Vous pouvez trouver la version française de cette leçon ici.

Note that I’ve also made individual, more detailed posts on most of the cases mentioned here. This post is mainly just an overview to introduce the concept of cases and how they work in Hungarian. This is a rewrite of an old post that was made toward the beginning of my studies, and I’m no longer impressed with its quality. So here is a new post, hopefully more concise yet explanatory and helpful. As always, I’m happy to answer any additional questions/comments.

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What is a Case?

If you’re already familiar with agglutinative languages and understand the concept, feel free to skip this part.

A ‘case’ can refer to:

1) specific markers (suffixes) to designate a word’s role in the sentence.

2) a suffix that essentially functions like a preposition does in English.

If you’ve studied another language with cases, you might be familiar with Nominative, Accusative, Dative, and Genitive. These basic four cases exist in Hungarian too, but instead of the article changing to reflect this (such as in German), they add a suffix to the end of a word to change it. Besides these four listed, the rest of what some might consider to be ‘cases’ in Hungarian are more like:

1) suffixes functioning as prepositions

2) suffixes that modify a word, making it a different part of speech or otherwise changing the tense/meaning

A language that uses suffixes like this, such as Hungarian, is an agglutinative language. Finnish falls into this category as well. Words are basically built on adding different (sometimes multiple) suffixes to change the meaning of a word.

Note that possessive suffixes and plural suffixes will be put at the end of a word first, before adding any of the other cases.

This might sound a bit daunting at first (it did for me), but once you get used to the system I find that it’s quite logical and sensible.

There are many suffixes that have different functions in Hungarian. In this post, I will be going over the main 4 (Nominative, Accusative, Dative, Genitive)¹, as well as the additional 15² that essentially serve as prepositions (just at the end instead).

¹All of the cases I will be going over here have an official name. These four here are really the only ones whose names you want to remember. It’s fine if you just learn the others by the specific suffix itself, the official names aren’t that important. Whatever is easier for you!

²There are more than 15, depending on what you include, but I’m going over the ones that I feel are most important and frequent (and some of the others deserve their own posts anyhow)

Don’t be scared by the number. If you just treat most of them like English prepositions, it will hopefully make it easier to grasp. For the cases that we don’t have an equivalent for, they are easy enough to get the hang of.

If you haven’t already, I strongly recommend reading Vowel Harmony and Vowel Lengthening before this post, as I won’t be explaining it here.

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 ⋆:*:⋆ ~The Cases~  ⋆:*:⋆

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Nominative (no suffix!)

This is literally just the basic dictionary form of a word. No suffix, nothing added to it. It’s typically the subject of the sentence.

The cat runs
A macska fut

• cat (macska) is in nominative. This is how the word would look if you searched it in a dictionary.

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Accusative (-t, -ot, -at, -et, -öt)

read the detailed post on Accusative Case here

This marks the direct object¹, and you can recognize this case by the “t“ that is present on the end of the word (not everything ending in -t is an accusative noun, but it’s still a good way to remember the accusative if you have trouble).

¹A direct object is the thing that something is being done to. It is the thing receiving the action. The direct object doesn’t always matter so much in English, since we don’t have these kinds of cases, but in Hungarian it’s very important to be able to recognize this part of speech. 

I am eating the apple
Eszem az almát

• apple (alma) is the direct object receiving the action (eating), but because English has no accusative case, there’s nothing exceptional to mark it as such.

Note that even if the verb is something ‘abstract’, the direct object will still take the accusative (unless it requires one of the other cases below)

I love cats
Szeretem a macskákat

• cats (macskák) is still the direct object (of the verb ‘love’), therefore it still takes accusative case.

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Dative  (-nak/-nek)

read the detailed post on Dative Case here

This basically corresponds to “to” or “for” in English, in the sense of doing something to/for someone, or giving something to/for someone (or something, it doesn’t have to be a person).

I give Réka the book (I give the book TO¹ Réka)
Rékának adom a könyvet

• Réka is not the direct object here, as she is not the thing being given. Instead, Réka will take the dative case, because the book is being given TO her.
• book (könyv) is in accusative, because it is still the direct object (receiving the action of giving).

¹Even though the first version of the sentence doesn’t have the word “to” in it, it would still take the Dative in Hungarian.

There are other uses for the dative that are detailed in the individual post linked above. This is just the basic usage.

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Genitive (-é/-éi)

The genitive is the possessive case, indicating ownership or possession. The structure is fairly simple – you just add -é (singular) or -éi (plural) to the end of the noun doing the owning/possessing. The noun being owned/possessed does not change, and stays in the nominative case.

