Melyeknek

Melyeknek is a Hungarian grammatical form that functions as the dative plural form of the interrogative/relative pronoun melyek. It conveys the sense of “to which ones” or “to whom,” depending on the sentence structure. The form is most often found in older, formal, or literary Hungarian and is less common in everyday speech, where speakers may replace it with alternative constructions or restructure the clause.

Morphology and usage

The base appears as melyek (which ones) and acquires the dative plural ending -nek to become melyeknek (to/for which ones). This pattern mirrors how Hungarian uses case endings on pronouns to mark syntactic roles, allowing a single stem to function across different grammatical cases. In modern use, melyeknek is primarily seen in historical texts, literary prose, or specific stylistic contexts; contemporary prose more frequently uses other constructions such as amiknek or akiknek, depending on the referent, or rephrases the sentence to avoid the dative form.

Examples

A könyvek, melyeknek a címét felírtam, a polcon vannak. This sentence illustrates how melyeknek can appear in a relative clause to indicate possession (the titles of which). While this form may seem archaic to some readers, it remains a recognized part of Hungarian grammar and is encountered in certain dialectal, archival, or classical writings.

See also

Hungarian grammar; relative pronouns; case inflection.