Usage of adverbials ending in -é

[Lazar_Bgd]

Hi Everyone!

My question is about adverbials that end in –é and that are in comparative degree, like ‘többé’ and ‘kevésbé’. For example: ‘Laci nem él itt többé’. Why is it not possible to say here: ’Laci nem él itt többet’...?

Also, in the following example: ’Nekem az kevésbé bonyolult’ (I find this less complicated). I would have thought that ’kevesebben’ would be right here but apparently this is correct.

When do you use the forms ending in -é as opposed to the ’normal’ ones (for lack of a better word).

Thank you!

 

[AndrasBP]

Hello Lazar,

"Többé" + "a negative verb" means "not anymore", as a time adverbial. However, in colloquial Hungarian it is often substituted by "többet". Still, "Laci nem él itt többet" sounds odd. With other verbs, it sounds better but it's hard to explain why.

Laci nem jár oda többé. - Laci doesn't go there any more. (slightly literary version)
Laci nem jár oda többet. - (more colloquial)

In your example, the most common version would leave out "többé/többet" altogether and use "lakik" instead of "él", if you mean "Laci doesn't live here (at this address) any more":
Laci már nem lakik itt.

I would have thought that ’kevesebben’ would be right here but apparently this is correct.

"Kevesebben" means "fewer people", its opposite is "többen". The endings -an/-en create a "collective numeral":

Ma kevesebben vannak, mint tegnap. = There are fewer people today than yesterday.
Tegnap többen voltak. = Yesterday there were more people.
Ketten/hárman/négyen/sokan vagyunk. = There are two/three/four/many of us.

 

[Lazar_Bgd]

Dear AndrasBP,

Thanks a lot! Now I get it. I knew that 'sokan' and 'ketten' refer to the number of people but I didn't draw a parallel with 'kevés'. It makes sense.

 

[AndrasBP]

You're welcome.

I'd like to add that "kevesen" is "few people" while "kevesebben" is "fewer people", a comparative form.

Good luck with learning Hungarian!

PS: I don't know if it's relevant to you, but Hungarian usage in Vojvodina may differ slightly from my "Budapest dialect".

 

[Lazar_Bgd]

Thank you! Yes, I know, but I am lucky to have a teacher from Budapest. Still, some questions can only be answered on a forum like this!

 

[francisgranada]

Only for curiosity: többet is grammatically the accusative of több, thus it's principally an adjective, while többé is an adverb. So I think that ’Laci nem él itt többet’ practically stands for "’Laci nem él itt több évet/napot/időt/etc ..." (Well, this comment doesn't help too much in practice, I know ....)