Hungarian cases: a practical guide for English speakers
“Hungarian has 18 cases” is the fact that scares people off. In practice it is less frightening than it sounds. A Hungarian case is just an ending that does the job of an English preposition, and the endings are regular: no genders, no separate plural set, no irregular tables per noun. Half of the 18 also fit into a single 3 × 3 grid. This guide walks through them in the order you actually need them.
What a case is in Hungarian
Where English says “in the house”, Hungarian says a házban: the article stays, the noun takes an ending. The same ending works on any noun, singular or plural (a házakban in the houses). Each ending has a back and a front version chosen by vowel harmony, which is why every case below is written in pairs like -ban/-ben.
The core three: subject, object, dative
Nominative (no ending)
The dictionary form, used for the subject: A ház régi. The house is old.
Accusative -t
Marks the direct object. After a vowel and after some consonants it is just -t; after others a linking vowel slips in.
Whether the object is definite also changes the verb (látok egy házat but látom a házat). That has its own guide: definite vs indefinite conjugation.
Dative -nak/-nek
“To” or “for” a person, and the way Hungarian says “to have”: literally “to Péter there is a car”.
The location grid: nine cases in one table
Nine cases describe place and movement. Think of three kinds of space (inside, on a surface, next to) and three questions: where? where to? where from?
| Where? (hol?) | Where to? (hova?) | Where from? (honnan?) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inside | -ban/-ben házban in the house | -ba/-be házba into the house | -ból/-ből házból out of the house |
| On a surface | -n/-on/-en/-ön asztalon on the table | -ra/-re asztalra onto the table | -ról/-ről asztalról off the table |
| At / next to | -nál/-nél orvosnál at the doctor’s | -hoz/-hez/-höz orvoshoz to the doctor’s | -tól/-től orvostól from the doctor’s |
Grammar books give them Latin names (inessive, illative, elative; superessive, sublative, delative; adessive, allative, ablative), but you never need those to speak. Learn the rows instead: once you know -ban, you can guess -ba and -ból.
Use the third row for people: you go az orvoshoz, not az orvosba. The -nál/-nél form also means “at someone’s place”, like French chez: Az orvosnál vagyok. I’m at the doctor’s.
Towns, countries and transport
Which row a place uses is partly convention. Foreign cities and most countries go “inside”; most Hungarian towns and Hungary itself go “on”.
| Place | In | To | From |
|---|---|---|---|
| London | Londonban | Londonba | Londonból |
| Budapest | Budapesten | Budapestre | Budapestről |
| Szeged | Szegeden | Szegedre | Szegedről |
| Magyarország Hungary | Magyarországon | Magyarországra | Magyarországról |
| Debrecen (exception) | Debrecenben | Debrecenbe | Debrecenből |
Public transport takes “on”, as in English: A villamoson vagyok. I’m on the tram. Lake Balaton too: Nyáron a Balatonra megyünk. In summer we’re going to Lake Balaton.
Other everyday cases
Instrumental -val/-vel: with, by
The v stays after a vowel but copies a final consonant: Annával, busszal, Péterrel, vonattal, tejjel.
Causal-final -ért: for, in exchange for
Terminative -ig: as far as, until
Essive-formal -ként: as
Translative -vá/-vé: becoming
The v assimilates like in -val/-vel.
Essive-modal -ul/-ül: in a manner, in a language
You’ll use it daily with languages: Egy kicsit beszélek magyarul. I speak a little Hungarian.
All 18 at a glance
| Case | Ending | Rough English | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | none | subject | ház |
| Accusative | -t | object | házat |
| Dative | -nak/-nek | to, for | Tamásnak |
| Instrumental | -val/-vel | with, by | busszal |
| Causal-final | -ért | for | kenyérért |
| Translative | -vá/-vé | into (becoming) | orvossá |
| Terminative | -ig | until, as far as | péntekig |
| Essive-formal | -ként | as | tanárként |
| Essive-modal | -ul/-ül | in a manner | magyarul |
| Inessive | -ban/-ben | in | házban |
| Illative | -ba/-be | into | házba |
| Elative | -ból/-ből | out of | házból |
| Superessive | -n/-on/-en/-ön | on | asztalon |
| Sublative | -ra/-re | onto | asztalra |
| Delative | -ról/-ről | off, about | asztalról |
| Adessive | -nál/-nél | at | orvosnál |
| Allative | -hoz/-hez/-höz | to (towards) | orvoshoz |
| Ablative | -tól/-től | from | orvostól |
In what order should you learn them?
- A1: the object -t, the “where?” column (-ban/-ben, -n, -nál/-nél), and -ul/-ül for languages.
- A2: the “to” and “from” columns, -nak/-nek with “to have”, and -val/-vel.
- B1: -ért, -ig, -kor, -ként, -vá/-vé.
That is also the order the Magyar Up course follows. If you want a schedule for the rest of your learning, see how to learn Hungarian: a realistic plan.
Frequently asked questions
Does Hungarian really have 18 cases?
Most textbooks count 18, though some count a few more. They are all regular endings, so they are much easier than the number suggests.
Do I need to learn the Latin case names?
No. Learn the endings and what they mean. The names only help when you read grammar books.
Why is it Budapesten but Londonban?
Most Hungarian towns take the “on” endings, while foreign cities and most countries take the “in” endings. It is a convention you learn town by town.
Do plural nouns have different case endings?
No. The same endings go on the plural: házakban means in the houses.
Practise every ending with the case-endings drill
Magyar Up’s case-endings drill gives you real sentences like “Debrecen___ utazom” and explains each answer, so the grid sticks.