Page:Simplified grammar of the Hungarian language.djvu/47

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THE PRONOUN.
35

The attributive pronouns are only then written out, when they stand as subjects with the verb van, and are then to be translated into English with the nominative (I, thou, he, &c.) and the verb, "to have": neken van, I have; neked van, thou hast, &c.

Note.—To understand thoroughly the use of this pronoun, the student is requested to read over once more the passage in which the attributive case of the substantive has been explained (p. 9). There a distinction has been made between its being "attributive" or "subjective." According to this distinction we might express the rules given above thus: The attributive pronoun is always used in its inflected form (nekem, neked, &c.) when standing as subjective; and not written out at all, or only in its uninflected form (én, te, ő, &c.) if standing as attribute.

The genitive, or the second form of the possessive pronouns, is: enyém, mine; tied, thine; övé, his; mienk, ours; tietek, yours; övék, theirs. This pronoun is in every respect of the same nature as the genitive case of the substantive, being, like this, a contraction of both possessor and object possessed. On examining them closer, we find that they are formed—with a very slight modification—of these two elements, viz., the personal pronoun as possessor; and the suffixes of the objective case as thing possessed. For instance: