kell, lehet, szabad, tud, akar, and szeretne: Forms and Core Pattern

English packages must, may, can, want, and would like as finite modal verbs. Hungarian uses two different architectures. tud, akar, and conditional szeretne are personal verbs: their endings identify the subject, and their indefinite or definite conjugation may also track an object. kell, lehet, and predicative szabad are normally impersonal: the person affected is expressed by a dative phrase and, when necessary, a personally inflected infinitive.

The six words overlap in translation but not in grammar. This page builds their forms. Their conversational meanings are developed on the usage page, and difficult choices such as nem kell versus nem szabad belong to the contrasts page. Unless marked otherwise, every form below is neutral modern standard Hungarian.

Two sentence frames

The personal pattern is subject + finite modal + infinitive. The modal agrees with the person who can, wants, or would like to act. The infinitive stays uninflected because the two verbs share that subject.

The impersonal pattern is (dative experiencer) + infinitive + kell/lehet/szabad. With a specific actor, Hungarian commonly marks the infinitive for person: mennem “for me to go,” menned “for you to go,” and so on. The dative pronoun can be omitted when context already identifies that person.

The personal infinitive with impersonal modals

The ordinary infinitive ends in -ni: várni, kérni, olvasni. Before personal endings, the final i disappears and the remaining n takes endings resembling possessive suffixes. Vowel harmony selects back-vowel -om/-od/-a or front-vowel -em/-ed/-e, with rounded variants where required.

An explicit dative repeats and often contrasts the actor: nekem várnom kell. In the third person, an overt noun is dative as well: Péternek várnia kell. This is not an English-style nominative subject followed by a finite “must.”

Some speech allows an uninflected infinitive when the actor is unmistakable, but the personal infinitive is the reliable standard pattern with an explicit dative. Its stem changes follow the same classes described on the personal-infinitive forms page: menni → mennem, enni → ennem, inni → innom.

kell, lehet, and szabad across time and mood

Modal kell has an overt present form, past kellett, and conditional kellene. kéne is a very common (informal) shortened conditional. Modal lehet is historically the third-person singular of lesz and forms lehetett and lehetne. Predicative szabad behaves like an adjective: the present copula is zero, while past and conditional require volt and lenne.

Future necessity is normally expressed with present kell plus a future-time phrase or majd: Holnap majd telefonálnod kell. Kelleni fog also occurs, especially when the necessity itself is predicted: Még szükség lesz rá; kelleni fog “We will still need it.” Do not mechanically build every English will have to with fog kelleni.

The finite paradigms of tud and akar

Both verbs have ordinary personal endings and two object series. Use the indefinite series with no direct object, an indefinite object, or an infinitive whose object is indefinite. Use the definite series when a definite third-person object belongs to the infinitive phrase. The infinitive can therefore influence the ending on the higher verb.

The contrast tudok/akarok versus tudom/akarom is not a politeness distinction. It is object agreement. Review the complete decision on the definiteness-choice page.

Conditional szeretne

Polite “would like” is the present conditional of szeret. It also has indefinite and definite series. Several plural forms coincide, and szeretnék is especially ambiguous: it can mean “I would like” in the indefinite series or “they would like it/them” in the definite series. Context and the object resolve the form.

Prefix placement in an infinitive chain

A verbal prefix semantically belonging to the infinitive may “climb” before tud or akar in a neutral affirmative clause: el tudom olvasni, meg akarjuk nézni. Under negation or contrastive focus, it normally remains attached to the infinitive: nem tudom elolvasni, csak holnap akarom megnézni. This is word order, not a change in which verb the prefix modifies; see prefix order.

Segmentation practice

Read each form from the lexical stem outward.

1. nek-em el kell men-n-em = dative “to me” + prefix + impersonal necessity + men-
   • infinitival -n-
     • first-person ending.
2. el tud-om olvas-ni a cikk-et = prefix + tud
   • first-person definite ending + “read” infinitive + “article” + accusative. The definite article triggers -om.
3. meg akar-juk néz-ni a lakás-t = prefix + akar
   • first-person plural definite ending + “see” infinitive + definite accusative object.
4. szeret-né-k kér-ni egy kávé-t = szeret
   • conditional marker + first-person indefinite ending + infinitive + indefinite accusative object.

The hard part is genuine: Hungarian distributes person, object reference, mood, and prefix position across an entire verb chain. There is no single English word-to-word template that predicts all four decisions.

Common Mistakes

Key Takeaways

• kell, lehet, and predicative szabad are impersonal; a specific actor is dative and is commonly repeated by a personal infinitive.
• tud, akar, and conditional szeretne agree with their subject and choose an indefinite or definite object series.
• An object inside the infinitive phrase can control the ending of the higher personal verb.
• Time and mood are expressed as kellett/kellene, lehetett/lehetne, and szabad volt/szabad lenne.
• Prefix placement responds to the syntax of the full verb chain: neutral el tudom olvasni, negative nem tudom elolvasni.