In Lesson 8 you learned three cases for being in something, going into it and coming out of it: a házban, a házba, a házból. Hungarian has a second set of three that works in exactly the same way, but for the surface of things: being on something, going onto it and coming off it.
These cases do a lot more than "on the table". They are used with many towns, with Hungary itself, with the days of the week, and for "about". By the end of this lesson you will be able to say Hétfőn Budapestre megyek (On Monday I'm going to Budapest) and know why it is not "Budapestbe".
The three surface cases
Here they are, with the questions they answer:
| Ending | Question | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| -n, -on, -en, -ön | Hol? (where?) | on |
| -ra, -re | Hova? (where to?) | onto |
| -ról, -ről | Honnan? (where from?) | off, from |
Here they are with asztal (table):
A könyv az asztalon van. (The book is on the table.)
A könyvet az asztalra teszem. (I put the book on(to) the table.)
A könyvet leveszem az asztalról. (I take the book off the table.) leveszem = I take it down. Lesson 14 explains the le-.
Compare them with the "in" cases you already know. The questions are the same, only the endings change:
| Inside | On the surface | |
|---|---|---|
| Hol? | a dobozban (in the box) | a dobozon (on the box) |
| Hova? | a dobozba (into the box) | a dobozra (onto the box) |
| Honnan? | a dobozból (out of the box) | a dobozról (off the box) |
The "on" ending: -n, -on, -en, -ön
After a vowel, the ending is just -n. As usual, a final a or e becomes long:
autó → az autón (on the car)
tető → a tetőn (on the roof)
utca → az utcán (in the street) Hungarian says "on the street".
kép → a képen (in the picture) Hungarian says "on the picture".
After a consonant, a linking vowel comes in: -on for back words, -en for front words, -ön for front rounded words:
asztal → az asztalon (on the table)
fal → a falon (on the wall)
szék → a széken (on the chair)
föld → a földön (on the ground, on the floor)
Here is something useful. Even words that take -ak in the plural, like ház (házak), take -on here, never "-an": a házon (on the house). So for back words, it is always -on.
Onto and off: -ra/-re, -ról/-ről
These two are easier. They only follow simple vowel harmony, with no linking vowel:
az asztalra, az asztalról (onto the table, off the table)
a falra, a falról (onto the wall, off the wall)
a székre, a székről (onto the chair, off the chair)
a földre, a földről (onto the ground, off the ground)
az utcára, az utcáról (into the street, from the street)
A macska a széken alszik. (The cat is sleeping on the chair.)
A képet a falra teszem. (I'm putting the picture on the wall.)
A macska leugrik az asztalról. (The cat jumps off the table.)
Mi van a képen? (What is in the picture?)
Budapesten but Győrben
Here is the big surprise. Some Hungarian towns take the "in" cases, and some take the "on" cases. You say Győrben (in Győr), but Budapesten (in Budapest). And Hungary itself takes the "on" cases: Magyarországon (in Hungary).
| Where? | Where to? | Where from? | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Budapest | Budapesten | Budapestre | Budapestről |
| Magyarország | Magyarországon | Magyarországra | Magyarországról |
| Szeged | Szegeden | Szegedre | Szegedről |
| Győr | Győrben | Győrbe | Győrből |
| Debrecen | Debrecenben | Debrecenbe | Debrecenből |
There is no rule you can see from the word itself. These are the main patterns:
- Hungary and most Hungarian towns take -n: Magyarországon, Budapesten, Szegeden, Miskolcon, Kecskeméten, Siófokon.
- Some Hungarian towns take -ban/-ben. You simply have to learn which ones: Győrben, Debrecenben, Sopronban, Egerben.
- Other countries and foreign cities almost always take -ban/-ben: Angliában, Németországban, Londonban, Bécsben (in Vienna), Párizsban.
Budapesten lakom. (I live in Budapest.)
Holnap Szegedre megyünk. (Tomorrow we're going to Szeged.)
Debrecenből jövök. (I'm coming from Debrecen.)
Magyarországon sok szép tó van. (There are a lot of beautiful lakes in Hungary.)
A testvérem Londonban dolgozik. (My brother works in London.)
Németországban but Magyarországon
Learners often notice this pair. Every other country, including the ones ending in -ország, takes -ban/-ben: Németországban (in Germany), Olaszországban (in Italy). Only Hungary takes -n. One way to remember it is to think of Hungary as the ground you are standing on.
