Relative Pronouns aki, ami, amely, and amelyik: Meanings and Usage | Hungarian Grammar

Hungarian chooses a relative pronoun according to what the antecedent means and what role that referent has inside the relative clause. Aki normally tracks a person, ami a nonhuman referent or a whole proposition, amely an explicitly named nonhuman referent in careful prose, and amelyik a distinguishable member of a set. Actual usage also depends on genre: everyday conversation relies heavily on ami, whereas edited formal prose draws more distinctions.

The forms page gives the case paradigm. Here the organizing question is not “Which English word does this translate?” but “What kind of antecedent is being continued, and how is the relative clause presenting it?” The finest boundary cases appear on the contrast page.

Referring to people with aki

Use aki when the antecedent denotes a person. It can follow a lexical noun, a proper name, a personal pronoun used contrastively, or the correlate az “the one.” With a plural human antecedent, standard Hungarian normally uses plural akik, and the relative clause’s verb is plural as well.

A recepciós, aki fogadott bennünket, nagyon segítőkész volt.

The receptionist who greeted us was very helpful.

Azok, akik előre regisztráltak, külön bejáraton jöhetnek be.

Those who registered in advance may enter through a separate entrance.

Éva, akivel együtt jártam egyetemre, most Szegeden tanít.

Éva, whom I went to university with, now teaches in Szeged.

The overt relative form is necessary even though ordinary Hungarian personal subjects are often unspoken. In the first example, aki is the linker and subject of fogadott; adding ő would duplicate it. In the second, plural azok is resumed by plural akik, and the verbs regisztráltak and jöhetnek are plural too. This is an important contrast with case suffixing: akik marks plural relative participants, while forms such as akikkel mark both plural number and an instrumental relation.

Azokkal beszéltem, akik a múlt heti képzésen is ott voltak.

I spoke with the people who were also at last week's training.

Here the main-clause correlate azokkal is instrumental, while akik is nominative because those people are the subject of voltak. The two clauses assign their cases independently.

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With plural human antecedents, listen for both layers: azok, akik “those who” and azokkal, akikkel “with those with whom.” Number and case each have a job.

Concrete and abstract nonhuman antecedents

In neutral (informal) speech, ami and its case forms are widespread after things and abstract nouns. They sound natural when the classification of the antecedent matters less than the new information.

Megtaláltam a töltőt, amit tegnap kerestünk.

I found the charger we were looking for yesterday. (informal/neutral speech)

Ez egy olyan döntés, aminek hosszú távú következményei lesznek.

This is the kind of decision that will have long-term consequences.

In edited (formal) prose, especially administrative, academic, and legal writing, amely is the conventional choice when an explicit nonhuman noun is the antecedent.

A pályázat, amely megfelel a formai követelményeknek, szakmai értékelésre kerül.

An application that meets the formal requirements proceeds to professional evaluation. (formal)

A hipotézis, amelyből a szerző kiindul, további bizonyítást igényel.

The hypothesis from which the author proceeds requires further evidence. (academic)

This does not make conversational amit kerestünk bad Hungarian. It marks a register choice. A learner who uses amely accurately will sound careful or written; one who replaces every nonhuman amely with ami in a legal document will make the prose less formal.

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Choose register across the whole sentence. Formal amely belongs naturally with precise institutional wording; conversational ami belongs naturally with ordinary speech. Neither is a magic upgrade independent of context.

Ami after broad, indefinite, and clause-like antecedents

Use ami after a broad pronoun such as az “that,” minden “everything,” semmi “nothing,” or valami “something.” These expressions do not name a particular noun class; ami picks up their content.

Azt vedd meg, ami tényleg tetszik.

Buy the one you genuinely like.

Semmi sem történt, ami miatt aggódnod kellene.

Nothing happened that you should worry about.

Mindent felírtam, amire holnap szükségünk lesz.

I wrote down everything we will need tomorrow.

The relative case still follows Hungarian lexical government. Aggódik valami miatt motivates ami miatt, while szüksége van valamire motivates amire. English often uses a general “that” in both sentences, but the Hungarian form preserves the relation.

Ami also refers back to the truth of an entire preceding clause. Such relatives usually comment on, evaluate, or draw a consequence from that fact.

Kata elvállalta a hétvégi műszakot, ami mindenkit meglepett.

Kata agreed to take the weekend shift, which surprised everyone.

Időben befejeztük a munkát, aminek különösen örülök.

