Postpositions in Hungarian

In Brief

Hungarian often puts a location word after a noun phrase where English puts a preposition before it: az asztal alatt literally has the order “the table under.” The basic A2 rule is noun phrase + postposition: a ház mögött (“behind the house”), az iskola mellett (“beside the school”).

Overview

A postposition is a word that comes after a noun or noun phrase (a group of words built around a person, place, or thing) and shows its relationship to something else. English mainly uses prepositions before the noun: “under the table,” “behind the house,” and “between the trees.” Hungarian reverses that part of the order: az asztal alatt, a ház mögött, a fák között.

Postpositions are introduced around A2 because they let you describe where people and objects are in a precise, natural way. You will hear them in directions, travel conversations, descriptions of rooms, meeting arrangements, and time expressions. The article stays with the noun: “under the table” is * az asztal alatt*, not a phrase in which alatt replaces the article.

The five core forms in this lesson—alatt, mögött, előtt, között, and mellett—answer the static question Hol? (“Where?”). Hungarian also has closely related forms meaning “to where?” and “from where?” Those directional sets are useful, but beginners should first become comfortable with the simple pattern noun phrase + static postposition.

How It Works

The basic word order

The central pattern is:

article + noun + postposition

Hungarian	English	Note
az asztal alatt	under the table	alatt follows the complete noun phrase
a ház mögött	behind the house	the article remains before ház
az iskola mellett	beside the school	mellett is the final word

English speakers often understand the meaning more quickly if they temporarily read the Hungarian phrase from left to right as “the table—under.” This is only a learning aid; the natural English translation still uses normal English order.

A longer noun phrase also stays together before the postposition:

• a nagy fa alatt — under the big tree
• a régi mozi mögött — behind the old cinema
• a két magas épület között — between the two tall buildings
• a városi könyvtár mellett — beside the city library

The postposition does not normally change because the noun is singular or plural. Compare a fa alatt (“under the tree”) and a fák alatt (“under the trees”). The noun may still take its ordinary plural ending, but alatt remains alatt.

The five core postpositions

Postposition	Core meaning	Typical question	Example
alatt	under, below	Hol? — Where?	a szék alatt — under the chair
mögött	behind	Hol? — Where?	a bolt mögött — behind the shop
előtt	in front of; before	Hol? / Mikor? — Where? / When?	a kapu előtt — in front of the gate
között	between; among	Hol? — Where?	a házak között — among the houses
mellett	beside, next to	Hol? — Where?	az ablak mellett — beside the window

Static position: answering Hol?

The forms above locate something without expressing movement toward or away from it:

• A macska az asztal alatt van. — The cat is under the table.
• A kert a ház mögött van. — The garden is behind the house.
• A buszmegálló az iskola előtt van. — The bus stop is in front of the school.

Hungarian often uses van (“is”) when stating that something exists or is located somewhere. In ordinary present-tense descriptions with a third-person subject, it may also use a different predicate pattern, but location sentences such as these normally need van or its plural form vannak.

Static, toward, and away from

Hungarian organizes many spatial relationships into three directions:

1. location — where something is;
2. destination — where something moves to;
3. source — where something moves from.

The five static forms belong to larger three-part families:

Relationship	Where? Hol?	To where? Hová?	From where? Honnan?
under	alatt	alá	alól
behind	mögött	mögé	mögül
in front of	előtt	elé	elől
between/among	között	közé	közül
beside	mellett	mellé	mellől

The verb and the intended direction determine the choice:

• A táska az asztal alatt van. — The bag is under the table.
• A táskát az asztal alá teszem. — I put the bag under the table.
• Kiveszem a táskát az asztal alól. — I take the bag out from under the table.

English often uses the same word “under” in all three sentences, adding a verb or another word to clarify movement. Hungarian marks the distinction directly in the postposition. At A2, make alatt, mögött, előtt, között, and mellett automatic first; then learn each three-form family as a unit.

Előtt for space and time

Előtt has two common uses. In space it means “in front of”:

• A taxi a szálloda előtt áll. — The taxi is standing in front of the hotel.

With a time, event, or action noun, it means “before”:

• ebéd előtt — before lunch
• a vizsga előtt — before the exam
• indulás előtt — before departure / before leaving

Context normally makes the meaning clear. Az iskola előtt can mean “in front of the school,” while a phrase about an event or clock time naturally receives a temporal reading.

Között: between and among

Között covers both English “between” and “among.” Use it for two reference points or for a group surrounding something:

• a bank és a posta között — between the bank and the post office
• a fák között — among/between the trees
• a barátok között — among friends

When two items are named, Hungarian normally joins them with és (“and”), then places között after the entire coordinated phrase: X és Y között. Do not insert között before the second item.