Other places that take -n
Many everyday places take the "on" cases where English says "at" or "in". Learn them in threes, like this:
| Place | Where? | Where to? | Where from? |
|---|---|---|---|
| egyetem (university) | az egyetemen | az egyetemre | az egyetemről |
| posta (post office) | a postán | a postára | a postáról |
| piac (market) | a piacon | a piacra | a piacról |
| pályaudvar (railway station) | a pályaudvaron | a pályaudvarra | a pályaudvarról |
| repülőtér (airport) | a repülőtéren | a repülőtérre | a repülőtérről |
| koncert (concert) | a koncerten | a koncertre | a koncertről |
| emelet (floor, storey) | az emeleten | az emeletre | az emeletről |
| sziget (island) | a szigeten | a szigetre | a szigetről |
| falu (village) | falun | falura | faluról |
Az egyetemen tanulok. (I study at the university.)
A postára megyek. (I'm going to the post office.)
Szombaton a piacra megyünk. (On Saturday we go to the market.)
A harmadik emeleten lakunk. (We live on the third floor.)
A nagyszüleim falun laknak. (My grandparents live in a village.) nagyszüleim = my grandparents
Compare these with places that take -ban/-ben, which you met in Lesson 8: az iskolában (at school), a boltban (in the shop), a kávézóban (in the café), a moziban (at the cinema). There is no deep logic to it. Learn each place together with its ending.
Days and times
The "on" ending is also used for the days of the week. Hungarian days are written with a small letter:
| Day | On ... |
|---|---|
| hétfő (Monday) | hétfőn |
| kedd (Tuesday) | kedden |
| szerda (Wednesday) | szerdán |
| csütörtök (Thursday) | csütörtökön |
| péntek (Friday) | pénteken |
| szombat (Saturday) | szombaton |
| vasárnap (Sunday) | vasárnap |
Vasárnap is the odd one out: it already contains the word nap (day), so it takes no ending. Vasárnap means both "Sunday" and "on Sunday".
A few other time words take -n too:
hétvégén (at the weekend)
ezen a héten (this week)
jövő héten (next week)
múlt héten (last week)
nyáron (in summer)
télen (in winter)
The other two seasons are irregular: tavasszal (in spring) and ősszel (in autumn). Months take -ban/-ben: januárban, májusban. And the parts of the day need no ending at all: reggel (in the morning), délután (in the afternoon), este (in the evening), éjjel (at night).
Hétfőn és szerdán dolgozom. (I work on Monday and Wednesday.)
Pénteken este moziba megyünk. (On Friday evening we're going to the cinema.)
Nyáron a Balatonra megyünk. (In summer we go to Lake Balaton.)
Mit csinálsz hétvégén? (What are you doing at the weekend?)
-ról/-ről: about
The "off, from" ending has a second, very common meaning: about. When you talk, write, read or think about something, use -ról/-ről:
Miről beszélsz? (What are you talking about?)
A családomról beszélek. (I'm talking about my family.)
Egy könyvet olvasok Magyarországról. (I'm reading a book about Hungary.)
Mit tudsz Budapestről? (What do you know about Budapest?)
The question words follow the same pattern as the place words: min? (on what?), mire? (onto what?), miről? (off what? about what?).
Rajtam, rám, rólam
To say "on me", "onto you" or "about him", Hungarian uses special pronoun forms. Each case has a stem, and the stem takes the possessive endings from Lesson 9:
| on (-n) | onto (-ra) | about, off (-ról) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| me | rajtam | rám | rólam |
| you | rajtad | rád | rólad |
| him, her, it | rajta | rá | róla |
| us | rajtunk | ránk | rólunk |
| you (plural) | rajtatok | rátok | rólatok |
| them | rajtuk | rájuk | róluk |
Some verbs always take -ra/-re. The most useful ones are gondol (to think of) and vár (to wait for) in the sense of "wait for someone to come":
Rád gondolok. (I'm thinking of you.)
Mire gondolsz? (What are you thinking of?)
Rád várok. (I'm waiting for you.) Means the same as várlak.
Mit tudsz róla? (What do you know about him / her / it?)
Rólunk beszélnek. (They're talking about us.)
Vár with and without -ra
You can say both Várom a buszt and Várok a buszra for "I'm waiting for the bus". The meaning is the same. Notice that with -ra the verb is indefinite, because the bus is no longer the direct object.
Conclusion
You now know all six local cases: three for inside and three for surfaces. Together they answer hol?, hova? and honnan? for almost any place. The third set, for "to", "at" and "from" people, comes in Lesson 16. First, look at the Case Table, which puts all six side by side. Then learn the Vocabulary and try the Exercises. The next lesson is a review of everything so far, with a longer reading text.