kap: Complete Conjugation and Usage

Kap means “get” or “receive” when something comes to the subject, often from another person or institution. Its conjugation is regular, but its valency and prefix family are not predictable from English get. The received theme is an accusative object, while the source commonly takes -tól/-től. The object’s definiteness selects the verb paradigm.

English get also means “become,” “fetch,” “understand,” and “arrive,” but those senses normally require other Hungarian verbs. Compare kap egy levelet “receive a letter,” elhoz egy levelet “fetch/bring a letter,” and megérti a levelet “understand the letter.” This page keeps the morphology tied to the actual frames of kap.

The source ending used in the central transfer frame belongs to the wider ablative system. Here it is treated as part of what a learner must know about kap.

Principal parts and nonfinite forms

Present indicative

Use indefinite forms with no direct object or an indefinite one: kapok egy üzenetet. Use definite forms with an identified object: megkapom az üzenetet. The source phrase can be definite without affecting the conjugation: a főnöktől kapok egy feladatot remains indefinite because egy feladatot is indefinite.

Past and conditional

Hungarian can use a present form with future context (Holnap megkapod) or fog + kapni (meg fogod kapni). The prefix normally stands before the infinitive, while the finite auxiliary carries definite marking.

Imperative–subjunctive

Commands with “receive” are pragmatically restricted: a recipient cannot always control receiving. Imperative forms are natural in idioms (Kapj észbe! “Come to your senses!”) and with prefixed, more agentive meanings (Kapd el! “Catch it!”). The same forms appear in subordinate subjunctive clauses.

Personal infinitive

With kell, szabad, and similar impersonal predicates, the infinitive can mark its own subject. An overt infinitive subject is dative: nekem kell kapnom. This does not mean that the source is dative; sources of receiving still normally take -tól/-től.

Sources, idioms, and prefix meanings

The usual transfer frame is valaki kap valakitől valamit. Use the ablative -tól/-től for a personal or institutional source: kap az orvostól egy beutalót. A channel can instead be e-mailben, postán, or telefonon. Purpose or occasion often takes -ra/-re: születésnapjára kap valamit.

Unprefixed kap can already describe a completed receipt, but megkap highlights successful arrival or acquisition of an expected item. Elkap is a different lexical branch: “catch” a ball, person, illness, or moment. Visszakap means “get back,” and kikap may mean “lose” a match or “get told off” (informal).

Idioms must be learned as whole frames: kedvet kap valamihez “get in the mood for something,” észbe kap “come to one’s senses,” lábra kap “gain momentum/recover,” and engedélyt kap valamire “receive permission for something.”

Negation and preverbal focus separate a normally preverbal prefix.

Common Mistakes

Key Takeaways

• Use accusative for the received theme and -tól/-től for its source.
• Let the direct object—not the source—select kapok versus kapom.
• Megkap highlights successful receipt; elkap belongs to the “catch” branch.
• The personal infinitive is kapnom, kapnod, kapnia, kapnunk, kapnotok, kapniuk.
• Negation and focus normally separate a prefix from the finite verb.