Page:Simplified grammar of the Hungarian language.djvu/18

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The Substantive may be defined to express number, person, case, place and direction. The Particles used to define the Nouns are: article, suffix, and postpositions.

There are two articles: a definite and an indefinite. The definite article is a before words beginning with a consonant, and az before words beginning with a vowel.

The definite article is put before nouns when a certain and defined thing is referred to—i.e., before definite nouns, which it precedes then invariably, even in cases where in English it would be omitted, as, for instance, where a pronoun stands before it—e.g., a fiú, the boy; or az én fiam, my boy; az a fiú, that boy, &c.

The indefinite article is egy (one), which is at the same time numeral, in which sense it is used. It is not necessary in Hungarian to put the indefinite article before a noun, if spoken of in general terms only—e.g., embert láttam, I saw a man.

Egy is used only, as has been said, to express number: as, egy embert láttam, I have seen a (one) man.

The Suffixes by which nouns are modified are twenty-one. They are joined to the root, which sometimes undergoes orthographical changes, to be described further on.