Questions & Answers about Én segítek a barátnak.
The -k is the 1st person singular present-tense suffix. Hungarian verbs conjugate by attaching endings:
• segítek = I help
• segítesz = you help
• segít = he/she/it helps
and so on.
- The verb segít governs the dative case (not the accusative), so “friend” must take the dative ending.
- You form the dative with -nak/–nek. Because barát has a back vowel (á), you choose -nak, giving barátnak.
- You do not use the accusative -t here, because that would mark a direct object, whereas segít takes an indirect (dative) object.
Use the indefinite article egy:
(Én) segítek egy barátnak.
This literally means “I’m helping a friend.” You still keep the dative suffix -nak.
You add the past-tense 1st person singular suffix -tem/–tam (vowel-harmonized):
segít → segítettem
So “I helped the friend” is (Én) segítettem a barátnak.
Yes. Hungarian has relatively free word order for emphasis. The neutral order is:
Én segítek a barátnak.
Examples of variation:
• A barátnak segítek. (focus on WHO is helped)
• Én segítek a barátnak. (contrast “I” with someone else)
• Segítek én a barátnak. (stylistic or poetic emphasis)
Most colloquially you simply raise your intonation:
(Én) segítek a barátnak?
If you want a more formal or old-fashioned question form, you can use the enclitic -e on the verb:
Segítek-e a barátnak?
—but note that this sounds literary or poetic in modern speech.
Hungarian often uses the present tense for a near future:
Segítek a barátnak.
If you want to emphasize that it’s in the future, you can add majd:
Majd segítek a barátnak.
Or use the auxiliary fog + infinitive:
Fogok segíteni a barátnak.