Tag Archives: hungarian grammar

Vocabulary – otthon or itthon / haza vs. haza

The English title could be just: HOME

In Hungarian there is a slight difference between being at home and being at home. First let’s see itthon and otthon.

itt = here
ott = there
hon = native land (OR home in this case)

Let’s imagine this situation. You’re at home and you’re talking to your friend over phone saying:

I’m not in the shop. I’m at home.
Nem a boltban vagyok . Itthon vagyok.

You say itthon because you’re in your own house/flat. You’re here in your home. Do I make myself clear? I hope so 🙂

I’m at home in two minutes.
Két perc múlva otthon vagyok.

You say otthon because you talk about your home as a place which is far away from you. You’re not there yet.

So the rule is: if you’re at home, you say itthon. If you’re not at home, you just talk about it, you say otthon.

By the way, the word hon is used in this compound word: homepage = honlap 🙂

And what about haza?

This word is a noun and an adverb in one. As a noun it means: native land. As an adverb it means home as towards home. You use it in this case:

Hazamegyek. – I’m going home.
Te is hazajössz? – Are you coming home, too?

And as an adverb used with a verb, it is a verbal prefix, so the rules are valid for haza, as well.

Hazamegy. – She’s going home.
Menj haza! – Go home.
Nem megyek haza. – I’m not going home.

Normally, you write it together with the verb. But it is separated from the verb when in negation and imperative mood.

Summary:

itthon = at home (I’m at home already)
otthon = at home (I talk about my home)
haza = home (I’m going home)

And let’s see some examples for using them as a noun:

Ez az én otthonom. – This is my home.
Ez az én hazám. – This is my native land.

So otthon as a noun is used when you say home as a noun in English!

AND!

ház = house > házam = my house
haza = native land > hazám = my native land.

Easy, isn’t it? 🙂

Suffixes / Adverbs of Place – Different Point of View

DIFFERENT POINT OF VIEW

Foreign students have to be careful how to translate certain suffixes in English. The use of Hungarian suffixes often differs from that of English prepositions. In the following examples you see the Hungarian sentence first, then the English translation and then the exact translation from Hungarian. Examples:

Az egyetemen vagyok. – I’m at the university.
I’m on the university.

Iskolában vagyok. – I’m at school.
I’m in school.

Az állomáson vagyok – I’m at the station.
I’m on the station.

Az egyetemre megyek. – I’m going to the university.
I’m going onto the university.

Iskolába megyek. – I’m going to school.
I’m going into school.

Az állomásra megyek. – I’m going to the station.
I’m going onto the station.

A villamosra szállok. – I’m getting on the tram.
I’m getting onto the tram.

Az egyetemről jövök. – I’m coming from the university.
I’m coming from the university.

Az iskolából jövök. – I’m coming from school.
I’m coming from school.

Az állomásról jövök. – I’m coming from the station.
I’m coming from the station.

A villamosról leszállok. – I’m getting off the tram.
I’m getting from the tram.

Hungarian people go on the surface of the station, inside the school in a more proper sense. Basically, what you should do is thinking in a literal sense:

If I go to school, I have to go inside the building in order to be in school. So I use the suffixes -ban, -ben (in). If I go to the station, and I’m at the station already, I must have stepped onto the surface of the station to be on the station, so I use and -on, -en, -ön (on).

Sorry for this circumlocutional explanation, but what I’m trying to say is:

Think logically

Of course, a language wouldn’t be a language without exceptions and irregularities, so the general rule above isn’t always true. You can see an example for that right above in those sentences.

Egyetemre megyek.

A university must be a building, so I should go inside the building. How can Hungarian people ”go onto the university”? Well, it is an exception. To make it simple for you, here’s a small list of places you have to use -ra, -re with, instead of -ba, -be. And so if you ARE at those places, the suffixes are -on, -en, -ön.

egyetem (university), főiskola (college), posta (post office), rendőrség (police), tűzoltóság (fire department), állomás (station)

Postára megyek. – I’m going to the post office.
A postán vagyok. – I am in the post office.

A rendőrségre megy. – He’s going to the police.
A rendőrségen van. – He’s at the police.

Beside those words up there, there are some more exceptions, but those have something to do with countries. That’s going to be our next topic.

In the meantime, practise using the suffixes we’ve learned.

