Relative and Correlative Clause Structure: Forms and Core Pattern | Hungarian Grammar

A Hungarian relative clause normally follows the noun or pronoun it describes and begins with an inflected relative word. The crucial principle is that the relative word receives the case required by its role inside the relative clause. Hungarian also pairs relative words with demonstrative correlates—az–aki, akkor–amikor, ott–ahol—and can omit the nominal head entirely in a free relative. Morphology and information structure together show how the clauses connect.

Postnominal relative clauses

The basic headed pattern is:

head noun + comma + relative word + finite relative clause

Megérkezett a kolléga, aki a bemutatót tartja.

The colleague who is giving the presentation has arrived.

Elolvastam a cikket, amely tegnap jelent meg.

I read the article that came out yesterday.

The head nouns a kolléga and a cikket belong to the main clause. Aki and amely begin subordinate clauses in which they are nominative subjects. Hungarian puts a comma at the finite-clause boundary even when English omits one in a restrictive relative.

The head itself keeps the case required by the main clause. In the second example, a cikket is accusative because it is the object of elolvastam. That accusative ending does not determine the relative pronoun’s form; amely is nominative because it is the subject of jelent meg.

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Assign case twice: first to the head noun according to the main clause, then independently to the relative word according to the subordinate clause.

The core relative-pronoun set

Base form	Typical reference	Example form	Meaning
aki	person	akit, akinek, akivel	whom, whose/to whom, with whom
ami	thing without an expressed head; whole proposition; conversational nonhuman head	amit, amiről, amiben	what/which, about which, in which
amely	expressed nonhuman head, especially careful writing	amelyet, amelyről, amellyel	which, about which, with which
amelyik	one selected from a known set	amelyiket, amelyiknek	the one which, which one

Aki has plural akik. In careful standard writing, an overt plural nonhuman antecedent commonly takes plural amelyek or an inflected form such as amelyeket. Everyday speech frequently uses ami/amik after nonhuman nouns; this variation is treated on the relative usage page.

Internal case marking

The governing verb or postposition inside the relative clause chooses the suffix on the relative word.

Ő az a szomszéd, akinek tegnap segítettem.

She is the neighbor whom I helped yesterday.

Segít valakinek requires dative, so the relative is akinek, even though English “whom” shows no dative marker.

Beszéltem azzal a mérnökkel, akit a konferencián ismertél meg.

I spoke with the engineer whom you met at the conference.

The main verb beszéltem requires instrumental azzal a mérnökkel. Inside the relative, megismertél takes accusative akit. The two cases differ because the noun has a different role in each clause.

Megtaláltuk a dokumentumot, amelyről tegnap vitatkoztunk.

We found the document that we argued about yesterday.

Vitatkozik valamiről selects delative -ról/-ről, hence amelyről. Hungarian normally suffixes the relative pronoun instead of stranding an English-style preposition at the end.

Ez az az eszköz, amellyel a mintákat mérjük.

This is the instrument with which we measure the samples.

Instrumental -val/-vel assimilates after amely: amely + vel → amellyel. The doubled ll must be preserved. With vowel-final aki, the corresponding form is akivel.

Aki, ami, and amely in headed relatives

Use aki for an individual person or a plural group of people:

Azok a diákok, akik önként jelentkeztek, már megkapták a feladatot.

The students who volunteered have already received the assignment.

For an overt thing antecedent, amely is precise and especially common in (formal) writing:

A rendelet, amely januárban lép hatályba, több eljárást módosít.

The regulation that enters into force in January changes several procedures.

In (informal) speech, ami is extremely common after a nonhuman noun: a film, amit ajánlottál “the film you recommended.” This is natural contemporary usage, not a form to “correct” in conversation. Careful expository prose often prefers amelyet with a specific overt antecedent.

Use ami when the antecedent is an entire preceding proposition:

Elmaradt a találkozó, ami mindenkit váratlanul ért.

The meeting was canceled, which took everyone by surprise.

Here ami refers to the cancellation event, not merely to a találkozó.

Correlative pairs

A correlative has a relative expression in one clause and a matching demonstrative or adverb in the other. Each member has its own form and clause role.

