Better Hungarian

Postpositions of location are basically what they sound like – postpositions that refer to direction or placement. This direction/location can be either toward/away from something, or static (no movement). They decline similar to the locative cases.

Note that each version of these (static, toward, away) can take a possessive suffix, as explained here.

English Equivalent	Static (NO movement)	Movement TOWARD	Movement AWAY
above1	fölött/felett	fölé/felé	fölül/felől
below	alatt	alá	alól
next to	mellett	mellé	mellől
between	között	közé	közül
around	körül	köré
behind	mögött	mögé	mögül
in front of	előtt	elé	elől
in the direction of		felé	felől

The static locations are relatively easy, but when doing an action to something you will usually need to use the other versions (moving toward or away). When dealing with postpositions, there will always be a ‘relative object‘ that something is going toward or away from (or is unmoving in a static location).

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mellett – next to (relative object: a kocsi)

A fiú a kocsi mellett áll (The boy is standing next to the car) – static location

A fiú a kocsi mellé megy (The boy goes (over to) next to the car) – movement TOWARD

A fiú a kocsi mellől jön (The boy comes from next to the car) – movement AWAY

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alatt – below (relative object: a szekrény)

A kép a szekrény alatt van (The picture is underneath the wardrobe) – static location

A képet a szekrény alá teszem le (I put down the picture (to) underneath the wardrobe) – movement TOWARD

A képet a szekrény alól veszem fel (I pick up the picture from underneath the wardrobe) – movement AWAY

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között – between (relative objects: a szék és az asztal)

A macska a szék és az asztal között van (The cat is between the chair and the table) – static location

A macska a szék és az asztal közé megy (The cat goes (to) between the chair and the table) – movement TOWARD

A macska a szék és az asztal közül jön (The cat comes from between the chair and the table) – movement AWAY

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mögött – behind (relative object: az ajtó)

A kutya az ajtó mögött van (The dog is behind the door) – static location

A kutya az ajtó mögé megy (The dog goes (to) behind the door) – movement TOWARD

A kutya az ajtó mögül jön ki (The dog comes out from behind the door) – movement AWAY

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előtt – in front of (relative object: az épület)

A lány az épület előtt áll (The girl stands in front of the building) – static location

A lány az épület elé megy (The girl goes (to) in front of the building) – movement TOWARD

A lány az épület elől jön (The girl comes from in front of the building) – movement AWAY

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körül – around (relative object: a fiú)

Az emberek a fiú körül állnak (The people are standing around the boy) – static location

Az emberek a fiú köré mennek (The people go (to) around the boy) – movement TOWARD

there is no “away” version of körül

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felé – in the direction of (relative object: a ház)

there is no “static location” version of felé

Megyek a ház felé (I am going in the direction of the house)

Jönnek a ház felől (I am coming from the direction of the house)

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Other examples

A kép az ablak mellett van (The picture is next to the window) – static location

Az ablak mellé akasztottam a képet¹ (I hung the picture (to) next to the window) – movement TOWARD

¹Again, because you are doing an action “toward” something, you would use mellé. Mellé requires a relative object, which in this case is the window.

A játékokat teszem le az ajtó mögé (I set the toys down (to) behind the door) – movement TOWARD

A játékokat veszem fel az ajtó mögül (I pick up the toys from behind the door) – movement AWAY

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Fölött/Felett – Fölé/Felé – Fölül/Felül/Felől

I saved this one for last, because it is a bit trickier than the others. Fölött/felett and fölé/felé are easy enough, but fölül/felül/felől is where it gets complicated. This was something I spent a very long time on while discussing with Alex, and it was just as confusing for him as well as the colleagues he asked (some said they would use ‘fölül‘, others said ‘felől‘, and they each had a different opinion on which one sounded more ‘folksy’). I’ve tried to sum it up concisely, but if any other native Hungarians want to add their input, it will be much appreciated.

Firstly, fölött can also be spelled felett, with no difference in meaning – likewise, fölül can also be spelled felül. When used to mean “on top”, there is no difference in fölül vs felül, and the spelling choice is pretty much down to personal preference. However, IF using fölül to mean “from above”, it is not interchangeable with felül, unless you want to sound a bit rural/rustic.

Secondly, fölül (in the sense of ‘on top’) is paired with alul, which just means “below” (i.e. ott alul a polcon – over there on the shelf (near the bottom)). Alul is basically synonymous with lent (below), and fölül/felül is synonymous with fent (above). These are not postpositions, as they do not need a relative object.

Thirdly, fölül OR felől can be used to say “from above” (again, “felül” will sound a bit dialectical or strange here). Note that felől is a homonym that can also mean “from the direction of”.

Fölé can also be spelled felé (this is also a homonym, as felé can also mean “in the direction of”)

Examples

A madár a fák fölött/felett repül (The bird flies above the trees) – static location

Az emeletes ágyon fölül/felül szeretek aludni (I like to sleep up top on the bunk bed) – fölül/felül (on top)

Levettem a képet az ágyam fölül/felől (I took down the picture from above my bed) – fölül/felől (from above)

A madár az épület fölé/felé repül (The bird flies (to) above the building) – fölé/felé (toward above)

Az ágy fölé/felé akasztottam a képet (I hung the picture (to) above the bed) – fölé/felé (toward above)