Compound Tenses
Hungarian Grammar 3
Chapter 9 · Compound Tenses
🧩 Putting the Pieces Together — Összetett igeidők
The last four chapters gave you the separate pieces: the past (Chapters 2–4), the future and helper verbs (Chapter 5), the conditional (Chapter 6), the imperative and the subjunctive (Chapters 7–8). Hungarian builds its longer forms by stacking these pieces, with volna and volt as the two fixed connecting words. Once you see the pattern, there is very little new to learn.
1. past + volna: "would have"
You met this in Chapter 6. The past verb carries the person (and the definite or indefinite set), and volna is fixed. It is also the pattern behind regret and unreal conditions.
| Hungarian | English |
|---|---|
| Elmentem volna. | I would have gone. |
| Elolvastuk volna a levelet. | We would have read the letter. |
| Nem mondtam volna. | I wouldn't have said it. |
| Ha otthon lettem volna, felvettem volna. | If I had been at home, I would have picked it up. |
2. Helper verbs in the past
A helper in the past takes an infinitive, just as in the present (Chapter 5); only the helper changes. The past forms come from Chapter 4: akartam, tudtam, szerettem, próbáltam, kellett, lehetett, szabad volt.
| Hungarian | English | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Akartam menni. | I wanted to go. | past of akar |
| Nem tudtam aludni. | I couldn't sleep. | past of tud |
| Szerettem olvasni. | I used to like reading. | past of szeret |
| Mennem kellett. | I had to go. | personal infinitive + kellett |
| Nem lehetett parkolni. | One couldn't park. | impersonal |
| Mehettem. | I was allowed to go. | -het stem in the past |
3. Helper + volna: "should have, could have, would have liked"
Put volna after the past form of the helper. This gives the most useful regret and politeness phrases in the language.
| Hungarian | English | Pattern |
|---|---|---|
| Mennem kellett volna. | I should have gone. | personal infinitive + kellett volna |
| Jönnöd kellett volna. | You should have come. | 2sg |
| Nem kellett volna! | You shouldn't have! (said for a gift) | negative, set phrase |
| Mehettem volna. | I could have gone. | -het + past + volna |
| Szerettem volna kérni egy kávét. | I would have liked to ask for a coffee. (a polite "I'd like") | szeretni + volna |
| Akartam volna menni. | I would have wanted to go. | akar + volna |
| Lehetett volna jobb. | It could have been better. | lehetett volna |
4. A longer chain: helper + infinitive + volna
The order of the pieces stays the same when you add more: person-carrying verb first, volna after the verbs that it governs. The chain below shows every piece from this course in one place.
| Idea | Hungarian |
|---|---|
| I read | Olvastam. |
| I wanted to read | Olvasni akartam. |
| I would have read | Olvastam volna. |
| I should have read | Olvasnom kellett volna. |
| I could have read | Olvashattam volna. |
| If I had read, I would have known | Ha olvastam volna, tudtam volna. |
5. Wishes with bárcsak
A wish that did not or cannot come true uses bárcsak ("if only") with the conditional or the past conditional: Bárcsak itt lennél! (If only you were here!) Bárcsak tudtam volna! (If only I had known!)
6. A note on volt: the literary past perfect
Older and literary Hungarian has a past perfect: the past tense followed by volt, for an event completed before another event in the past. It is rare in speech. You will mostly meet it in novels: Már elmentem volt, mikor megérkeztek. (I had already left when they arrived.) In everyday Hungarian people use the plain past (Már elmentem, mikor megérkeztek) and let the context do the work. The map in Chapter 1 listed it; you only need to recognise it.
🗣️ In Use — Használatban
The compound forms in regret, courtesy and a plan that went wrong.
① A missed train
② At the ticket office
③ A gift
📋 Quick Reference — Gyorstábla
| Idea | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Would have | past + volna | Elmentem volna. |
| Helper in the past | past helper + infinitive | Akartam menni. |
| Had to | personal infinitive + kellett | Mennem kellett. |
| Should have | personal infinitive + kellett volna | Mennem kellett volna. |
| Could have | -hat/-het past + volna | Mehettem volna. |
| If only | bárcsak + conditional or past + volna | Bárcsak itt lennél! |
| Past perfect (literary) | past + volt | elmentem volt |
✏️ Try It Yourself — Gyakorlás
Say the answer first, then click to check.
1. "I would have gone."
Show answer
Elmentem volna.
2. "I wanted to go."
Show answer
Akartam menni.
3. "I had to go."
Show answer
Mennem kellett.
4. "I should have gone."
Show answer
Mennem kellett volna.
5. "You (sg) should have come."
Show answer
Jönnöd kellett volna.
6. "I could have gone."
Show answer
Mehettem volna.
7. "You shouldn't have!" (for a gift)
Show answer
Nem kellett volna!
8. "If I had read it, I would have known."
Show answer
Ha elolvastam volna, tudtam volna.
9. "If only you were here!"
Show answer
Bárcsak itt lennél!
10. Which word is fixed and which carries the person in mennem kellett volna?
Show answer
Volna and kellett are fixed. The person shows only in the personal infinitive mennem.