Notably, the genitive is not the only way that possession is expressed in Hungarian. It’s much more common to see possession expressed as detailed in the following posts:

Singular Possession

Plural Possession

However, if the focus of the sentence is on WHO owns the thing (and not the thing being owned), then the genitive is more appropriate. It puts an emphasis on the OWNER.

Az a könyv Petráé
That book is Petra’s / That book belongs to Petra

• Petra is the owner, and takes the genitive case, as the focus here is on her (the owner).

Ez a szék a macskáé
This chair is the cat’s / This chair belongs to the cat

Azok a kocsik Gáboréi
Those cars are Gábor’s / Those cars belong to Gábor

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read the detailed post on Illative/Inessive/Elative Cases here

These three are grouped together, as at their core they all deal with movement re PLACES (INTO, INSIDE, OUT OF).

Illative (-ba/-be)

This is essentially “into” in English. However it is specifically a case of movement, and not a static location. This means that it is only used when something is being moved into something.

I put the book IN(TO) the cupboard
Beteszem a könyvet a szekrénybe
-The book is being put INTO something, it’s being moved

Ask: WHAT is it moving into? That is the word that takes -ba/-be.

• cupboard (szekrény) takes -ba/-be, as it is the thing the object is being moved into.
• book (könyv) is in accusative, because it is receiving the direct action (being put somewhere)

If it was just IN the cupboard (nothing being done to it, it’s just chilling there), then you would use the INESSIVE case.

Inessive (-ban/-ben)

This is a static location case, meaning that the object is not moving, but rather is just present IN a location.

The book is IN the cupboard
A könyv a szekrényben van

• cupboard (szekrény) takes -ban/-ben, as it is the place/object that the book is (currently) inside of.
• book (könyv) is in nominative, as it is the subject. It is not a direct object because there is no actual action being done to it. Therefore, it just keeps its regular dictionary form.

Now it’s time to take the book OUT of the cupboard:

Elative (-ból/-ből)

Basically corresponding to “out of, from (out of something)”, but it, like -ba/-be, is a case of movement. Something is being taken OUT OF something.

I take the book OUT OF the cupboard
Kiveszem a könyvet a szekrényből

• cupboard (szekrény) takes -ból/-ből, as it is the object the book is being taken out of.
• book (könyv) is once again in accusative, as it is receiving the direct action (being taken).

You would also use -ból/-ből if you were taking the book out of a bag, a drawer, a box, etc. -ból/-ből means that something is coming/leaving OUT OF something.

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read the detailed post on Allative/Adessive/Ablative Cases here

The next three are grouped together because they all deal with movement re DIRECTION (TOWARD/AT/AWAY FROM) – specifically with regard to OBJECTS or PEOPLE.

Allative (-hoz/-hez/-höz)

This works in a bit of the same way as -ba/-be, and corresponds to “towards, to”. It is also a case of movement, but it applies more to SOLIDS, rather than spaces.

With -ba/-be, the cupboard is a SPACE that the book is going INTO. -hoz/-hez/-höz is more like something is heading TOWARD something else; this can be a place, person, or thing, but it is not necessarily going INSIDE. It is just going in the direction of something.

I went TO(WARD) the fridge
Odamentem a hűtőhöz

I went TO(WARD) Eszter
Eszterhez mentem

I ran TO(WARD) the tree
Odafutottam a fához

• fridge (hűtő), Eszter, and tree (fa) all take -hoz/-hez/-höz, as they are what the subject is going TOWARD. They are the (potential) destination, or something is headed in their direction.

Adessive (-nál/-nél)

This is the static (unmoving) version of -hez/-hoz/-höz, and works like -ban/-ben – only instead of being inside of something, it refers to being beside, right next to, currently at a place. It corresponds to “at, by” in English (there’s ‘at the house of’ too, but that will be covered in the specific post for -nál/-nél).

I am standing AT/BY the church
A templomnál állok

I am waiting AT/BY the lake
A tónál várok

• church (templom) and lake (tó) take -nál/-nél, as they are the place/thing the subject is AT/BY/NEXT TO. There’s no movement, it’s just a static position. Imagine someone just chilling, leaning up against the side of a building like those cool Greaser guys in old movies. They’re not doing anything, just happy right where they are.

Ablative (-tól/-től)

This works like -ból/-ből, but once again it applies to solids and not spaces. It corresponds to “from” in English.

I walked AWAY FROM the fridge
Elmentem a hűtőtől

I ran AWAY FROM the tree
Elfutottam a fától

• fridge (hűtő) and tree (fa) take -tól/-től, as they are the object the subject is moving AWAY FROM.

