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Szombaton gyakran sportolunk együtt a parkban.

Szombaton gyakran sportolunk együtt a parkban.
On Saturday we often do sports together in the park.

Breakdown of Szombaton gyakran sportolunk együtt a parkban.

mi
we
-ban
in
gyakran
often
együtt
together
park
the park
szombaton
on Saturday
sportolni
to do sports
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Questions & Answers about Szombaton gyakran sportolunk együtt a parkban.

What does szombaton literally mean, and what is the function of -on here?

Szombat means Saturday. The ending -on is a time suffix that you put on days of the week to mean “on [that day]”.

So:

  • szombat = Saturday
  • szombat + -on → szombaton = on Saturday

You do not need a separate preposition like on in English; the suffix -on does that job in Hungarian.

How do I know whether to use -on, -en, or -ön with days and other words?

The choice between -on / -en / -ön is mostly about vowel harmony and pronunciation:

  • Back vowels (a, á, o, ó, u, ú) → usually -on
    • szombat → szombaton
    • péntek → pénteken (here e is front, but -en sounds better; some words are just fixed forms)
  • Front vowels (e, é, i, í, ö, ő, ü, ű) → usually -en or -ön
    • kedd → kedden (double d for euphony)
    • csütörtök → csütörtökön
    • hétfő → hétfőn

For the days of the week, it’s best to learn them as fixed forms:

  • hétfőn – on Monday
  • kedden – on Tuesday
  • szerdán – on Wednesday
  • csütörtökön – on Thursday
  • pénteken – on Friday
  • szombaton – on Saturday
  • vasárnap / vasárnapon – on Sunday (both are used; vasárnap is more common)

In szombaton, the -on is just the regular form that fits this word.

Why is it szombaton and not something like szombatban or szombatnál?

Because Hungarian uses different suffixes for time and place:

  • Time “on Saturday” → szombaton (temporal suffix)
  • Place “in Saturday” / “by Saturday” doesn’t make sense in Hungarian (or English).

Suffixes like:

  • -ban / -ben mean “in” (inside a place) → parkban = in the park
  • -nál / -nél mean “at / by / at the house of”

Those are not used with days of the week in this time sense. For days, you use -on / -en / -ön.

Where does gyakran usually go in the sentence, and can I move it?

Gyakran means often, and like many adverbs in Hungarian, its “default” place is just before the verb:

  • Szombaton gyakran sportolunk együtt a parkban.

This is perfectly neutral:

  • Szombaton – time
  • gyakran – frequency
  • sportolunk – verb
  • együtt a parkban – how/where

You can move gyakran, but the emphasis changes:

  • Gyakran szombaton sportolunk együtt a parkban.
    → Emphasis slightly on how often (and Saturday is part of that)

  • Szombaton sportolunk gyakran együtt a parkban.
    → Feels less natural; Hungarian prefers adverbs right before the verb unless you’re focusing something specific.

For learners, putting gyakran right before the verb is the safest and most natural choice.

What exactly does sportolunk tell me about person, number, and tense?

Sportolunk comes from the verb sportol (to do sports, to exercise).

Breaking it down:

  • sportol- – verb stem
  • -unk – present tense, 1st person plural, indefinite conjugation

So sportolunk means “we do sports / we exercise”, in the present tense.

The full present-tense indefinite conjugation is:

  • (én) sportolok – I do sports
  • (te) sportolsz – you (sg) do sports
  • (ő) sportol – he/she/it does sports
  • (mi) sportolunk – we do sports
  • (ti) sportoltok – you (pl) do sports
  • (ők) sportolnak – they do sports

The pronouns (én, te, ő, etc.) are usually dropped, because the ending already shows the person and number.

Why is sportolunk in the indefinite conjugation and not the definite one?

Hungarian verbs have two main conjugations:

  • Indefinite – used when:
    • there is no direct object, or
    • the object is indefinite / not specific
  • Definite – used when:
    • there is a definite object (the, this, that, my, your, etc.)

In the sentence Szombaton gyakran sportolunk együtt a parkban, there is no direct object after sportolunk. We are just saying “we do sports / we exercise” in general, so we use the indefinite form sportolunk.

If there were a clear, definite object, you’d need a definite form, but sportol is typically used intransitively (without an object) in this meaning.

