In this lesson you will learn to say where things are, where you are going, and where you are coming from. In English you do this with little words like "in", "into" and "out of". In Hungarian you use endings. You already know enough about vowel harmony from Lesson 6 to use them straight away.
Where? Where to? Where from?
English has one word, "where", for three different questions. Hungarian has three:
Hol? (Where? (at what place)) – pronounced “hol”
Hova? (Where to?) – pronounced “HO-vaw”
Honnan? (Where from?) – pronounced “HON-nawn”
Old English had this too, with "where", "whither" and "whence". Hungarian has kept all three, and you need to choose the right one every time. You will also see hová, with a long á. It means exactly the same as hova, and both are correct.
Hol laksz? (Where do you live?) – pronounced “hol lawks”
Hova mész? (Where are you going?) – pronounced “HO-vaw mays”
Honnan jössz? (Where are you coming from? / Where are you from?) – pronounced “HON-nawn yöss”
This three-way pattern is everywhere in Hungarian. The words for "here" and "there" work the same way:
| Where? | Where to? | Where from? | |
|---|---|---|---|
| question | hol | hova | honnan |
| here | itt | ide | innen |
| there | ott | oda | onnan |
Itt vagyok. (I'm here.) – pronounced “itt VAW-dyok”
Gyere ide! (Come here!) – pronounced “DYEH-reh I-deh” A set phrase for now.
Innen jövök. (I'm coming from here.) – pronounced “IN-nen YÖ-vök”
Ott van a bank. (The bank is there.) – pronounced “ott vawn aw bawnk”
Oda megyünk. (We're going there.) – pronounced “O-daw MEH-dyünk”
Notice that "here" in "Come here!" is not itt but ide, because it means "to here". English speakers get this wrong all the time, so think about it each time: is there movement, and which way?
In: -ban, -ben
To say that something is in a place, add -ban to back words and -ben to front words. Front rounded words also take -ben: there are only two versions of this ending.
a házban (in the house) – pronounced “aw HAAZ-bawn”
a kertben (in the garden) – pronounced “aw KERT-ben”
a boltban (in the shop) – pronounced “aw BOLT-bawn”
a bőröndben (in the suitcase) – pronounced “aw BÖÖ-rönd-ben”
Just as with -t and the plural, a final -a or -e becomes long:
az iskolában (at school, in the school) – pronounced “awz ISH-ko-laa-bawn”
a konyhában (in the kitchen) – pronounced “aw KONY-haa-bawn”
az irodában (in the office) – pronounced “awz I-ro-daa-bawn”
Here is some good news: this ending never needs a linking vowel, and it doesn't cause the stem changes you learnt in Lesson 6. So pohár becomes pohárban, and víz becomes vízben, with the long vowels kept.
a pohárban (in the glass) – pronounced “aw PO-haar-bawn”
a vízben (in the water) – pronounced “aw VEEZ-ben”
Use these forms with van, lakik, dolgozik and other verbs that say where something is or happens:
A kávé a konyhában van. (The coffee is in the kitchen.) – pronounced “aw KAA-vay aw KONY-haa-bawn vawn”
Péter az irodában dolgozik. (Péter works in the office.) – pronounced “PAY-ter awz I-ro-daa-bawn DOL-go-zik”
A gyerekek a kertben játszanak. (The children are playing in the garden.) – pronounced “aw DYEH-reh-kek aw KERT-ben YAAT-saw-nawk”
Hol van a könyv? A bőröndben. (Where is the book? In the suitcase.) – pronounced “hol vawn aw könyv? aw BÖÖ-rönd-ben”
Into: -ba, -be
To say that you are going into a place, drop the -n: -ba for back words, -be for front words. This answers the question Hova? In English we often just say "to": "I'm going to the shop". Hungarian thinks of it as going into the shop.
a boltba (to the shop, into the shop) – pronounced “aw BOLT-baw”
a kertbe (into the garden) – pronounced “aw KERT-beh”
iskolába (to school) – pronounced “ISH-ko-laa-baw”
moziba (to the cinema) – pronounced “MO-zi-baw”
Notice that iskolába and moziba have no a or az. Hungarians usually leave out "the" when they talk about going to everyday places like school or the cinema, just as English says "to school" without "the".
Out of: -ból, -ből
To say that you are coming out of or from a place, add -ból to back words and -ből to front words. This answers the question Honnan?
a boltból (from the shop, out of the shop) – pronounced “aw BOLT-bohl”
a kertből (out of the garden) – pronounced “aw KERT-bööl”
az iskolából (from school) – pronounced “awz ISH-ko-laa-bohl”
a házból (out of the house) – pronounced “aw HAAZ-bohl”
Here are all three endings together. The full list is on the Places Table tab.
| Hol? (in) | Hova? (into) | Honnan? (out of) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| back | -ban | -ba | -ból |
| front | -ben | -be | -ből |
-ba or -ban?
In everyday speech, many Hungarians say -ba and -be when they mean "in", for example a házba instead of a házban. You will hear this a lot, but it is considered careless, and it is wrong in writing. Always use -ban and -ben for "in" yourself. It is a good habit to say the final -n clearly.