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read the detailed post on Sublative/Superessive/Delative Cases here

These three are grouped together because they all deal with movement re SURFACES (ONTO, ON, OFF OF).

Sublative (-ra/-re)

This works like -ba/-be and -hoz/-hez/-höz (going TOWARD), but it refers to movement towards surfaces. It corresponds roughly to “onto” in English.

I put the book ON(TO) the table
Leteszem a könyvet az asztalra

I put the cat ON(TO) the bookshelf
Felteszem a macskát a könyvespolcra

• table (asztal) and bookshelf (könyvespolc) take -ra/-re, as they are the place (surface) that the thing is being moved/put/set ONTO
• book (könyv) and cat (macska) are in accusative, because they are receiving the direct action (of being put).

Superessive (-n, -on, -en, -ön)

This works like -ban/-ben and -nál/-nél, but refers to a static position on surfaces. It corresponds to “on, upon” in English.

The book is ON the table
A könyv az asztalon van

The cat is sleeping ON the bookshelf
A macska alszik a könyvespolcon

• table (asztal) and bookshelf (könyvespolc) take -on/-en(+), as they are the place (surface) that the thing is (currently) ON.
• book (könyv) and cat (macska) are in nominative, as there is no direct action being done to them.

Again, there is no movement – the cat up there is just hanging out on top of the bookshelf, licking itself and generally enjoying being a cat.

Delative (-ról/-ről)

This is similar to -ból/-ből and -tól/-től, but deals with movement away from surfaces. It corresponds roughly to “from, off of” in English.

I pick the book up OFF OF (from) the table
Felveszem a könyvet az asztalról

I pick the cat up OFF OF (from) the bookshelf
Felveszem a macskát a könyvespolcról

• table (asztal) and bookshelf (könyvespolc) take -ról/-ről, as they are the place (surface) the thing is coming OFF OF.
• book (könyv) and cat (macska) take the accusative, as they are receiving the direct action (being picked up).

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read the detailed post on Instrumental Case here

Instrumental (-val/-vel)

This is honestly a really simple case, in my opinion. It corresponds to “with” in English, and as the official title suggests, it can mean using something as an instrument to do something. It can also mean doing something with somebody, in a lot of cases.

I eat WITH a fork
Villával eszem

I write WITH a pencil
Ceruzával írok

I play WITH Zoli
Zolival játszom

• fork (villa), pencil (ceruza), and Zoli all take -val/-vel in this case, as they are the thing/person the action is being done WITH.

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read the detailed post on Causal-Final case here

Causal-Final (-ért)

This one essentially corresponds to “for, for the purpose of”, and identifies a reason or purpose for something.

I went to the store FOR (the purpose of) milk
A boltba mentem tejért

• milk (tej) takes -ért, as it is what the action (going to the store) is being done FOR.

I paid ten dollars FOR (the purpose of) the book
Tíz dollárt fizettem a könyvért

• book (könyv) takes -ért, as it is what the action (paying) was done FOR.
• dollars (dollár) takes accusative, as it is receiving the direct action (being paid/used to buy something)

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Terminative (-ig)

This corresponds to “until” or “as far as” in English. It typically deals with time or places.

The meeting lasts UNTIL 10 o’clock
A gyűlés tíz óráig tart

• 10 o’clock (tíz óra) takes -ig, as that is the ‘limit’ of time for the action (meeting taking place).
• meeting (gyűlés) is of course in nominative, as it is the subject and no direct action is being done to it.

I went AS FAR AS the lake
A tóig mentem

• lake (tó) takes -ig, as that is the ‘limit’ of distance for the action (going)

You went to the lake, and NO FARTHER. Imagine “IG” as a big brick wall, the likes of which Donald Trump would (try to) build, and it’s keeping you from going anywhere past the lake.

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In Summary

There is obviously a lot more to these cases than what I’ve explained here (nothing is ever so simple), but these are the basic uses you need to know to get started. The rest you will pick up as you learn other concepts and advance in your studies, and after a while this aspect of Hungarian grammar will come much more naturally to you.

When you’re ready, you can view the individual, detailed posts about each of these cases and learn more about how they specifically work. Even these posts are not 100% comprehensive, as that would be nearly impossible – but again, you will pick the rest up along the course of your studies.

I hope this post was helpful, as I know how I struggled with cases at the beginning (coming from a native English-speaking background), and I would love to spare some of you the headache they may cause. I’m always here to answer any questions or clarify things.