Hungarian word order is often called "free", because the endings show who does what to whom. Péter látja Annát and Annát látja Péter both mean that Péter sees Anna. But the order is not random: it shows what the sentence is about and which part is the important new information. Once you understand one simple idea, the focus position right before the verb, most of Hungarian word order falls into place. It is taught in Lesson 22, and prefixes in Lesson 14.
The basic pattern
A Hungarian sentence has three main parts:
| Topic | Focus | Verb | The rest |
|---|---|---|---|
| what the sentence is about (known information) | the most important new information, stressed | the verb | everything else, in any order |
| Péter | tegnap | érkezett | Budapestre. |
Péter tegnap érkezett Budapestre. means "Péter arrived in Budapest yesterday": the stressed word tegnap is the point of the sentence, perhaps the answer to "When did Péter arrive?". English shows this with stress in the voice; Hungarian uses the position right before the verb.
Neutral sentences
When nothing is in focus, the slot before the verb is taken by the verb's closest companion. This is usually a verbal prefix, or a word that forms a unit with the verb, such as a bare noun or a direction.
Péter megírta a levelet. (Péter wrote the letter. (neutral))
Anna tévét néz. (Anna is watching TV. (bare noun + verb))
Moziba megyünk. (We're going to the cinema. (direction + verb))
Péter beteg. (Péter is ill.)
Holnap hazamegyek. (I'm going home tomorrow.)
Focus
To stress one part of the sentence, put it directly before the verb. The verbal prefix, if there is one, then moves after the verb. Compare:
| Sentence | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Péter megírta a levelet. | Péter wrote the letter. (neutral) |
| Péter írta meg a levelet. (stress on Péter) | It was Péter who wrote the letter (not Anna). |
| A levelet írta meg Péter. (stress on levelet) | It was the letter that Péter wrote (not the email). |
| Tegnap írta meg Péter a levelet. (stress on tegnap) | Péter wrote the letter yesterday (not today). |
The focus word carries the main stress of the sentence, and the verb after it is said without stress. Notice how the prefix meg moves after the verb as soon as another word takes the focus slot.
Only one focus
Only one part of the sentence can be in focus at a time, because there is only one slot before the verb. If you are not sure whether to use focus, don't: the neutral order is always correct.
Question words are always in focus
A question word goes in the focus slot, so it comes straight before the verb, and a prefix moves after the verb.
Ki írta meg a levelet? (Who wrote the letter?)
Mikor jön haza Anna? (When is Anna coming home?)
Hol laksz? (Where do you live?)
Mit csinálsz holnap? (What are you doing tomorrow?)
The answer to a question goes in the same slot: Ki írta meg? → Péter írta meg. A yes/no question has no question word; it keeps the neutral order and uses rising-falling intonation: Megírtad a levelet? (Did you write the letter?)
Negation
nem goes directly before the word it negates. To negate the whole sentence, put it before the verb. Like a focus word, it pushes the prefix after the verb.
Nem írtam meg a levelet. (I didn't write the letter.)
Nem Péter írta meg, hanem Anna. (It wasn't Péter who wrote it, it was Anna.)
Péter nem jön. (Péter isn't coming.)
Nem megyek moziba. (I'm not going to the cinema.)
Notice the last example. In the neutral sentence Moziba megyek, the direction comes before the verb. When the sentence is negative, nem takes that place and moziba moves after the verb.
csak, is and sem
csak (only)
csak goes before the word it is about, and that word is in focus: Csak Péter jött el. (Only Péter came.) Csak kávét iszom. (I only drink coffee.)
is (also, too)
is goes after the word it is about, and that word is not in focus, so the prefix stays in front of the verb: Péter is eljött. (Péter came too.) Én is. (Me too.) Kávét is kérek. (I'd like some coffee as well.)
sem (not ... either)
The negative of is is sem (or se in speech): Én sem. (Me neither.) Péter sem jött el. (Péter didn't come either.)
Helping verbs
With helping verbs such as fog, akar, tud, kell and szeretne, the prefix or verb companion comes before the helping verb in a neutral sentence. In negative and focused sentences, everything returns to the infinitive.
| Neutral | Negative | Question word |
|---|---|---|
| Meg akarom nézni. | Nem akarom megnézni. | Mikor akarod megnézni? |
| Haza kell mennem. | Nem kell hazamennem. | Miért kell hazamenned? |
| Moziba fogunk menni. | Nem fogunk moziba menni. | Mikor fogunk moziba menni? |
"There is" and "it is"
Where you put the subject of van changes the meaning. A known thing comes first; a new thing comes after the verb, often with egy.
A könyv az asztalon van. (The book is on the table.)
Az asztalon van egy könyv. (There is a book on the table.)
Van itt a közelben egy bolt? (Is there a shop near here?)
Nincs itt bolt. (There's no shop here.)
Other fixed orders
- Adjectives come before the noun, and numbers before adjectives: két nagy piros alma (two big red apples).
- Possessors come before the thing owned: Péter háza (Péter's house).
- Names put the family name first: Kovács Anna, Bartók Béla.
- Dates and addresses go from big to small: 2026. november 6., Budapest, Váci utca 10.