vention of a vowel, the vowel of the last syllable is generally dropped in the plural. This contraction mostly takes place when the consonants m-r, k-r, and k-l, or reversed r-m, r-k, and l-k meet-e.g.,

The following monosyllabic nouns ending with a vowel take vor j in the plural, some of them shorten at the same time

Note.-Nouns are used in the singular only, if preceded by a numeral or any other word expressing quantity; as két ember, two men; sok fa, many trees.

Collective nouns are used in the plural when several lots or quantities of the same genus are referred to. But in all other cases they are used in the singular only. In Hungarian all generic nouns are collective nouns; as, for instance, the names

of fruits, corn, minerals, metals, &c., and stand in the singular :

The first three cases are also called "subjective cases," because they can stand as subjectives.

The nominative is the word or name itself. Of suffixes it can take the plural or the personal.

The suffixes for the attributive case are -nak for flat sounding, and -nek for sharp sounding words. It expresses the meaning of possession, or of something belonging to it. It stands in an adjectival relation to the thing, that is, it is the attributive of the thing possessed-e.g., Péter-nek atyja, the father of Peter, or Peter's father. Here Peter is the possessor, and atyja the object possessed.

Peter is the attribute to atyja.

At the same time

The Hungarian has no words corresponding to the English

word "to have," but expresses possession by the attributive or The sentence,

possessive case with the verb van "to be." Peter has a house, is therefore to be rendered in Hungarian, Péternek van háza (literally, there is a house of Peter's, or which belongs to Peter).

The form of the possessive with the verb van is called its subjective form, and is always to be translated into English with the nominative and the verb "to have;" the other form, where it governs its object directly, that is, without van, is called its attributive form, and is to be rendered in English by the possessive.

Examples.

1. Jánosnak van kalapja, John has a hat.

2. Jánosnak a kalapja szép, the hat of John is handsome.

3. Pál háza ég, Paul's house is burning.

In the third example Pál stands without suffix, and in the translation it has been rendered by the possessive (Paul's).

Rule 1.-If the possessive stands only as attribute to its object, it is not necessarily inflected, as the object is already inflected with the personal suffix, which expresses amply the relation between possessor and thing possessed.

Rule 2. The possessive must be inflected with its distinguishing terminations if standing as a subject (with the verb van). The suffixed form is also preferable for the attributive

form, if the object does not immediately follow the attribute but is preceded by an adjective or other words.

Note.-The student is requested to pay special attention to these rules, as they are necessary for the proper understanding of the Hungarian language, for often the cases (and with them the right meaning) might be misunderstood if the orthography alone were taken into consideration; as for instance, in the sentence-Pál háza ég. Pál is not inflected, while ház is with the personal suffix -a; and yet Pál is in the attributive, and ház -a in the nominative.

The termination of the genitive case is -é for all nouns, and means also possession. The difference between this and the former case is :

(a) That the genitive can stand by itself, that is, without its object, which is then understood; as, Whose hat is this? Answer: Péter-é, Peter's.

(b) The genitive may stand as predicate of its own object; as Ez a kalap Péter-é, this hat is Peter's.

Note. In this sentence kalap is in Hungarian, as in English in the nominative, as the objective form of kalap is suppressed and the ending -é is substituted for it. The sentence in full would be, Ez a kalap Péternek kalapja, this hat is Peter's

hat.

(c) The genitive, being a contraction of both possessor and object possessed, may be used as subject or predicate, and can be

inflected like the nominative, with the exception of the genitive case, which it cannot take twice; as, Házamat eladtam és Péter-é-t megvettem, I sold my house and bought Peter's (that of Peter). Here Péter is in the genitive, and has taken also the accusative suffix -t, which ought to be joined to the object, were it written out; thus, Házamat eladtam és Péternek ház-á-t megvettem (I sold my house and bought Peter's house).

The dative is in form the same as the attributive, but quite different in meaning. In English it is rendered by putting the prepositions "to" or "for" before the substantive. The Dative (from the Latin do, to give) signifies that something is (has or will be) given or imparted to it by a third person, while the attributive claims something as already belonging to it.

This case has often been confounded by grammarians with the attributive, to which it has no other relation than similarity of orthography. The best distinguishing marks are:-(1) That the dative cannot be a subject; (2) that the attributive governs a substantive, and the dative is governed by a verb.

Ezt Péter-nek adom, I give this to Peter (dative).

Ez Péternek háza, This is Peter's house (attributive).

The accusative (in Hungarian szenvedő, from szenvedni, to suffer) is the noun acted upon by the verb, i.e.," the suffering." Its ending is -t.