Ablative -tól/-től identifies a source separated from a person, vicinity, or reference point. The physical pattern expands naturally into receiving something from someone, distancing or protection, causes that directly trigger a state, and standards from which something differs. These meanings belong to one Hungarian network; they do not arise by replacing every English from with the same ending. For morphology and pronouns, review ablative forms.
Departure from a person or vicinity
The central spatial use marks movement away from someone, someone's premises, or an external reference point.
Most jövök a fogorvostól.
I've just come from the dentist's.
A gyerek hátrébb lépett a tűztől.
The child stepped back from the fire.
Húzd távolabb az asztalt a faltól!
Pull the table farther away from the wall!
The matching direction triple is a fogorvosnál “at the dentist's,” a fogorvoshoz “to the dentist's,” a fogorvostól “from the dentist's.” The source is construed as a person or external point. Elative a rendelőből would instead present departure from inside the surgery; both can describe one trip from different perspectives.
Personal sources of objects and information
A person or organization that supplies an object, message, skill, permission, or information normally takes ablative.
Ezt a könyvet Zsófitól kaptam kölcsön.
I borrowed this book from Zsófi.
A nagyapámtól tanultam sakkozni.
I learned to play chess from my grandfather.
A banktól még nem kaptunk választ.
We haven't received an answer from the bank yet.
English sometimes uses no preposition after teach or uses from after learn. Hungarian organizes the source consistently: tanul valakitől. The thing learned may be accusative or an infinitive, while the teacher remains ablative.
The personal pronouns tőlem, tőled, tőle, tőlünk, tőletek, tőlük are common when the source is already known.
Tőled hallottam, hogy elmarad a koncert.
I heard from you that the concert has been canceled.
An overt tőled is often contrastive: you, rather than someone else, supplied the information. Hungarian can place it immediately before the verb to sharpen that focus.
A short dialogue
This exchange is everyday conversation (informal):
– Kitől kaptad ezt a bögrét? – A kollégáimtól, a születésnapomra.
‘Who did you get this mug from?’ ‘From my colleagues, for my birthday.’
– Tőlük? Azt hittem, a testvéredtől van. – Nem, ő egy könyvet adott.
‘From them? I thought it was from your sibling.’ ‘No, he/she gave me a book.’
Question word kitől and answers a kollégáimtól, tőlük, a testvéredtől all mark the personal source. The possessive endings precede ablative: kollégá-i-m-tól, testvér-e-d-től.
Separation, avoidance, and protection
Ablative extends from physical distance to removal, release, abstention, protection, and emotional distance. The governing verb or adjective selects the case.
Végre megszabadultunk a régi kanapétól.
We finally got rid of the old sofa.
Tartsd távol a gyógyszert a gyerekektől!
Keep the medicine away from the children!
Ez a kabát megvéd az esőtől.
This coat protects you from the rain.
Common frames include megszabadul valamitől, elválik valakitől, távol tart valamit valakitől, and megvéd valakit valamitől. English alternates among of, from, and no preposition, but the Hungarian frames all construe separation from a source or threat.
Direct causal triggers
When a stimulus directly causes a bodily, perceptual, or emotional state, ablative is frequent.
Könnyezett a szemem a füsttől.
My eyes were watering from the smoke.
Nem tudtam aludni a zajtól.
I couldn't sleep because of the noise.
A kislány reszketett a félelemtől.
The little girl was trembling with fear.
Here smoke, noise, and fear are immediate triggers. For an external reason explaining an event, miatt is often more natural:
A sűrű köd miatt törölték a járatot.
The flight was canceled because of the dense fog.
Compare A ködtől alig láttam “I could barely see because of the fog,” where fog directly impairs perception. Cause marking is not determined by English because of; Hungarian distinguishes causal construals.
Source-like agency without a general passive case
An institution or person can be the origin associated with a document, request, or expected response.
Ma megérkezett a biztosítótól kért igazolás.
The certificate requested from the insurance company arrived today.
A minisztériumtól érkezett közleményt este tették közzé.
The statement received from the ministry was published in the evening.
