Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [i]
Rhymes: -i

Etymology 1

Adjective-forming suffix.

Suffix

-i

(adjective-forming suffix) Added to proper nouns, certain common nouns and postpositions to form adjectives:
1. names of places (toponyms)
  ‎Amerika (“America”) + ‎-i → ‎amerikai (“American”)
2. names of people (anthroponyms, thus eponyms)
  ‎Freud (“Freud”) + ‎-i → ‎freudi (“Freudian”)
3. certain common nouns
  ‎város (“city”) + ‎-i → ‎városi (“urban”)
  
  ‎kémia (“chemistry”) + ‎-i → ‎kémiai (“chemical”)
4. postpositions (as part of the phrase in which they occur)
  ‎az ablak alatt (“under the window”) + ‎-i → ‎az ablak alatti szék (“the chair under the window”)

Usage notes

Final -o and -ö (which only occur in non-Hungarian words) change to -ó and -ő.^[1]
Oslo → oslói (“Oslovian”)

Malmö → malmői (“Malmö-based”)

Victor Hugo → Victor Hugó-i (“Hugolian, Hugonian, Hugoesque”)
If the suffix -i were to follow word-final -i, only one is retained (so one needs to know the original form).^[2]^[3]
Helsinki → helsinki (“Helsinkian”)

Zamárdi (a town in Somogy County, Hungary) → zamárdi (“from Zamárdi”, in theory, it could also derive from a non-existent *Zamárd)
The other word-final short vowels (a, e, u, ü) remain unchanged (just like long ones and consonants).
Prága (“Prague”) → prágai (“Praguian”)

Goethe → goethei (“Goethean”)

Peru → perui (“Peruvian”)

Öskü (a village in Veszprém County, Hungary) → ösküi (“from Öskü”)

The fact that word-final a and e remain short before the adjective-forming -i often becomes distinctive against the multiple-possession possessives of words that end in a and e, e.g. formai (“formal”) and formái (“his/her/its forms”) or megyei (“county-level”) and megyéi (“his/her/its counties”).

Names with a fleeting vowel: Eger → egri, as well as names ending in -halom, e.g. Szigethalom → szigethalmi.
Names ending in -falu (e.g. Leányfalu) may be suffixed in three ways: The official way is retaining the full form, e.g. leányfalui; in the vernacular, leányfalusi may be heard; and forms like leányfalvi are increasingly rare.^[4]
Names ending in a possessive suffix such as -falva, -halma, -háza, -földe (outside elements of proper names: földje), -telke: Official usage increasingly prefers retaining the whole name (e.g. nyíregyházai from Nyíregyháza), though in common parlance the word-final a and e tend to be dropped (e.g. nyíregyházi). The drawback of the latter is that the original form cannot be established (as nyíregyházi could theoretically derive from a non-existent *Nyíregyház).^[4]
For non–proper noun elements with a possessive suffix, native speakers often have a hard time trying to add this suffix, e.g. whether the last element of (Erzsébet királyné) útja and (Örs vezér) tere should become úti and téri (losing the mark of the possessive) or útjai and terei (having an ambiguous sense, primarily used for multiple possessions). As a rule of thumb, the former solution may be preferable.^[4]

Etymology 2

Possessive plural.

Suffix

-i

possessive suffix for multiple possessions
1. (with no noun for possessor) his, her, its ……-s (third-person singular; the pronoun ő (“s/he”) being optional for emphasis)
  kapu (“gate”) → a kapui (“his/her/its gates”), az ő kapui (“his/her gates”)
  
  érme (“coin”) → az érméi (“his/her/its coins”), az ő érméi (“his/her coins”)
2. (with no noun for possessor, formal) your ……-s (second-person singular, grammatically resembling the third person sg.)
  kapu (“gate”) → a kapui (“your [formal] gates”), az ön kapui, a maga kapui (“your [formal] gates”)
3. construed with a noun or certain pronouns as the possessor: ……’s ……-s, ……-s of …… (third-person sg. or pl., depending on the noun or pronoun)
  az ember(nek a) kapui ― the person’s gates
  
  a gyerek(nek az) érméi ― the child’s coins
  
  az emberek(nek a) kapui ― the people’s gates
  
  a gyerekek(nek az) érméi ― the children’s coins
  
  az önök kapui, a maguk kapui ― your (plural, formal) gates
  
  azok(nak a) kapui ― the gates of those
  
  ki(k)nek az érméi? ― whose coins?

