igefnév

Igé-főnév, more commonly called a főnévi igenév in Hungarian grammar, is a verbal noun: a word formed from a verb that functions as a noun and denotes the action or process expressed by the verb. It allows speakers to talk about activities in a nominal way, as a thing rather than an action.

Formation and forms

Verbal nouns are usually created with suffixes, most prominently -ás and -és (for example olvasás from olvas, or írás from ír). Other suffixes such as -ítás, -ítés are also used to form nominalized actions, as in építés (construction) from épít (to build). The same verb can yield multiple verbal nouns depending on nuances of meaning. Verbal nouns behave like ordinary Hungarian nouns in sentences: they decline and can take possessive forms, determiners, and adjectives. Examples include az olvasás fontossága (the importance of reading) or a te olvasásod (your reading).

Usage

As nouns, főnévi igenevek can serve as the subject or the object of a sentence, or appear in noun phrases with determiners or adjectives. They can take the definite or indefinite article, and they can bear possessive suffixes: például az olvasásod, az olvasásának. They are distinct from the infinitive form of a verb, which remains a verb form used to express action without acting as a noun. Verbal nouns thus provide a way to refer to actions or processes as entities, in parallel to other noun forms.

Relation to other forms

The key distinction is between the infinitive (igei alapforma) and the verbal noun (főnévi igenév). The verbal noun is declined like a noun and can participate in noun-level syntax, whereas the infinitive functions as a non-finite verb form. Verbal nouns frequently occur in everyday language and in written Hungarian, bridging action and noun meaning.