Questions & Answers about A kabátot a szekrénybe teszem.
What does the ending -ot in kabátot do?
It marks kabát as the direct object of the sentence.
- kabát = coat
- kabátot = coat + accusative ending
In Hungarian, the direct object usually gets -t. Very often, an extra vowel appears before that -t, so here you get -ot rather than just -t.
So:
- A kabátot ... teszem = I put the coat ...
Why is it kabátot and not just kabát?
Because kabát is the thing being acted on: it is what the speaker is putting somewhere.
Hungarian normally marks this role explicitly with the accusative ending.
Compare:
- kabát = coat
- kabátot = the coat, as the object of the verb
English usually shows this role by word order alone, but Hungarian often shows it with an ending.
Why is there a before both nouns?
a is the Hungarian definite article, meaning the.
So:
- a kabátot = the coat
- a szekrénybe = into the wardrobe / closet
Hungarian has two forms of the definite article:
- a before consonant sounds
- az before vowel sounds
Since kabát and szekrény both begin with consonant sounds, the correct form is a.