Measurement is not merely a list of units. Speakers measure ingredients, describe distances, compare changes, estimate crowds, negotiate minimums, and present statistics with different degrees of precision. Hungarian keeps the unit singular after a number throughout these settings, but case marking and the choice of approximator reveal how the amount functions. The core forms are laid out on the measurement forms page.
Buying and portioning substances
In shops and recipes, Hungarian commonly places a measure noun before the substance: két kiló alma, fél liter tej, húsz deka sajt. Everyday food shopping still uses deka “decagram” frequently (informal/neutral), so húsz deka sajt is 200 grams of cheese. The unit and substance remain singular in form after the numeral.
Kérek fél kiló kenyeret és húsz deka füstölt sajtot.
I'd like half a kilo of bread and two hundred grams of smoked cheese.
A leveshez másfél liter víz és két kanál olaj kell.
The soup requires one and a half liters of water and two tablespoons of oil.
The verb determines the case of the complete quantity expression. With a transitive shopping verb, the substance often bears accusative -t: két kiló almát vettem. With kell “is needed,” the phrase is nominative: két kiló alma kell. This is why “case goes on the last word” is only a useful surface observation, not the underlying rule. The suffix marks the grammatical head selected by the predicate.
Vettem három üveg ásványvizet az útra.
I bought three bottles of mineral water for the journey.
Három üveg ásványvíz elég lesz hat embernek?
Will three bottles of mineral water be enough for six people?
If you are counting the containers rather than specifying their contents, the container itself takes the case: Három üveget visszavittem “I returned three bottles.” Hungarian therefore distinguishes an amount description from reference to the physical measure/container, even though English often uses the same noun phrase.
Distances, dimensions, and differences
An uninflected measure can function as the complement of a dimension adjective: két méter hosszú “two meters long,” öt méter széles “five meters wide,” harminc centiméter magas “thirty centimeters high.” Hungarian does not require an equivalent of English “in.”
Az erkély majdnem négy méter hosszú, de csak másfél méter széles.
The balcony is almost four meters long, but only one and a half meters wide.
To describe the distance of a location, -ra/-re is common: kétszáz méterre van “is two hundred meters away.” To quantify a difference in a comparison, use instrumental -val/-vel: tíz centiméterrel magasabb “ten centimeters taller.”
A buszmegálló nagyjából kétszáz méterre van a bejárattól.
The bus stop is roughly two hundred meters from the entrance.
Ez a polc tíz centiméterrel keskenyebb a másiknál.
This shelf is ten centimeters narrower than the other one.
These endings are not alternatives for the same English phrase. Kétszáz méterre locates something at a distance; kétszáz méterrel measures the gap between two values.
Duration and rate
Activities extended through time often use accusative -t or terminative -ig. Két órát vártam measures the duration of the activity. Két óráig vártam presents the endpoint or bounded span, and can mean that the waiting continued for two hours or until two o'clock when context supplies a clock reading. The clock-time usage page explains that potential ambiguity in detail.
Negyven percet futottam, aztán tíz percet nyújtottam.
I ran for forty minutes, then stretched for ten minutes.
Legfeljebb egy óráig maradok, mert korán kelek.
I will stay for at most an hour because I get up early.
Rates pair two measures, usually with a case or postposition: száz kilométer óránként “one hundred kilometers per hour,” kétezer forint kilónként “two thousand forints per kilo.” The distributive suffix -nként attaches to the singular unit and means “per/for each.” (neutral/formal) Symbols may replace spelled-out units in tables: 100 km/h (technical).
Ezen a szakaszon a megengedett legnagyobb sebesség 80 km/h.
On this section, the maximum permitted speed is 80 kilometers per hour.
In everyday road language, nyolcvannal megy “is going at eighty” is common (informal) because the understood unit is kilometers per hour. Formal regulations state the unit explicitly.
Estimating rather than counting exactly
Körülbelül is the safest neutral choice for an estimate. It works with time, distance, price, count, and abstract quantities. Nagyjából often signals a practical, rounded estimate and is especially natural in conversation. Mintegy belongs mainly to edited news, reports, and formal presentations (formal).
Körülbelül harminc perc alatt végzünk.
We will finish in about thirty minutes.
Nagyjából ötvenezer forinttal számolj a javításra.
Budget roughly fifty thousand forints for the repair.
A kutatásban mintegy kétezer válaszadó vett részt.
Approximately two thousand respondents took part in the study.
Mintegy can sound overly report-like in a casual coffee order or message; körülbelül and nagyjából are more idiomatic there. Conversely, kb. is efficient in personal notes, tables, and parenthetical data (informal/technical) but should be avoided in polished running prose when the full word costs little.
Approximation bands versus one-sided limits
An estimate does not create a contractual boundary. Körülbelül száz fő may mean slightly fewer or slightly more than one hundred. Legalább száz fő requires one hundred or more; legfeljebb száz fő allows no more than one hundred. Több mint száz strictly excludes one hundred, while majdnem száz says the actual value falls short of it.
Körülbelül száz vendéget várunk, ezért százhúsz széket készítünk elő.
We expect about one hundred guests, so we are setting out one hundred and twenty chairs.
A tanfolyam legalább nyolc jelentkezővel indul el.
The course will run with at least eight applicants.
A csomag legfeljebb tíz kilogramm lehet.
The package may weigh at most ten kilograms.
