-eniük

Hungarian

Etymology

From -e- (linking vowel) +‎ -niük (conjugated infinitive suffix).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ɛnijyk]

Suffix

-eniük

1. (conjugated infinitive suffix) Forms the third-person plural of conjugated infinitives.

   fűteni (“to heat”) → Fűteniük kellett. ― They had to turn the heat on.

   veszíteni (“to lose”) → Súlyt kell veszíteniük. ― They have to lose weight.

Usage notes

• The conjugated infinitive denotes action connected to the person. The non-conjugated infinitive has a general meaning:

  Itt nem szabad dohányozniuk. ― They/you [pl] are not allowed to smoke here. (third-person plural or formal)

  Itt nem szabad dohányozni. ― Smoking is not allowed here. (general)

• With words like “important, necessary” etc., it is expressed in English as “for them/you to…”.

  Nekik fontos eljönniük. ― It is important for them to come here. or It is important that they come.

  Önöknek fontos eljönniük. ― It is important for you [pl] to come here. or It is important that you come.

• Variants:

  -niuk is added to back-vowel words that form their infinitive with -ni

  rohanni (“to run”) → Rohanniuk kell. ― They have to run.

  -niük is added to front-vowel words that form their infinitive with -ni

  nevetni (“to laugh”) → Nevetniük kell. ― They have to laugh.

  főzni (“to cook”) → Főzniük kell. ― They have to cook.

  -aniuk is added to back-vowel words that form their infinitive with -ani

  tanítani (“to teach”) → Tanítaniuk kell. ― They have to teach.

  -eniük is added to front-vowel words that form their infinitive with -eni

  veszíteni (“to lose”) → Súlyt kell veszíteniük. ― They have to lose weight.

  -niok is added to back-vowel words that form their infinitive with -ni

  rohanni (“to run”) → Rohanniok kell. ― They have to run.

  -niök is added to front-vowel words that form their infinitive with -ni

  nevetni (“to laugh”) → Nevetniök kell. ― They have to laugh.

    Conjugated infinitive – personal endings

Person		Back vowel	Front vowel
			unrounded	rounded
én	1st person singular	-nom	-nem	-nöm
	after two consonants or a long vowel + t	-anom	-enem
te	2nd person singular	-nod	-ned	-nöd
	after two consonants or a long vowel + t	-anod	-ened
ő maga ön	3rd person singular	-nia	-nie
	after two consonants or a long vowel + t	-ania	-enie
mi	1st person plural	-nunk	-nünk
	after two consonants or a long vowel + t	-anunk	-enünk
ti	2nd person plural	-notok	-netek	-nötök
	after two consonants or a long vowel + t	-anotok	-enetek
ők maguk önök	3rd person plural	-niuk	-niük
	after two consonants or a long vowel + t	-aniuk	-eniük
	archaic/dialectal	-niok	-niök

See also

• Appendix:Hungarian suffixes