ételeknek

Ételeknek is the dative plural form of étel (food) in Hungarian. It marks the indirect object of a sentence, indicating “to/for the foods.” It is used when something is given, provided, or intended for the foods rather than for a person.

Morphology and formation: The base noun is étel, whose plural is ételek. To form the dative plural, Hungarian adds the suffix -nek to the plural: ételeknek. This pattern follows the general rule of forming the dative for plural nouns (barátoknak, szülőknek, etc.). The exact pronunciation respects standard vowel harmony in Hungarian.

Usage: Ételeknek appears in sentences where the foods themselves are the recipients or beneficiaries of an action. It is common in culinary or food-preparation contexts, as well as in more general constructions dealing with food items as recipients of something (such as salt, spice, or quantities of liquid).

Examples:

- A szakács sót ad az ételeknek. (The chef adds salt to the foods.)

- A konyhában a szakács a kedvenc fűszert az ételeknek adta. (In the kitchen, the chef gave the favorite spice to the foods.)

Notes: Ételeknek contrasts with other cases of ételek, such as ételek (nominative) or ételeket (accusative). Like other dative forms, ételeknek typically requires a verb that governs indirect objects (ad, küld, szolgál, adja, adta, etc.) and its meaning depends on the surrounding sentence structure.