muszáj

Hungarian

Etymology

Borrowed from German muss sein (“must be”), from müssen (“to have to”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):
• Hyphenation: mu‧száj
• Rhymes: -aːj

Noun

muszáj (invariable)

1. (only predicatively, often used with an infinitive) must, have to, be obliged to

   Synonyms: kell, szükséges, köteles, kénytelen

   Muszáj mennem. ― I must go.

Usage notes

Even though its most natural English equivalents are verbs, this Hungarian word is not classified as a verb because it cannot have any inflection characteristic of a verb. Instead, it is used in the past and the future tense just like a noun or an adjective, i.e., supplemented with a form of van, such as muszáj volt (“it was necessary ”; “ had to…”) and muszáj lesz (“it will be necessary ”, “ will have to…”), similarly to its synonyms szükséges (“necessary”) (impersonal in this sense), köteles (“ obliged ”), and kénytelen (“ compelled ”).

Noun

muszáj (plural muszájok)

1. (literary, only in certain phrases) necessity, constraint, pressure

   Synonyms: kényszer, kényszerűség, szükség, szükségesség, szükségszerűség, nyomás

Usage notes

It is practically only used in this sense in the form muszájból (“out of necessity”) and in the phrase nagy úr a muszáj (“necessity knows no law”, literally “necessity is a powerful master”).

Declension

See also

• Category:Hungarian auxiliary verbs

Further reading

• muszáj 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