Examples in Context

Hungarian	English	Note
A cipő az ágy alatt van.	The shoe is under the bed.	static location with alatt
A gyerekek a fa alatt játszanak.	The children are playing under the tree.	the whole noun phrase precedes the postposition
A parkoló a szupermarket mögött van.	The car park is behind the supermarket.	mögött describes location
Valaki áll az ajtó mögött.	Someone is standing behind the door.	no movement is implied
Találkozzunk a múzeum előtt!	Let’s meet in front of the museum!	common meeting-point expression
Reggeli előtt kávét iszom.	I drink coffee before breakfast.	temporal előtt
A gyógyszert étkezés előtt kell bevenni.	The medicine must be taken before a meal.	temporal use in an instruction
A gyógyszertár a pékség és a bank között van.	The pharmacy is between the bakery and the bank.	two named reference points
Egy kis ház áll a fák között.	A small house stands among the trees.	a group as the reference point
Anna Péter mellett ül.	Anna is sitting next to Péter.	proper names need no article here
Van egy kávézó az állomás mellett.	There is a café beside the station.	existential location sentence
A kutya az asztal alá bújik.	The dog crawls under the table.	destination form alá
A biciklit a ház mögé tesszük.	We put the bicycle behind the house.	destination form mögé
Kilépett az autó mögül.	He/She stepped out from behind the car.	source form mögül

Common Mistakes

Putting the postposition before the noun

• Wrong: alatt az asztal
• Right: az asztal alatt
• Why: Unlike English “under the table,” the Hungarian relationship word follows the entire noun phrase.

Dropping or moving the article

• Wrong: asztal az alatt
• Right: az asztal alatt
• Why: The article belongs before the noun. The unit is az asztal (“the table”), followed by alatt.

Using a static form for movement toward a place

• Wrong: A táskát az asztal alatt teszem. when you mean “I put the bag under the table.”
• Right: A táskát az asztal alá teszem.
• Why: Alatt answers “where?”; alá answers “to where?” A destination requires the directional form.

Using the destination form for a fixed location

• Wrong: A macska az ágy alá van.
• Right: A macska az ágy alatt van.
• Why: The cat’s location is being stated, not its movement. Use the static member of the family.

Breaking up a two-item phrase with között

• Wrong: a bank között és a posta
• Right: a bank és a posta között
• Why: Join both reference points first; között comes after the complete phrase.

Translating “before” without checking its meaning

• Wrong choice: using előtt when English “before” means “earlier than someone did” in a complex comparison without checking the full construction.
• Right basic use: a találkozó előtt — before the meeting
• Why: Előtt works directly for spatial position and for “before” a time or event. English “before” also introduces clauses and comparisons, which may require other Hungarian structures.

Usage Notes

Postpositions are neutral and frequent in both speech and writing. They are not formal alternatives to shorter everyday expressions; phrases such as a ház előtt and az asztal alatt are the ordinary way to describe these relationships.

Word order outside the postpositional phrase can vary because Hungarian often places important or contrasting information before the verb. The phrase itself, however, keeps the noun before its postposition. Both A buszmegálló az iskola előtt van and Az iskola előtt van a buszmegálló can be possible in a suitable context, but az iskola előtt remains intact.

Proper names usually appear without an article in standard uses: Péter mellett (“next to Péter”), Budapest előtt (“before Budapest,” depending on context). Place names that ordinarily take an article keep it according to their normal usage. The postposition does not by itself decide whether an article is needed.

Some combinations develop conventional meanings. Egymás mellett means “next to one another” and can describe both physical arrangement and parallel existence. Egymás között means “among ourselves/themselves” or “between one another.” Learn such combinations as complete phrases rather than translating each word in isolation.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

You do not need to master this section at A2, but these patterns explain forms you will meet later.

Personal forms

When the reference point is a person expressed as a pronoun—“under me,” “behind you,” “next to us”—Hungarian usually does not put an independent personal pronoun before the postposition. Instead, many postpositions take endings that identify the person:

Base idea	Example form	Meaning
alatt	alattam	under me
mögött	mögötted	behind you (singular, informal)
előtt	előtte	in front of him/her/it; before it
között	közöttünk	between/among us
mellett	mellettük	beside them

These forms resemble possessive endings historically and structurally, but for learning purposes it is best to treat each paradigm systematically. They are covered in the related lesson on personal postpositions.

Postpositions that require a case-marked noun

The five core postpositions here usually follow an unmarked noun phrase: a ház mögött. Not every Hungarian postposition behaves exactly this way. Some are used after a noun carrying a case ending (an ending that marks the noun’s role), as in expressions corresponding to “because of,” “starting from,” or “in comparison with.” Therefore, the beginner shortcut “a postposition always follows a bare noun” is useful for this core set, but it is not a universal rule for every item traditionally called a postposition.

Closely related adverb-like uses

Forms from these families can sometimes appear without an explicit noun when the reference point is already understood. For example, elöl can mean “at/in the front,” while hátul means “at/in the back.” Such words may look similar to the source forms in a directional set but function as independent location words. Notice whether a noun phrase actually comes before the form rather than classifying by appearance alone.

Figurative and abstract meanings

Spatial postpositions also extend beyond literal physical space:

• nyomás alatt — under pressure
• ellenőrzés alatt — under control / under supervision
• a törvény előtt — before the law
• barátok között — among friends
• egymás mellett élnek — they live alongside one another

These are normal extensions, but the best English equivalent may not use the same spatial word. Translate the whole expression, not just the postposition.

Practice Tips

1. Learn each core form with a visible object. Look around a room and make five short sentences: A táska az asztal alatt van, A szék az ablak mellett van, and so on. Physical scenes make the reversed English–Hungarian order easier to remember.
2. Train the three-way contrast. Take one noun phrase and say a location, a destination, and a source: a szék alatt → a szék alá → a szék alól. Add a suitable verb only after the three forms feel distinct.
3. Build map descriptions. Draw three buildings and explain their positions using előtt, mögött, mellett, and között. For two reference points, practise the complete frame X és Y között.

Related Concepts

• Next step: Personal Postpositions — learn forms such as alattam, mögötted, and mellettünk when the reference point is a person.