Usage notes

(possessive suffix) Variants:
-i is added to words ending in a vowel except -i. Final -a changes to -á-; final -e changes to -é-. The latter feature distinguishes it from the -i (adjective-forming suffix), which does not lengthen the preceding -a/-e.

-ai is added to some back-vowel words ending in a consonant

-ei is added to some front-vowel words ending in a consonant

-jai is added to some back-vowel words ending in a consonant or the vowel -i

-jei is added to some front-vowel words ending in a consonant or the vowel -i
- If the possessed noun is in the plural and the possessor is expressed in English with a possessive pronoun only (rather than a noun), e.g. “their toys” (as opposed to “the children’s toys”), the -ik/-aik/-eik/-jaik/-jeik suffixes are required in Hungarian.

Etymology 3

Personal suffix.

Suffix

-i

(personal suffix) Forms the definite third-person singular present tense of verbs (indicative mood).
‎kér (“to request”) + ‎-i → ‎kéri (“he/she asks him/her or for that thing, he/she is asking him/her or for that thing”)

Usage notes

(personal suffix) See harmonic variants in the table below.

More information Person, Back vowel ...

Person		Back vowel	Front vowel
Person		Back vowel	unrounded	rounded
én	1st person singular	-om	-em	-öm
te	2nd person singular	-od	-ed	-öd
ő maga ön	3rd person singular or formal 2nd person singular	-ja	-i
mi	1st person plural	-juk	-jük
ti	2nd person plural	-játok	-itek
ők maguk önök	3rd person plural or formal 2nd person plural	-ják	-ik
See also: present-tense indefinite-object suffixes and second-person-object suffixes for informal addressing.

Close

Present tense definite – personal endings

Etymology 4

Diminutive suffix.

Suffix

-i

(diminutive suffix) Added to nouns or their clipped form; mostly used by the younger generation or in informal conversations.
fagylalt → fagyi (“ice cream”)

Etymology 5

See -e.

Suffix

-i

(dialectal, except for some set forms) Alternative form of -e (third-person singular single-possession possessive suffix)
se szeri, se száma ― (instead of szere)^[5]
(dialectal, except for some set forms) Alternative form of -é (combining form of the above)
íziben a mindenit töviről hegyire jószerivel frissiben dögivel bőviben sebtiben felibe/fölibe köribe közibe ― (instead of standard ízében, a mindenét, tövéről hegyére, jószerével, frissében (uncommon), dögével (uncommon), bővében, sebtében, felébe/fölébe, körébe/köréje, közébe/közéje/közé)^[5]

See also

References

[1]
Section 216 in A magyar helyesírás szabályai, 12. kiadás (’The Rules of Hungarian Orthography, 12th edition’). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 2015. →ISBN
[2]
Section 173 in A magyar helyesírás szabályai, 12. kiadás (’The Rules of Hungarian Orthography, 12th edition’). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 2015. →ISBN
[3]
Section 215 in A magyar helyesírás szabályai, 12. kiadás (’The Rules of Hungarian Orthography, 12th edition’). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 2015. →ISBN
[4]
Grétsy, László and Gábor Kemény, editors. Nyelvművelő kéziszótár (“Concise Dictionary for Language Cultivation”). Second, revised and extended edition. Budapest: Tinta Könyvkiadó, 2005. →ISBN
[5]
birtokos személyjelek alaki változatai [“form variants of possessive suffixes”] in Grétsy, László and Gábor Kemény, editors. Nyelvművelő kéziszótár (“Concise Dictionary for Language Cultivation”). Second, revised and extended edition. Budapest: Tinta Könyvkiadó, 2005. →ISBN