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azért. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
azért, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
azért in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
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Hungarian
Etymology
Lexicalization of az (“that, it”) + -ért (causal-final case suffix).[1]
Pronunciation
Pronoun
azért
- causal-final singular of az
- Hálás vagyok azért, amit mondtál nekem. ― I am grateful for what you told me. (literally, “…for that which…”)
Determiner
azért
- causal-final singular of az
- Nem vagyok felelős azért az emberért. ― I am not responsible for that man.
Adverb
azért (not comparable)
- (with focus, construed with mert (“because”)) for that reason, the reason (for/why…) is (that)…, because (before a clause of cause)
- Synonyms: amiatt, azon oknál fogva
- Azért jöttem, mert meghívtál. ― I have come because you invited me (literally, “The reason why I came is that you invited me.”)
- (with focus, construed with hogy (“that”)) so as to…, in order to…, so that…, in order that… (before a clause of purpose)
- Synonym: abból a célból
- Azért suttogtam, hogy ne ébredjenek fel. ― I whispered so that they shouldn’t wake up.
- (without focus, often construed with de (“but”)) even so, anyway, regardless, all the same, though (at the end of a sentence), nonetheless, notwithstanding, in any case, at any rate (usually after an explicit or implicit concessive clause)
- Synonyms: attól még, attól, ennek ellenére, ezzel együtt, ettől függetlenül, mindamellett, mindemellett, mindazonáltal, mégis, mégiscsak
Tudom, hogy nincs születésnapja, de azért vihetnél neki virágot.- I know it’s not her birthday but you could (still) bring her a flower all the same.
- Ezt azért nem kellett volna mondanod. ― Nevertheless, you shouldn’t have said that. [i.e. “I know you are angry, but…”, an implicit concessive clause)
- Azért köszönöm, hogy megpróbáltad. ― Thanks for trying, though. [i.e. “Even if you didn't succeed, but…”, an implicit concessive clause)
Usage notes
- As shown in the first example, sometimes there is no direct equivalent to azért in English, especially if it expresses the cause, so only the subsequent mert can be translated, or the reason can be emphasized in English.
- If azért is not in the syntactic focus position in the sentence (that is, if it does not directly precede the predicate), its meaning is entirely different, as given above in the third sense. It is also pronounced with a different intonation (starting from low pitch, then slightly raising, as opposed to the other two meanings, expressing cause or purpose, which start from a high pitch and then fall).
References
Further reading
- azért in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh. A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára (“The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language”, abbr.: ÉrtSz.). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN
- azért in Nóra Ittzés, editor, A magyar nyelv nagyszótára [A Comprehensive Dictionary of the Hungarian Language] (Nszt.), Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 2006–2031 (work in progress; published a–ez as of 2024).