Core Spatial Postpositions: Contrasts and Learner Traps

The central choice is relational: alatt locates something under a landmark, alá makes that region an endpoint, and alól makes it a source. The same three-way architecture organizes előtt–elé–elől, mögött–mögé–mögül, mellett–mellé–mellől, and között–közé–közül. This page separates those forms from nearby cases and lexical alternatives; consult the spatial forms page for complete paradigms.

Stationary region, goal, or source

Matched sentences make the three relations visible:

The location form answers hol?, the goal form hová?, and the source form honnan?. A verb of motion does not settle the question. A függöny mögött futkos means the running occurs behind the curtain, so stationary-region mögött is correct.

Above versus on a surface

Fölött means “above/over” without requiring contact. Superessive -on/-en/-ön means “on” a surface or at certain conventional places.

With a goal, compare a polcra “onto the shelf” and a polc fölé “to a position above the shelf.” The case makes the shelf a supporting endpoint; the postposition makes the upper region the endpoint.

This is why replacing every English over with fölött fails. With contact, Hungarian can say A takaró a gyereken van “The blanket is on the child”; without contact, it says A lámpa a gyerek fölött van “The lamp is above the child.”

Előtt versus szemben

A ház előtt identifies the front region of the house. A házzal szemben means opposite/across from the house and takes an instrumental-marked landmark.

These locations may coincide in a particular street, but the viewpoint differs. Előtt uses the theater's front as its axis; szemben profiles an opposing position. Its government is lexical: -val/-vel + szemben, not a bare noun.

Mellett versus közel

Mellett means immediately or functionally beside. Közel gives a broader “near” relation and normally takes allative -hoz/-hez/-höz.

Personal forms reflect the same contrast: mellettem “beside me” but hozzám közel “near me.” Core postpositions carry possessive-style endings, whereas közel combines with a case-marked pronoun.

Között, közé, and közül

Között locates within a set, közé marks entry into it, and közül marks emergence or selection out of it.

Selection also uses közül, even without literal motion:

English between and among do not map mechanically onto two separate Hungarian words. Között can cover two or many landmarks; number and context supply the difference.

Körül versus köré

Körül describes a surrounding location, route, or approximate neighborhood. Köré presents a surrounding arrangement as a goal.

There is no equally general everyday source member parallel to alól. To express dispersal from a surrounding configuration, Hungarian normally chooses a verb and fuller phrase: A vendégek felálltak az asztal mellől “The guests got up from beside the table,” or szétszéledtek az asztal körül álló csoportból “dispersed from the group standing around the table.” Do not manufacture a source form by analogy.

Fölé versus felé

Vowel quality changes the relation. Fölé is the goal form meaning “to above it.” Felé means “toward it/in its direction” and is not part of the fölött triple.

The first specifies an endpoint in the upper region; the second specifies a direction and need not entail arrival. The ö/é spelling in fölé and e/é spelling in felé are not optional stylistic accents.

Personal landmark or lexical noun

A lexical landmark remains separate: a tanár mellett. A personal landmark appears through an ending: mellettem, melletted, mellette. Goal and source forms have their own series: mellém, melléd, mellé and mellőlem, mellőled, mellőle.

The third-person form mellette is not “beside + an omitted arbitrary noun.” It refers to a discourse-accessible person or thing. By contrast, a lexical complement cannot normally disappear if the listener cannot recover it.

Information structure and register

Spatial phrases can be topics or contrastive foci. Neutral A gyerek elbújt a fa mögé reports the event. Focused A FA MÖGÉ bújt el, nem a bokor mögé corrects the destination and places the prefix el after the verb.

Capitalization represents spoken stress, not normal orthography. For register, fölött and felett are both standard variants; neither should automatically be labeled formal or informal. Official notices may instead nominalize the region (formal): a bejárat előtti terület “the area in front of the entrance.” Everyday speech keeps the postpositional phrase (informal/neutral): a bejárat előtt.

Decision tree

1. Is the landmark a surface supporting the object? Choose a spatial case such as -on/-en/-ön, not fölött.
2. Is the relevant region stationary, an endpoint, or a source? Choose the matching triple member.
3. Does “opposite” mean facing/across from? Use -val/-vel szemben, not automatically előtt.
4. Is the relation immediately beside or merely near? Choose mellett or -hoz/-hez/-höz közel.
5. Is something located among a set, entering it, or selected from it? Choose között, közé, közül.
6. Is the landmark personal? Put person marking on the postposition: mellettem, eléd, mögülük.

Diagnostic exercise

1. “The keys are under the newspaper.” Stationary region: A kulcsok az újság alatt vannak.
2. “Slide the keys under the newspaper.” Goal: Csúsztasd a kulcsokat az újság alá!
3. “Take the keys out from under the newspaper.” Source: Vedd ki a kulcsokat az újság alól!
4. “The hotel is near the station.” Broad proximity: A szálloda közel van az állomáshoz.
5. “She chose one from among us.” Selection: Közülünk választott valakit.

Common Mistakes

Key Takeaways

• Choose by relation: location mögött, goal mögé, source mögül.
• Distinguish postpositional regions from contact cases and governed phrases such as a házzal szemben.
• Mellett is beside; -hoz/-hez/-höz közel is near.
• Között–közé–közül handles location, entry, and source/selection within a set.
• Personal endings and focused word order show that Hungarian postpositions behave partly like case-bearing relational nouns.