Verbal Prefixes in Hungarian

In Brief

Hungarian verbal prefixes (igekötők) combine with verbs to express direction, completion, result, or a new lexical meaning: megyek “I go,” elmegyek “I go away,” bemegyek “I go in.” In a neutral statement the prefix normally stands immediately before the verb, but it can separate and follow the verb when another element—such as negation or a strongly focused word—occupies the important pre-verbal position: Nem megyek el “I am not leaving.”

Overview

An igekötő is a short element associated with a verb. The usual English label, “verbal prefix,” describes its position in a neutral sentence, but it does not tell the whole story: Hungarian prefixes can move away from the verb. They are therefore somewhat comparable to the particles in English go out, come in, and eat up. Unlike English particles, however, they usually come before the verb when nothing else changes the sentence’s focus.

This is a core B1 topic because prefixes let a small set of common verbs carry many precise meanings. With megy “go,” for example, Hungarian forms bemegy “go in,” kimegy “go out,” felmegy “go up,” lemegy “go down,” and elmegy “go away.” A prefix can also present an action as reaching an endpoint: írja a levelet may describe writing in progress, whereas megírja a levelet normally points to getting the letter written.

English can suggest a useful translation, but it cannot predict every Hungarian combination. A Hungarian prefixed verb may correspond to an English particle verb, a single verb, or an idiom: bekapcsol “switch on,” kikapcsol “switch off,” felhív “call by phone.” Learn frequent prefix–verb combinations as vocabulary while also noticing the broader patterns.

How It Works

The main prefixes

A base verb is the verb before a prefix is added. The same base can combine with different prefixes, but the resulting meanings are not always simply the sum of their parts.

Prefix	Core idea	Example	Usual meaning
meg-	completion, achieved result	megír	write, finish writing
el-	away; departure; sometimes completion	elmegy	leave, go away
ki-	out, outward	kimegy	go out
be-	in, inward	bemegy	go in
fel-	up; upward; sometimes initiation	felmegy	go up
le-	down; downward	lemegy	go down

Other very common prefixes include át- “across/over,” vissza- “back,” oda- “to there,” ide- “to here,” össze- “together,” and szét- “apart.” The six prefixes in the core list are the best place to begin, but you will meet the others constantly.

Direction with motion verbs

Directional prefixes are especially transparent with verbs such as megy “go,” jön “come,” visz “take/carry,” and hoz “bring.” The direction is understood relative to a place or viewpoint:

Base	With be-	With ki-	With fel-	With le-
megy — go	bemegy — go in	kimegy — go out	felmegy — go up	lemegy — go down
jön — come	bejön — come in	kijön — come out	feljön — come up	lejön — come down
visz — take	bevisz — take in	kivisz — take out	felvisz — take up	levisz — take down
hoz — bring	behoz — bring in	kihoz — bring out	felhoz — bring up	lehoz — bring down

Notice the English viewpoint distinction too: visz generally takes something away from the current viewpoint, while hoz brings it toward that viewpoint. The prefix adds the route or direction.

Completion and result

Prefixes often contribute aspect—the way a speaker presents an action as ongoing, repeated, completed, or reaching a result. Meg- is strongly associated with a completed result:

• Eszem az almát. — I am eating the apple.
• Megeszem az almát. — I eat/will eat the apple up.
• Írtam egy e-mailt. — I was writing/wrote an email.
• Megírtam az e-mailt. — I wrote and finished the email.

Hungarian has no single prefix that mechanically means English “have done.” Completion depends on the whole verb, tense, object, and context. Other prefixes can also set an endpoint: elolvas means “read through/finish reading,” while felolvas means “read aloud.” Do not add meg- to every verb merely because an event is finished.

New lexical meanings

A prefix can create a dictionary meaning that is only loosely connected to physical direction:

• hív — call → felhív — telephone
• kapcsol — connect → bekapcsol — switch on; kikapcsol — switch off
• néz — look/watch → megnéz — look at, check, watch
• ért — understand → megért — understand, grasp
• áll — stand → feláll — stand up; leáll — stop, shut down

For these verbs, translation by prefix alone is unreliable. Record the complete infinitive—felhívni, bekapcsolni, megérteni—rather than memorising only the base.

Attached and separated position

In a neutral affirmative clause, the prefix normally attaches in writing and comes directly before the finite verb (the verb carrying tense and person):

• Péter elolvassa a könyvet. — Péter reads the book through.
• Tegnap megírtam a levelet. — I finished writing the letter yesterday.

When the prefix is displaced, it is written separately after the verb:

• Péter nem olvassa el a könyvet. — Péter does not read the book through.
• A levelet írtam meg. — It was the letter that I finished writing.

The element immediately before the verb can carry focus (the information singled out as the important contrast). Negation with nem, a focused question word, or another strongly focused constituent commonly pushes the prefix behind the verb. This article introduces that behavior because separability is part of the system; the full set of word-order patterns belongs to the related topic Prefix Position.

Do not treat every question alike. A neutral yes/no question can keep the prefix: Megírtad a levelet? “Did you write the letter?” A focused question word usually causes separation: Mit írtál meg? “What did you finish writing?” Intonation and information structure matter as well as punctuation.

Infinitives and modal-like constructions

An infinitive is the unconjugated “to…” form, usually ending in -ni in Hungarian. When a prefixed infinitive remains one unit, the prefix attaches to it:

• El akarok menni. — I want to leave.
• Be kell kapcsolni a lámpát. — The lamp must be switched on.

With akar “want,” the intended infinitive may be highlighted by placing its prefix before akar, while the infinitive itself follows later: El akarok menni. Word order around infinitives deserves separate study; the key point here is to recognize el + menni as belonging to elmenni.

