-nek

See also: nek, nec, neck, and -nék

Hungarian

Pronominal adverbs from case suffixes (cf. postpositions)
ed	suffix	who?	what?	this	that	he/she (it)*
case							v. pr.	c.
nom.	–	ki	mi	ez	az	ő* / -∅ az / -∅	–	–
acc.	-t / -ot / -at / -et / -öt	kit	mit	ezt	azt	őt* / -∅ azt / -∅	–	c1 c2
dat.	-nak / -nek	kinek	minek	ennek	annak	neki	neki-	c
ins.	-val / -vel	kivel	mivel	ezzel/ evvel	azzal/ avval	vele		c
c-f.	-ért	kiért	miért	ezért	azért	érte	–	c
tra.	-vá / -vé	kivé	mivé	ezzé	azzá	–	–	c
ter.	-ig	–	meddig	eddig	addig	–	–	c
e-f.	-ként	(kiként)	(miként)	ekként	akként	–	–	c
e-m.	-ul / -ül	–	–	–	–	–	–	c
ine.	-ban / -ben	kiben	miben	ebben	abban	benne	–	c
sup.	-n/-on/-en/-ön	kin	min	ezen	azon	rajta	(rajta-)	c
ade.	-nál / -nél	kinél	minél	ennél	annál	nála	–	c
ill.	-ba / -be	kibe	mibe	ebbe	abba	bele	bele-	c
sub.	-ra / -re	kire	mire	erre	arra	rá	rá-	c
all.	-hoz/-hez/-höz	kihez	mihez	ehhez	ahhoz	hozzá	hozzá-	c
el.	-ból / -ből	kiből	miből	ebből	abból	belőle	–	c
del.	-ról / -ről	kiről	miről	erről	arról	róla	–	c
abl.	-tól / -től	kitől	mitől	ettől	attól	tőle	–	c
*: Ő and őt refer to human beings; the forms below them might be construed likewise. – Forms in parentheses are uncommon. All »

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [nɛk]
• Rhymes: -ɛk

Etymology 1

See -nak.

Suffix

-nek

2. (case suffix) to, for. Used to form the dative case.

   gyerek (“child”) → Vettem egy játékot a gyereknek. ― I bought a toy for the child.

   1. 's, of. Used to form the possessive from the noun of the possessor, along with the ending -a/-e/-ja/-je added to the possession. Often omitted if the act of possession is not the predicate of the sentence.
   2. indicates the second, predicative complement of several verbs, e.g. those with a sense like call, name, find, deem, judge (appellation or appraisal)
   3. as, for (in the function or role specified)
   4. Concessive sense: used to devalue the predicate of the sentence when repeated and followed by a clause that contrasts with or contradicts it. See also -ni.

      Szépnek szép, de nem valami hasznos. ― Pretty as it may be, but there's not much use of it.

For more usage examples, see -nak.

Usage notes

   Hungarian case suffixes

Case	Back vowel a, á, o, ó, u, ú	Front vowel
		unrounded e, é, i, í	rounded ö, ő, ü, ű
nominative	—
accusative	-t
	-ot / -at	-et	-öt
dative	-nak	-nek
instrumental	-val	-vel
causal-final	-ért
translative	-vá	-vé
terminative	-ig
essive-formal	-ként
essive-modal	-ul	-ül
inessive	-ban	-ben
superessive	-n
	-on	-en	-ön
adessive	-nál	-nél
illative	-ba	-be
sublative	-ra	-re
allative	-hoz	-hez	-höz
elative	-ból	-ből
delative	-ról	-ről
ablative	-tól	-től
Note for all endings: Stem-final -a/-e changes to -á-/-é-, respectively, except -ként.     alma — almában, but almaként     zene ― zenében, but zeneként

• (case suffix) Harmonic variants:

  -nak is added to back-vowel words. Final -a changes to -á-.

  házigazda (“host”) → Ajándékot hoztunk a házigazdának. ― We brought gifts for the host.

  -nek is added to front-vowel words. Final -e changes to -é-.

  gyerek (“child”) → Vettem egy játékot a gyereknek. ― I bought a toy for the child.

  körte (“pear”) → A körtének jó íze van. ― The pear tastes good. (Literally, “to the pear there is a good flavor”.)

See also

• neki

Etymology 2

See -nak.

Suffix

-nek

2. (personal suffix) third-person plural and formal second-person plural present tense (indicative mood, indefinite conjugation)

   énekel (“sing”) → énekelnek (“they sing, they are singing; (formal) you sing, you are singing”)

Usage notes

    Present tense indefinite – personal suffixes

Person		Back     vowel	Front vowel
			unrounded	rounded
én	1st person singular	-ok	-ek	-ök
	-ik verbs (optional)	-om	-em	-öm
te	2nd person singular	-sz
	after two consonants or a long vowel + t	-asz	-esz
	after s, sz, z, dz	-ol	-el	-öl
ő maga ön	3rd person singular	–
	-ik verbs	-ik
mi	1st person plural	-unk	-ünk
ti	2nd person plural	-tok	-tek	-tök
	after two consonants or a long vowel + t	-otok	-etek	-ötök
ők maguk önök	3rd person plural	-nak	-nek
	after two consonants or a long vowel + t	-anak	-enek
See also: present-tense definite-object suffixes and second-person-object suffixes for informal addressing.

• (personal suffix) Harmonic variants:

  -nak is added to back-vowel verbs

  tanul (“study”) → A gyerekek nem tanulnak eleget. – The children are not studying enough.

  -nek is added to front-vowel verbs

  énekel (“sing”) → A madarak énekelnek. – The birds are singing.

  -anak is added to front-vowel verbs ending in two consonants or -ít

  tanít (“teach”) → Mire tanítanak minket az állatok? – What do animals teach us?

  -enek is added to front-vowel verbs ending in two consonants or -ít

  fest (“paint”) → A gyerekek festenek. – The children are painting.

Etymology 3

See -nok.

Suffix

-nek

2. (noun-forming suffix) Added to a word to form the name of an occupation.

   eretnek (“heretic”)

Usage notes

• (noun-forming suffix) Variants:

  -nok is added to back-vowel words

  dal (“song”) → dalnok (“singer”)

  -nek is added to unrounded front-vowel words

  eretnek (“heretic”)

  -nök is added to rounded and some unrounded front-vowel words

  ügy (“matter”) → ügynök (“agent”)

  mér (“to measure”) → mérnök (“engineer”)

Derived terms

Hungarian nouns suffixed with -nek

See also

• Category:Hungarian terms taking -nak/-nek
• Appendix:Hungarian suffixes