Nouns
Eighteen cases, three pictures of space
English hides grammar in prepositions. Hungarian glues the relation onto the noun. Learn the three movement triads first — interiors, surfaces, vicinity — and the rest is a short list of jobs.
Interiors
Into / in / out of. Rooms, boxes, parties, foreign cities, countries.
ház, szoba, doboz, London, Olaszország, buli
Surfaces
Onto / on / off. Tables, streets, islands, Hungarian towns, Hungary.
- -ra -reonto / to (a surface or Hungarian place)
- -n -on -en -önon
- -ról -rőloff / from (a surface) / about
asztal, utca, tető, Budapest, Magyarország, tér
Vicinity
To / at / from. People, solid objects you stand beside, ‘at someone’s’.
orvos, barát, ablak, fal, iskola (the building as a point)
The other jobs
Nominative
—
subject / dictionary form
Accusative
-t -ot -at -et -öt
direct object
Dative
-nak -nek
to / for (recipient)
Instrumental
-val -vel
with / by means of
Causal-final
-ért
for (purpose or cause)
Translative
-vá -vé
into (a change of state)
Terminative
-ig
until / as far as
Temporal
-kor
at (a time)
Genitive / -é
-é -éi
the one belonging to…
Here / there / where also come in threes
| English | To | At | From |
|---|---|---|---|
| here | ide | itt | innen |
| there | oda | ott | onnan |
| where? | hová / hova | hol | honnan |
| where (rel.) | ahová | ahol | ahonnan |
| home | haza | otthon | otthonról |