hallgatva

Hallgatva is the verbal participle formed from the Hungarian verb hallgatni, meaning both “to listen” and “to obey,” with the suffix -va. It functions as an adverbial participle (határozói melléknévi igenév) and expresses the circumstance under which the main clause occurs. The sense of hallgatva can be “having listened to,” “while listening to,” or, in contexts where hallgatni means obedience, “obeying.”

In use, hallgatva typically introduces a dependent clause that describes how the action of the main clause was carried out. For example: A tanár szavait hallgatva a diákok jegyzeteltek. (Having listened to the teacher’s words, the students took notes.) Another example: A zenét hallgatva ültem az ablaknál. (I sat by the window while listening to the music.) The form is versatile in written Hungarian and often appears in narrative or descriptive passages, where it provides a concise way to indicate concurrent or preceding actions.

Related forms and notes: hallgatva is part of the larger system of Hungarian verbals and adverbial participles. A closely related word is meghallgat, a separate verb meaning “to listen to fully” or “to hear out.” The noun/adjective hallgató refers to a person who listens or to a student in a university context, illustrating how the same root interacts with different grammatical functions. In everyday speech, speakers may choose more explicit constructions (such as temporal clauses with amikor or mialatt) depending on register and clarity.