English has hundreds of phrasal verbs: go out, sit down, give back, eat up. A small word changes the meaning of the verb, sometimes a little and sometimes completely. Hungarian does the same thing, but the small word goes at the front of the verb and is written together with it. These are the verbal prefixes.
megy (to go)
kimegy (to go out)
bemegy (to go in)
hazamegy (to go home)
In this lesson you will learn the ten most common prefixes, what they do to a verb, and the one tricky thing about them: they sometimes come off and move to the other side of the verb. At the end you will also learn how to talk about the future.
Prefixes of direction
The easiest prefixes show which way something moves. They work just like English "out", "in", "up", "down" and "back":
| Prefix | Meaning | With megy | With jön |
|---|---|---|---|
| ki | out | kimegy (go out) | kijön (come out) |
| be | in | bemegy (go in) | bejön (come in) |
| fel | up | felmegy (go up) | feljön (come up) |
| le | down | lemegy (go down) | lejön (come down) |
| át | across, over | átmegy (go across) | átjön (come over) |
| vissza | back | visszamegy (go back) | visszajön (come back) |
| haza | home | hazamegy (go home) | hazajön (come home) |
| el | away | elmegy (leave) | eljön (come along) |
Kimegyek a kertbe. (I'm going out into the garden.)
Bemegyek a boltba. (I'm going into the shop.)
Felmegyek a harmadik emeletre. (I'm going up to the third floor.)
Átmegyek az utcán. (I'm crossing the street.)
Holnap visszajövök. (I'll come back tomorrow.)
Mikor jössz haza? (When are you coming home?) More on this word order below.
Elmegyek. (I'm leaving.)
Notice how well the prefixes fit with the cases from Lessons 8 and 11. Ki goes with "out of" -ból, be with "into" -ba, fel and le often with -ra and -ról: Kijön a házból (He comes out of the house), Leszállok a buszról (I get off the bus).
You will also see föl instead of fel: fölmegy. Both are correct. Fel is more common in writing.
Prefixes that change the meaning
Just as English "give up" is not about giving, many prefix verbs have a meaning of their own. Sometimes you can still see the direction, and sometimes you can't. These are some of the most useful:
Kinyitom az ablakot. (I'm opening the window.) ki + nyit
Bezárom az ajtót. (I'm closing the door. / I'm locking the door.)
Leülök. (I'm sitting down.)
Felállok. (I'm standing up.)
Felveszem a kabátomat. (I'm putting on my coat.)
Leveszem a cipőmet. (I'm taking off my shoes.) Hungarian says "my shoe".
Felhívom az anyukámat. (I'm phoning my mum.) Literally "call up", as in American English.
Visszaadom a könyvet. (I'm giving the book back.)
Eladom az autómat. (I'm selling my car.) el + ad: "give away" for money.
Összeadom a számokat. (I'm adding up the numbers.)
The best way to learn these is as new words, each with its own entry in your vocabulary list. A dictionary will list elad separately from ad.
Meg- and finishing things
The most common prefix of all is meg, and it usually has no direction at all. Instead, it shows that an action is complete, or done once, from start to finish. Compare:
Levelet írtam. (I was writing a letter. / I wrote letters.)
Megírtam a levelet. (I wrote the letter.) It is finished.
Ettem. (I ate. / I was eating.)
Megettem a levest. (I ate (up) the soup.) It is all gone.
Tanultam a szavakat. (I was studying the words.)
Megtanultam a szavakat. (I learned the words.) Now I know them.
English sometimes shows this with "up" (eat up, drink up), and sometimes with the difference between "I was writing" and "I wrote". Hungarian always uses a prefix. Here are more verbs with meg:
megcsinál (to do, to fix, to get done)
megnéz (to have a look at; to watch (a film))
megiszik (to drink (up))
megvár (to wait for (until someone comes))
megkérdez (to ask (a question))
With some verbs, the "finishing" prefix is not meg but el: elolvas (to read to the end), elkészít (to get ready, to prepare). You learn which prefix each verb takes as you go.
Megnéztem a filmet. (I watched the film.)
Elolvastam a könyvet. (I read the book.) All of it.
Megkérdezem Pétert. (I'll ask Péter.)
Megvárlak. (I'll wait for you.)
When the prefix moves
Now for the tricky part. The prefix is written together with the verb in a neutral sentence. But in some sentences it comes off and goes after the verb, as a separate word. This happens in three main situations.
