Hungarian personal pronouns
The Hungarian subject pronouns are én, te, ő, mi, ti, ők, plus formal Ön/Önök and maga. They are usually dropped because the verb ending shows the person, and in other cases they turn into case words with personal endings: engem, nekem, velem, bennem, rólam, hozzám.
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Hungarian personal pronouns work differently from English ones in two ways. Subject pronouns are usually left out, because the verb ending already names the person. And instead of "with me", "about you" or "from her", Hungarian takes the case ending itself and gives it a personal suffix: velem, rólad, tőle.
Subject pronouns
| Person | Singular | Plural | Verb form used |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | én (I) | mi (we) | 1st person |
| 2nd, informal | te (you) | ti (you all) | 2nd person |
| 2nd, formal | Ön / maga | Önök / maguk | 3rd person |
| 3rd | ő (he, she) | ők (they) | 3rd person |
Three points to notice:
- No gender. ő means both "he" and "she". Ő orvos. "He/She is a doctor." Context does the work.
- People only. ő and ők refer to people (and sometimes pets). For things, Hungarian uses the demonstrative az / azok: Hol a kulcs? Az asztalon van. "Where's the key? It's on the table." (Here the subject is simply dropped.)
- Formal "you" takes a third-person verb. Ön magyar? "Are you Hungarian?" Önök honnan jönnek? "Where are you (pl.) from?"
Pro-drop: when to say "én"
Hungarian verb endings are distinct for all six persons, so the pronoun is redundant and normally omitted:
- Magyar vagyok. I'm Hungarian.
- Budapesten lakunk. We live in Budapest.
- Beszélsz angolul? Do you speak English?
A subject pronoun is added only when it carries meaning: contrast, a change of topic, or focus.
- Én kávét kérek, ő teát. I'll have coffee, and she (will have) tea.
- Te mit csinálsz hétvégén? And what are you doing at the weekend?
- Ma én főzök. Today I'm the one cooking.
An English speaker who says Én vagyok éhes for "I'm hungry" is, in effect, saying "It's ME who is hungry". Put the pronoun in only when English would stress it. The reason is word order: a pronoun right before the verb is in the focus position (see word order and focus).
Pronouns in every case: the full table
Apart from the accusative, pronouns are not formed by adding case endings to én, te... Instead, each case ending acts as a stem and takes a personal suffix (the same suffixes used for possession): nek-em (to me), vel-ed (with you). Once you see this, the table below is regular:
| Case (meaning) | me | you (sg.) | him/her | us | you (pl.) | them |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | én | te | ő | mi | ti | ők |
| Accusative | engem | téged | őt | minket, bennünket | titeket, benneteket | őket |
| Dative -nak/-nek (to, for) | nekem | neked | neki | nekünk | nektek | nekik |
| Instrumental -val/-vel (with) | velem | veled | vele | velünk | veletek | velük |
| Causal-final -ért (for the sake of) | értem | érted | érte | értünk | értetek | értük |
| Inessive -ban/-ben (in) | bennem | benned | benne | bennünk | bennetek | bennük |
| Illative -ba/-be (into) | belém | beléd | belé | belénk | belétek | beléjük |
| Elative -ból/-ből (out of) | belőlem | belőled | belőle | belőlünk | belőletek | belőlük |
| Superessive -n (on) | rajtam | rajtad | rajta | rajtunk | rajtatok | rajtuk |
| Sublative -ra/-re (onto) | rám | rád | rá | ránk | rátok | rájuk |
| Delative -ról/-ről (off, about) | rólam | rólad | róla | rólunk | rólatok | róluk |
| Adessive -nál/-nél (at) | nálam | nálad | nála | nálunk | nálatok | náluk |
| Allative -hoz/-hez/-höz (to) | hozzám | hozzád | hozzá | hozzánk | hozzátok | hozzájuk |
| Ablative -tól/-től (from) | tőlem | tőled | tőle | tőlünk | tőletek | tőlük |
Three spelling and sound details: the inner cases use the stems benn-, belé-, belől- rather than -ban/-ba/-ból; the surface cases use rajt-/rá-/ról-; and the allative uses hozzá-. The remaining cases, such as the translative -vá/-vé, terminative -ig and essive-formal -ként, have no personal forms; Hungarian rephrases instead. For how each case is used with nouns, see Hungarian cases and local cases.
Examples in context
- Adsz nekem egy tollat? Will you give me a pen?
- Eljössz velem a moziba? Will you come to the cinema with me?
- Bízom benned. I trust you.
- Nem hiszek benne. I don't believe in it.
- Mi lett belőled? What has become of you?
- Mit gondolsz rólam? What do you think of me?
- Nincs nálam pénz. I don't have any money on me.
- Gyere hozzánk vacsorára! Come to our place for dinner!
- Kaptam tőle egy levelet. I got a letter from him/her.
- Mindent megtett értünk. He/She did everything for us.
Note: Third-person case forms are used for things as well as people: Mi van benne? "What's in it?" Ülj rá! "Sit on it!" Only the nominative ő and accusative őt are restricted to people.
Tip: értem is also the everyday word for "I understand" (from ért, to understand). Értem. "I see." Értem jött. "He came for me." Context always separates them.
Emphatic and colloquial forms
For emphasis the pronoun can be doubled in front of the case form: énnekem, teneked, őneki, minekünk, tinektek, őnekik, and likewise énvelem, teveled. In colloquial speech you will also hear engemet and tégedet for engem and téged.
Postpositions work the same way
Most postpositions take personal endings instead of a pronoun: mellettem (next to me), nélküled (without you), miatta (because of him/her), előttünk (in front of us), alattuk (under them).
