Mennyire

Mennyire is a Hungarian adverb meaning to what extent or how much. It is used to express degree and typically appears in questions or exclamations, often before adjectives or adverbs to modify them. For example, Mennyire nehéz ez a feladat? asks about the degree of difficulty, and Mennyire gyorsan futsz? asks how quickly one runs. It can also intensify evaluations in exclamations, as in Mennyire szép ez a látvány!

Grammatically, mennyire belongs to the class of degree words. It can modify adjectives (mennyire nehéz, mennyire fontos), adverbs (mennyire gyorsan), or verb-adjective combinations in which degree is being questioned or emphasized. In formal contexts, speakers may substitute or add a more explicit phrase such as milyen mértékben to express the same idea.

Etymology and related forms: the word is built from the interrogative mood of mennnyi “how much/how many,” extended to a degree adverb. It is connected to other degree expressions in Hungarian, such as annyira (“so much”) or olyan, which serve to emphasize extent, though mennyire is distinct in its question-like, evaluative function.

Usage notes: mennyire is common in everyday speech and in written Hungarian. For more formal or nuanced inquiries about degree, speakers may use milyen mértékben or to what extent constructions. In questions and exclamations, mennyire remains a concise, flexible tool for probing or stressing the intensity of a quality.