A barátom katolikus.

the friend

Breakdown of A barátom katolikus.

• az: the
• katolikus: Catholic

Questions & Answers about A barátom katolikus.

Why is there a before barátom if -om already means my?

In Hungarian, a possessed noun often still takes the definite article.

So:

• a barátom = my friend
• literally, it may seem like the my-friend, but that is just how Hungarian works

This is completely normal and does not sound redundant in Hungarian.

How is barátom built up?

Barátom consists of:

• barát = friend
• -om = my

So barátom means my friend.

This is one of the basic Hungarian possessive patterns, where possession is shown with a suffix on the noun rather than a separate word like my.

Why is the possessive ending -om here?

The noun barát ends in a consonant, so Hungarian uses a possessive ending with a linking vowel here.

Also, barát contains back vowels, so it takes the back-vowel version of the suffix:

• barát → barátom = my friend

Compare this general idea with other nouns, where the exact form of the possessive suffix changes depending on vowel harmony and the shape of the word.