These ablatives identify the source from whom something was requested or from which it arrived. They may resemble English by, but an explicit agent performing an action is normally expressed with által in formal passive-like constructions:
A parlament által elfogadott törvény januárban lép hatályba.
The law adopted by parliament enters into force in January.
This által construction is characteristic of administrative prose (formal). Replacing it with parlamenttől would turn the parliament into a source point and would not neutrally mark the adopting agent.
Formal and informal source packaging
The ablative ending itself is register-neutral, but formal writing often embeds a source inside a dense participial phrase:
A minisztériumtól kapott tájékoztatás szerint a határidő nem változott.
According to the information received from the ministry, the deadline has not changed.
This compact structure is typical of official communication (formal). Conversation normally favors a finite clause and a personal source:
Ezt Zitától hallottam, de nem tudom, igaz-e.
I heard this from Zita, but I don't know whether it's true.
The second is natural everyday speech (informal). Both a minisztériumtól and Zitától mark origin; only the surrounding packaging changes register.
Difference and comparison standards
Predicates such as különbözik “differ” and eltér “deviate/differ” present a standard from which something is separated.
Az új változat alig különbözik a régitől.
The new version hardly differs from the old one.
A valós költség jelentősen eltért a becsléstől.
The actual cost differed significantly from the estimate.
This is not the ordinary construction after a comparative adjective. Hungarian says Az új változat jobb a réginél “The new version is better than the old one,” with adessive -nál/-nél. Ablative is selected by the meanings “different/deviating from.”
Starting points on a scale also use ablative in fixed structures such as hétfőtől péntekig “from Monday to Friday” and tízéves kortól “from age ten onward.”
Az ügyfélszolgálat hétfőtől péntekig érhető el.
Customer service is available from Monday to Friday.
Case networks, not an English “from” case
English from the room, from the table, and from Anna use one preposition. Hungarian distinguishes a szobából (out of an interior), az asztalról (off a surface), and Annától (away/from a person). The three source cases are endpoints of three direction families, not synonyms. Abstract verb frames preserve or extend these source images.
Common Mistakes
❌ Kivettem a joghurtot a hűtőtől.
Incorrect for yogurt taken from inside the refrigerator — use elative for an interior source.
✅ Kivettem a joghurtot a hűtőből.
I took the yogurt out of the refrigerator.
❌ Ezt a tanáromból tanultam.
Incorrect — a person as the source of knowledge takes ablative.
✅ Ezt a tanáromtól tanultam.
I learned this from my teacher.
❌ Az új terv különbözik a régiről.
Incorrect — különbözik selects ablative, not a one-to-one copy of English ‘from/about.’
✅ Az új terv különbözik a régitől.
The new plan differs from the old one.
❌ A zaj miatt fáj a fejemtől.
Incorrect — this mixes two complete causal constructions.
✅ A zajtól fáj a fejem.
The noise is giving me a headache.
Key Takeaways
- Ablative marks departure from a person, vicinity, or external reference point.
- Personal providers of objects, knowledge, and information take -tól/-től.
- Separation/protection frames and direct causal triggers extend the spatial source relation.
- Source-like organization phrases are not a general substitute for formal agentive által.
- Különbözik/eltér valamitől use ablative, while plain comparative standards normally use adessive.
- Identify the Hungarian source geometry and lexical frame rather than translating English from automatically.
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- The Ablative -tól/-től: Forms and Core PatternA2 — Form Hungarian ablatives for movement away, personal sources, separation, causes, source-like agents, and standards of difference.
- The Ablative -tól/-től: Contrasts and Learner TrapsB1 — Distinguish Hungarian ablative sources from interior and surface sources, causal alternatives, agents, and comparative standards.
- The Adessive -nál/-nél: Meanings and UsageA2 — Use Hungarian adessive -nál/-nél naturally for landmarks, people's places, services, temporary possession, institutional affiliation, and comparison.
- The Allative -hoz/-hez/-höz: Meanings and UsageA2 — Use Hungarian allative -hoz/-hez/-höz naturally for approaching people and landmarks, attachment, selected relations, suitability, and comparison.
- The Elative -ból/-ből: Meanings and UsageA2 — Use Hungarian elative -ból/-ből across outward motion, origin, material, causal basis, partitive selection, and evidential source.