Instrumental Case (-val/-vel) in Hungarian

In Brief

Hungarian adds -val or -vel to a noun to express “with,” “using,” or sometimes “by”: autóval means “by car,” while Péterrel means “with Péter.” After a final consonant, the v assimilates (becomes the same sound as that consonant), which is shown in spelling: kés + vel → késsel, not késvel.

Overview

The Hungarian instrumental-comitative case marks a noun with a suffix. A case is simply a form that shows the noun’s role in a sentence. Here, the same ending covers two ideas that English normally expresses with with: an instrument (the tool or means used) and a companion (the person or thing accompanying someone).

You meet forms such as késsel “with a knife,” barátokkal “with friends,” and vonattal “by train” constantly in everyday Hungarian. The basic meaning is easy, but forming the ending requires two central features of Hungarian: vowel harmony, which chooses between -val and -vel, and assimilation, which changes the suffix after a consonant.

This is introduced here as a B1 topic because learners need to use the sound changes reliably in speech and writing. It builds on the broader idea that Hungarian puts endings directly onto nouns rather than placing a separate preposition before them. The ending belongs to the whole noun phrase’s main noun, and other words may also need matching forms in some constructions.

How It Works

The two core meanings

Function	Hungarian	English
Instrument or means	késsel vág	cuts with a knife
Accompaniment	Annával jön	comes with Anna
Method of transport	busszal utazik	travels by bus
Manner or accompanying feature	örömmel segít	helps with pleasure / gladly

English with has additional meanings, so it does not always correspond to -val/-vel. For example, “coffee with milk” can be kávé tejjel, but “the man with the hat” is more naturally expressed by another structure, such as a kalapos férfi (“the hat-wearing man”). Learn the Hungarian construction, rather than replacing every English with automatically.

Step 1: choose -val or -vel by vowel harmony

Vowel harmony means that the vowels in a word influence the vowels in its suffix. Use -val after a back-vowel word and -vel after a front-vowel word.

Vowels in the word	Ending	Before any assimilation	Result
Back vowels: a, á, o, ó, u, ú	-val	autó + val	autóval
Front unrounded vowels: e, é, i, í	-vel	zene + vel	zenével
Front rounded vowels: ö, ő, ü, ű	-vel	repülő + vel	repülővel

Some words containing only i, í, e, or é take a back-vowel suffix for historical reasons. Common examples must be learned with their suffix forms: híd → híddal (“with/by a bridge”) and férfi → férfival (“with a man”). Recent loanwords and mixed-vowel words also follow established Hungarian usage, so a dictionary is useful when the choice is not predictable.

Step 2: look at the final sound

If the word ends in a vowel, attach the suffix unchanged:

• autó + val → autóval — by car
• bicikli + vel → biciklivel — by bicycle
• kávé + vel → kávéval — with coffee
• esernyő + vel → esernyővel — with an umbrella

If the word ends in a consonant, the suffix’s v completely assimilates to that consonant. In plain terms, the final consonant becomes long or doubled:

Base word	Harmony choice	Assimilation	Final form
kés (knife)	-vel	s + v → ss	késsel
kéz (hand)	-vel	z + v → zz	kézzel
barát (friend)	-val	t + v → tt	baráttal
vonat (train)	-val	t + v → tt	vonattal
könyv (book)	-vel	v + v → vv	könyvvel

This is not an optional pronunciation shortcut: standard spelling records the assimilation. Therefore késvel, barátval, and vonatval are incorrect.

Hungarian letter groups also double

Hungarian has consonants written with two or three letters, such as sz, gy, ny, cs, and dzs. When these consonants become long before -val/-vel, standard spelling generally uses the shortened doubled form: the first letter is written once and the final component is doubled.

Base word	Result	Meaning
busz	busszal	by bus
jegy	jeggyel	with a ticket
lány	lánnyal	with a girl
kulcs	kulccsal	with a key

The spelling may look unusual at first, but it represents a long sz, gy, ny, or cs sound—not two unrelated consonants.

Plural and possessive forms

Attach -val/-vel after plural and possessive endings. In other words, build the noun form first and add the case ending last.

Structure	Formation	Result
friend + plural + with	barát + ok + val	barátokkal — with friends
my friend + with	barát + om + val	barátommal — with my friend
our child + with	gyerek + ünk + vel	gyerekünkkel — with our child
your books + with	könyv + eid + vel	könyveiddel — with your books

Notice that assimilation is controlled by the last consonant of the already formed word: barátom ends in m, so it becomes barátommal.

Personal pronouns have special forms

Hungarian does not normally form “with me” by adding the suffix to én (“I”). Instead, it uses forms built from vel- plus personal endings.

Person	Form	English
1st singular	velem	with me
2nd singular	veled	with you
3rd singular	vele	with him/her/it
1st plural	velünk	with us
2nd plural	veletek	with you (plural)
3rd plural	velük	with them

An explicit personal pronoun can be added for contrast: velem is neutral, while énvelem stresses “with me.” The unprefixed forms are much more common when no contrast is needed.

Demonstratives repeat the case marking

With ez (“this”) and az (“that”), assimilation produces ezzel and azzal. Before a noun, both the demonstrative and the noun carry the case ending:

• ezzel a késsel — with this knife
• azzal a busszal — by/with that bus
• ezekkel az emberekkel — with these people

The article remains a or az according to the sound that follows it. English marks “with” only once, so this double marking is especially easy for English-speaking learners to overlook.

