költenek

Költenek is the third-person plural present indicative form of the Hungarian verb költeni, meaning to spend. It is used to describe that a group of people spends money, time, or other resources. In everyday usage, költenek appears with direct objects such as pénzt (money), időt (time), or energiát (energy). Examples include: "Ők költenek sok pénzt a lakásfelújításra" and "Ők költenek sok időt erre a projektre."

Grammatical note: költeni is a transitive verb, and költenek corresponds to a plural subject in the present tense. The full present-tense conjugation is: én költök, te költesz, ő költ, mi költünk, ti költötök, ők költenek. The form költ (third person singular) is used for a single subject, while költenek is used with a plural subject.

Usage and nuance: költeni can describe both literal expenditures (money) and more abstract resources (time, attention, energy). It is common in formal and informal contexts and can appear in budgeting discussions, personal finance, or descriptions of daily routines. The phrase költeni pénzt is particularly frequent, as is költeni időt.

See also: related terms in Hungarian spending vocabulary, such as költség (expense) and költés (spending as a concept). The verb költeni is a core, widely used verb in standard Hungarian and does not have regional variants that affect the form költenek.