SUMMARY

Grouping suffixes according to position:

Inside: -ba, -be, -ban, -ben, -ból, -ből
On the surface: -ra, -re, -n, -on, -en, -ön, -ról, -ről
Near, next to: -hoz, -hez, -höz, -nál, -nél, -tól, -től

Grouping suffixes according to direction:

Towards: -ba, -be; -ra, -re; -hoz, -hez, -höz
Position: -ban, -ben; -n, -on, -en, -ön; -nál, -nél
Away from: -ból, -ből; -ról, -ről; -tól, -től

Suffixes / Adverbs of Place – Occurrences Next To An Object

OCCURRENCE NEXT TO AN OBJECT

Generally speaking, these suffixes can be expressed with the English adverbs next to sg, near sg, beside sg. Watch the examples!

Hol? = -nál, -nél (> by, at, next to)
Hova? = -hoz, -hez, -höz (> to, towards)
Honnan? = -tól, -től (> from, from the vicinity of)

Examples for deep and high words:

a háznál – next to the house
a házhoz – to(wards) the house
a háztól – from the house

a kertésznél – at the gardener’s place
a kertészhez – to the gardener
a kertésztől – from the gardener

English is more complicated when Hungarian simply says -nál, -nél. Compare:

Az ügyvédnél vagyok. – I’m at the lawyer’s place.
A barátomnál vagyok. – I’m at my friend’s place. / I’m with my friend.

The vowels a, e become á, é in those words: fa, gereblye

a fánál – next to the tree
a fához – to the tree
a fától – from the tree

a gereblyénél – next to/by the rake
a gereblyéhez – to the rake
a gereblyétől – from the rake

Examples in sentences:

A háznál állok. – I’m standing by/next to the house.
A házhoz megyek. – I’m going to the house.
A háztól eljövök. – I’m coming from the house.

A kertésznél vagyok. – I’m with the gardener/at the gardener’s place.
A kertészhez megyek. – I’m going to the gardener.
A kertésztől jövök. – I’m coming from the gardener.

A fánál piknikezünk. – We’re doing a picnic by the tree.
A fához fut. – He runs up to the tree.
A fától elfut a bogár. – The bug runs away from the tree.

A gereblyénél vakond túr. – The mole digs near the rake.
A gereblyéhez fut a vakond. – The mole runs up to the rake.
A gereblyétől menekül a vakond. – The mole runs away from the rake.

The difference between -nál, -nél and -hoz, -hez, -höz:

Az orvosnál vagyok. – I’m with the doctor/at the doctor‘s place.
Az orvoshoz megyek. – I’m going to the doctor.

Summary for suffixes near the object:
-hoz, -hez, -höz = towards a direction
-nál, -nél = position > something is to be found somewhere
-tól, -től = from a direction

More next time. See ya 🙂

Suffixes / Adverbs of Place – Occurrences On The Surface of An Object

OCCURRENCE ON THE SURFACE OF AN OBJECT

The suffixes are:

Hol? = -n, -on, -en, -ön (> on, at)
Hova? = -ra, -re (> onto, to)
Honnan? = -ról, -ről (> from, from the surface of)

Examples for deep and high words:

az asztalon – on the table
az asztalra – onto the table
az asztalról – from the table

a széken – on the chair
a székre – onto the chair
a székről – from the chair

Like in the previous case, these can agree with different English prepositions. Understanding the Hungarian point of view is the only help you can count on. However, like I said before, once understood, you’ll see it’s absolutely logical. The suffix -n is used with words in a vowel.

The vowels a, e become á, é in those words: fa, gereblye

a fán – on the tree
a fára – onto the tree
a fáról – from the tree

a gereblyén – on the rake
a gereblyére – onto the rake
a gereblyéről – from the rake

Examples in sentences:

Az asztalon van a toll. – The pen is on the table.
Az asztalra teszem a tollat. – I’ll put the pen on(to) the table.
Az asztalról leesik a toll. – The pen falls from the table.

A széken van a táska. – The bag is on the chair.
A székre teszem a táskát. – I’ll put the bag on(to) the chair.
A székről leesik a táska. – The bag falls from the chair.

A fán énekel a madár. – The bird is singing on the tree.
A fára száll a madár. – The bird flies on(to) the tree.
A fáról elrepül a madár. – The bird flies away from the tree.

A gereblyén tücsök ciripel. – A cricket’s chirping on the rake.
A gereblyére tücsök ugrik. – A cricket jumps on(to) the rake.
A gereblyéről leugrik a tücsök. – The cricket jumps from the rake.

The difference between -ra, -re and -n, -on, -en, -ön:

Felmászok a hegyre. – I climb up (to) the mountain.
A hegyen sétálok. – I’m walking on the mountain.

