Is önök the formal plural pronoun? Or if not, what is it?
Hi,

I'm a beginner, having done 3 Hungarian lessons so far. I came across the following short sentence in an exercise I'm working on: "Önök is jól vannak?"

My table that shows the pronouns and conjugation of "lenni" doesn't include "önök", just én vagyok, te vagy, ő van, mi vagyunk, ti vagytok and ők vannak. It also includes the following note: There is also a personal pronoun 'maga' and its plural form 'maguk' which are the formal, or polite form of 'you'. They use the 3rd person verb forms.

"önök" means "you" when I look it up and it's using the 3rd person plural verb form. Is it equivalent to "maguk"?

Question

Is önök the formal plural pronoun?  Or if not, what is it?
Hi,

I'm a beginner, having done 3 Hungarian lessons so far.   I came across the following short sentence in an exercise I'm working on:  "Önök is jól vannak?"

My table that shows the pronouns and conjugation of "lenni" doesn't include "önök", just én vagyok, te vagy,  ő van, mi vagyunk, ti vagytok and ők vannak.  It also includes the following note:   There is also a personal pronoun 'maga' and its plural form 'maguk' which are the formal, or polite form of 'you'. They use the 3rd person verb forms.

"önök" means "you" when I look it up and it's using the 3rd person plural verb form. Is it equivalent to "maguk"?

Answer

Hi Nora - Yes, you are correct.  Here is how I think about it....  YOU singular can be te, ön, or maga - that is informal singular, formal polite singular, and informal, polite singular.  You would use ön in official situations, or for formal address to an officer, etc.  You would use maga for talking politely with a neighbor, or an older person, but nothing official.

YOU ALL (you in the plural form) can be ti, önök, or maguk - that is, informal plural 'you all', önök for polite plural, formal, and maguk for polite, informal situations.

Then, you just need to remember that ő, ön, and maga all have the same form (3rd person singular verb conjugation), and ők, önök and maguk all have the same form (3rd person plural verb conjugation). It's a little bit strange because you are saying 'you all' politely (formal or informal), but using the 'they' verb conjugation (3rd person plural), instead of the 'you all' ti form.

Hope that helps!

Answer

and the sentence - Önök is jól vannak? - means 'Are you all well, too?' (as in, we are all well....and you?)

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