Subjunctive Mood in Hungarian: How to Differentiate and When to Teach it

Abstract

This paper discusses eventuality of the subjunctive/conjunctive mood in subordinate clauses in the Hungarian language. First, the subjunctive mood and its use in various Indo-European languages are briefly introduced and then it is explained why it is important to distinguish the subjunctive mood in Hungarian. The paper argues that it is inevitable to include this category in the Hungarian descriptive grammar and in the practice of teaching Hungarian as a foreign language.