Summary for suffixes on the surface of an object:
-ra, -re = towards a direction
-n, -on, -en, -ön = position > something is to be found somewhere
-ról, -ről = from a direction

So far you know these suffixes:
-ba, -be = into
-ban, -ben = in
-ból, -ből = from (inside)
-ra, -re = onto
-n, -on, -en, -ön = on
-ról, -ről = from (the surface of)

As you see some suffixes have two versions for high and deep, some have three. Learn the suffixes as you see here. There is no ö version (-bön) for -ban, -ben or an a version (-bal) for -ból, -ből. They have to be memorized as they are. For example -ből is used for standard high words and words having ö ő ü ű. However, -en is for standard high words, -ön is for high words containing ö ő ü ű. And so on…

What I mean by that is: DON’T INVENT SUFFIXES JUST BECAUSE IT WOULD AGREE WITH VOWEL HARMONY. There are only the versions you see here.

More next time. Bye now 🙂

Suffixes / Adverbs of Place – Occurrence Inside An Object

OCCURRENCE INSIDE AN OBJECT

The suffixes that refer to inside are:

Hol? = -ban, -ben (> in, at)
Hova? = -ba, -be (> in, into, to)
Honnan? = -ból, -ből (> from, from inside)

Examples for deep and high words:

a várban – in the castle
a várba – into the castle
a várból – from the castle

a fűben – in the grass
a fűbe – into the grass
a fűből – from the grass

The vowels a, e become á, é when these suffixes are attached to such a noun. Remember? The vowels a, e in an open syllable become á, é in plural and that’s true for these nouns, too: iskola, medence

az iskolában – at school
az iskolába – to school
az iskolából – from school

a medencében – in the pool
a medencébe – into the pool
a medencéből – from the pool

In fact, Hungarian is more logical in this respect compared to Germanic or Indo-European languages. When you have understood the Hungarian point of view, you’ll think that, too. 🙂

Examples in sentences:

A király a várban van. – The king is in the castle.
Bemegyek a várba. – I go into the castle.
Kijövök a várból. – I come out from the castle.

A nyúl a fűben alszik. – The bunny sleeps in the grass.
A nyúl a fűbe ugrik. – The bunny jumps into the grass.
A nyúl kiszalad a fűből. – The bunny runs out from the grass.

Tanulni lehet az iskolában. – You can learn at school.
Kedden megyek iskolába. – On Tuesday I go to school.
Kijövök az iskolából. – I come out from school.

A medencében úszok. – I swim in the pool.
A medencébe ugrok. – I jump into the pool.
A medencéből kiabálok. – I shout from the pool.

I know some sentences seem clumsy, but I think you got my point. And I also know that Present Simple Continuous would be more suitable in some sentences above, but there is not much space to write a longer line on this blog. 🙂

Some examples with questions:

–Hol van most? – A boltban. / Az erdőben.
–Where is he now? –In the shop. / In the forest.

–Hova megy? -A boltba. / Az erdőbe.
–Where is he going? –To the shop. / To the forest.

–Honnan jön? -A boltból. / Az erdőből.
–Where is he coming from? –From the shop. / From the forest.

NOTE! English doesn’t really ask ‘Where are you going to?’. You just say ‘Where are you going?’ without the to preposition. That’s why it’s important to be careful. The English question Where? means Hol? and Hova? at the same time.

In English the difference between -ba, -be and -ban, -ben is not always visible because both can be just translated with the in preposition sometimes. The following examples will surely help you.

Moziba megyek. – I’m going to the cinema.
Moziban vagyok. – I am in the cinema.

Summary for suffixes refering to inside:
-ba, -be = towards a direction
-ban, -ben = position > something is to be found somewhere
-ból, -ből = from a direction

This will be important for learning the other suffixes to express directions!

Suffixes / Adverbs of Place – Introduction

ADVERBS OF PLACE

Hungarian adverbs of place can be divided into four groups:

-occurrence inside an object
-occurrence on the surface of an object
-occurrence next to an object
-occurrence in a wider area (postpositions)

The fourth group contains the majority of the adverbs of place because the occurrences in the other three are restricted to a specific direction.

It’s important to remember that Hungarian uses suffixes, endings and postpositions instead of prepositions. That is, suffixes behave according to vowel harmony: high-vowel words take high-vowel suffixes, deep-vowel words take deep-vowel suffixes.

That being said, one should start learning the interrogative words relative to these adverbs. Here they are:

Hol? – Where?
Hova? – Where to?
Honnan? – Where from?

Hungarian has three different words for getting information about a specific direction. It is called irányhármasság, that is the three directions phenomenon. Think of the spanish interrogative words Dónde? A dónde? De dónde?

And another thing! Hova? can also have the form Hová? in which the á vowel is at the end of the word instead of the a vowel. Doesn’t matter which you use!

