visz: Complete Conjugation and Usage

Visz means “take” or “carry” when something moves away from the speaker’s current reference point. It is highly irregular: the present has visz-, the past has vitt-, the conditional and infinitive have vinn-, the imperative–subjunctive has vigy-, and participles introduce viv- or vi-. Learning only the dictionary form is therefore not enough.

English speakers also need to coordinate four separate choices: whether there is a direct object, whether that object is definite, what ending marks the destination, and where a verbal prefix stands. The general object-conjugation system is covered in definiteness choice; this page shows how it operates specifically with visz.

Core meaning and principal parts

Use visz when the subject takes or carries a person or thing somewhere. Its usual deictic opposite is hoz, “bring toward here/the reference point.” English take also has idioms that require another Hungarian verb, so do not treat the gloss as a mechanical substitution.

Present indicative: indefinite and definite

The indefinite conjugation is used with no object, an indefinite object such as egy csomagot, or an object like mit and mindent. The definite conjugation is used with a definite object such as a csomagot, ezt, or a possessed noun whose referent is identified.

Notice the doubled ssz in visszük. This is not the prefix vissza-: it is simply the spelling and pronunciation of the definite first-person plural form.

When a first-person singular subject acts on a second-person object, -lak/-lek replaces the ordinary object paradigm: viszlek “I take you.”

Past and conditional

The past is built on vitt-. The conditional is built on vinn-. In both paradigms several indefinite and definite forms look alike; the object phrase and context identify the conjugation.

Hungarian has no distinct synthetic future. Holnap elviszem is often enough; el fogom vinni makes the future explicit. With fog, the lexical verb is the infinitive and the definite/indefinite choice appears on fog.

The personal infinitive forms are vinnem, vinned, vinnie, vinnünk, vinnetek, vinniük. They identify who carries something when a construction such as kell does not otherwise express that subject.

Imperative–subjunctive

Hungarian uses one paradigm for commands and for subordinate clauses requiring the subjunctive. The neutral 2sg indefinite command is vigyél; vígy is elevated or literary. With a definite object, everyday Hungarian strongly prefers vidd.

The same forms occur after a matrix verb: Azt szeretném, hogy vigye el “I would like him/her to take it away.” This is not necessarily a command.

Objects, destinations, and prefixes

The carried entity is accusative: csomagot, a táskát, engem. A recipient can be dative: viszek Annának egy kávét. A destination takes the case selected by the spatial relation: -ba/-be “into,” -ra/-re “onto/to an event,” and -hoz/-hez/-höz “to a person or point.” English to does not tell you which Hungarian ending to choose.

Common prefixes specify a path or endpoint: elvisz “take away,” bevisz “take in,” kivisz “take out,” and felvisz “take up.” In a neutral affirmative clause the prefix normally precedes the finite verb. Negation and preverbal focus move it after the verb; see prefix ordering.

Common Mistakes

English encourages learners to collapse “take,” “bring,” and “drive” into one verb, or to ignore Hungarian object definiteness. These corrections isolate the most frequent transfer problems.

Key Takeaways

• Learn the stem network visz – vitt – vinn- – vigy- – viv-, including consonant length.
• Use indefinite forms with no object or an indefinite object, and definite forms with an identified direct object.
• Mark the carried entity with the accusative; choose the destination case by spatial relation, not by translating English to.
• Neutral affirmative prefixes precede visz, while negation and preverbal focus normally separate them.
• Prefer vigyél for an indefinite 2sg command and vidd for a definite one; label vígy as literary/formal.