[#DuolingoForumGems originally posted on 2020-01-17 on the Duolingo Hungarian for English speakers forum by peter.kristof.hu ] 

Hungarian passive voice

Foreign students may have trouble using passive voice in Hungarian, as English and Hungarian structures are very different, and it can also be a problem with translation. Unfortunately, there are few guides on using Hungarian passive voice. Passive voice does exist in Hungarian but is used less frequently than in English or in other Indo-European languages. Therefore, I reviewed this topic a bit.

Active voice means that a sentence has a subject that acts upon its verb. Passive voice means that a subject is a recipient of a verb’s action. In English, we can change a sentence in passive voice to active by changing the subject and direct or indirect object location.

Voice	Subj.	Verb	Ind. Obj.	Dir. Obj.
Active:	Someone	gave	me	a pen.
Passive:	I	was given		a pen.
Passive:	A pen	was given	to me.

In Hungarian, if we know the person/object of the action, we usually use the active form. Otherwise, if we don't know the actor or don't want to be named, we use the passive structure.

Voice	Topic	Verb mod.	Verb	Postverbal
Active:	Péter az asztalt	meg-	terítette.
Passive:	Az asztal	meg	van	terítve.

(Peter set the table.)
(The table is set.)

We don't say "Az asztal meg van terítve Péter által." It's unnatural. Usually, we do not name the doer of the action in a passive sense.

Below I will describe the most commonly used structures which have a passive meaning, although they may be grammatically active.

1. Using third-person plural (or possibly first-person plural)
   Ellopták az autót. (The car has been stolen.)
   Mondták, hogy vigyázzak. (I was told to take care.)
   A házat tavaly építették. (The house was built last year.)

2. The conjugated verb "lenni" + -va/-ve (adverbial participle, hu: határozói igenév). It usually used with transitive verbs.
   Be van fejezve a nagy mű. (The great work has been completed.)
   A kocka el van vetve. (The die is cast.)
   Ki lesz írva, mikor kell elutazni. (It will be announced when to leave.)
   A ház tavaly lett építve. (The house was built last year.)
   But: Kata már messziről látva van. (Kate is already observed from far.)
   Sometimes used with intransitive verbs:
   Ki van rúgva. (He is fired.)
   But: A macska fel van mászva a fára. (Te cat is climbed in the tree.)

3. The meaning of the verb is that action takes place on its own. (middle voice):
   A jég megolvad. (The ice melts.)
   A csecsemő megszületett. (The baby was born.)
   Az alkalmazás fut. (The app is running.)
   A ház tavaly épült. (The house was built last year.)

4. Using -tatik/-tetik/-atik/-etik suffixes
   Unfortunately, we hardly use it in today's language, it vanished in the 19th-20th century. "Tatik-tetik a magyarban nem használtatik", it was said jokingly.
   However, some verbs are still used today in this form, e.g.: születik, kéretik, méltóztatik.

Besides, numerous phrases are used, for example, in official and legal texts.

----------------------------------------------------------

comment by Andreas305 

Just a hint about point 3:

There are a lot of verbs, where you can switch between the activ, transitive form and the passive, intransitive form.

-ít <==> -ul

épít valamit <==> épül (to build something <==> to be built)

alakít valamit <==> alakul (to form something <==> to be formed)

fordít valamit <==> fordul (to turn something <==> to be turned)

EXCEPTION:

tanít valamit <==> tanul valamit (to teach something <==> to learn something)

comment by peter.kristof.hu

Yes, you're right, I agree. But I didn't want to make it more complex, which makes understanding difficult. Here is an article, for example: Az idegennyelvi szenvedő szerkezetek megfelelői a magyar nyelvben, see: "épül".

It could be written about the bureaucratic language, e.g.: Az összeg befizetésre került, etc.

comment by jzsuzsi:

I collected some pairs.
Even though most of them are not in the ul - ít form.

intransitive	intransitive	transitive	transitive
Hu	En	Hu	En
fekszik	lie	fektet	lay
áll	stand	állít	set up
megáll	stop	megállít	stop (something)
ül	sit	ültet	plant
kezdődik	start	kezd	start (something)
indul	start	indít	start (something)
megijed	get frightened	megijeszt	frighten
fordul	turn	fordít	turn (something)
csökken	decrease	csökkent	decrease
növekedik, nő	increase	növel	increase
készül	get made	készít	make
alakul	be formed	alakít	form something
épül	be built	épít	build something
emelkedik	ascend	emel	raise

comment by MrtonPolgr:

nő and növeszt as in grow/grow something as well. ;)