Demonstrative Pronouns in Hungarian

Overview

Hungarian demonstrative pronouns — ez (this) and az (that) — function much like their English counterparts but with an important morphological twist: they take case suffixes just like nouns, and the z assimilates to certain suffixes, producing forms like ebben (in this) and abban (in that). At the CEFR A1 level, demonstratives are essential for pointing out objects, making choices, and forming basic sentences.

Demonstratives in Hungarian also play a structural role as correlative pronouns in complex sentences, but at the A1 level, learners should focus on the basic pointing function and learn the most common case-marked forms.

When used before a noun, demonstratives require the definite article between them and the noun: ez a ház (this house, literally "this the house"), not ez ház.

How It Works

Basic Forms

Demonstrative	Meaning	Before noun
ez	this	ez a ház (this house)
az	that	az a könyv (that book)
ezek	these	ezek a házak (these houses)
azok	those	azok a könyvek (those books)

Case Forms with Assimilation

The final -z of ez/az assimilates to the first consonant of certain suffixes:

Case	Ez (this)	Az (that)	English
Nominative	ez	az	this/that
Accusative	ezt	azt	this/that (object)
Inessive	ebben	abban	in this/that
Superessive	ezen	azon	on this/that
Illative	ebbe	abba	into this/that
Elative	ebből	abból	out of this/that
Sublative	erre	arra	onto this/that
Delative	erről	arról	off this/that
Allative	ehhez	ahhoz	to this/that
Ablative	ettől	attól	from this/that
Instrumental	ezzel	azzal	with this/that
Dative	ennek	annak	to this/that

Demonstrative + Article + Noun

Hungarian	Literal	English
ez a ház	this the house	this house
az a könyv	that the book	that book
ebben a házban	in-this the house-in	in this house
abban az iskolában	in-that the school-in	in that school

Note: Both the demonstrative AND the noun take the case suffix.

Examples in Context

Hungarian	English	Note
Ez a ház szép.	This house is beautiful.	demonstrative + article
Az a könyv jó.	That book is good.	demonstrative + article
Ebben a házban.	In this house.	both take case
Abban az iskolában.	In that school.	both take case
Ezt kérem.	I'd like this.	accusative
Azzal megyek.	I go with that.	instrumental
Erről beszélünk.	We're talking about this.	delative
Ezek a diákok.	These students.	plural demonstrative
Annak adom.	I give it to that person.	dative
Ettől félek.	I'm afraid of this.	ablative

Common Mistakes

Forgetting the article

• Wrong: ez ház (this house)
• Right: ez a ház
• Why: When a demonstrative modifies a noun, the definite article must appear between them.

Not marking case on both demonstrative and noun

• Wrong: ez házban (in this house)
• Right: ebben a házban
• Why: Both the demonstrative and the noun must carry the case suffix.

Not applying assimilation

• Wrong: ezben (in this)
• Right: ebben
• Why: The z of ez/az assimilates to b before -ban/-ben, producing bb.

Usage Notes

The demonstratives ez/az and their case forms are extremely high-frequency words in Hungarian. They also serve as the third-person pronoun object forms: ezt látom (I see this/it), azt akarom (I want that/it).

In conversation, ez and az are used constantly for pointing, referring, and structuring discourse.

Practice Tips

• Memorize the case-marked forms of ez and az — create a table and drill it.
• Practice the demonstrative + article + noun pattern: ez a ház, az a könyv, ezek a diákok.
• Use demonstratives in shopping scenarios: Ezt kérem. Azt szeretném. Ebből kettőt.

Related Concepts

This is a foundational concept that supports all noun-related grammar and interacts with the case system throughout Hungarian.