A brief explanation of "-ik verbs" (a.k.a. "-ikes igék")

If you are a learner of Hungarian and have gotten to learning the conjugation, you have no doubt heard of the so-called "-ikes igék" ("-ik verbs"). These are a special, smaller sub-group of Hungarian verbs that end in "-ik" in the third person, as opposed to the other verbs. They conjugate differently from others in the indefinite form,, as follows:

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1PS: -(o)m, -(e)m, -(ö)m

2PS: -(o)l, (e)l, -(ö)l

3PS: -ik

1PP: -unk, -ünk

2PP: -tok, -tek, -tök

3PP: -nak, -nek

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So it would seem that they take the usual form for the definite conjugation even in the indefinite conjugation. You often hear even us, Hungarians say them wit hthe usual, -k suffix in the first person, such as "alszok" instead of "alszom" (I sleep) or "eszek" instead of "eszem" (I eat). We often correct one other either because of sh*ts and giggles and to screw with the other party or because it generally annoys some of us that we hear the verbs conjugated the regular way. However, since they are so often conjugated the wrong way in the 1PS, both of their forms are now somewhat accepted and are not shunned.

Furthermore, it's the more regurarly used verbs (eszik, iszik, alszik, etc.) that get corrected most often. Some more rarely used verbs tend to be overlooked if conjugated grammatically incorrectly.

This phenomenon with the "-ik" verbs is because way back then, they used to form transitive-intransitive pairs, the remnants of which can still be found in Hunragian today, albeit very rarely. One such example of a transitive-intransitive verb pair is "törik" - "tör" (something breaks vs. someone breaks something/to cause something to break).

E.g.: Péret eltöri a vázát (Peter breaks the vase) vs. A váza eltörik (The vase breaks). It is kind of similar to the transitive pairs of Germanic languages, see Swedish bränna - to burn sg. or butn sg. down and brinna - to burn, something burns. One has a direct object, the other does not. It was once part of the passive voice in Hungarian.

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However, this trend died out somewhere in the past and is now not used with the exception of very few verbs.

More often than not, they are "mis-conjugated" so often even by Hungarians that we do not tend to care about it and understand it perfectly fine.

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If you REALLY want to look into it, there are "real -ik verbs", ending with -d, -s, -sz, -z and "fake -ik verbs", ending in all other letters. One grammar book further described fake -ik verbs as such: verbs that are formed from a noun to describe an action, such as "biciklizik" (to cycle), "mobilozik" (to use a mobile phone), "autózik" (to use/travel by car), "súlyzózik" (to lift weights), etc. "Fake -ik verbs" are conjugated just like regular verbs, meaning that "mobilozok" with a -k is the right way to conjugate them, while real -ik verbs (such as "alszik") should be conjugated with -m in the first person singular. HOWEVER!!!! I can virtuallly GUARANTEE you that NONE of the average speakers know about this rule, as even I, a native Hungarian translator and language teacher had to look this rule up, it's so obscure.

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Moral of the story. try to learn the conjugation of the -ik verbs, but don't stress it as even us, Hungarians conjugate them the wrong way. Even if someone corrects you, it will most likely be to teach you the correct conjugation and not to laugh at you or point out a grave mistake. Both conjugations are understood.

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To end this long post, here is a story from our Hungarian linguistics class. I asked the teacher after the "tör"-"törik" verb pair the following:

- Then why do we say "Péter úszik"? Isn't it a deliberate action Peter takes on his own will? Or does it refer to him being passively carried by the waves/stream? Was there a verb called "úsz" in the past, so would they have said "Péter úsz" back then?

To which she replied (she is a member of the MTA, Magyar Tudományos Akadémia; Hungarian Scientific Academy, one of the most prestigious scientific societies in Hungary, mind you!)

- Well, we don't know. The truth is, we know that "baszik" (to f*ck) is a Turkish loan word which came to Hungarian as an -ik verb, but we don't know how our forefathers said "Peter swims".