Next time we jump into the occurrences! Be prepared. It is an extensive topic. 🙂

Modal Verbs / muszáj, szükséges, tilos

MUSZÁJ = MUST, HAVE TO

It expresses absolute necessity.

Present tense: muszáj
Past tense: muszáj volt
Future tense: muszáj lesz
Present conditional: muszáj volna/lenne
Past conditional: muszáj lett volna

Examples:

Muszáj elmennünk úszni.
We must go swimming.

Muszáj volt elmennünk úszni.
We had to go swimming.

Muszáj lesz elmennünk úszni.
We’ll have to go swimming.

Muszáj lenne elmennünk úszni.
It would be a must for us to go swimming.

Muszáj lett volna elmennünk úszni.
It would’ve been a must for us to go swimming.

Muszáj meghívni őket?
Do we have to invite them?

Nem lett volna muszáj kiabálnod.
It wasn’t necessary to shout.

Muszáj a múzeumban lennünk egyre!
It is a must that we be at the museum by one o’clock!

-Írd meg a leckédet! –Muszáj?
Write your homework. –Do I have to?

NEGATION OF MUSZÁJ

nem muszáj = don’t have to, don’t need to

Nem muszáj itt maradnod.
It’s not necessary for you to stay.

Nem volt muszáj megbántani.
There was no need to offend him.

SZÜKSÉGES = NECESSARY

It is more used in subordinate hogy-clauses, rather than with infinitives!

Szükséges volt, hogy megtaláljunk (téged).
It was necessary for us to find you.

Formation:

Present tense: szükséges
Past tense: szükséges volt
Future tense: szükséges lesz
Present conditional: szükséges volna/lenne
Past conditional: szükséges lett volna

Other use:

Szerződés(ek) is szükséges(ek) hozzá.
A contract/contracts is/are needed to do it.

The negation is: nem szükséges = not necessary

TILOS = FORBIDDEN, PROHIBITED, MUST NOT

It expresses: prohibition

Present tense: tilos
Past tense: tilos volt
Future tense: tilos lesz
Present conditional: tilos volna/lenne
Past conditional: tilos lett volna

Examples:

A fűre lépni tilos!
Keep off the grass.

Dohányozni tilos!
No smoking.

Tilos tüntetni a téren.
Demonstrations are interdicted on the square.

Nem tilos véleményt mondani.
It is not prohibited to tell your opinion.

Other words expressing some kind of interdict:

betilt vmt – to ban sg
kitilt vkt vhonnan – to warn off sy from swhere
letiltja vknek a fizetését – to stop one’s payment
tiltakozik vm ellen – to protest against sg

You can also say nem szabad instead of tilos.

Nem szabad embert ölni. – You must not kill people.

WE’RE DONE WITH MODAL VERBS!

Next time I’m starting the suffixes. I think it’s time 🙂

Modal Verbs / kellene

KELLENE = SHOULD

This verb is the 3rd PS indefinite conditional form of kell. It expresses: should.

Present tense: kellene (3rd PS), kellenének (3rd PP)
Past tense: kellett volna (3rd PS), kellettek volna (3rd PP)
Future tense: kellene majd (3rd PS), kellenének majd (3rd PP)

The colloquial form is: kéne. It can be heard more often in everyday conversations.

Examples:

El kellene mennünk úszni.
We should go swimming.

El kellett volna mennünk úszni.
We should have gone swimming.

Nem kéne már itt lenniük?
Shouldn’t they be here by now?

Nem kellett volna már ott lenniük?
Shouldn’t they have been there by now?

Majd a múzeumnál kellene lennünk háromra!
We should be at the museum by three!

NEGATION OF KELL AND KELLENE

If you deny kell, you just add nem: nem kell. But be careful with it. It cannot be translated as must not. ‘Must not’ means tilos = forbidden (more about that later). So you can say in English:

nem kell = don’t have to, don’t need to, needn’t

Nem kell sehova mennem.
I don’t have to go anywhere.

Nem kellett új bankszámlát nyitnod.
You didn’t have to open a new bank account.
You didn’t need to open a new bank account.

As for kellene = should, you say: nem kellene = shouldn’t

Ma sehova nem kellene mennem, de én kirándulok egyet.
Today I don’t need to go anywhere, but I’ll make an excursion.

Nem kellett volna új bankszámlát nyitnod.
You shouldn’t have opened a new bank account.
You didn’t need to open a new bank account.

In English, there is some difference between don’t have to, don’t need to, needn’t, shouldn’t. For Hungarian people it is just nem kell or nem kellene. The rest can be understood from the context.

