dolgoznunk

Dolgoznunk is the first-person plural long infinitive form of the Hungarian verb dolgozni, meaning “to work.” In Hungarian grammar, it is a form of the verbal noun (főnévi igenév) used to express the action with an explicit subject, typically the speaker and others, and it often appears after modal or auxiliary verbs to convey necessity, obligation, or intention. It contrasts with the short infinitive dolgozni, which is used in general statements or when the subject is not specified.

The long infinitive is formed by attaching the suffix -nk to the verb stem, here dolgoz-, yielding dolgoznunk. This form is common after verbs such as kell (must/should), lehet (can/may), and akar (want), when the action is attributed to the subject “we.” For example: Dolgoznunk kell ma este. (We must work tonight.) Azt kérik, hogy dolgosznunk kellene ezen a feladaton. (They asked that we should work on this task.) The use of the long infinitive in these constructions emphasizes that the action is performed by “we.”

In everyday language, the short infinitive dolgozni is more frequent for neutral or generic statements, such as dolgozni ringe?—but for expressing collective obligation or intention with an explicit subject, the long infinitive dolgoznunk is appropriate. The two forms are related but serve different grammatical functions within sentences.

See also: Hungarian infinitives, short versus long infinitive, fõnévi igenév.