Tanul covers both English “study” and “learn.” It can name an ongoing activity (kémiát tanul “study chemistry”), the acquisition of a skill (úszni tanul “learn to swim”), or participation at an institution (az egyetemen tanul “study at university”). With meg-, megtanul normally presents successful acquisition: megtanulja a verset “learn the poem by heart.”
This process–result contrast matters more than the English choice between study and learn. A learner may tanul for hours without megtanulni the material. The direct object also controls indefinite versus definite conjugation. Review the general definiteness choice if tanulok egy szabályt versus tanulom a szabályt is not yet automatic.
Principal parts and nonfinite forms
| Function | Form | Register or note |
|---|---|---|
| Dictionary / present 3sg | tanul | neutral |
| Past 3sg | tanult | neutral |
| Infinitive | tanulni | neutral |
| Present participle | tanuló | neutral: “learning; pupil/learner” |
| Past participle | tanult | also an adjective: “learned/educated” |
| Future participle | tanulandó | (formal): “to be learned/studied” |
| Adverbial participle | tanulva | neutral, especially “by learning/studying” |
A vizsgára készülő tanulók estig a könyvtárban maradtak.
The students preparing for the exam stayed in the library until evening.
A hibáinkból tanulva egyszerűbbé tettük a jelentkezési folyamatot.
Learning from our mistakes, we made the application process simpler.
The personal infinitive is tanulnom, tanulnod, tanulnia, tanulnunk, tanulnotok, tanulniuk. A specified subject is dative: A hallgatóknak sokat kell tanulniuk “The students have to study a lot.”
Present indicative
| Person | Indefinite | Definite |
|---|---|---|
| én | tanulok | tanulom |
| te | tanulsz | tanulod |
| ő / Ön | tanul | tanulja |
| mi | tanulunk | tanuljuk |
| ti | tanultok | tanuljátok |
| ők / Önök | tanulnak | tanulják |
Use indefinite forms without an object or with an indefinite object: tanulok, tanulok egy új módszert. Use definite forms with an identified object: tanulom ezt a módszert. Subject names and mass-like school subjects often appear as bare accusatives and select indefinite forms.
A fiam idén fizikát és informatikát tanul.
My son is studying physics and computer science this year.
Éppen azt a párbeszédet tanuljuk, amelyik a következő leckében szerepel.
We are studying the dialogue that appears in the next lesson.
Minden este fél órát tanulok, miután lefektettem a gyerekeket.
I study for half an hour every evening after putting the children to bed.
Here fél órát is a duration measure, not a learned object. It therefore does not trigger definite conjugation.
Past and conditional
| Person | Past indefinite | Past definite | Conditional indefinite | Conditional definite |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| én | tanultam | tanultam | tanulnék | tanulnám |
| te | tanultál | tanultad | tanulnál | tanulnád |
| ő / Ön | tanult | tanulta | tanulna | tanulná |
| mi | tanultunk | tanultuk | tanulnánk | tanulnánk |
| ti | tanultatok | tanultátok | tanulnátok | tanulnátok |
| ők / Önök | tanultak | tanulták | tanulnának | tanulnák |
A nagymamám fiatal korában könyvelést tanult.
My grandmother studied accounting when she was young.
Szívesen tanulnék még egy idegen nyelvet, ha több időm lenne.
I would gladly learn another foreign language if I had more time.
The first-person past tanultam and first-person plural conditional tanulnánk are syncretic across the two conjugations. The object distinction remains grammatical even where the ending sounds the same.
Imperative–subjunctive
| Person | Indefinite | Definite |
|---|---|---|
| én | tanuljak | tanuljam |
| te | tanulj / tanuljál | tanuld / tanuljad |
| ő / Ön | tanuljon | tanulja |
| mi | tanuljunk | tanuljuk |
| ti | tanuljatok | tanuljátok |
| ők / Önök | tanuljanak | tanulják |
Tanulj meg néhány udvarias kifejezést az utazás előtt!
Learn a few polite expressions before the trip!
Tanuld meg ezt a telefonszámot, hátha lemerül a készüléked!
