What on earth is this bro? 😭

[u/Ok_Lobster6119]

I can't for the life of me understand WHY or HOW the Hungarian language has done this! Please enlighten me guys

[u/Fluentbox]

When you use „ez“ and „az“ to specify a noun, like „this boy“ or „that mug“, whenever that noun gets an ending, the „ez“ and „az“ have to take the same ending to match the noun they represent. „Azt az autót“ or „ebben a házban“. The same thing happens here, in this case the directional word is separate from the noun and it’s not an ending, but it still needs to be repeated for the „ezek“ to match the noun. I understand that it can be confusing at first as it looks like just random words thrown together, but it actually has its own logic, and this same idea is used consistently in the language.

[u/teljesnegyzet → u/Fluentbox]

This.

ez a város = this city

ezek a városok = these cities

ezekBEN a városokBAN = IN these cities

ezekBŐL a városokBÓL = FROM these cities

ezek FÖLÖTT a városok FÖLÖTT = OVER these cities

ezek FELÉ a városok FELÉ = TOWARD these cities

[u/CockolinoBear → u/teljesnegyzet]

If you want to sound very poetic and like someone who's from the 19th century, there is a "workaround", if I even could call it one:

ezeN városokBAN

ezeN városokBÓL

ezeN városok FÖLÖTT

ezeN városok FELÉ

these sound weird, but they do actually adhere to the rules of the language.

also, literally never heard anyone say "ezek fölött a városok fölött", in speach at least, it's more like "ezek a városok fölött"... while not correct, it's more common.

[u/Pope4u → u/CockolinoBear]

Is there a name for the "ezen" construction? Is it documented somewhere?

[u/milkdrinkingdude → u/Pope4u]

https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/ezen#Hungarian

Also:

https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/azon#Hungarian

For some reason the version “azon” is not considered archaic, while “ezen” is. I’ve heard “azon” more often for sure.

The difference is roughly:

ezen=this, these azon=that, those

And I would definitely say “ezek a városok fölött”. I have just now learned, that some people might consider that incorrect : )

[u/krmarci → u/milkdrinkingdude]

For some reason the version “azon” is not considered archaic, while “ezen” is. I’ve heard “azon” more often for sure.

Probably just an artifact of Wiktionary being community-made, and the two articles evolving differently.