Case-Governing Postpositions: Forms and Core Pattern

Basic Hungarian postpositions often follow an unmarked noun: a ház mögött, a zaj miatt. A second class requires its complement to carry a particular case before the separate relational head: a házzal szemben “opposite the house,” a folyón túl “beyond the river,” a kérdésre nézve “with respect to the question.” The case and postposition work together as one construction. Neither element can normally be guessed from the English preposition alone.

A compact government map

The odd visible sequence—case suffix plus a separate word—is precisely the point. A bankkal szemben contains instrumental -val/-vel, assimilated to bankkal, followed by szemben. The case does not mean “with” independently here; it is selected by the relational head.

Instrumental complements

Együtt takes -val/-vel when it names a companion: Annával együtt, a csapattal együtt. Consonant assimilation operates exactly as it does elsewhere: barát + -val → baráttal, testvér + -vel → testvérrel.

Szemben combines a spatial “facing/opposite” relation with abstract opposition or an attitude toward a party. It also takes instrumental.

Ellentétben establishes a contradiction between its complement and the main proposition: a várakozásokkal ellentétben “contrary to expectations.” This construction is common in edited prose and analysis (neutral/formal).

Superessive complements

Túl, kívül, belül, and keresztül commonly select superessive -n/-on/-en/-ön. The case suffix follows vowel harmony and any regular stem alternation; the following head is invariant.

The same frames extend beyond literal space. A nehézségeken túl can mean “beyond the difficulties” or “in addition to the difficulties.” Két órán keresztül foregrounds the full duration “for two hours.” Harminc napon belül sets an upper temporal boundary, not a location inside a physical container.

Sublative, allative, and dative complements

Nézve takes sublative -ra/-re and means “as regards/with respect to.” It is grammatical but uncommon in relaxed conversation (formal, often legal or analytical).

Képest takes allative -hoz/-hez/-höz and establishes a comparison baseline. Unlike the adverb-like heads túl and együtt, it cannot naturally precede its complement: a tervhez képest, not képest a tervhez.

Postposition-like megfelelően and köszönhetően take a dative complement. Both originate transparently from verbal/adjectival material, and their formal behavior still resembles a participial or adverbial expression. In contemporary use, however, their complement frame is stable enough to learn as a unit.

Megfelelően is frequent in formal instructions (formal); a conversational alternative is often úgy, ahogy... “the way that...”. Köszönhetően can introduce a favorable cause and, increasingly, a neutral or unfavorable cause. Careful edited prose may prefer miatt or következtében for a clearly negative cause.

Personal reference stays on the case form

These heads do not form personal paradigms such as együttem or nézvém. The governed case has its own personal form:

Demonstratives repeat the governed case

With ez/az + noun, both the demonstrative and noun show the selected case: ezzel a tervvel szemben, azon a határon túl, ennek a döntésnek köszönhetően. The head still follows the whole phrase.

This repetition is normal Hungarian agreement inside a demonstrative noun phrase. English shows the relation only once with a preposition, which makes omission on the demonstrative a common transfer error.

Plural and possessive complements

The selected case is the outermost ending on the complement noun. Plural and possession remain closer to the stem: barát-ai-m-mal együtt “together with my friends,” terv-e-i-nk-kel ellentétben “contrary to our plans,” kérelm-e-k-re nézve “regarding the applications.” The postposition does not erase or replace those noun categories.

This layering explains long forms such as testvéreitekkel együtt: testvér + -ei possessed plural + -tek second-person plural possessor + instrumental -vel, whose consonant assimilates to k. Build the noun first, then add the case selected by the head.

Word-order behavior

The safest productive order is case-marked complement + head. Some adverb-like members allow the head first, especially együtt a családdal, túl a folyón, and szemben az állomással. The preposed order is not available equally to every item and often changes information structure. In particular, képest and nézve follow their complement in standard use. The government usage page develops these discourse differences.

Segmentation exercise

1. bank-kal szemben = noun + assimilated instrumental -val
   • invariant szemben.
2. város-on kívül = noun + superessive -on
   • invariant kívül.
3. függöny-ön keresztül = noun + rounded-front superessive -ön
   • keresztül.
4. kérdés-re nézve = noun + sublative -re
   • nézve.
5. terv-hez képest = noun + front-vowel allative -hez
   • képest.
6. előírás-ok-nak megfelelően = plural noun + dative -nak
   • megfelelően.
7. vel-em együtt = instrumental pronoun stem + first-person ending + együtt.

Common Mistakes

Key Takeaways

• Case-governing heads select a complete frame: -val/-vel együtt, -n túl, -ra/-re nézve, -nak/-nek megfelelően.
• Instrumental assimilation and vowel harmony operate on the complement; the separate head stays invariant.
• Personal reference appears on the case pronoun: velem szemben, rajtad kívül, rám nézve.
• Demonstratives repeat the selected case: ezzel a tervvel szemben.
• Some adverb-like heads can precede their complement, but képest and nézve remain postpositional in standard Hungarian.
• Register matters: nézve and megfelelően are common in formal prose but often have plainer conversational alternatives.