The Terminative -ig: Forms and Core Pattern

The terminative case -ig marks the limit up to which a path, time span, quantity, or scale extends: a hídig “as far as the bridge,” péntekig “until/by Friday,” százig “up to one hundred.” The suffix identifies an endpoint without inherently saying what happens beyond it. Its form is simple and invariant, but final-vowel behavior, demonstratives, and the interpretation of an endpoint require care; terminative usage develops the contextual readings.

One suffix with no vowel harmony

Terminative has only -ig. Back, front unrounded, and front rounded stems all take the same form.

Because -ig begins with a vowel, no linking vowel is added. Forms such as házaig or kertigig are impossible for ordinary ház + ig and kert + ig.

Final a/e lengthening and other stem behavior

Final short a/e lengthens before -ig: utca → utcáig, iskola → iskoláig, este → estéig, megye → megyéig. Other final vowels remain: kapuig, autóig, kávéig, fésűig.

Stem alternations are suffix-specific. Bokor has plural bokrok, but terminative bokorig retains the second vowel. Tér → térig and kéz → kézig attach directly. Do not use a shortened plural stem automatically.

Position after plural and possession

Terminative is an outer case suffix. It follows a plural or a complete possessed form when that entire noun phrase establishes the limit.

English expresses these limits with “to,” “up to,” or “until.” Hungarian places the single outer ending after all possessive and plural material.

Demonstrative and interrogative forms

The deictic forms are eddig “up to here/this point; until now” and addig “up to there/that point; until then,” not ezig and azig. With an explicit noun, demonstrative and noun both carry terminative: eddig a házig, addig az időpontig.

The question form is meddig? “how far?/until when?”, with related ameddig “as far as/as long as,” valameddig “for some time/to some point,” and semeddig “for no time/not far at all.” These are established pronominal formations rather than transparent mi + ig.

Spatial and temporal limits

Spatial -ig says that movement or extent reaches a boundary. It does not assert entry, contact on a surface, or a stop at someone's place. Az erdőig futott means “ran as far as the forest”; az erdőbe futott means “ran into the forest.”

Temporal -ig marks the endpoint of a state, activity, or permitted interval: hatig dolgozik “works until six,” vasárnapig marad “stays until Sunday.” With a completed task, the same form often translates as a deadline “by”: vasárnapig befejezi “will finish it by Sunday.” Aspect and context create the English difference, not a second Hungarian suffix.

From a starting point to an endpoint

Terminative often pairs with -tól/-től “from” to form a closed range: hétfőtől péntekig, reggeltől estig, a kaputól a házig, A-tól Z-ig. The two endings mark opposite edges of one interval.

Day ranges are ordinarily understood inclusively: hétfőtől péntekig includes Friday unless a narrower context overrides it. At an exact clock boundary, hatig nyitva means open up to six and normally closing at six. Inclusion is therefore sensitive to the kind of endpoint, not encoded by an alternative form.

Scalar ceilings and duration

The same suffix limits counting, quantity, degree, or bodily extent: ötvenig számol, tíz főig “up to ten people,” bizonyos fokig “to a certain extent,” bokáig ér “reach to the ankle.” A temporal noun can also measure how long an event lasts: két óráig vártam “I waited for two hours.”

These uses share a bounded scale. They do not make -ig a one-to-one translation of English “for” or “up to”; duration and quantity have other constructions when the event profile differs.

Segmentation exercise

1. iskoláig = iskola + ig, with final a → á.
2. születésnapunkig = születésnap + unk + ig: birthday + our + until.
3. ablakokig = ablak + ok + ig: window + plural + as far as.
4. eddig = the established proximal demonstrative form “up to here/now.”
5. 2028-ig = figure + hyphen + terminative; suffixes after figures are hyphenated.

Common Mistakes

Key Takeaways

• -ig is invariant and ignores vowel harmony.
• Final a/e lengthens; the suffix follows plural and possession.
• Eddig, addig, meddig are established deictic/interrogative forms.
• Terminative marks spatial, temporal, quantitative, and scalar endpoints without specifying what follows.
• -tól/-től … -ig frames a range, often with inclusive calendar endpoints.
• English “to/until/by/for” does not select the suffix; the bounded endpoint does.