Template:U:hu:stimulus-subject verbs

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The subject of certain verbs is not someone who acts but a stimulus that prompts sensory or emotional feelings, like when things interest someone, matter to someone, please someone or appeal to someone. In these cases, the experiencer can take the accusative (e.g. interest) or the dative (e.g. appeal). The experiencer is expressed with the dative in the case of hiányzik (to be missing or missed by someone), ízlik (to taste good), kell (to be needed, necessary, or required), tetszik (to be appealing), and van/megvan (to be had, to be owned by someone).
If the experiencer is expressed with the accusative, third-person objects (him, her, it, or them) are considered definite, while first- and second-person objects (me, us, and you), indefinite. For example, the verb érdekel can take the definite form érdekli őt (he/she is interested, literally it interests him/her) or the indefinite form érdekel engem/​téged/​minket (I am, you are, we are interested, literally it interests me, you, us). The form érdekellek means “you are interested in me” (literally, “I interest you”). — Similar verbs include zavar (to be bothered by) and izgat (to be intrigued by).[1]

  1. ^ See also Verbs and adjectives that behave differently (in English vs. in Hungarian), Által (’By’), on the past participles derived from such verbs, On verbs of emotion, with special regard to their aspectual properties, especially the chart on page 3. In addition, see Thematic relation and Theta role in Wikipedia.