Vágni

Vágni is a Hungarian verb meaning to cut, slice, or trim with a blade or sharp instrument. It covers a wide range of physical cutting tasks, such as cutting paper, wood, or meat, as well as metaphorical uses like reducing time, costs, or information. The related noun vágás denotes the act or result of cutting, and the adjective vágó describes something used for cutting or a cutter.

Common senses and usage include cutting materials (for example, papírt vágni, fát vágni), trimming (hajat vágni), or preparing food (zöldséget felvágni). In media, vágni is also used for editing: filmet vágni means to edit or cut together film footage. The verb can appear in various telegraphic and idiomatic constructions with prefixes such as fel- or meg- to indicate actions like chopping or cutting off.

Grammatical notes: vágni is a regular verb of the -ni conjugation class. Present tense forms are: én vágok, te vágsz, ő vág, mi vágunk, ti vágtok, ők vágnak. Past tense forms (aorist/indefinite) include vágtam, vágtál, vágta, vágtuk, vágtátok, vágták. The past participle is vágott. Imperative forms are: vágj (singular), vágjunk (we), vágjatok (plural). The infinitive is vágni and the noun vágás refers to the act or result of cutting.

Examples: Papírt vágok. Hajat vágok. A fodrász levágta a haját. Filmet vágni is a common expression for editing. Vágni thus covers both concrete cutting actions and broader editing or trimming contexts in Hungarian.