Hungarian -ó/-ő forms turn a verb into an active modifier or noun: az éneklő gyerek “the child who is singing,” a Budapesten dolgozó mérnök “the engineer who works in Budapest,” a holnap induló vonat “the train leaving tomorrow.” The modified noun is understood as the participant performing or undergoing the base verb's subject role.
English uses -ing for modifiers, progressives, and verbal nouns. Hungarian does not. éneklő can modify gyerek, but “the child is singing” is finite a gyerek énekel, and “singing is difficult” normally uses an infinitive or deverbal noun. This page establishes the morphology and syntax of -ó/-ő forms; their discourse uses appear on the usage page.
The harmonic suffix -ó/-ő
Attach -ó after back-harmony stems and -ő after front-harmony stems. The result is traditionally called the present or continuous participle (folyamatos melléknévi igenév). It is active in the sense that its head noun corresponds to the subject of the verb.
| Verb | Stem + suffix | Participle | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| olvas | olvas + ó | olvasó | reading; reader |
| tanul | tanul + ó | tanuló | learning; pupil |
| ír | ír + ó | író | writing; writer |
| kér | kér + ő | kérő | asking/requesting |
| ül | ül + ő | ülő | sitting; seat |
| főz | főz + ő | főző | cooking |
Az ablaknál ülő nő a következő megállónál leszállt.
The woman sitting by the window got off at the next stop.
A kertben játszó gyerekek nem hallották a csengőt.
The children playing in the garden didn't hear the doorbell.
Neutral-vowel stems do not all select the same suffix on the basis of their visible vowels alone: ír → író, but kér → kérő. Their harmonic class is lexical. Review the neutral-vowel harmony page rather than guessing from i/í/e/é.
-ik verbs and productive stems
The dictionary-form -ik is not retained. Attach the participial suffix to the verbal stem: dolgozik → dolgozó, utazik → utazó, érkezik → érkező.
Az otthonról dolgozó kollégák pénteken személyesen is találkoznak.
The colleagues who work from home are also meeting in person on Friday.
A hatos vágányra érkező vonat húsz percet késik.
The train arriving at platform six is twenty minutes late.
Verbs with ordinary derivational suffixes retain them: tanít → tanító, épít → építő, várakozik → várakozó. There is no extra infinitival -ni inside the participle: olvasnió and érkezniő are impossible.
Frequent irregular and v-stem forms
Several common verbs use a stem not obvious from the dictionary form. These alternations also appear elsewhere in their paradigms and must be learned.
| Dictionary form | Participle | Common meaning |
|---|---|---|
| jön | jövő | coming; future |
| megy | menő | going; fashionable/cool (informal) |
| tesz | tevő | doing/placing |
| vesz | vevő | buying; buyer; receiver |
| hisz | hívő | believing; believer |
| eszik | evő | eating; eater |
| iszik | ivó | drinking |
| alszik | alvó | sleeping |
| van / lesz | levő, való | being/located; suitable/origin-related |
A jövő héten nyíló étterem már fogad asztalfoglalásokat.
The restaurant opening next week is already taking reservations.
Ne ébreszd fel az alvó kisbabát!
Don't wake the sleeping baby!
levő remains transparent in phrases such as az asztalon levő iratok “the documents on the table,” though a relative clause may sound lighter in conversation. való has highly grammaticalized uses such as neked való munka “work suitable for you” and Szegedről való diák “a student from Szeged.” These are not freely interchangeable.
Retaining objects and case-governed complements
A participle remains verbal inside its modifier phrase. It can retain an accusative object, an adverb, a verbal prefix, and complements in lexically required cases. The entire participial phrase precedes the head noun.
A könyvet olvasó lány nem vette észre, hogy megérkeztünk.
The girl reading the book didn't notice that we had arrived.
A buszra váró utasok beálltak az eresz alá.
The passengers waiting for the bus moved under the eaves.
A problémát gyorsan megoldó technikus mindenkit lenyűgözött.
The technician who solved the problem quickly impressed everyone.
The head nouns lány, utasok, and technikus are the understood subjects of olvas, vár, and megold. The direct object a könyvet does not trigger a definite finite ending because olvasó is nonfinite and has no definite/indefinite conjugation. Nevertheless, it preserves the participant relation by keeping a könyvet as its object.
This is distinct from possessive-like person marking on a personal infinitive. Compare a könyvet olvasó lány “the girl reading the book” with a lánynak el kell olvasnia a könyvet “the girl must read the book.” Both are nonfinite, but only olvasnia overtly marks person.
Verbal prefixes in the participle
A lexical prefix normally forms one written word with the participle: megérkező, elutazó, felolvasó, bekapcsolódó. Complements still come before that unit.
A holnap elutazó vendégek már kijelentkeztek.
The guests leaving tomorrow have already checked out.
A mesét felolvasó színész minden szereplőnek más hangot adott.
The actor reading the story aloud gave every character a different voice.
Complex focus and negation can disturb simple adjacency, but participial scope is easy to misread. At B1, prefer a finite relative clause whenever the intended contrast would require marked order: az a diák, aki nem oldotta meg a feladatot is clearer than a densely negated participial phrase.
Time is relative, not simply “present”
The label “present participle” does not mean calendar present. The -ó/-ő form commonly describes an event simultaneous with the reference situation, a habit, or a scheduled/anticipated event.
