A Hungarian Recipe

This original recipe gives a practical home version of paprikás krumpli, a familiar Hungarian potato-and-paprika dish. Recipes vary by household; this version includes smoked sausage and uses informal singular instructions, a widespread modern recipe style. Read the ingredients and method as one complete procedural text before examining its command forms.

The complete Hungarian recipe

Paprikás krumpli füstölt kolbásszal — négy adag

Hozzávalók:

• 1 kilogramm burgonya
• 2 fej vöröshagyma
• 2 evőkanál olaj
• 1 evőkanál őrölt pirospaprika
• 20 dekagramm füstölt kolbász
• 1 zöldpaprika
• 1 paradicsom
• 1 teáskanál őrölt kömény
• só, bors és körülbelül 7 deciliter víz

Elkészítés:

Hámozd meg a burgonyát, majd vágd egyforma kockákra. Aprítsd fel a vöröshagymát, és az olajon párold üvegesre. Húzd le az edényt a tűzről, szórd meg a hagymát pirospaprikával, és gyorsan keverd össze. Ezután add hozzá a burgonyát, a karikára vágott kolbászt, a felaprított zöldpaprikát és a paradicsomot. Szórd bele a köményt, majd öntsd fel annyi vízzel, amennyi éppen ellepi. Sózd és borsozd meg. Közepes lángon főzd 25–30 percig, amíg a burgonya megpuhul. Időnként óvatosan keverd meg, de ne törd össze a burgonyát. Végül friss kenyérrel és savanyúsággal tálald.

Idiomatic English translation

Paprika potatoes with smoked sausage — serves four

Ingredients:

• 1 kilogram of potatoes
• 2 onions
• 2 tablespoons of oil
• 1 tablespoon of ground paprika
• 200 grams of smoked sausage
• 1 green pepper
• 1 tomato
• 1 teaspoon of ground caraway
• salt, pepper, and approximately 700 milliliters of water

Method:

Peel the potatoes, then cut them into even cubes. Finely chop the onion and sauté it in the oil until translucent. Take the pot off the heat, sprinkle the paprika over the onion, and mix quickly. Next add the potatoes, sliced sausage, chopped green pepper, and tomato. Add the caraway, then pour in just enough water to cover everything. Season with salt and pepper. Cook over medium heat for 25–30 minutes, until the potatoes are tender. Stir gently from time to time, but do not break up the potatoes. Finally, serve with fresh bread and pickles.

The translation converts Hungarian household measures: 20 dekagramm is 200 grams and 7 deciliter is 700 milliliters. It also renders result expressions such as üvegesre párol idiomatically as “sauté until translucent.”

Sentence-by-sentence segmentation

The command patterns are reviewed systematically under imperative forms.

Decision 1: recipes choose an addressee

This recipe addresses one reader with informal second-person commands: hámozd, vágd, aprítsd, főzd. Contemporary Hungarian recipes also use first-person plural (hámozzuk meg) or impersonal infinitives (meghámozni) depending on editorial style.

The style remains consistent. Switching halfway to distanced hámozza meg or plural hámozzátok meg would imply a new audience without communicative reason.

Decision 2: known ingredients trigger definite imperatives

The ingredient list has already introduced a burgonya, a hagyma, az edény. Instructions refer back to these identified items, so their verbs take definite second-person forms: hámozd, vágd, aprítsd, húzd, szórd, keverd, öntsd, főzd, tálald.

An indefinite newly introduced addition would use an indefinite form: Adj hozzá egy babérlevelet, “Add a bay leaf.” Compare definite Add hozzá a köményt, “Add the caraway.”

Decision 3: prefixes follow the imperative verb

Positive commands normally separate the prefix: hámozd meg, aprítsd fel, húzd le, szórd meg, keverd össze, öntsd fel. The two parts are written separately in this order.

In a neutral statement, the same prefixes attach: meghámozom, felaprítom, lehúzom, összekeverem. The plausible learner form meghámozd wrongly preserves statement order in a command.

Decision 4: quantities take singular ingredient nouns

Hungarian uses 2 fej vöröshagyma, 2 evőkanál olaj, 20 dekagramm kolbász. Both the measure word and substance noun remain singular after the number.

The English plurals onions, tablespoons, grams do not license Hungarian hagymák, evőkanalak, dekagrammok in the quantified phrase. Number is already expressed once.

Decision 5: ingredients introduced with -val/-vel

Instrumental -val/-vel marks what accompanies, covers, or supplies an action: pirospaprikával megszór, vízzel felönt, kenyérrel tálal. The suffix assimilates to a final consonant.

Thus víz + -vel → vízzel, kenyér + -vel → kenyérrel, and savanyúság + -val → savanyúsággal. Leaving the suffix unassimilated is an orthographic error.

Decision 6: -ra/-re expresses a result

The directional case can mark a state produced by cooking or cutting: kockákra vág “cut into cubes,” karikára vág “slice into rounds,” üvegesre párol “sauté until translucent.”

English uses into or until. Hungarian conceptualizes the result as an endpoint and marks it with -ra/-re.

Decision 7: sequencing and endpoint clauses

Majd, ezután, végül order the stages. Amíg a burgonya megpuhul provides the cooking endpoint, not merely a background duration.

The terminative 25–30 percig marks the endpoint of a measured interval: here it gives the target cooking time, “for 25–30 minutes.” The addig–amíg pair instead correlates the main process with a condition that supplies its endpoint.

Decision 8: negative commands also separate prefixes

Ne törd össze a burgonyát combines prohibitive ne, definite imperative törd, and separated össze. It tells the cook to stir without disintegrating the pieces.

The neutral statement is összetöröd a burgonyát; the negative command is ne törd össze. Prefix placement responds to clause type, while definite agreement responds to the object.

Common Mistakes

Key Takeaways

• Recipes may use informal singular commands consistently as a genre convention.
• Established ingredients select definite imperative forms.
• Positive and negative commands place verbal prefixes after the finite verb.
• Numbers and measure words are followed by singular ingredient nouns.
• Instrumental -val/-vel introduces accompanying ingredients and fully assimilates.
• Result -ra/-re, sequence markers, and endpoint clauses organize the cooking process.