The future in Hungarian

Hungarian has no future ending on the verb. Most of the time the present tense does the job, helped by a time expression or a verbal prefix. When speakers want to make the future explicit, they use the auxiliary fog with an infinitive, and for "will be" they use a separate verb, lesz. The skill is not forming these, which is easy, but knowing which one sounds natural.

Three ways to talk about the future

The present tense with a future meaning

If the context or a time word makes it clear that you mean the future, the plain present is the default. This is closer to English "I'm going to Szeged tomorrow" than to "I will go".

• Holnap dolgozom. I'm working tomorrow.
• Jövő héten Bécsbe utazunk. We're travelling to Vienna next week.
• Mindjárt jövök. I'll be right there.
• Nyáron elköltöznek. They're moving out in the summer.

Common time expressions that trigger a future reading: holnap (tomorrow), holnapután (the day after tomorrow), jövő héten (next week), jövőre (next year), nemsokára (soon), mindjárt (in a moment), később (later), majd (later on, some time). See dates, days and months and telling time for more.

Perfective prefixes point forward

A verb with a completive prefix such as meg- or el- describes a whole, finished event. In the present tense a finished event can only lie in the future, so a prefixed present regularly means "I'll do it".

• Olvasom a könyvet. I'm reading the book.
• Elolvasom a könyvet. I'll read the book (through).
• Ne aggódj, megcsinálom. Don't worry, I'll do it.
• Felhívlak este. I'll call you tonight.

This is the single most useful fact about the Hungarian future, and it is why fog is less frequent than English "will". More on the prefixes on the verbal prefixes page.

The particle majd

Majd marks an action as future without fixing when. It is very common in speech and often sounds relaxed or noncommittal.

• Majd meglátjuk. We'll see.
• Majd holnap beszélünk. We'll talk tomorrow.

fog + infinitive

The auxiliary fog is conjugated in the present tense and followed by the infinitive. It has both conjugations, and the choice follows the object of the infinitive, exactly as with akar or szeretne.

• Esni fog. It's going to rain.
• Venni fogunk egy új autót. We're going to buy a new car. (indefinite object)
• Meg fogjuk venni ezt az autót. We're going to buy this car. (definite object)
• Hiányozni fogsz. I'll miss you. (literally: You will be missing.)
• Várni foglak. I'll be waiting for you.

Word order: where the prefix goes

This is where learners stumble. In a neutral affirmative sentence, a verbal prefix detaches from the infinitive and moves in front of fog. The rest of the infinitive follows fog.

• El fogom olvasni a könyvet. I'm going to read the book (through).
• Meg fogom csinálni. I'm going to do it.
• Haza fogok menni. I'm going to go home.
• Moziba fogunk menni. We're going to go to the cinema.

The last two examples show that other "verbal modifiers" behave like prefixes: a goal such as haza or moziba takes the slot in front of fog. When there is no prefix or modifier, the bare infinitive itself usually fills that slot: Dolgozni fogok., Esni fog.

When something else takes the stressed position

With negation, a question word or a focused element, the prefix stays attached to the infinitive and follows fog. This is the same rule that governs akar, tud and kell (see word order and focus).

• Nem fogok elmenni a buliba. I'm not going to go to the party.
• Holnap fogom megcsinálni, nem ma. I'll do it tomorrow, not today.
• Ki fogja kifizetni a számlát? Who's going to pay the bill?

In the last example the first ki is the question word "who" and the second is the prefix of kifizet ("pay"), which stays attached because the question word occupies the position before fog.

lesz: the future of van

Van ("be") does not combine naturally with fog in standard usage. Its future is lesz, which also means "become". Like van, it has no definite forms.

• Holnap otthon leszek. I'll be at home tomorrow.
• Szombaton lesz a koncert. The concert will be on Saturday.
• Nem lesz időm. I won't have time.
• Orvos akar lenni. He wants to be a doctor.
• Hideg lesz. It'll be cold.

Note two differences from van. First, the 3sg lesz is used even where van would be dropped: Hideg van but Hideg lesz; Péter orvos ("Péter is a doctor") but Péter orvos lesz. Second, the negative is regular: nem lesz, with no equivalent of nincs (see van and nincs). Forms such as ott fogok lenni are heard in casual speech, but ott leszek is the normal choice.

When native speakers actually use fog

Because the present covers so much, fog carries a specific flavour. It is most natural in these situations:

1. Predictions about things outside your control: Esni fog., Ez nem fog működni. ("This isn't going to work.")
2. Firm refusals and promises, especially negative: Ezt nem fogom megcsinálni. ("I'm not going to do this.") Soha nem foglak elfelejteni. ("I'll never forget you.")
3. Imperfective verbs with no time word, where the present would sound like "now": Dolgozni fogok. makes clear you mean the future, while Dolgozom. sounds like "I'm working (now)".
4. Ongoing future states or longer periods: Egész nyáron tanulni fogok. ("I'm going to study all summer.")
5. Formal, written and news style, where explicit tense marking is preferred: A miniszter holnap Brüsszelbe fog utazni.

Common learner errors

1. *Fogok elolvasni a könyvet. Correct: El fogom olvasni a könyvet. Two errors: the prefix must move in front of fog, and the definite object requires fogom.
2. *Nem el fogom olvasni. Correct: Nem fogom elolvasni. After nem, the prefix stays on the infinitive.
3. *Fogom menni. Correct: Menni fogok. or better Megyek. There is no object, so the verb must be indefinite.
4. *Holnap fogok lenni otthon. Correct: Holnap otthon leszek.
5. *Fogtam menni for "I was going to go". The auxiliary has no past. Use a paraphrase instead: El akartam menni. ("I wanted to go.")

Sources and further reading

• Carol H. Rounds, Hungarian: An Essential Grammar (2nd ed., Routledge, 2009), future tense and auxiliaries
• Katalin É. Kiss, The Syntax of Hungarian (Cambridge University Press, 2002), on verbal modifiers and auxiliaries
• István Kenesei, Robert M. Vago and Anna Fenyvesi, Hungarian (Descriptive Grammars series, Routledge, 1998)

Frequently asked questions