Personal Postpositions in Hungarian

Overview

Hungarian postpositions can take personal suffixes, creating forms that replace "pronoun + postposition" combinations. Instead of saying "behind me" as two words, Hungarian says mögöttem — the postposition mögött with a first-person suffix fused into a single word. This is a distinctive feature of Hungarian that streamlines expression.

At the CEFR C1 level, mastering personal postpositions is essential for natural-sounding Hungarian. These forms appear constantly in everyday speech and writing, and using the two-word alternative (én mögöttem) sounds heavy and emphatic.

Personal postpositions follow the three-way directional system: static, toward, and away forms each have their own personal paradigm.

How It Works

Formation Pattern

The personal suffixes added to postpositions resemble possessive suffixes:

Person	Suffix
1sg	-m / -em/-am
2sg	-d / -ed/-ad
3sg	-e/-a (or -tte/-tta)
1pl	-ünk/-unk
2pl	-etek/-atok/-ötök
3pl	-ük/-uk

Example: mögött (behind)

Person	Static	Toward (mögé)	Away (mögül)
1sg	mögöttem	mögém	mögülem
2sg	mögötted	mögéd	mögüled
3sg	mögötte	mögé	mögüle
1pl	mögöttünk	mögénk	mögülünk
2pl	mögöttetek	mögétek	mögületek
3pl	mögöttük	mögéjük	mögülük

Common Personal Postpositions

Postposition	1sg	3sg	English
előtt (before)	előttem	előtte	before me / before him
mellett (beside)	mellettem	mellette	beside me / beside him
között (between)	közöttem	közötte/közte	between me / between him
alatt (under)	alattam	alatta	under me / under him
fölött (above)	fölöttem	fölötte	above me / above him
után (after)	utánam	utána	after me / after him
nélkül (without)	nélkülem	nélküle	without me / without him
miatt (because of)	miattam	miatta	because of me / because of him
helyett (instead of)	helyettem	helyette	instead of me / instead of him
szerint (according to)	szerintem	szerinte	in my opinion / in his opinion

Examples in Context

Hungarian	English	Note
mögöttem	behind me	static personal
előtte	before him/her	static personal
közöttünk	between us	static personal
mellettetek	beside you (pl)	static personal
szerintem	in my opinion	abstract personal
nélküled	without you	privative personal
miattam	because of me	causal personal
helyettem	instead of me	substitutive personal
utánam	after me	temporal/spatial
fölöttünk	above us	spatial personal

Common Mistakes

Using pronoun + postposition instead of personal form

• Wrong: én mögött (behind I?)
• Right: mögöttem (behind me)
• Why: The personal postposition form is standard. Separating pronoun and postposition is only for emphasis.

Wrong person suffix

• Wrong: mögöttem for "behind him"
• Right: mögötte for "behind him"
• Why: Each person has a distinct suffix. Confusing them changes the meaning entirely.

Forgetting directional personal forms

• Wrong: mögöttem jön (he comes behind-me-STATIC)
• Right: mögém jön or mögöm jön (he comes [to] behind me)
• Why: Motion verbs require the directional form, not the static one.

Usage Notes

Szerintem (in my opinion / I think) is one of the most commonly used personal postpositions in Hungarian. It is the standard way to introduce opinions in conversation and writing.

Nélkülem/nélküled/nélküle (without me/you/him) is very common in emotional expressions: Nem tudok élni nélküled. (I can't live without you.)

Practice Tips

• Memorize the full paradigm of three common postpositions: mögött, előtt, mellett through all six persons.
• Practice with szerint: give opinions using szerintem, szerinted, szerinte.
• Practice directional variants: mögöttem (static) → mögém (toward) → mögülem (away).

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Postpositions — the base postposition system