Examples in Context

Hungarian	English	Note
Megeszem a levest.	I’ll eat the soup up.	meg- presents a complete result.
Anna már megírta az üzenetet.	Anna has already written the message.	Past action with a completed result.
Reggel nyolckor elmegyek otthonról.	I leave home at eight in the morning.	el- expresses movement away.
A gyerekek kimennek a kertbe.	The children go out into the garden.	ki- points outward.
Gyere be!	Come in!	In this command, the prefix follows the verb.
Felmegyünk a harmadik emeletre.	We are going up to the third floor.	fel- indicates upward movement.
Este leviszem a kutyát.	I’ll take the dog downstairs/out this evening.	The exact route depends on context.
Bekapcsolom a számítógépet.	I switch on the computer.	A lexicalised prefix–verb pair.
Kérlek, kapcsold ki a tévét!	Please switch off the TV.	The imperative separates ki-.
Nem olvastam el a cikket.	I did not read the article through.	Negation pushes el after the verb.
Megnézted ezt a filmet?	Have you seen this film?	A neutral yes/no question keeps meg-.
Mit néztél meg tegnap?	What did you watch yesterday?	The focused question word causes separation.
Dóra felhívta az orvost.	Dóra called the doctor.	felhív means “telephone.”
Visszajövök öt perc múlva.	I’ll come back in five minutes.	vissza- means “back.”
Péter összetörte a poharat.	Péter broke the glass.	összetör expresses the resulting broken state.

Common Mistakes

Keeping the prefix attached after negation

• Wrong: Nem elmegyek ma. (for the neutral meaning “I’m not leaving today”)
• Right: Nem megyek el ma.
• Why: In ordinary negation, nem stands before the verb and the prefix follows it. The wrong order can only make sense under a special contrast, not as a neutral sentence.

Separating every question

• Wrong: Írtad meg a levelet? (as a neutral yes/no question)
• Right: Megírtad a levelet?
• Why: Question form alone does not always displace the prefix. Neutral yes/no questions commonly retain prefix + verb; focused question words often separate them.

Translating a prefix word for word

• Wrong strategy: assuming fel- always means literal “up”
• Right: learn felmegy “go up,” but also felhív “telephone” and felvesz “pick up/put on/record,” according to context.
• Why: Many combinations have established lexical meanings, just as English take off cannot always be decoded from take and off separately.

Adding meg- to show any past completion

• Wrong: choosing meg- solely because the English sentence uses “have” or the past tense
• Right: choose the established Hungarian verb and prefix: Megírtam a levelet “I finished the letter,” but Elmentem dolgozni “I went to work.”
• Why: Tense locates an event in time; a prefix may describe its direction or endpoint. These are different jobs.

Writing a separated prefix as part of the verb

• Wrong: Nem megyekel.
• Right: Nem megyek el.
• Why: A prefix is joined to the verb only when it stands immediately before it as one verbal unit. In post-verbal position it is a separate written word.

Usage Notes

Prefixed verbs are normal in every register, from casual conversation to formal writing. Spoken Hungarian may make the prefix sound closely bound to the following verb in neutral clauses. When it is separated, the sentence stress and rhythm help signal what is focused: compare neutral Péter megírta with contrastive PÉTER írta meg “Péter was the one who wrote it.”

English translations often hide distinctions that Hungarian makes explicit. Both megy and elmegy can be translated as “go,” but elmegy foregrounds departure. Conversely, one Hungarian verb can need several English translations: lemegy may mean go down, go downstairs, set (of the sun), or drop (of a level), depending on context.

Some combinations vary in how transparent they feel. Bemegy is easy to analyse as be + megy, whereas a frequent verb such as megért “understand” is best processed as one vocabulary item. Dictionaries normally list prefixed verbs, and checking the complete form is safer than guessing.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

Prefix position is part of Hungarian information structure, not merely a mechanical “separable verb” rule. A focused constituent generally occupies the position immediately before the finite verb, and the prefix then follows: ANNA írta meg a jelentést “It was Anna who wrote the report.” A neutral clause instead has Anna megírta a jelentést. Commands also commonly place the prefix after the verb: Írd meg! “Write it!” Negative commands use ne and likewise keep it after: Ne írd meg! “Don’t write it!”

Prefixes also interact with whether an event has a natural endpoint. Linguists call an event telic when it is presented as leading to a defined endpoint. Compare olvastam a könyvet “I was reading/read the book” with elolvastam a könyvet “I read the book through.” A prefix often—but not always—makes the event telic. This helps explain why prefixes affect interpretation beyond physical direction.

A single base can build a family of meanings worth studying together:

Verb	Meaning
ír	write
megír	write and complete
leír	write down; describe
felír	write down; prescribe
beír	enter in writing; write into
kiír	write/display publicly; prescribe leave, depending on context
átír	rewrite; transcribe

The table also shows why no prefix has one fixed English equivalent. Context, the object, and convention select the meaning. At higher levels, pay attention to prefixes that modify intensity, repetition, distribution, or change of state, and to cases where an apparently similar prefixed form belongs to a different register.

Practice Tips

1. Build verb families. Put megy, bemegy, kimegy, felmegy, lemegy, elmegy on one card or page and draw arrows for their directions. Then repeat with jön, visz, and hoz.
2. Practise in three sentence types. For each new verb, make a neutral statement, a negative sentence, and a question: Megírom. — Nem írom meg. — Mit írsz meg? This connects meaning with prefix position.
3. Learn complete combinations from context. Save a short sentence with felhív, bekapcsol, or elolvas, not just a list of prefixes. Mark whether the English equivalent is literal, an English particle verb, or a different verb altogether.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Past Tense — helps you contrast an action’s time with the completion or direction contributed by a prefix.
• Next step: Prefix Position — develops the word-order rules for negation, focus, questions, commands, and infinitive constructions.