-nie

From -ni (infinitive suffix) +‎ -e (third-person singular personal suffix).

• IPA^(key): [nijɛ]

-nie

1. (conjugated infinitive suffix) Forms the third-person singular and the second-person singular formal of an infinitive.

   főzni (“to cook”) → Főznie kell. ― He/she has to cook. / You (formal) have to cook.

• The conjugated infinitive denotes action connected to the person. The non-conjugated infinitive has a general meaning:

  Itt nem szabad dohányoznia. ― S/he is not allowed to smoke here. (third person)

  Itt nem szabad dohányozni. ― Smoking is not allowed here. (general)

• With words like “important, necessary” etc., it is expressed in English as “for him/her to…”.

  Fontos eljönnie. ― It is important for him/her to come here. or It is important that s/he come here.

• Variants:

  -nia is added to back-vowel words that form their infinitive with -ni

  rohanni (“to run”) → Rohannia kell. ― He/she has to run.

  -nie is added to front-vowel words that form their infinitive with -ni

  nevetni (“to laugh”) → Nevetnie kell. ― He/she has to laugh.

  főzni (“to cook”) → Főznie kell. ― He/she has to cook.

  -ania is added to back-vowel words that form their infinitive with -ani

  tanítani (“to teach”) → Tanítania kell. ― He/she has to teach.

  -enie is added to front-vowel words that form their infinitive with -eni

  veszíteni (“to lose”) → Súlyt kell veszítenie. ― He/she has to lose weight.

• Appendix:Hungarian suffixes