-ás

Hungarian

Etymology

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Pronunciation

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Suffix

-ás

1. (noun-forming suffix) Added to a verb to form a noun. It may refer to a thing involved in the action or the action itself.

   ‎fut (“to run”) + ‎-ás → ‎futás (“running”)

   ‎ír (“to write”) + ‎-ás → ‎írás (“document; writing”)

   ‎lakik (“to live”) + ‎-ás → ‎lakás (“dwelling, home, flat”)

Usage notes

• (noun-forming suffix) Variants:

  -ás is added to back-vowel words

  -és is added to front-vowel words

• The suffix can be attached to any verb to make a noun that expresses the action or the process described by the verb itself, essentially like a gerund, more specifically an action noun (verbal noun):

  ‎olvas (“to read”) + ‎-ás → ‎olvasás (“reading”)

  ‎eszik (“to eat”) + ‎-ás → ‎evés (“eating”)

• Another fairly common suffix in the same sense is -t, -tt, invariably followed by a possessive suffix and often by a case suffix as well, e.g. létrejötte, tudtommal, láttán, hallatán, futtában/kutyafuttában, jártában-keltében, ültében, együltében, szálltában, röptében, jártányi [ereje sincs], nyugtával [dicsérd a napot], megszűntével etc., and some of them have become nouns: napkelte, napnyugta.
• -tal/-tel/-atal/-etel also occur synonymously: kivitel, behozatal, jövetel, menetel, vétel (especially derivatives of the small irregular group of vesz, visz, tesz, hoz, megy, jön).
• Aside from the primary (action noun) meaning above, for some verbs, the derived noun also expresses the result or measurement (extent) of the process or action:

  ‎ír (“to write”) + ‎-ás → ‎írás (“the act of writing; document”)

  ‎fizet (“to pay”) + ‎-ás → ‎fizetés (“the act of paying; salary”)

  Note: for other verbs the result may be expressed by -mány, -vány, -alom, -at, -ék, -ály, -ám, -am, etc.

Declension

Derived terms

See also

• Appendix:Hungarian suffixes