Pair	Core relation	Example
aki – az	person	Aki kész, az indulhat.
ami – az	thing/content	Amit kértél, azt elküldtem.
amikor – akkor	time	Amikor végzek, akkor hívlak.
ahol – ott	place	Ahol találkoztunk, ott várj.
ahogy – úgy	manner	Ahogy mutattam, úgy csináld.

Az kap elsőként értesítést, aki előre regisztrált.

The person who registered in advance will be notified first.

Akkor hívlak vissza, amikor véget ér a megbeszélés.

I’ll call you back when the meeting ends.

The correlate may precede or follow the relative clause according to information structure. Akkor can be omitted when the time relation is clear, but it becomes useful when the speaker contrasts that time with another.

Free relatives

A free relative has no overt head noun. The relative clause itself denotes a person, thing, place, time, or manner.

Aki korán érkezik, még választhat ülőhelyet.

Whoever arrives early can still choose a seat.

Amit tegnap ígértem, ma elküldöm.

I’ll send today what I promised yesterday.

The main-clause correlates az and azt are often omissible, as here. If expressed, they carry the main-clause case: Amit ígértem, azt elküldöm. The relative form amit independently carries accusative because it is the object of ígértem.

Amely generally requires an expressed antecedent and is not the ordinary choice for a free “whatever/what” meaning. Use ami and its case forms instead.

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In a correlative or free relative, the a- relative word introduces the open description; the demonstrative member identifies its value in the main clause: aki… az, amit… azt, ahol… ott.

Relative adverbs

Use ahol for location, ahova for motion to a place, ahonnan for motion from a place, amikor for time, and ahogy for manner.

Mutatok egy kávézót, ahol vasárnap is lehet reggelizni.

I’ll show you a café where you can have breakfast even on Sundays.

Visszamentünk oda, ahonnan a túrát kezdtük.

We went back to where we had started the hike.

Direction matters: static ahol cannot replace directional ahova or ahonnan merely because English uses general “where.”

Punctuation and segmentation

Hungarian places a comma between finite main and relative clauses. This holds for both restrictive and supplementary readings.

Segment the following sentence:

Azt a kabátot választottam, amelyiket tegnap mutattál.

I chose the coat that you showed me yesterday.

Azt a kabátot → accusative head phrase in the main clause.
választottam → definite main-clause verb.
comma → finite-clause boundary.
amelyiket → accusative relative pronoun, “the one which,” object of mutattál.
tegnap mutattál → remainder of the relative clause; its subject “you” is encoded by the verb.

Common Mistakes

❌ Ő a kolléga, aki tegnap beszéltem.

Incorrect: beszél valakivel requires an instrumental relative form.

✅ Ő a kolléga, akivel tegnap beszéltem.

She is the colleague I spoke with yesterday.

❌ Elolvastam a tanulmányt, aki tegnap jelent meg.

Incorrect: aki refers to people, not a study.

✅ Elolvastam a tanulmányt, amely tegnap jelent meg.

I read the study that was published yesterday.

❌ Azok a kutatók, aki jelentkeztek, kaptak belépőt.

Incorrect number agreement: the plural human antecedent requires akik.

✅ Azok a kutatók, akik jelentkeztek, kaptak belépőt.

The researchers who applied received admission.

❌ Ez a város, aholból tavaly elköltöztünk.

Incorrect: Hungarian has a dedicated source form, ahonnan.

✅ Ez a város, ahonnan tavaly elköltöztünk.

This is the city we moved away from last year.

Key Takeaways

A headed Hungarian relative follows its noun and is separated by a comma.
The head’s case comes from the main clause; the relative word’s case comes independently from the relative clause.
Aki refers to people; amely is the careful headed nonhuman form; ami is standard for free and proposition-level reference and common conversationally after nouns.
Correlative pairs include aki–az, ami–az, amikor–akkor, ahol–ott, and ahogy–úgy.
Free relatives omit the head noun and may also omit a recoverable main-clause correlate.
Relative adverbs distinguish location, destination, source, time, and manner.

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