Hungarian postpositions

Not every English preposition becomes a case suffix in Hungarian. Many become postpositions: separate words that follow the noun, such as a ház előtt ("in front of the house") or cukor nélkül ("without sugar"). This page lists the common ones, shows the where/to/from system of spatial postpositions, their pronoun forms, the postpositions that require a case, and how to turn them into adjectives.

What a postposition is

A postposition does the same semantic job as a preposition in English, but it comes after the noun and is written as a separate word. The noun stays in the nominative, and the postposition never changes for vowel harmony:

• a ház előtt in front of the house
• a kert előtt in front of the garden (no harmony change)
• a házaink előtt in front of our houses (plural and possessive stay on the noun)

The differences from case suffixes are summarised on the Hungarian cases page. In short: case suffixes fuse with the noun and harmonise; postpositions stay separate, do not harmonise, and use possessive endings with pronouns.

Spatial postpositions: where, where to, where from

Like the local cases, the spatial postpositions come in sets of three. The endings are strikingly regular: "where" forms end in -tt (a relic of an old locative case), "where to" forms end in -á/-é, and "where from" forms end in -ól/-ől/-ül.

• A macska az ágy alatt alszik. The cat is sleeping under the bed.
• A macska bebújt az ágy alá. The cat crawled under the bed.
• A macska előjött az ágy alól. The cat came out from under the bed.
• A képet a kanapé fölé akasztottam. I hung the picture above the sofa.
• Elbújt a fa mögé. He hid behind the tree.
• A tűz köré ültünk. We sat down around the fire.

English uses one word ("under") for all three; Hungarian forces you to choose. The rule is the same as for cases: static verbs (van, ül, áll, alszik) take the "where" form, verbs of placing and moving take "where to" or "where from".

Extended meanings

• Elbújt a rendőrség elől. He hid from the police. (elől: escaping from someone's presence)
• Válassz egyet a könyvek közül! Choose one of the books. (közül: selection "out of")
• A terv mellett érvelt. She argued for the plan. (mellett: in favour of)
• Húsz fok fölött van. It's above twenty degrees.

Other common postpositions

Time: óta, múlva, ezelőtt

These three are a classic source of mistakes, because English uses "for", "in" and "ago" with different tenses:

• Két éve lakom itt. I've been living here for two years. (present tense in Hungarian)
• 2022 óta lakom itt. I've lived here since 2022.
• Két éve költöztem ide. I moved here two years ago.
• Két évvel ezelőtt költöztem ide. I moved here two years ago. (more formal)
• Egy hét múlva visszajövök. I'll be back in a week.

Note that két éve (with a possessive ending) does double duty for "for two years" and "two years ago"; the verb tense tells them apart. See telling the time and the past tense.

Postpositions with pronouns: mellettem, nélküled

You cannot put a personal pronoun before a postposition (*én mellett). Instead, the postposition takes a possessive ending, just as the case suffixes do (nekem, velem).

The same pattern gives mögöttem, fölöttem / felettem, helyettem, ellenem, irántam, the direction forms mellém, elém, mögém, alám and mellőlem, előlem, mögülem, alólam, the plural-only forms közöttünk / köztünk, közénk, közülünk, and the slightly irregular körülöttem ("around me") and felém ("towards me").

• Szerintem igazad van. I think you're right. (literally "according to me")
• Nem tudok élni nélküled. I can't live without you.
• Ne aggódj miattam! Don't worry about me.
• Gyere utánam! Follow me!
• Leült mellém. She sat down next to me.

The third person forms are also everyday adverbs: utána (afterwards), előtte (before that), helyette (instead), mellette (besides, in addition). Two postpositions have no personal forms: óta and múlva.

Demonstratives: the postposition repeats

With a case suffix, a demonstrative takes the same suffix as the noun: ebben a házban. With a postposition, the postposition itself is repeated after the demonstrative:

• az előtt a ház előtt in front of that house
• ez alatt a fa alatt under this tree

Written separately, these mean exactly what they say. Written as one word they are different, fixed adverbs: ezelőtt ("before this, ago"), ezalatt ("meanwhile"), azután ("after that").

Postpositions that require a case

Some postpositions need the noun in a specific case rather than the nominative. They are best learned as two-part units:

With pronouns, these use the case form of the pronoun: velem szemben, rajtam kívül, hozzád képest, tőlünk távol. The region name Dunántúl (Transdanubia) is a fossilised Duna + -n + túl, "beyond the Danube".

Postposition + -i: a ház előtti tér

A postpositional phrase cannot directly modify a noun. To use it like an adjective, add -i to the postposition:

Not every postposition allows this. Óta and múlva have no -i form; use a participle instead: a 2015 óta tartó építkezés ("the construction that has been going on since 2015"). For participles in general, see participles.

Typical learner errors

• *mellett a ház: postpositions follow the noun, a ház mellett.
• *én nélkül, *te szerint: use the personal forms, nélkülem, szerinted.
• *Leült mellettem. Sitting down is movement: Leült mellém. But Mellettem ül ("He's sitting next to me").
• *a híd keresztül: keresztül and át need the superessive, a hídon keresztül.
• Past tense for an ongoing situation: *2022 óta tanultam magyarul for "I have been learning Hungarian since 2022". If it is still going on, use the present: 2022 óta tanulok magyarul.
• *a ház előtt tér: as a modifier, add -i: a ház előtti tér.

More traps are collected in common mistakes.

Sources and further reading

• Carol H. Rounds, Hungarian: An Essential Grammar (2nd ed., Routledge, 2009), chapter on postpositions
• István Kenesei, Robert M. Vago and Anna Fenyvesi, Hungarian (Descriptive Grammars series, Routledge, 1998), on postpositional phrases
• Magyar Tudományos Akadémia, A magyar helyesírás szabályai (12th ed., Akadémiai Kiadó, 2015), on writing demonstratives with postpositions

Frequently asked questions