melléknevet

Melléknevet is the accusative singular form of melléknév, the Hungarian word for “adjective.” In grammar, melléknév denotes a word class that describes or specifies a noun by indicating properties such as color, size, origin, material or quality. Adjectives in Hungarian are typically placed before the noun they modify (attributive position) and can also function predicatively after linking verbs, as in a sentence like “A virág piros.”

In everyday usage, adjectives do not decline for case or number; the noun carries the grammatical endings. The accusative form of a noun phrase containing an adjective is where melléknevet appears as the object: for example, in the sentence “Látok egy piros autót” the noun autó is in the accusative singular (autót) while the adjective piros remains in its base form. Thus, melléknév serves as a descriptor within the noun phrase, and its form does not change with the case of the noun; only the noun itself typically shows the case ending.

There are degrees of comparison for adjectives, formed with suffixes such as -abb/-abb, -bb, or irregular forms like jó → jobb → legjobb. Hungarian adjectives do not convey gender, and their primary grammatical role is to modify nouns, either in front of the noun or as part of a predicate complement. The term melléknevet specifically marks the accusative form of melléknév when it functions as the object in a sentence.