A folyosón várakozó emberek elcsendesedtek, amikor kinyílt az ajtó.
The people waiting in the corridor fell silent when the door opened.
A minden reggel úszó szomszédom télen sem hagyja ki az edzést.
My neighbor, who swims every morning, doesn't skip training even in winter.
A jövő héten induló tanfolyamra már nincs szabad hely.
There are no places left on the course starting next week.
In the first sentence, waiting is simultaneous with a past event; in the second, swimming is habitual; in the third, departure is future. For an event completed before the reference time, Hungarian generally chooses the past participle or a finite relative clause: a tegnap érkezett csomag, not neutral a tegnap érkező csomag, when the package has already arrived.
Attributive invariance and nominal inflection
Like ordinary Hungarian attributive adjectives, a participle directly before a noun does not agree with that noun. The noun alone carries plural and case morphology.
| Function | Form | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| singular attribute | az érkező vendég | the arriving guest |
| plural attribute | az érkező vendégek | the arriving guests |
| accusative attribute | az érkező vendégeket | the arriving guests (object) |
| nominalized plural | az érkezők | those arriving |
| nominalized dative plural | az érkezőknek | for those arriving |
When the head noun is omitted, the participle behaves as a noun and accepts plural, case, and possessive suffixes: jelentkezők, jelentkezőket, jelentkezőink. That is nominal inflection, not participial agreement.
Az érkezőket a főbejáratnál várjuk.
We are waiting for those arriving at the main entrance.
Compounds and lexical agent nouns
Productive participles can become established nouns: író “writer,” olvasó “reader,” kutató “researcher,” vezető “driver/leader,” eladó “salesperson,” hallgató “listener/university student.” Context, not the suffix alone, selects the lexical meaning.
They also occur in compounds such as írógép “typewriter,” mosógép “washing machine,” olvasólámpa “reading lamp,” and parkolóhely “parking space.” The compound relation can be conventional: an olvasólámpa does not itself read. Hungarian compound spelling has detailed length and structure rules, so unfamiliar formations should be checked rather than improvised from English.
Az új hallgatók a földszinti előadóban gyülekeznek.
The new university students are gathering in the lecture hall on the ground floor.
Segmentation exercise
- olvas-ó = “read” + back-harmony present-participle suffix.
- kér-ő = “ask/request” + front-harmony suffix.
- dolgoz-ó = stem after removing dictionary-form -ik
- suffix.
- jö-v-ő = irregular v-stem of jön
- front-harmony suffix.
- meg-érkez-ő vendég = prefix + verbal stem + participle, modifying the actor vendég.
- a könyv-et olvas-ó diák = retained accusative object + participle + its understood actor.
Common Mistakes
❌ Az olvasni lány a húgom.
Incorrect — an infinitive cannot serve as this active attributive modifier.
✅ Az olvasó lány a húgom.
The girl who is reading is my younger sister.
❌ A lány van olvasó a szobájában.
Incorrect English-style progressive — Hungarian uses a finite verb, not van plus a participle.
✅ A lány a szobájában olvas.
The girl is reading in her room.
❌ Láttam az utcán éneklőt lányt.
Incorrect attributive agreement — the participle stays invariant before its noun.
✅ Láttam az utcán éneklő lányt.
I saw the girl singing in the street.
❌ A tegnap érkező csomag az asztalon van.
Wrong for a package whose arrival was completed yesterday.
✅ A tegnap érkezett csomag az asztalon van.
The package that arrived yesterday is on the table.
Key Takeaways
- Productive -ó/-ő forms are active modifiers whose head noun corresponds to the verb's subject.
- The harmonic suffix attaches to the verbal stem; -ik disappears, and frequent irregular v-stems must be memorized.
- Participles retain objects, case-governed complements, adverbs, and prefixes but do not conjugate for object definiteness.
- “Present” time is relative: the form can be simultaneous in past narration, habitual, or scheduled future.
- Attributive participles are invariant; nominalized forms accept ordinary noun suffixes.
- Many participles have lexicalized as agent nouns and as elements of compounds.
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Start learning Hungarian →Related Topics
- Present Participles in -ó/-ő: Meanings and UsageB1 — Use Hungarian -ó/-ő forms for active descriptions, habits, scheduled events, compact formal modifiers, agent nouns, and compounds.
- Present Participles in -ó/-ő: Contrasts and Learner TrapsB2 — Distinguish productive -ó/-ő modifiers from relative clauses, finite progressive meanings, compounds, and lexical agent nouns.
- Past and Prospective Participles: Forms and Core PatternB2 — Form Hungarian -t/-tt result participles and -andó/-endő prospective participles while preserving their verbal arguments.
- The Infinitive in -ni: Forms and Core PatternA1 — Build Hungarian -ni infinitives, recognize linking-vowel and irregular forms, and understand their basic control and personal endings.
- Adjective-Forming and Privative Suffixes: Forms and Core PatternB1 — Form Hungarian adjectives with -s, -i, -tlan/-tlen, -ható/-hető, -nyi, -féle, and -szerű while respecting harmony and lexical restrictions.
- Compound Nouns: Forms and Core PatternB1 — Build and inflect Hungarian head-final compound nouns while preserving lexical stress, spelling, harmony, and outer suffix order.