple, &c.

Other multiples, almost identical in meaning with kétszeres, háromszoros, &c., are:—

egyes, simple kettős, double hármas, triple négyes, quadruple ötös, quintuple hatos, sextuple hetes, septuple nyolczas, octuple, &c.

By adding =-rétü= to the cardinal numbers another kind of multiplicative is formed.

egyrétü, single; kétrétü, two-fold; hatrétü, six-fold, &c. háromrétü vászon, three-fold linen.

_Indefinite Numerals:_—

sok, much, many sokan ” ” } only of persons, kevesen, few } and when not followed néhányan ” } by a substantive. kevés, few néhány, a few annyi, so much számtalan, innumerable

_The Time._

The hours are expressed by the respective cardinal numbers, followed by the word óra (hour).

egy óra (one o’clock); tizenegy óra (eleven o’clock).

The half-hours and quarters are expressed by the suitable fraction, followed by the number of the next hour, which number may take the affix -ra, -re.

A quarter-past two = negyed háromra (lit. a quarter towards three). Half-past two = fél háromra (lit. a half towards three). A quarter to three = három negyed háromra (lit. three-quarters towards three).

_N.B._—The affix is frequently omitted.

The minutes are indicated as follows:—

2.5 öt percczel mult kettő (lit. 5 minutes past two). 2.10 tíz percczel mult kettő (lit. 10 minutes past two). 2.20 tíz percz mulva fél három (lit. 10 minutes before half three). 2.25 öt percz mulva fél három (lit. 5 minutes before half three). 2.35 tíz percz mulva három negyed három (lit. 10 minutes before three-quarters of three). 2.40 öt percz mulva három negyed három (lit. 5 minutes before three-quarters of three). 2.50 tíz percz mulva három (lit. 10 minutes before three). 2.55 öt percz mulva három (lit. 5 minutes before three).

To ask the time, one says: Hány óra van? or, Hány az óra. (Hány = how much? how many?).

EXERCISE VII.

A liszt fehér, a czukor fehérebb és a hó a legfehérebb. A gazdag országok hatalmasak. A gondolat gyorsabb mint a villám. Atyám birtoka sokkal régibb mint a te atyádé. A kemény drágakövek a bányában vannak. A drágakövek nagyon kemények. Az utczában ötvenkét ház van. Negyedik[5] Henrik német császár és Hetedik[5] Gergely római pápa kortársak voltak. A gyümölcs egy harmada az enyém, két harmada bátyámé. Négy óra mult nyolcz percczel.

The richest men are not always the happiest. I see many lovely roses in your father’s garden. My friend’s house is much larger than this. There are seventeen houses in the street, and mine is the eleventh. I shall be at home at twenty-five minutes past six. The king’s palace is the largest building in Budapest.

czukor, sugar gazdag, rich ország, country hatalmas, powerful gondolat, thought villám, lightning birtok, estate sokkal, (by) much régi, old kemény, hard drágakő, precious stone bánya, mine utcza, street Henrik, Henry német, German császár, emperor Gergely, Gregory római, Roman pápa, pope kortárs, contemporary enyém, mine bátya, elder brother mindig, always boldog, happy itthon, at home (here) leszek, I shall be

FOOTNOTES:

[4] két, if followed by a substantive, and kettő, if standing by itself: két ember, two men; on the question, How many? kettő.

[5] When ordinals form part of a title, they precede the name.