OTHER USES FOR KELL AND KELLENE

You can use kell/kellene not only as modal verbs, but also as main verbs. In this case, they can be translated as:

to need

and it requires -nak, -nek to express a person/thing needs something.

Nem kellenének a füzetek? – Don’t you need the notebooks?
Kellettek ezek a tollak? – Did you need this pen?
Kellenének az iratok, de azonnal! – I need the documents right now!
Ha gazdag lennél, se kellennél nekem. – Even if you were rich, I wouldn’t want you.
Kinek kell ez a sok pénz? – Who wants that much money?
Mindenkinek kell egy kis sikerélmény. – Everyone needs a little success.

NOTE! The future tense for kell as modal verb is: kell majd. You can’t say kelleni fog in that case. However, as a main verb, it can have the future tense with fog or with majd: kelleni fog, kell majd. You choose.

Kelleni fog nekik az autó? – Will they need the car?
Kell majd nekik az autó? – Will they need the car?

Of course, if there is one thing you need, you say KELL. For more than one thing KELLENEK is used.

Next time we’re talking about muszáj and tilos. Bye! 🙂

Modal Verbs / kell

KELL = HAVE TO, MUST, NEED TO

If it takes the infinitive form, then it is a general reference to someone, something. If it takes the infinitive with personal suffixes, it specifically refers to someone, something. Anyway, it expresses obligation.

Formation: This verb may require the dative pronouns, but it is not mandatory. It takes the main verb in its infinitive form either with personal suffixes or not:

 NEKEM + KELL + INFINITIVE VERB

 Present: kell Past: kellett Future: kell majd

PRESENT
Ennyi munka után enni kell.
After so much work one has to eat.
Ennyi munka után enned kell.
After so much work you have to eat.

PAST
Ennyi munka után enni kellett.
After so much work one had to eat.
Ennyi munka után enned kellett.
After so much work you had to eat.

FUTURE
Ennyi munka után enni kell majd.
After so much work one will have to eat.
Ennyi munka után enned kell majd.
After so much work you will have to eat.

See the difference? If there’s a simple infinitive of the main verb, it refers to something generally. With an infinitive conjugated, it refers to something/somebody specifically. I know I keep saying the same, but I think it is important.

Look at the diversity of the English use when it comes to obligation:

Tudnom kell. – I need to know.
Mennem kell. – I must go.
Enned kell valamit. – You should eat something.

Korán kell kelnünk, hogy el ne késsünk.
We have to get up early so that we’re not late.

NOTE! It’s important that you don’t conjugate kell like in English. You conjugate the infinitive of the main verb and leave kell as it is.

If you talk about a specific person or thing, you have to use the suffixes -nak, -nek! Example:

A barátomnak tízkor meg kell érkeznie.
My friend should arrive at ten.

Ahogy látom, a kutyának sürgősen orvoshoz kell mennie.
As I see, the dog must go to a doctor urgently.

I didn’t mention the conditional form of kell because it is translated with should in English. More about that next time.

Modal Verbs / More About Lehet

We’ve seen how lehet takes the infinitive when talking about general statements.

Le lehet ülni a padra is .
One can sit down on the bench, too.

What if you want to specify the person with lehet? Then you can do this:

To specify the person, you should use something you already know: -hat, -het.

Leülhetek a padra. – I can/may sit down on the bench.
Leülhetünk a padra. – We can/may sit down on the bench.

However, lehet has another function, as well. It has a meaning equal to maybe, perhaps. It is expressed with hogy-clauses. The conjunction hogy is equal to the English that.

Lehet, hogy később kelek fel.
Maybe I’ll get up later.

Lehet, hogy nincs otthon.
Perhaps he’s not at home.

The synonyms are: talán (which really means maybe) and lehetséges, hogy (possible)

Talán nincs otthon. – Maybe he‘s not at home.
Lehetséges, hogy nincs otthon. – It is possible that he‘s not at home.

If you deny lehet, hogy it simply becomes: nem lehet, hogy. Take a look at these sentences:

Nem lehet, hogy otthon van.
It is not possible that he’s at home.

Nem lehet, hogy nincs otthon.
It is not possible that he‘s not at home.

NOTE! Since talán literally means maybe, perhaps, it doesn’t require hogy. And so it is simply denied like this:

Talán nem/nincs…

Talán nem tud róla.
Maybe he doesn’t know about it.

Talán nincs Internet a munkahelyén, és ezért nem írt.
Maybe there’s no Internet where he works and that’s why he didn’t write.

So far we’ve been talking about modal verbs that express permission, possibility. Next time we’ll deal with kell, kellene.

Bye now 🙂