alacsonyabbak

Alacsonyabbak is a Hungarian grammatical form referring to the plural of the comparative adjective alacsonyabb, meaning “shorter” or “lower.” It denotes multiple subjects that are shorter or lower in height or level relative to others. In usage, alacsonyabbak can function as a predicative adjective after a linking verb (for example, in sentences with volt, vannak) or as a substantive referring to a subset of a group described earlier, meaning roughly “the shorter ones.”

Morphology and formation: The base adjective alacsony means low or short. The comparative form is alacsonyabb. To express plurality, the ending -ak (or -ek, depending on phonological harmony) is added, yielding alacsonyabbak. Thus, the form is an inflected plural of the comparative adjective rather than a separate lexical item.

Usage notes: Alacsonyabbak is common in both written and spoken Hungarian, especially in comparative contexts where multiple items or individuals are being contrasted. It is typically used when the speaker wants to highlight that a subset of a group has a lower height or level than another subset. When used as a noun phrase, the phrase can be preceded by a definite article to function as “the shorter ones,” as in Az alacsonyabbak között több volt a diák, amely a sportban jeleskedett.

Examples:

- A diákok alacsonyabbak voltak, mint a tanárok.

- Az alacsonyabbak közül többen a korábbinál fiatalabbak voltak.

- A csoportban az alacsonyabbak kerültek előre a sorban.

See also: alacsonyabb, alacsony, comparative adjectives in Hungarian, noun phrases formed from adjectives.