How Cases Work
Hungarian Grammar 2
Chapter 1 · How Cases Work
🧩 Cases — Az esetek
English uses little words (in, on, to, from, with) in front of a noun. Hungarian glues a suffix to the end of the noun instead. This chapter explains the idea, builds the plural, fixes the order in which suffixes pile up, and gives you the map of every case the rest of the course covers. Hungarian Grammar 1 gave you the harmony and linking-vowel rules; here they start doing real work.
1. What a case is
A case is the form a noun takes to show its job in the sentence: the doer, the thing acted on, the place, the receiver, the means. English shows most of these jobs with word order and prepositions. Hungarian shows them with the ending. The same noun can therefore appear in many shapes:
| Job of the noun | English | Hungarian | Case |
|---|---|---|---|
| The house is big | the house | a ház | nominative (no suffix) |
| I see the house | the house (object) | a házat | accusative |
| Inside it | in the house | a házban | inessive |
| Going toward it | to the house | a házhoz | allative |
| Coming away from it | from the house (a person's place) | a háztól | ablative |
| Together with it | with the house | a házzal | instrumental |
Two things to notice. First, the article a/az stays in front and never changes. Second, the suffix is written as part of the word, with no space, and always in lower case (even after a name: Budapestre).
2. The nominative: the form with no suffix
The nominative (alanyeset) is the dictionary form: the noun with nothing added. It is the case of the subject and of the thing being described.
| Hungarian | English | Job of the noun |
|---|---|---|
| A ház nagy. | The house is big. | subject |
| A telefon az asztalon van. | The phone is on the table. | subject (asztalon is another case) |
| Philip tanuló. | Philip is a learner. | describing noun (no is needed) |
When a Hungarian dictionary or word list gives you a noun, it is always in the nominative singular, and that is the stem you start from.
3. The plural: -k, with a linking vowel
The plural suffix is -k. After a consonant it needs a linking vowel to be pronounceable, which is the rule from Hungarian Grammar 1, chapter 4. After a final a or e the stem vowel lengthens and no linking vowel is needed.
| Stem ends in… | Plural | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Consonant, back vowels (most words) | -ok | asztal → asztalok · ablak → ablakok · orvos → orvosok · telefon → telefonok |
| Consonant, a few common back words | -ak | ház → házak · fal (wall) → falak · hal (fish) → halak |
| Consonant, front vowels | -ek | kert → kertek · szék → székek · könyv → könyvek · kábel → kábelek |
| Consonant, many rounded-front words | -ök | kör → körök · sör → sörök · tükör → tükrök (the stem drops its vowel) |
| Final a or e | -k with a lengthened vowel | alma → almák · kefe → kefék |
| Other final vowel | -k | autó → autók · fiú → fiúk · hajó → hajók |
4. The order of suffixes on a noun
A noun can carry up to three suffixes, and their order never changes: plural → possessive → case. Think of the case as the last coat you put on.
| Stem | + plural | + possessive | + case | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ház | ban | házban · in the house | ||
| ház | ak | ban | házakban · in the houses | |
| könyv | em | ben | könyvemben · in my book | |
| barát | aim (my … (plural)) | hoz | barátaimhoz · to my friends | |
| szülő | im (stem szüle-) | nél | szüleimnél · at my parents' |
The possessive endings are the subject of Chapter 8, so here you only need to recognise the pattern: the case suffix is outermost. Whatever the stem and the other suffixes look like, the case goes on the end, and the vowel it takes is chosen by the vowel just before it.
5. The map: which case is in which chapter
Grammars count cases differently. A common count is 18, and a few border cases (such as -kor, "at a time") are sometimes added. This table is the course plan: every suffix, its meaning, and the chapter that teaches it.
| Case | Suffix | Basic meaning | Chapter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | none | subject; dictionary form | 1 |
| Accusative | -t (with linking vowels) | direct object | 2 |
| Dative | -nak / -nek | to, for (a person) | 3 |
| Inessive | -ban / -ben | in | 4 |
| Superessive | -on / -en / -ön (or -n) | on | 4 |
| Adessive | -nál / -nél | at, by | 4 |
| Illative | -ba / -be | into | 5 |
| Sublative | -ra / -re | onto | 5 |
| Allative | -hoz / -hez / -höz | to, towards | 5 |
| Elative | -ból / -ből | out of | 6 |
| Delative | -ról / -ről | off; about | 6 |
| Ablative | -tól / -től | from (away from) | 6 |
| Instrumental | -val / -vel | with, by means of | 7 |
| Translative | -vá / -vé | turning into | 7 |
| Causal-final | -ért | for; because of | 7 |
| Terminative | -ig | until; as far as | 7 |
| Essive | -ul / -ül · -ként | as; in the role of | 7 |
| Temporal | -kor | at (a time) | 7 |
| Inside | On the surface | Near / at someone | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Where? (static) | -ban / -ben in the house | -on / -en / -ön on the table | -nál / -nél at my friend's |
| Where to? | -ba / -be into the house | -ra / -re onto the table | -hoz / -hez / -höz to my friend's |
| Where from? | -ból / -ből out of the house | -ról / -ről off the table | -tól / -től from my friend's |
6. Where the case goes: the noun, not the adjective
Languages such as German or Latin put the case on the article and the adjective as well as the noun. Hungarian does not. The adjective stays in its dictionary form and only the noun is marked. The one common exception is a demonstrative (ez this, az that), which also takes the case.
| Hungarian | English | What carries the case |
|---|---|---|
| a nagy házban | in the big house | the noun only |
| a kis szobaban | in the small room | the noun only |
| ebben a házban | in this house | both ez and the noun (ez + ben becomes ebben) |
| abban a szobában | in that room | both az and the noun |
🗣️ In Use — Használatban
Short exchanges showing the plural, the case and the suffix order. Read each aloud and find the nominative stem inside each form.
① Where is it?
② What is in the boxes?
③ Weekend plans
📋 Quick Reference — Gyorstábla
| Idea | Rule | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | the bare dictionary form | ház |
| Plural | -k, with -ok / -ak / -ek / -ök after a consonant; lengthened vowel after a, e | házak · kertek · almák |
| Suffix order | stem + plural + possessive + case | házakban · könyvemben |
| Harmony | last vowel of what comes before the case chooses its form | házban · kertben · körhöz |
| Adjectives | never take the case | a nagy házban |
| After a number | noun stays singular | három ház |
✏️ Try It Yourself — Gyakorlás
Say the answer first, then click to check.
1. Which of these is the nominative: házban, ház, házat?
Show answer
ház. The nominative has no suffix.
2. Make the plural of kert.
Show answer
kertek. Front vowel: -ek.
3. Make the plural of telefon.
Show answer
telefonok. Back vowels: -ok.
4. Make the plural of alma (apple).
Show answer
almák. A final a lengthens before the plural -k.
5. Build "in the houses" from ház.
Show answer
házakban. Stem + plural (-ak) + case (-ban).
6. Build "in the gardens" from kert.
Show answer
kertekben. Stem + -ek + -ben; the case vowel follows the last vowel, e.
7. Build "in my book" from könyv + -em (my) + the "in" case.
Show answer
könyvemben. Stem + possessive + case.
8. Fix the sentence: a nagyban házban (in the big house).
Show answer
a nagy házban. Only the noun takes the case.
9. Fix the sentence: ez a házban (in this house).
Show answer
ebben a házban. The demonstrative ez also takes the case (ez + ben becomes ebben).
10. Fix the sentence: három házak (three houses).
Show answer
három ház. After a number the noun stays singular.