Going and coming: megy and jön
To go places, you need two irregular verbs: megy (go) and jön (come). They are very common, so learn them by heart:
| megy | jön | |
|---|---|---|
| én | megyek | jövök |
| te | mész | jössz |
| ő | megy | jön |
| mi | megyünk | jövünk |
| ti | mentek | jöttök |
| ők | mennek | jönnek |
Hova mész? (Where are you going?) – pronounced “HO-vaw mays”
A boltba megyek. (I'm going to the shop.) – pronounced “aw BOLT-baw MEH-dyek”
Moziba megyünk. (We're going to the cinema.) – pronounced “MO-zi-baw MEH-dyünk”
A gyerekek iskolába mennek. (The children are going to school.) – pronounced “aw DYEH-reh-kek ISH-ko-laa-baw MEN-nek”
Honnan jössz? (Where are you coming from?) – pronounced “HON-nawn yöss”
Az irodából jövök. (I'm coming from the office.) – pronounced “awz I-ro-daa-bohl YÖ-vök”
Péter most jön a boltból. (Péter is just coming from the shop.) – pronounced “PAY-ter mosht yön aw BOLT-bohl”
Most means "now". You can also put an infinitive with megy, to say what you are going to do: Enni megyünk (We're going to eat), Úszni megyek (I'm going swimming).
Enni megyünk. (We're going to eat.) – pronounced “EN-ni MEH-dyünk”
Úszni megyek. (I'm going swimming.) – pronounced “OOS-ni MEH-dyek”
Towns and countries
The same endings work with the names of most towns and countries. This is how you say where you live, and where you come from:
Londonban lakom. (I live in London.) – pronounced “LON-don-bawn LAW-kom”
Bécsben dolgozik. (She works in Vienna.) – pronounced “BAYCH-ben DOL-go-zik”
Angliából jövök. (I'm from England.) – pronounced “AWNG-li-aa-bohl YÖ-vök”
Kanadából jön. (He's from Canada.) – pronounced “KAW-naw-daa-bohl yön”
Németországba megyünk. (We're going to Germany.) – pronounced “NAY-met-or-saag-baw MEH-dyünk”
Rómában laknak. (They live in Rome.) – pronounced “ROH-maa-bawn LAWK-nawk”
Look at Németországba. It is a long word, but only the last part, ország, matters for vowel harmony, because it is a compound of német (German) and ország (country). So it takes the back ending -ba.
Honnan jössz? literally means "Where are you coming from?", but it is also how Hungarians ask where you are from. You can answer with your country or your town:
Honnan jössz? Angliából. (Where are you from? From England.)
Honnan jön? Amerikából, New Yorkból. (Where are you from? From America, from New York.)
Budapest and Hungary
There is one big surprise here. Hungarians do not say "Budapestben" or "Magyarországban". Hungary itself, Budapest and most Hungarian towns use a different set of endings, the ones that mean "on": Budapesten (in Budapest), Magyarországon (in Hungary). You saw Budapesten lakom in Lesson 1. You will learn these endings, and which towns take them, in Lesson 11. For now, just learn these two as set phrases. Some Hungarian towns, such as Győr and Debrecen, do use -ban/-ben: Győrben, Debrecenben.
Budapesten lakom. (I live in Budapest.) – pronounced “BU-daw-pesh-ten LAW-kom”
Magyarországon dolgozom. (I work in Hungary.) – pronounced “MAW-dyawr-or-saa-gon DOL-go-zom”
At home, home, from home
"Home" has its own three forms, without any of the endings:
| Hol? | Hova? | Honnan? |
|---|---|---|
| otthon (at home) | haza (home, homewards) | otthonról (from home) |
Otthon vagyok. (I'm at home.) – pronounced “OTT-hon VAW-dyok”
Hazamegyek. (I'm going home.) – pronounced “HAW-zaw-meh-dyek” Written as one word.
Otthonról dolgozom. (I work from home.) – pronounced “OTT-hon-rohl DOL-go-zom”
Notice that Hazamegyek is written as one word. You will see why in Lesson 14.
Putting it all together
Szia, Anna! Hova mész? (Hi, Anna! Where are you going?)
A könyvtárba megyek. És te? (I'm going to the library. And you?)
Én most jövök a boltból. Hazamegyek. (I'm just coming from the shop. I'm going home.)
Hol laksz? (Where do you live?)
Ott, abban a nagy házban. (There, in that big house.)
Szép ház! Honnan jössz, Anna? Angliából? (Nice house! Where are you from, Anna? England?)
Nem, Írországból jövök, de Budapesten lakom. (No, I'm from Ireland, but I live in Budapest.)
Abban means "in that". It is the word az (that) with -ban: the z changes to match the b. You will learn more about this in later lessons.
Conclusion
You can now say where things are, where you are going and where you are coming from, with -ban/-ben, -ba/-be and -ból/-ből. You know the three question words hol, hova and honnan, the matching words for "here" and "there", and the verbs megy and jön. Look over the Places Table and the Vocabulary, then try the Exercises. In Lesson 9 you will learn to talk about your family, and how to say "I have". For more place words, see the town vocabulary page, and for all the cases, see the cases grammar page.