szabad: Complete Conjugation and Usage | Hungarian Grammar

Szabad has two connected roles. As an adjective it means “free, vacant, unrestricted”: szabad vagyok, szabad hely. As an impersonal modal predicate it means “it is permitted”: Szabad bemenni? “May one enter?” The modal use behaves partly like a verb, but its paradigm is genuinely defective. Inventing forms such as szabadok “I may” produces errors.

This is therefore a complete reference to an incomplete system. The honest account lists the few verbalized forms that modern Hungarian actually uses and shows how person is normally expressed on the following infinitive. Review the personal infinitive before treating szabad as if it matched English may.

What can and cannot be conjugated

The permission predicate is normally third-person singular and impersonal. Past and future time can be supplied by the copula; the productive conditional szabadna and formal szabadjon show that some verbal morphology has attached directly. There is still no ordinary six-person verbal paradigm.

Function	Usual form	Register and status
Present permission	szabad	neutral; invariant modal predicate
Past permission	szabad volt	neutral standard
Past verbalized variant	szabadott	regional/informal; less suitable in edited prose
Future permission	szabad lesz	neutral
Conditional	szabad lenne / szabadna	both current; szabadna frequent in polite questions
Imperative–subjunctive	legyen szabad / szabadjon	szabadjon formal and formulaic
Infinitive	—	no ordinary modern szabadni
Participles	—	no productive verbal participle series

Tavaly még szabad volt behajtani erre az udvarra.

Last year it was still permitted to drive into this courtyard.

Jövő héttől újra szabad lesz használni a hátsó bejáratot.

Starting next week, it will again be permitted to use the rear entrance.

Szabadjon megjegyeznem, hogy a jelentés két adatot összekever.

Allow me to point out that the report confuses two figures. (formal)

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The missing forms are part of the grammar. For permission, do not build a regular table szabadok, szabadsz, szabadunk. Keep szabad impersonal and put person marking on the infinitive.

Permission with a bare or personal infinitive

Use a bare infinitive when the permitted actor is generic or irrelevant: Itt szabad fényképezni “Photography is permitted here.” When a particular person is responsible for the action, the infinitive can carry a person ending. An overt actor is dative: nekem szabad bemennem, a gyerekeknek szabad játszaniuk.

Actor	Example infinitive	Meaning
nekem	belépnem	for me to enter
neked	belépned	for you to enter
neki / Önnek	belépnie	for him/her/you to enter
nekünk	belépnünk	for us to enter
nektek	belépnetek	for you all to enter
nekik / Önöknek	belépniük	for them/you all to enter

Szabad itt tölteni az elektromos kerékpárt?

Is it permitted to charge an electric bicycle here?

Nekünk is szabad használnunk a közös tárgyalót.

We are also allowed to use the shared meeting room.

A látogatóknak csak kísérővel szabad belépniük a laborba.

Visitors may enter the laboratory only with an escort.

The personal infinitive does not have indefinite and definite object conjugations. In Szabad elvinnem ezt a széket?, ezt a széket is definite, but elvinnem marks only the infinitive’s first-person subject. This is a major structural difference from finite elviszem.

Prohibition and scope

Nem szabad + infinitive expresses a prohibition or strong negative rule: “must not / may not.” It is not equivalent to English “do not have to,” which is usually nem kell. The position of nem can also change scope. Nem szabad válaszolni prohibits answering; szabad nem válaszolni asks or states that not answering is permitted.

A vészkijárat elé nem szabad csomagokat tenni.

Packages must not be placed in front of the emergency exit.

Erre a kérdésre szabad nem válaszolni.

It is permitted not to answer this question.

Nem kell eljönnöd

You do not have to come.

The last sentence is not a prohibition. To say “you must not come,” use Nem szabad eljönnöd or a negative imperative, depending tone and context.

Polite questions

Bare Szabad…? is a conventional polite opener. Szabadna…? adds conditional distance and often sounds more tentative. Both are neutral and useful with personal infinitives. Szabadjon… is (formal) and belongs to speeches, official meetings, or deliberately elevated politeness.

Szabad leülnöm erre a székre?

May I sit on this chair?

Szabadna még egy kérdést feltennem a végén?

Might I ask one more question at the end?

Szabadjon bemutatnom a kutatócsoport új vezetőjét!

Allow me to introduce the research group’s new director. (formal)

English Can I…? often asks about permission rather than ability. Hungarian can use Szabad…? to make permission explicit; Tudok…? normally asks whether the speaker is able to do something.

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Use Szabad…? for a neutral permission request and Szabadna…? for extra conditional politeness. Reserve Szabadjon… for formal, often public language.

Adjective uses: free, vacant, available

As an adjective, szabad behaves normally. It can modify a noun without agreement (szabad hely, szabad napok) or stand as a predicate with van in first and second person and outside third-person present zero-copula contexts: szabad vagyok, szabadok vagyunk, tegnap szabad volt. The comparative is szabadabb.

Délután három után szabad vagyok, akkor nyugodtan hívhatsz.

I’m free after three in the afternoon, so you can call me then.

Van még két szabad hely a pénteki tanfolyamon.

There are still two available places on Friday’s course.

Other common formations include szabadon “freely,” szabadság “freedom/leave,” felszabadul “become free/released,” and kiszabadul “get free/escape.” The last two are derived verbs with their own paradigms; they are not detachable prefixes attached to modal szabad.

Prefixes inside the infinitive

In nem szabad bemenni, the negation targets the modal predicate, while be- remains attached to the infinitive. With a finite negative imperative, the prefix separates: Ne menj be! This contrast matters because learners sometimes apply finite prefix order mechanically to a nonfinite form.

Ebben a teremben nem szabad bekapcsolni a hangszórókat.

The loudspeakers must not be switched on in this room.

Csak engedéllyel szabad kivinni a kéziratokat az olvasóteremből.

The manuscripts may be taken out of the reading room only with permission.

Common Mistakes

❌ Én szabadok korábban hazamenni.

Incorrect — modal szabad has no first-person finite form.

✅ Nekem szabad korábban hazamennem a munkából.

I’m allowed to go home early from work.

❌ Nem szabad menj be a raktárba!

Incorrect — szabad selects an infinitive, not a finite imperative.

✅ Nem szabad bemenni a raktárba védősisak nélkül.

You must not enter the warehouse without a safety helmet.

❌ Itt nem szabad be menni.

Incorrect spelling — the prefix is attached to the infinitive.

✅ Itt nem szabad bemenni, mert nedves a padló.

You must not enter here because the floor is wet.

❌ Nem szabad jönnöd holnap.

Incorrect for ‘you do not have to come’: this means you are forbidden to come.

✅ Nem kell eljönnöd holnap, ha otthonról is tudsz dolgozni.

You don’t have to come tomorrow if you can work from home.

Key Takeaways

Modal szabad is an impersonal, defective predicate, not a regular six-person verb.
Use szabad volt, szabad lesz, szabadna, and formal szabadjon; there is no ordinary infinitive or participle series.
A specific permitted actor is expressed by a personal infinitive, optionally with a dative noun or pronoun.
Nem szabad means “must not,” while nem kell means “need not.”
Prefixes stay attached to an infinitive after nem szabad, unlike prefixes in a finite negative imperative.

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