Mintába

Mintába is a grammatical form in Hungarian. It is the illative case of the noun minta, which means “sample,” “pattern,” or “model.” The illative suffix, typically -ba or -be, marks movement toward or into something, so mintába literally translates as “into the sample” or “into the mold.” The form is used when describing physical placement or transfer into a preexisting sample, mold, or exemplar used for copying, testing, or demonstration.

In practical terms, mintába appears in technical, manufacturing, or design contexts. It signals that an object or material is being inserted into or submitted to a predefined sample or form. Because it is a case ending rather than an independent lexical item, mintába tends to occur as part of longer phrases with verbs of movement or placement, such as placing, shaping, or pouring.

Examples:

- A műanyagot a mintába öntötték. (The plastic was poured into the mold.)

- Az anyagot mintába helyezték. (The material was placed into the sample.)

Because mintába is a specific grammatical form, it is primarily encountered by students of Hungarian grammar or in specialized technical writing. It serves as an illustration of how case endings convey directional relations in Hungarian, without changing the base meaning of minta. See also Hungarian grammar, illative case, and the noun minta.