What does együtt mean, and why is it placed after sportolunk?

Együtt means together.

In this sentence:

  • sportolunk együtt = we do sports together

Typical word order:

  • sportolunk együtt – neutral: we do sports together
  • együtt sportolunk – often a bit more emphasis on the fact of doing it together

Both are correct. In many contexts, you’ll hear both orders, with only a subtle difference in emphasis:

  • Együtt sportolunk.
    → Feels like stressing “we do sports together (with each other)”, not separately.

In Szombaton gyakran sportolunk együtt a parkban, putting együtt close to the verb is natural; it modifies the manner of the action.

What does parkban mean exactly, and what does the suffix -ban do?

Park = park
-ban / -ben is the inessive case, meaning “in / inside”.

So:

  • park + -ban → parkban = in the park

Which one, -ban or -ben, depends on vowel harmony and pronunciation:

  • Back-vowel words (a, á, o, ó, u, ú) → usually -ban
    • park → parkban
  • Front-vowel words (e, é, i, í, ö, ő, ü, ű) → usually -ben
    • kert → kertben (in the garden)

So parkban literally means “in park”, and when you add the article a, you get a parkban = in the park.

Why is it a parkban (“in the park”) and not just parkban? Do we always need the article?

Hungarian often uses the definite article a / az with specific places, similarly to English.

  • a parkban – in the park (some specific park that is known from context)
  • parkban – in a park / in parks (more generic, or in headlines / very short notes, or certain fixed expressions)

In Szombaton gyakran sportolunk együtt a parkban, the article a makes it sound like:

  • a specific park both speaker and listener know (e.g. the usual local park)

Without a (just parkban) it would sound more generic or a bit telegraphic. In full, normal sentences describing a habitual real-life situation, Hungarians typically say a parkban.

Is the word order fixed, or can I rearrange parts of the sentence?

Hungarian word order is flexible, but changes in order change the emphasis. Some natural variants:

  1. Szombaton gyakran sportolunk együtt a parkban.
    – Neutral: On Saturdays we often do sports together in the park.

  2. Gyakran szombaton sportolunk együtt a parkban.
    – Emphasizes how often it happens that it is on Saturday.

  3. Szombaton együtt sportolunk gyakran a parkban.
    – Feels odd / marked; gyakran far from the verb is unusual in neutral speech.

  4. Együtt gyakran sportolunk szombaton a parkban.
    – Stronger emphasis on being together and often.

Safe rule for learners:

  • Time expression (e.g. Szombaton) first or near the beginning.
  • Adverbs like gyakran right before the verb.
  • Place (a parkban) usually after the verb and its adverbs.

So the original sentence is a very natural, “default” word order.

How would I say the same idea in the past or future?

Past tense of sportolunk is sportoltunk (we did sports / we exercised):

  • Szombaton gyakran sportoltunk együtt a parkban.
    – We often did sports together in the park on Saturdays.

Future can be formed in two ways:

  1. Using fog

    • infinitive (more explicit future):

    • Szombaton gyakran együtt fogunk sportolni a parkban.
      – On Saturdays we will often do sports together in the park.

  2. Using present tense with a time expression (very common for scheduled/habitual future):

    • Szombaton gyakran sportolunk együtt a parkban.
      – Depending on context, this can also be understood as a future habit (e.g. from next month on).

Context decides whether the original present tense is understood as habitual present or future plan.

How do I pronounce sz, gy, and ty-like sounds in this sentence?

From the sentence Szombaton gyakran sportolunk együtt a parkban:

  • sz in Szombaton

    • Pronounced like English s in see.
    • Never like English z; sz is always an s sound.

  • gy in gyakran, együtt

    • A soft d-y sound, close to the “dy” in “duke” for many English speakers when said quickly.
    • Put your tongue as for d, but “palatalize” it slightly, closer to the hard palate.

  • Double consonants like gg / tt in együtt

    • The consonant is just a bit longer in duration.
    • együtt is roughly “edj-yüt”, with a long gy sound.

Stress in Hungarian is always on the first syllable of each word:

  • SZOM-baton GYAK-ran SPOR-tolunk EGYY-ütt a PARK-ban

This rhythm is very regular and helps with natural sounding Hungarian.