Hungarian Verbs and Essentials of Grammar

Torkenczy's the Man. I don't see how anybody could master Hungarian without this book. Torkenczy has simplified Hungarian grammar to its core essentials, and provided lots of lists of verb conjugation and the like that are invaluable for the serious student. But note that this should be used as a reference book and not as a textbook to learn Hungarian! My recommendation is to get this book only after about 8-12 months of studying Hungarian, depending on how serious of a student you are. Then read it cover-to-cover without stopping or re-reading. There will be much you won't understand, but don't worry about that now; just read it in its entirety to get an overview of all the forms and structures. Parallel to your normal studies, re-read it at least every 6-8 months, this time more in-depth, over and over until you feel confident that you know it all. It'll work! The only major flaw with this book is that its a little TOO concise. There are some places where a bit more explanation would have served the book better. There are also a few grammar points not covered, unfortunately, such as the "-e" (whether or not) ending. The only other negative comment I would have is that there are too many specialized linguistic terms for the non-linguist learner. But it gets 5 stars for its overall usefulness and indispensibility.

As someone who is taking formal Hungarian lessons, I've found Hungarian Verbs and Essentials of Grammar very useful. While it gives thorough coverage of Hungarian verbs and grammar, it should be used as a supplement to a language course. This excellent refernce books clearly describes the grammatical rules and notes the numerous exceptions. As a reference book Hungarian Essentials is well organized. This book has also been helpful in building my vocabulary. I would highly recommend as a complement to this book Practical Hungarian Grammar. It was written by the same author and published five years later in 2002

For this most complicated of languages, it is often frustrating to seek explanations of matters such as the definite and the indefinite conjugations or changes of noun forms in the accusative when the explanations are scattered over several lessons. Enter the present book. This is not a teach-yourself textbook, but a series of lists, with clear explanations of Hungarian verbs, pronunciation, nouns, pronouns, and-heaven help us-case endings. It is an adjunct to any textbook; one can refer to it to clarify points not understood or points forgotten. Absolutely excellent.

I couldn't disagree more with the previous reviewer, who criticizes this book for its alleged inaccessibility. As a beginning Hungarian student, I've been consulting this grammar from day one and have gotten quick answers to the questions raised by Teach Yourself Hungarian, which generally eschews the grammar approach. (I'll admit I have studied a number of foreign languages, but a person serious about Hungarian will need to learn some grammar early in the process or risk learning nothing at all.)Torkenczy's book is clearly organized and concise. In fact, it is at times a bit too concise, leaving the reader with the impression that the writer has not explained the more subtle grammatical points of the Hungarian language. Nevertheless, for a BEGINNER (not the expert), the book is most practical. The EXPERT (not the beginner) would be better served by Hungarian: An Essential Grammar (Routledge Grammars) by Carol Rounds.

NTC's HUNGARIAN VERBS AND ESSENTIALS OF GRAMMAR is much like other books in the same series, giving of course first an explanation of verb conjugations and voices, and then an outline of grammar. This book is organized in a very logical way, and is very comprehensive.However, as other reviews have shown, HUNGARIAN VERBS AND ESSENTIALS OF GRAMMAR is not for the beginner in the Hungarian language. This book is written as a reference guide for professional linguists or those who already speak the language. NTC also publishes a series of grammar guides geared towards students, but unfortunately there has yet to appear a Hungarian entry in that series.Bottom line: if you're serious about Hungarian, HUNGARIAN VERBS AND ESSENTIALS OF GRAMMAR is worth buying. However, it provides only limited help to beginners because of its high-level style.