# azért
## Hungarian
### Etymology

Lexicalization of az (“that, it”) +‎ -ért (causal-final case suffix).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: [ˈɒzeːrt]
* Audio:(file)
* Hyphenation: azért
* Rhymes: -eːrt

### Pronoun

azért
* causal-final singular of az
    Hálás vagyok azért, amit mondtál nekem. ― I am grateful for what you told me. (literally, “…for that which…”)

### Determiner

azért
* causal-final singular of az
    Nem vagyok felelős azért az emberért. ― I am not responsible for that man.

### Adverb

azért (not comparable)
* (with focus, construed with mert (“because”)) for that reason, the reason (for/why…) is (that)…, because (before a clause of cause)
    Synonyms: amiatt, azon oknál fogva
    Azért jöttem, mert meghívtál. ― I have come because you invited me (literally, “The reason why I came is that you invited me.”)
* (with focus, construed with hogy (“that”)) so as to…, in order to…, so that…, in order that… (before a clause of purpose)
    Synonym: abból a célból
    Azért suttogtam, hogy ne ébredjenek fel. ― I whispered so that they shouldn’t wake up.
* (without focus, often construed with de (“but”)) even so, anyway, regardless, all the same, though (at the end of a sentence), nonetheless, notwithstanding, in any case, at any rate (usually after an explicit or implicit concessive clause)
    Synonyms: attól még, attól, ennek ellenére, ezzel együtt, ettől függetlenül, mindamellett, mindemellett, mindazonáltal, mégis, mégiscsak
    Tudom, hogy nincs születésnapja, de azért vihetnél neki virágot.I know it’s not her birthday but you could (still) bring her a flower all the same.
    Ezt azért nem kellett volna mondanod. ― Nevertheless, you shouldn’t have said that. [i.e. “I know you are angry, but…”, an implicit concessive clause)
    Azért köszönöm, hogy megpróbáltad. ― Thanks for trying, though. [i.e. “Even if you didn't succeed, but…”, an implicit concessive clause)

#### Usage notes

* As shown in the first example, sometimes there is no direct equivalent to azért in English, especially if it expresses the cause, so only the subsequent mert can be translated, or the reason can be emphasized in English.
* If azért is not in the syntactic focus position in the sentence (that is, if it does not directly precede the predicate), its meaning is entirely different, as given above in the third sense. It is also pronounced with a different intonation (starting from low pitch, then slightly raising, as opposed to the other two meanings, expressing cause or purpose, which start from a high pitch and then fall).

### See also

$^1$Ő and őt refer to human beings; the forms below them might be construed likewise. Forms in parentheses are uncommon. All Hungarian pronouns /
$^1$ Semhogy and semmint are conjunctions meaning “(rather) than”, “before” (as in inkább meghal, semhogy… ― he'll rather die than…). $^2$ Valamint is now only used in the sense of “as well as” in enumerations. $^3$ Mindeddig/-addig mean “up until this/that point” (= egészen eddig/addig). Csak following relative pronouns expresses “-ever”, e.g. aki csak (“whoever”); is after “any” pronouns emphasizes “no matter”: akármit is (“no matter what”).

### References

* ↑ azért in Zaicz, Gábor (ed.). Etimológiai szótár: Magyar szavak és toldalékok eredete (‘Dictionary of Etymology: The origin of Hungarian words and affixes’). Budapest: Tinta Könyvkiadó, 2006, →ISBN. (See also its 2nd edition.)

### Further reading

* azért in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh. A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára (“The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language”, abbr.: ÉrtSz.). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN
* azért in Nóra Ittzés, editor, A magyar nyelv nagyszótára [A Comprehensive Dictionary of the Hungarian Language] (Nszt.), Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 2006–2031 (work in progress; published a–ez as of 2024).