Examples in Context

Hungarian	English	Note
Késsel vágom a kenyeret.	I cut the bread with a knife.	Tool; kés → késsel
Kézzel írok, nem géppel.	I write by hand, not on a computer.	Means or method
Péterrel megyek a koncertre.	I’m going to the concert with Péter.	Companion
A barátaimmal vacsorázom.	I’m having dinner with my friends.	Possessive plural before the case ending
Autóval jár munkába.	He/She goes to work by car.	Transport after a vowel
Ma busszal jöttünk.	We came by bus today.	Long sz is written ssz
Ezzel a kulccsal nyisd ki az ajtót.	Open the door with this key.	Both demonstrative and noun are marked
Beszéltem vele tegnap.	I spoke with him/her yesterday.	Special pronoun form
Tejjel kérem a kávét.	I’d like the coffee with milk.	Ingredient or accompaniment
Nagy örömmel segítek.	I’m very happy to help.	Literally “with great pleasure”
A gyerek ceruzával rajzol.	The child is drawing with a pencil.	Tool after a vowel-final noun
Két évvel idősebb nálam.	He/She is two years older than me.	Amount of difference
Sokkal jobb lett az eredmény.	The result became much better.	Fixed degree form: “much”
Egymással beszélgetnek.	They are talking with each other.	Reciprocal form

Common Mistakes

Keeping the v after a consonant

• Wrong: késvel vágom
• Right: késsel vágom
• Why: After final s, the v assimilates completely and the s becomes long: ss.

Choosing the suffix from the final vowel alone

• Wrong: barátvel
• Right: baráttal
• Why: Harmony normally follows the word’s vowel pattern, not simply the letter nearest the ending. Barát has back vowels and takes -val; then v assimilates to t.

Forgetting to mark a demonstrative

• Wrong: ez a késsel
• Right: ezzel a késsel
• Why: In “with this knife,” both ez and kés must show the instrumental-comitative case.

Building regular forms from personal pronouns

• Wrong: énnel megy
• Right: velem jön/megy
• Why: The normal forms are velem, veled, vele, and so on. Add én- only when contrast is intended: énvelem.

Translating every English “with” as -val/-vel

• Wrong: assuming one Hungarian ending covers every use of English with
• Right: choose the construction according to the relationship being expressed
• Why: -val/-vel is natural for tools and company, but English uses with in descriptions, possession-like phrases, manner, and many verb combinations that Hungarian may express differently.

Usage Notes

The “instrument” and “companion” meanings use exactly the same ending. Context normally makes the interpretation obvious: a person in Péterrel utazom is a companion, whereas a vehicle in vonattal utazom is the means of travel.

For transport, Hungarian commonly uses the bare vehicle noun plus -val/-vel: autóval, busszal, vonattal, repülővel. English alternates between “by car,” “on the bus,” and “by train,” but Hungarian keeps one productive pattern. Walking is an important lexical contrast: “on foot” is gyalog, not a form with -val/-vel.

Several verbs and adjectives conventionally take a -val/-vel complement. For example, beszél valakivel means “talk with/to someone,” találkozik valakivel means “meet someone,” and elégedett valamivel means “satisfied with something.” Treat this as government—the word requires a particular case—even where English uses a different preposition or no preposition at all.

In polite requests, kérem plus an instrumental form is common when ordering food or drink: Kávét kérek tejjel (“I’d like coffee with milk”). Word order remains flexible, but the suffix clearly shows the relationship even if the marked noun moves.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

The case extends beyond literal tools and companions. It can mark an amount by which two things differ: öt perccel később (“five minutes later”), három méterrel hosszabb (“three metres longer”), and egy fokkal jobb (“one degree/a little better”). The comparison itself may use -nál/-nél, as in Két évvel idősebb nálam—literally, “older than me by two years.”

The forms sokkal (“much, by a lot”) and kevésbé (“less”) belong to the language of degree and comparison. Sokkal érdekesebb means “much more interesting.” Although learners may first meet -val/-vel as concrete “with,” this degree use is frequent and worth recognising early.

A number of common adverbs and time expressions contain historically or transparently related forms: örömmel (“with pleasure”), figyelemmel (“with attention”), nappal (“by day”), and éjjel (“at night”). Some are best learned as complete expressions because their modern meaning is not always predictable by translating each part.

The reciprocal pronoun egymás (“each other”) regularly takes this case when people act together or interact: egymással dolgoznak (“they work with each other”) and vitatkoznak egymással (“they argue with each other”). Forms such as magammal, magaddal, magával mean “with myself, with yourself, with himself/herself” or, in context, “with me/you”: Viszem magammal az esernyőt means “I’m taking the umbrella with me.” These reflexive forms follow their own personal pattern and are useful beyond the core B1 rule.

Do not confuse -val/-vel with -vá/-vé, which expresses becoming or turning something into something: vízzé válik (“turns into water”). The endings resemble one another and both show assimilation, but their functions are different.

Practice Tips

1. Build forms in two steps. For each noun, first choose -val or -vel, then apply assimilation: kulcs + val → kulccsal. Say the intermediate step mentally until the pattern becomes automatic.
2. Sort examples by final sound. Make one list of vowel-final words (autóval, biciklivel) and another of consonant-final words (késsel, busszal, baráttal). Read the second list aloud, making the doubled consonant genuinely long.
3. Practise useful frames. Replace one item at a time in Mivel mész? — Busszal megyek (“How are you going? — By bus”) and Kivel mész? — Annával megyek (“Who are you going with? — With Anna”). This also trains the question words mivel and kivel.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Introduction to Cases — explains how Hungarian attaches case suffixes to nouns and uses vowel harmony.