Memorize this phone number in case your phone runs out of power!
A tanár azt kérte, hogy a következő órára tanuljuk meg a verset.
The teacher asked us to learn the poem by the next class.
Subjects, languages, institutions, and sources
A subject matter is commonly accusative: történelmet tanul, az új szabályt tanulja. A skill expressed as an action uses an infinitive: vezetni tanul “learn to drive.” The learner is the subject of both verbs.
Language names need care. Bare accusative angolt tanul clearly means “study/learn English.” Angolul tanul is frequent for learning English in everyday contexts, but it can also mean “study through English,” especially when an institution or another subject is mentioned. A gyerek angolul tanul matematikát means that English is the medium and mathematics is the subject.
Dávid japánt tanul, mert jövőre Oszakában fog dolgozni.
Dávid is learning Japanese because he will work in Osaka next year.
A csereprogramban részt vevő diákok angolul tanulják a biológiát.
The exchange students study biology in English.
An institution or physical study location takes a local case: az egyetemen, az iskolában, a könyvtárban. The source of knowledge takes elative -ból/-ből or ablative -tól/-től: könyvből tanul, a kollégájától tanul. A topic read or learned about often takes -ról/-ről.
Lilla a pécsi egyetemen tanul, és hétvégén egy kávézóban dolgozik.
Lilla studies at the University of Pécs and works in a café at weekends.
Sokat tanultunk a tapasztalt szerelőtől a régi motorokról.
We learned a lot from the experienced mechanic about old engines.
Prefixes, completion, and word order
Megtanul presents successful acquisition or memorization. Betanul means learn or rehearse assigned material; kitanul can mean master a trade and is somewhat less common; eltanul valamit valakitől means pick something up by imitation, sometimes with a mildly negative implication.
Néhány hónap alatt megtanulta kezelni az új programot.
In a few months she learned how to use the new program.
A színészek délelőtt betanulták a jelenet új változatát.
The actors rehearsed and learned the new version of the scene in the morning.
Neutral affirmative order joins the prefix: megtanulta. Negation and preverbal focus separate it: nem tanulta meg, A NAGYAPJÁTÓL tanulta el. With an infinitive, neutral megtanul úszni keeps meg- on the finite verb.
Bence még nem tanulta meg az ő és az ű hang helyes kiejtését.
Bence has not yet learned the correct pronunciation of the sounds ő and ű.
A NŐVÉRÉTŐL tanulta el ezt a gyors kötési technikát.
She picked up this quick knitting technique FROM HER SISTER.
Common Mistakes
❌ Az egyetemet tanulok Budapesten.
Incorrect — an institution is a location, not the direct object of tanul.
✅ Egy budapesti egyetemen tanulok gazdaságtant.
I study economics at a university in Budapest.
❌ Tanulom egy új verset a műsorra.
Incorrect — an indefinite object requires the indefinite conjugation.
✅ Egy új verset tanulok a pénteki műsorra.
I’m learning a new poem for Friday’s performance.
❌ A gyerek magyarul tanul az iskolában, ezért már ötven magyar szót ismer.
Misleading for ‘learns Hungarian’ — with an institutional context magyarul normally describes the language of instruction.
✅ A gyerek magyar nyelvet tanul az iskolában, és már ötven szót ismer.
The child is learning Hungarian at school and already knows fifty words.
❌ Nem megtanultam a belépési kódot.
Incorrect neutral prefix order after negation.
✅ Nem tanultam meg a belépési kódot, ezért felírtam egy biztonságos helyre.
I did not memorize the access code, so I wrote it down in a safe place.
Key Takeaways
- Tanul covers an ongoing process of studying or learning; megtanul presents successful acquisition.
- Subject matter can be accusative, a learned skill can be an infinitive, and an institution takes a location case.
- Use angolt tanul for unambiguous “learn English”; angolul tanul can describe the medium of instruction.
- Sources occur in -ból/-ből or -tól/-től, and topics often in -ról/-ről.
- Definite objects select definite forms, while negation and focus separate verbal prefixes.
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