Focus
Hungarian Grammar 4
Chapter 8 · Focus
🎯 The Stressed Place — A fókusz
Chapter 7 gave you the neutral sentence, where nothing is stressed except the prefix and the verb. This chapter is about the position that is stressed: the place directly before the verb. Whatever stands there is the point of the sentence, the new or the contrasting piece. It is the reason the prefix leaves the verb in Chapter 4, and it is the closest Hungarian comes to English "It was X that…".
1. Neutral against focus
The same words can make two different sentences. The neutral one reports an event; the focus one picks out one element.
| Neutral | Focus | Focused word |
|---|---|---|
| Péter megvette a könyvet. Peter bought the book. | PÉTER vette meg a könyvet. It was Peter who bought the book. | the subject |
| Megvettem a könyvet. I bought the book. | ÉN vettem meg a könyvet. I was the one who bought it. | the subject pronoun |
| Péter megvette a könyvet. | Péter A KÖNYVET vette meg. It was the book that Peter bought. | the object |
| Tegnap megvettem. Yesterday I bought it. | TEGNAP vettem meg. It was yesterday that I bought it. | the time |
| A boltban megvettem. In the shop I bought it. | A BOLTBAN vettem meg. It was in the shop that I bought it. | the place |
Without a prefix the order of the verb is just as telling: JÁNOS hozta a könyvet. (It was János who brought the book.) The focused word stands straight before hozta.
2. Questions and answers share the focus
A question word is a focus, so it takes the place before the verb. The answer fills that same place, which is a reliable test: the answer to a question word is a focus.
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Ki vette meg a jegyeket? Who bought the tickets? | Anna vette meg. Anna did. |
| Mit vettél meg? What did you buy? | A könyvet vettem meg. The book. |
| Mikor jöttél vissza? When did you come back? | Tegnap jöttem vissza. Yesterday. |
| Hol vetted meg? Where did you buy it? | A boltban vettem meg. In the shop. |
A yes-or-no question can have a focus too, and then it asks about that element: Péter ment el? (Was it Peter who left?) against Péter elment? (Has Peter left?).
More than one question word may stand before the verb: Ki mit vett meg? (Who bought what?). This is an exception to "one focus only".
3. Words that go with the focus
| Word | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| csak | only; it takes the focus place | Csak Péter jött el. · Only Peter came. Csak egy könyvet vettem meg. · I bought only one book. |
| is | also; it does not take the focus place | Péter is eljött. · Peter came too. Én is megvettem. · I bought it too. |
| még | still, yet; one more | Még nem érkezett meg. · It hasn't arrived yet. Még egy kávét kérek. · One more coffee, please. |
| éppen | just, exactly, at this very moment | Éppen olvasok. · I'm just reading. Éppen te mondod ezt? · You, of all people, say that? |
| éppen ezért | for that very reason | Éppen ezért maradok otthon. · That is exactly why I'm staying at home. |
Csak behaves like a focus: the prefix goes behind the verb (Csak Péter jött el). Is is different, because it only adds "also" and leaves the verb's prefix in its neutral place (Péter is eljött). Még nem behaves like any negation: nem takes the place before the verb and the prefix follows (Még nem érkezett meg).
4. Contrast
A focus is naturally contrastive, and nem … hanem (not … but) states the contrast outright. The two focused elements each stand before their verb.
| Example | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Nem Péter ment el, hanem Anna. | It wasn't Peter who left, but Anna. |
| A könyvet vettem meg, nem a füzetet. | It was the book I bought, not the notebook. |
| Nem én indítottam újra, hanem Péter. | It wasn't I who restarted it, but Peter. |
5. Negation and focus
A negative sentence can deny the whole event, or deny only the focus. The position of nem tells you which.
| Sentence | What is denied |
|---|---|
| Péter nem ment el. | the event: Peter didn't leave. |
| Nem Péter ment el. | the focus: it wasn't Peter who left (someone else did). |
| Nem csak Péter jött el. | "only": not only Peter came. |
| Nem a könyvet vettem meg. | the focus: it wasn't the book I bought. |
🗣️ In Use — Használatban
Focus in question and answer, in contrast, and with éppen ezért.
① The tickets
② On the support desk
③ Waiting for the post
📋 Quick Reference — Gyorstábla
| Idea | Rule | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Focus | stressed word directly before the verb | PÉTER vette meg. |
| Prefix | behind the verb when there is a focus | TEGNAP vettem meg. |
| Question word | always a focus; the answer is too | Ki vette meg? — Anna vette meg. |
| csak | "only"; takes the focus place | Csak Péter jött el. |
| is | "also"; prefix stays attached | Péter is eljött. |
| még nem | "not yet"; prefix behind | Még nem érkezett meg. |
| Contrast | nem … hanem | Nem Péter ment el, hanem Anna. |
| Negated verb or focus | nem before the verb, or before the focus | Péter nem ment el. · Nem Péter ment el. |
✏️ Try It Yourself — Gyakorlás
Say the answer first, then click to check.
1. Put Péter in focus: Péter elment.
Show answer
PÉTER ment el. The prefix goes behind the verb.
2. "It was yesterday that I bought it."
Show answer
Tegnap vettem meg. (Tegnap stressed.)
3. Answer "Who bought the tickets?" with "Anna".
Show answer
Anna vette meg a jegyeket. or simply Anna vette meg.
4. "Only Peter came."
Show answer
Csak Péter jött el.
5. "Peter came too."
Show answer
Péter is eljött. is does not push the prefix away.
6. "It wasn't Peter who left, but Anna."
Show answer
Nem Péter ment el, hanem Anna.
7. "Peter didn't leave."
Show answer
Péter nem ment el.
8. "It hasn't arrived yet."
Show answer
Még nem érkezett meg.
9. Say "for that very reason".
Show answer
Éppen ezért.
10. "Who bought what?"
Show answer
Ki mit vett meg? Question words may stack before the verb.