Learn Hardcore Hungarian: Te is küldesz e-mailt a barátnődnek? - Do you also send an email to your girlfriend?

Hungarian is a pro-drop language, meaning the verb ending already marks person and number. You could simply ask Küldesz e-mailt a barátnődnek? and it would still mean “Are you sending an e-mail to your girlfriend?” Adding Te at the front gives extra emphasis—roughly “You are sending an e-mail to your girlfriend?”—and in combination with is it helps convey “you too.”

What does the particle is mean in Te is and why is it placed after Te?

The particle is means “too” or “also.” In Hungarian, is attaches to the specific word it modifies. Placed after Te, Te is literally means “you too.” If you attached is to a different word (for example küldesz is), you’d be saying “you even send” or “you also send,” shifting the emphasis.

How do you form yes/no questions in Hungarian without an auxiliary like “do”?

Hungarian typically forms yes/no questions simply by using a rising intonation and adding a question mark. The main verb stays in its normal (declarative) form. Optionally, you can insert the enclitic -e after the verb root for a more formal or old-fashioned feel:
• Küldesz-e e-mailt a barátnődnek?
But most native speakers just rely on intonation and punctuation.

Why does e-mail take the ending -t directly (i.e. e-mailt) without a linking vowel?

The -t suffix is the accusative case marker for direct objects. When a noun ends in a consonant, you attach -t straight on. Foreign borrowings obey the same rule—no extra vowel is needed if the word already ends in a consonant.

Why is there an article a before barátnődnek when the noun already has a possessive suffix?

Possessed nouns that are definite still require the definite article. The article (a before consonant-initial words, az before vowels) precedes the entire possessed noun phrase. So a barátnődnek means “to your (specific) girlfriend.” You would use egy only for indefinite, non-possessed nouns.

How is barátnődnek formed? Why do we see -d followed by -nek?

Hungarian suffixes stack in a set order:

Root noun (barátnő = “girlfriend”)
Possessive suffix (-d = “your”) → barátnőd
Case suffix (-nak/-nek = “to”) → barátnődnek

When do we use -nak versus -nek for the dative case?

You choose by vowel harmony. Nouns with back vowels (a, o, u) take -nak, and those with front vowels (e, i, ö, ü) take -nek. barátnő has front vowels, so its dative is -nek.

Does barátnőd only mean a romantic “girlfriend,” or can it also mean a female friend?

barátnő can mean both “(female) friend” and “girlfriend” (romantic). Context usually makes it clear. If you want to stress a purely platonic friendship, you might say női barátom or add clarifiers like csak a barátnőm (“just my friend”).