bocsánata

Bocsánata is the third-person possessive form of the Hungarian noun bocsánat, which means apology or pardon. It indicates that the apology belongs to someone (his, her, or its). In everyday language, the base form bocsánat is more common, while bocsánata appears in noun phrases that express ownership, such as a bocsánata meaning “his/her/its apology.”

Morphology and usage

Hungarian uses suffixes to mark possession, and the form bocsánata is created by adding the third-person possessive suffix to the stem bocsánat. The form appears in contexts that refer to someone else’s apology, for example in definite noun phrases like a bocsánata (“his/her/its apology”). The word can also appear within sentences using other related forms, such as bocsánatot kérezni (to ask for forgiveness) or Megkérte a bocsánatát (he asked for his/her forgiveness).

Relation to related terms

Bocsánat is the general term for apology or pardon. Related concepts include megbocsátás (forgiveness) and elnézést (pardon me, sorry), which are used in slightly different levels of formality or emphasis. Bocsánata, as a possessive form, functions mainly within noun phrases rather than as an independent lexical item.

Etymology

The noun bocsánat is formed from the verb bocsát, meaning “to forgive” or “to grant,” with the nominal suffix -at to create the abstract noun “forgiveness” or “pardon.” Bocsánata, the possessive form, inherits this root and marks ownership.

See also

Bocsánat, megbocsátás, elnézést.