Questions & Answers about Látjuk a kertet.
Hungarian usually leaves out subject pronouns when the verb ending already shows the person and number.
- látjuk = we see it / we see
- the ending -juk tells you the subject is we (1st person plural).
If you want to make we explicit, you can say:
- Mi látjuk a kertet. – We see the garden.
But in a neutral sentence, mi is normally omitted because látjuk already contains that information.
The verb stem is lát- (to see), and -juk is a personal ending.
- lát-juk
- lát- – see
- -juk – we (1st person plural), with a definite object (like the garden, him, it).
Compare with some other forms (all with a definite object):
- látom a kertet – I see the garden.
- látod a kertet – You (singular) see the garden.
- látja a kertet – He/She/It sees the garden.
- látjuk a kertet – We see the garden.
- látjátok a kertet – You (plural) see the garden.
- látják a kertet – They see the garden.
So -juk encodes both “we” and “definite object”.
Hungarian has two present-tense conjugations for most verbs:
- Indefinite conjugation (used with no object or an indefinite object)
- Definite conjugation (used with a definite direct object)
- látunk – we see (something), or we see a garden / some garden
- látjuk – we see the garden / that garden / him / it, etc.
Because a kertet (the garden) is definite (it uses the definite article a), Hungarian requires the definite verb form:
- ❌ Látunk a kertet – ungrammatical
- ✅ Látjuk a kertet – grammatical: We see the garden.
The base noun is kert – garden.
When kert is a direct object, it takes the accusative ending -t.
However, Hungarian often inserts a linking vowel between the word and the -t ending to make pronunciation easier. For kert, that linking vowel is e:
- kert + -t → kertet
So:
- kert – garden (no case ending)
- kertet – garden as a direct object (the garden that we see)
You’ll see the same pattern with many other nouns:
- ház → házat – house → house (object)
- könyv → könyvet – book → book (object)
a is the definite article, equivalent to English “the”:
- a kert – the garden (subject form)
- a kertet – the garden (object form)
It’s used with singular nouns that start with a consonant.
Before a vowel, it becomes az:
- az alma – the apple
- az almát – the apple (object)
Because a kertet is definite (the garden, not a garden), the verb has to be in the definite conjugation: látjuk.
Yes. Hungarian has one present tense that covers both:
- We see the garden.
- We are seeing the garden.
Both are translated as:
- Látjuk a kertet.
If you need to emphasize the ongoing nature of the action, you usually rely on context or add time expressions, but grammatically it’s still just the simple present.
Hungarian word order is more flexible than English, and it’s used to show emphasis (focus).
All three are possible:
Látjuk a kertet.
- Neutral: We see the garden.
Mi látjuk a kertet.
- Emphasis on mi: It’s *we who see the garden (not someone else).*
A kertet látjuk.
- Emphasis on a kertet: It’s *the garden that we see (and not something else).*
The focused element usually appears directly before the verb.
In A kertet látjuk, a kertet is in that focus position.
To negate, you use nem in front of the verb:
- Nem látjuk a kertet. – We don’t see the garden.
You can add the pronoun for emphasis:
- Mi nem látjuk a kertet. – It’s we who don’t see the garden.
Use an indefinite object and the indefinite verb form:
- Látunk egy kertet. – We see a garden.
Breakdown:
- látunk – we see (indefinite conjugation)
- egy kertet – a garden (object)
You could also drop egy:
- Látunk kertet. – We see (some) garden(s).
(Very generic; egy kertet is more natural when you mean one specific but unknown garden.)
With a kertet (the garden), you must use látjuk; with (egy) kertet, you use látunk.
Approximate pronunciation:
látjuk – roughly [LAAT-yook]
- á – long a (like in father, but held longer)
- j – like English y in yes
- Stress is always on the first syllable: LÁT-juk
kertet – roughly [KER-tet]
- e – like e in get
- r – rolled or tapped r
- Both t sounds are clearly pronounced
- Stress: KER-tet
Real Hungarian speech may fuse the t + j in látjuk, but if you clearly say laat-yook, people will understand you perfectly.
Use the same noun phrase a kertet, but change the verb ending:
Látom a kertet. – I see the garden.
- látom = I see it (definite)
Látják a kertet. – They see the garden.
- látják = they see it (definite)
Subject pronouns are optional:
- Én látom a kertet. – emphasis on I
- Ők látják a kertet. – emphasis on they
Hungarian has no grammatical gender, and the definite article doesn’t change for number either. It only changes based on whether the next word starts with a consonant or a vowel:
Before consonants: a
- a kert – the garden
- a kertek – the gardens
- a kertet – the garden (object)
- a kerteket – the gardens (object)
Before vowels: az
- az alma – the apple
- az almát – the apple (object)
- az almák – the apples
So Hungarian keeps a/az the same regardless of masculine/feminine/neuter (those don’t exist) and singular/plural; only the noun itself shows plural and case (kert, kertek, kertet, kerteket, etc.).