megtanul

Megtanul is a Hungarian verb meaning to learn something by heart or to master something through study, often indicating a completed or thorough learning process. It is the perfective counterpart of tanul and is used when the act of learning is finished or fully internalized. The infinitive form is megtanulni, and the verb is formed with the prefix meg- added to the base tanul (to learn). The prefix meg- signals completion or achievement of the learning task.

In use, megtanul usually takes a direct object, specifying what is learned. For example, megtanul egy verset means to memorize a poem, and a student may say megtanulta a leckét to indicate that the lesson has been learned by heart. Because it is perfective, megtanul is typically employed to describe completed learning, rather than ongoing studying in general. The related noun megtanulás denotes the act or process of learning by heart or mastering material.

Conjugation in Hungarian follows standard patterns for perfective verbs with the -t- infix in certain forms and is built on the verb stem megtanul-. The past tense forms express that learning has been completed (for example, megtanultam = I learned by heart). Present and future meanings are derived from context, auxiliary usage, or aspectual nuances, rather than from the base meaning alone.

Related terms include tanul (to study or learn in a general sense) and megtanulás (the act or process of learning by heart). The distinction between tanul and megtanul hinges on whether the emphasis is on the process of learning versus the completed mastery of a specific item.