Hányat

Hányat is a Hungarian grammatical form of the interrogative word hány, used to ask about the number of items drawn from a definite set. It functions to inquire “how many of them” in reference to a specific, identifiable collection, rather than asking about an indefinite total.

Grammatical role and usage: Hányat is the accusative form used when the direct object of the question is definite. In practice, it appears in transitive clauses where the speaker is counting or selecting a subset from a known group. The form helps distinguish questions about a particular subset from broader questions about quantity.

Examples: Hányat látsz belőlük? (How many of them do you see?) Hányat vettetek ki belőle? (How many of them did you take out of it?) These sentences illustrate asking for a precise count within an identified group, with belőlük or belőle indicating the source subset.

Relation to other forms: Hány functions as the base interrogative for quantity, while hányat is specifically the accusative form used with definite direct objects. Other related forms include hányan, used in different syntactic contexts (typically with plural subjects referring to people) and general questions using hány without the accusative marker.

Etymology and overview: The word comes from Hungarian hány, meaning “how many.” The hányat form reflects Hungarian’s system of case and definiteness marking in orthography and pronunciation, guiding how the word combines with the verb and object in a sentence.