elpusztulnak

Elpusztulnak is the third-person plural present indicative form of the Hungarian verb elpusztulni, meaning to perish or be destroyed. It is used for living beings, populations, or ecosystems that cease to exist or suffer total destruction. The term can also be employed metaphorically to indicate the end of a group, culture, or idea.

The verb elpusztulni is formed with the prefix el- added to pusztulni, where pusztul means ruin or decay. The prefix el- expresses near-complete destruction or removal. The base verb is intransitive, so elpusztulnak does not take a direct object.

Usage notes: In everyday and scientific Hungarian, elpusztulnak describes death or destruction among multiple subjects, as in "A katasztrófa után sok állat elpusztul." In past tense, forms like "elpusztultak" (they perished) or "elpusztult" (it perished) are used, for example: "A járvány miatt számos faj elpusztult." For inanimate, man-made structures, other verbs such as megsemmisül or összedől are often preferred, though elpusztul can appear in historical or literary contexts to convey finality.

Related terms include elpusztulás, the noun form referring to the act or process of perishing. The word is common in discussions of natural disasters, warfare, epidemics, and ecological collapse, as well as in literary or historical prose describing total loss.