In instructions, fees, and eligibility rules, choose a boundary expression, not a vague approximator. In narration and early planning, an approximate band may be exactly what the speaker intends. The distinction is pragmatic and logical, not a matter of stylistic preference.
Decimal precision in speech and writing
Use the decimal comma in Hungarian running text: 2,5 millió, 3,7 százalék, 1,2 liter. Formal data presentation often preserves exactly as many decimal places as the measurement warrants (formal/technical). Conversation rounds values when the exact decimal is irrelevant.
A jelentés szerint az infláció 3,7 százalékra csökkent.
According to the report, inflation fell to 3.7 percent.
Önts hozzá úgy másfél liter vizet.
Pour in about a liter and a half of water.
The second sentence uses úgy as a conversational approximator (informal): here it means “about/roughly,” not the manner adverb “in that way.” It is natural in recipes and spontaneous estimates, but mintegy 1,5 liter would better suit a formal report. Decimal values still take a singular unit: 1,5 liter, never a plural form.
-nyi as “an amount's worth”
The suffix -nyi turns a measure or container into an amount-characterizing adjective. It is useful when the exact number matters less than the experienced extent: órányi késés “an hour's delay,” maroknyi ember “a handful of people,” hajszálnyi különbség “a hair's-breadth difference.”
A baleset miatt órányi késéssel érkezett a vonat.
Because of the accident, the train arrived an hour late.
Csak maroknyi néző maradt a vita végéig.
Only a handful of spectators remained until the end of the debate.
Some -nyi expressions are partly lexicalized and figurative. Tenyérnyi hely is not normally established by measuring a particular palm; it evokes a very small area. Hajszálnyi esély means an extremely slight chance. In academic prose, exact units are preferable when reproducibility matters; figurative -nyi is at home in general and literary description (neutral/literary).
A short dialogue
Mennyi festék kell a szobához? — Körülbelül öt liter, de inkább vegyünk hatot.
How much paint do we need for the room? — About five liters, but we'd better buy six.
És mennyibe kerül? — Nagyjából húszezer forintba, ha nem a legdrágábbat választjuk.
And how much will it cost? — Roughly twenty thousand forints, if we don't choose the most expensive one.
The first answer estimates a physical quantity. The second uses -ba in the conventional cost construction mennyibe kerül / húszezer forintba kerül. English leaves “cost” without a preposition; Hungarian marks the price complement morphologically.
Formal and informal comparison
A beruházás becsült költsége mintegy 2,4 milliárd forint.
The estimated cost of the investment is approximately 2.4 billion forints.
Olyan két és fél milliárdba kerülhet az egész.
The whole thing might cost something like two and a half billion.
The first is report style (formal): becsült, mintegy, a decimal, and an explicit currency unit. The second is conversational (informal): approximative olyan, a spoken fraction, and an omitted but recoverable forint. Neither is inherently more accurate; they package precision and shared context differently.
Common Mistakes
❌ Vettem két kilók almát.
Incorrect — the measure noun cannot be plural after két.
✅ Vettem két kiló almát.
I bought two kilos of apples.
❌ A bolt 1.5 kilométerre van innen.
Incorrect Hungarian decimal notation uses a comma.
✅ A bolt 1,5 kilométerre van innen.
The shop is 1.5 kilometers from here.
❌ A jelentkezők száma legfeljebb húsz, ezért huszonöt ember is jöhet.
Incorrect — legfeljebb húsz excludes twenty-five.
✅ A jelentkezők száma legfeljebb húsz, ezért csak húsz ember jöhet.
The number of applicants is at most twenty, so only twenty people may come.
❌ Három centiméterre magasabb nálam.
Incorrect — a measured difference takes -val/-vel.
✅ Három centiméterrel magasabb nálam.
He/She is three centimeters taller than I am.
Key Takeaways
- Keep units singular after numbers in shopping, dimensions, duration, prices, and statistics.
- Case expresses function: méterre for distance, méterrel for difference, forintba for cost, and often accusative for measured duration or a purchased substance.
- Choose approximation for an estimate and legalább/legfeljebb for an enforceable lower or upper boundary.
- Decimal commas belong in Hungarian text; exact decimals are common in formal data, while conversation often rounds.
- -nyi presents an experienced amount or extent and can be exact (órányi) or figurative (hajszálnyi).
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Start learning Hungarian →Related Topics
- Measurement, Approximation, and Decimal Notation: Forms and Core PatternA2 — Build Hungarian measure phrases with singular units, correctly placed case suffixes, decimal commas, approximators, -nyi adjectives, and scalar limits.
- Measurement, Approximation, and Decimal Notation: Contrasts and Learner TrapsB1 — Choose exact, approximate, and bounded Hungarian measurements while placing case endings and decimal punctuation correctly.
- Cardinal Numbers and Compound Formation: Meanings and UsageA1 — Use Hungarian cardinal numbers naturally for counting, prices, measurements, estimates, identifiers, decimals, and dates.
- The Instrumental-Comitative -val/-vel: Meanings and UsageA2 — Use Hungarian -val/-vel for instruments, companions, manner, equality, and lexically selected complements.
- Clock Time: Meanings and UsageA1 — Use Hungarian clock expressions to state the time, schedule events, distinguish points from durations, and choose conversational or timetable style.
- Singular Nouns after Numerals and Quantifiers: Meanings and UsageA1 — Use quantified singular nouns naturally for exact amounts, vague quantities, paired body parts, generic statements, and later plural reference.