Object pronouns and the verb
The accusative pronouns split into two groups for the purposes of the definite conjugation:
| Object | Verb conjugation | Example |
|---|---|---|
| engem, minket | indefinite | Péter lát engem. (Péter sees me.) |
| téged, titeket | indefinite; with an "I" subject, the special -lak/-lek form | Péter lát téged. Látlak. (I see you.) Szeretlek. (I love you.) |
| őt, őket | definite | Látom őt. (I see him/her.) |
| Önt, Önöket, magát, magukat | definite | Látom Önt. (I see you, formal.) |
The -lak/-lek ending is covered in detail on the -lak/-lek form. The object pronoun is usually dropped too: Szeretlek needs no téged, and Látom alone means "I see him/her/it".
Formal "you": Ön, maga and te
Hungarian has three levels of address, all covered in formal and informal you:
- te / ti (tegeződés): family, friends, children, most colleagues of similar age, and increasingly among young adults in general.
- Ön / Önök (önözés): polite and neutral, used in official contexts, service situations and writing. It is usually capitalised in letters and official texts. It declines like a noun: Önt, Önnek, Önnel, Önről.
- maga / maguk (magázás): also formal and very common in speech, but depending on tone and region it can sound distant or even condescending. Many speakers avoid the pronoun altogether and simply use the third-person verb: Hogy van? "How are you?"
The reflexive pronoun maga
The same word maga is also the reflexive "-self". It takes possessive endings for person, then case endings on top:
| Person | Nominative | Accusative | Dative | Inessive |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| myself | magam | magamat, magam | magamnak | magamban |
| yourself | magad | magadat, magad | magadnak | magadban |
| himself / herself | maga | magát | magának | magában |
| ourselves | magunk | magunkat | magunknak | magunkban |
| yourselves | magatok | magatokat | magatoknak | magatokban |
| themselves | maguk | magukat | maguknak | magukban |
- Megvágtam magam. I cut myself.
- Jól érzed magad? Are you feeling well? / Are you having a good time?
- Magamban beszélek. I'm talking to myself.
- Maga a főnök nyitotta ki az ajtót. The boss himself opened the door.
A reflexive object always takes the definite conjugation (érzed, vágtam as definite forms). The emphatic variant önmaga (önmagam, önmagad...) stresses "one's own self": Légy önmagad! "Be yourself!"
Watch out: magát can mean "himself/herself" or "you (formal, object)". Látom magát is "I see you" (formal); Látja magát a tükörben is "He sees himself in the mirror". The subject makes it clear.
Possessive pronouns: enyém, tiéd, övé
Standalone "mine, yours, his" are separate words. They usually take the article, and they decline like nouns (az enyémet, a tiédben). The second forms in brackets are also accepted spellings.
| Owner | One thing owned | Several things owned |
|---|---|---|
| mine | enyém | enyéim |
| yours (sg.) | tiéd (tied) | tieid |
| his / hers | övé | övéi |
| ours | miénk (mienk) | mieink |
| yours (pl.) | tiétek (tietek) | tieitek |
| theirs | övék | övéik |
| yours (formal) | Öné, Önöké | Önéi, Önökéi |
- Ez a táska az enyém. This bag is mine.
- Melyik a tiéd? Which one is yours?
- Ez nem az övé, hanem a miénk. This isn't his/hers, it's ours.
Before a noun, "my, your" is expressed by the possessive suffix, with an optional emphatic pronoun: a könyvem, az én könyvem (MY book). Careful with "their": it is az ő könyvük, with singular ő, not *az ők könyvük. See possessive suffixes.
Typical learner errors
- *énnel, *tenek: pronouns do not take ordinary case endings. Use velem, neked.
- *Látom téged → Látlak (or Látlak téged).
- *Látok őt → Látom őt: third-person objects need the definite form.
- Overusing én and te as subjects; drop them unless contrastive.
- Using ő for objects: *Ő az asztalon van for "It's on the table". Say Az asztalon van.
Sources and further reading
- Carol H. Rounds, Hungarian: An Essential Grammar (2nd ed., Routledge, 2009), on pronouns and their case forms
- István Kenesei, Robert M. Vago and Anna Fenyvesi, Hungarian (Descriptive Grammars series, Routledge, 1998), on personal, reflexive and possessive pronouns
- Magyar Tudományos Akadémia, A magyar helyesírás szabályai (12th ed., Akadémiai Kiadó, 2015), on the spelling of possessive pronouns and forms of address
Key takeaways
- Subject pronouns (én, te, ő, mi, ti, ők) are dropped unless contrastive.
- Case forms are built from the case ending plus a personal suffix: nekem, velem, rólam, hozzám.
- engem, téged, minket, titeket take indefinite verbs; őt, őket, Önt take definite ones; "I ... you" uses -lak/-lek.
- Formal "you" is Ön or maga with a third-person verb.
- maga is also the reflexive; possessive pronouns are enyém, tiéd, övé, miénk, tiétek, övék.
Frequently asked questions
What are the personal pronouns in Hungarian?
én (I), te (you), ő (he/she), mi (we), ti (you all), ők (they), plus formal Ön/Önök and maga/maguk, which take third-person verbs.
How do you say "me" in Hungarian?
It depends on the case: engem as a direct object, nekem for "to/for me", velem for "with me", rólam for "about me", and so on. Each case ending takes a personal suffix instead of combining with én.
Does Hungarian have separate words for "he" and "she"?
No. ő covers both, and Hungarian has no grammatical gender anywhere in its grammar.
Why do Hungarians leave out "I" and "you"?
The verb ending already shows the person (olvasok "I read", olvasol "you read"), so the pronoun would be redundant. It is used only for contrast or emphasis.
What is the difference between Ön and maga?
Both are formal "you" with a third-person verb. Ön is the neutral polite choice, especially in writing and official settings; maga is common in speech but can sound distant or condescending depending on tone.