1. After nem
When you say "not", the prefix moves behind the verb:
Kimegyek. → Nem megyek ki. (I'm going out. → I'm not going out.)
Felhívom. → Nem hívom fel. (I'll call him. → I won't call him.)
Megettem. → Nem ettem meg. (I ate it. → I didn't eat it.)
Még nem olvastam el a könyvet. (I haven't read the book yet.)
2. After a question word
When a question starts with a question word, such as mikor, hova, ki or mit, the prefix moves behind the verb:
Mikor jössz haza? (When are you coming home?)
Hol szállsz le? (Where are you getting off?)
Mikor indulsz el? (When are you setting off?)
Mit veszel fel? (What are you going to wear?) Literally "what are you putting on?"
But in a yes or no question, with no question word, the prefix stays where it is: Hazajössz? (Are you coming home?), Megcsináltad? (Did you do it?).
Ki ment ki?
Ki means "who", and ki- is also the prefix "out". So Ki ment ki? means "Who went out?". The first ki is the question word, and it pushes the prefix ki behind the verb. Hungarians enjoy this one.
3. When another word is stressed
Hungarian has a special place just before the verb for the most important word in the sentence, the one you would stress in English. When you put a word there, the prefix has to move out of the way:
Péter elment. (Péter has left.) Neutral.
Péter ment el, nem Anna. (It was Péter who left, not Anna.)
Holnap jövök vissza. (It's tomorrow that I'm coming back.)
A könyvet adom vissza, nem a tollat. (I'm giving back the book, not the pen.)
This is exactly what happens after question words and nem: they also sit in that special place. Lesson 22 explains this "focus" position fully. For now, remember the three situations above.
Short answers
The prefix on its own can be a short answer, like English "Yes, I did":
Megcsináltad a házi feladatot? Meg. (Did you do your homework? Yes.)
Felhívtad Annát? Fel. (Did you call Anna? Yes.)
Hazamész? Haza. (Are you going home? Yes.)
You will also hear prefixes move in commands, such as Gyere be! (Come in!). Lesson 21 explains these.
Talking about the future
Hungarian has no special future tense ending. Instead it uses three simple tools.
1. The present tense
Most of the time, Hungarians just use the present tense with a time word, as you can in English:
Holnap Budapestre megyek. (I'm going to Budapest tomorrow.)
Jövő héten dolgozom. (I'm working next week.)
2. A verb with a prefix
A verb with a prefix in the present tense very often means the future, because a finished action is usually one that hasn't happened yet:
Írom a levelet. (I'm writing the letter.) Now.
Megírom a levelet. (I'll write the letter.) And finish it.
Megcsinálom. (I'll do it.)
Este felhívlak. (I'll call you this evening.)
3. Fog + infinitive
When you want to make the future clear, use fog with the infinitive. Fog has both conjugations, and it follows the object of the infinitive:
| Indefinite | Definite | |
|---|---|---|
| én | fogok | fogom |
| te | fogsz | fogod |
| ő, Ön | fog | fogja |
| mi | fogunk | fogjuk |
| ti | fogtok | fogjátok |
| ők, Önök | fognak | fogják |
In a neutral sentence, the infinitive comes before fog, and a prefix jumps in front of fog on its own:
Holnap dolgozni fogok. (I will work tomorrow.)
Mit fogsz csinálni? (What are you going to do?)
Meg fogom csinálni. (I will do it.) The prefix comes off and goes first.
El fogok menni. (I will go.)
Nem fogok jönni. (I won't come.)
Nem fogom elfelejteni. (I won't forget it.) After nem, the prefix stays on the infinitive.
Lesz: will be
The verb van has its own future, lesz. It is regular: leszek, leszel, lesz, leszünk, lesztek, lesznek.
Holnap otthon leszek. (I will be at home tomorrow.)
Hol leszel este? (Where will you be this evening?)
Holnap hideg lesz. (It will be cold tomorrow.)
Conclusion
Prefixes are one of the most Hungarian things about Hungarian, and you will keep meeting new prefix verbs for as long as you learn the language. Start with the ones in this lesson. The Prefix Table lists them all with examples, and the Verbal Prefixes grammar page has a summary. Then learn the Vocabulary and try the Exercises. In the next lesson you will learn to say "can", "must" and "want".