We finished the work on time, which I am especially pleased about.

The first ami is the subject of meglepett. The dative aminek in the second is selected by örül valaminek. Neither form merely copies the case of a preceding noun because the antecedent is the whole event.

Amelyik identifies within a set

Use amelyik when the relative clause identifies one member or subset among contextually available alternatives. The alternatives may be physically visible or simply known from the conversation.

A buszok közül arra szálljunk fel, amelyik a pályaudvarig megy.

Of the buses, let's take the one that goes to the station.

Az a verzió maradjon, amelyikben már kijavítottad a dátumot.

Keep the version in which you've already corrected the date.

The point is selection. Amelyikben identifies the right version among multiple versions; formal amelyben can simply add information about a named document without highlighting competition. In ordinary conversation, amelyik may also identify a single item even when the set is only implicit.

Correlates guide interpretation

Hungarian frequently uses a paired main-clause expression. Az … aki/ami means “the one/thing that”; olyan … amilyen compares kind or quality; annyi … amennyi compares amount; ott … ahol and akkor … amikor extend the same correlative logic to place and time.

Olyan szobát szeretnénk, amelyik csendes és az udvarra néz.

We'd like a room that is quiet and faces the courtyard.

Annyi széket hozz, amennyi vendéget várunk.

Bring one chair for each guest we're expecting.

The correlate can carry a different case from the relative word: Annak segítek, akinek szüksége van rá means “I help whoever needs it.” Annak is the recipient of help; akinek is the possessor in akinek szüksége van. This case independence is a fundamental property, not an irregularity.

A short dialogue

This exchange is natural (informal) speech between coworkers choosing a meeting room.

– Melyik terem szabad délután? – Az, amelyik a konyha mellett van.

– Which room is free this afternoon? – The one next to the kitchen.

– Az nem túl zajos? – De, ezért inkább azt foglalnám le, amelyiknek nagy ablaka van.

– Isn't that one too noisy? – It is, so I'd rather book the one with the big window.

– Rendben. Írok Péternek, aki kezeli a foglalásokat.

– All right. I'll write to Péter, who manages the bookings.

The first two relatives select between rooms, hence amelyik and possessive amelyiknek. The last introduces extra information about a person, hence aki. No ő is needed after aki, since the verb and relative linker already make the structure clear.

Formal and informal presentations of the same content

A bizottság elutasította a kérelmet, amely nem tartalmazta a kötelező mellékletet.

The committee rejected the application that did not contain the required attachment. (formal)

Elutasították a kérelmet, amihez nem csatolták a kötelező papírt.

They rejected the application because the required document hadn't been attached to it. (informal/neutral speech)

The difference is not only amely versus ami. Formal prose names the institutional actor, uses kötelező melléklet, and embeds an attributive restriction. Conversation naturally omits the recoverable subject ők, uses papír, and chooses amihez because csatol valamit valamihez requires the allative. Register is a property of the whole utterance.

Common Mistakes

❌ A kollégám, aki ő beszél németül, segíteni fog.

Incorrect — ő duplicates the relative subject aki.

✅ A kollégám, aki beszél németül, segíteni fog.

My colleague, who speaks German, will help.

❌ A lakás, ami költöztünk, világos.

Incorrect — költözik valamibe requires the illative form amibe.

✅ A lakás, amibe költöztünk, világos.

The apartment we moved into is bright.

❌ Anna nem jött el, amely meglepett.

Incorrect — a whole preceding proposition is resumed with ami, not amely.

✅ Anna nem jött el, ami meglepett.

Anna didn't come, which surprised me.

❌ A két ajánlat közül azt választottuk, amelyiket olcsóbb volt.

Incorrect — the relative pronoun is the subject of volt, so it must be nominative rather than accusative.

✅ A két ajánlat közül azt választottuk, amelyik olcsóbb volt.

Of the two offers, we chose the one that was cheaper.

Key Takeaways

Aki/akik track human antecedents; case forms such as akinek and akikkel show the relation inside the relative clause.
Everyday nonhuman reference often uses ami, while amely is characteristic of careful formal prose after an explicit noun.
Use ami for broad pronouns and entire preceding facts; choose its case through the relative clause’s predicate.
Amelyik is especially useful when the clause selects or identifies one member of a set.
Correlates such as az, olyan, and annyi guide interpretation but can bear a different case from the relative pronoun.
Omit ordinary recoverable personal subjects, but retain the relative linker itself.

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