The following fictional section comes from a Budapest apartment lease between landlord Júlia Farkas and tenant Márton Székely. It is a language-learning model, not legal advice. The passage uses contemporary Hungarian contract style (formal/legal): defined roles, dense noun phrases, explicit deadlines, and coordinated obligations.
Complete contract clause
8. Karbantartás és hibabejelentés
8. Maintenance and reporting defects
8.1. A Bérlő köteles a Lakás rendeltetésszerű használata során észlelt hibát annak felfedezését követően haladéktalanul, de legkésőbb huszonnégy órán belül írásban bejelenteni a Bérbeadónak.
8.1. The Tenant shall notify the Landlord in writing of any defect detected during proper use of the Apartment immediately upon discovering it and in any event within twenty-four hours.
8.2. A bejelentésnek tartalmaznia kell a hiba rövid leírását, és — amennyiben ez biztonságosan megtehető — a hiba helyét bemutató fényképet is csatolni kell hozzá.
8.2. The report must contain a brief description of the defect and, insofar as this can be done safely, a photograph showing the location of the defect must also be attached to it.
8.3. A Bérbeadó köteles gondoskodni a Szerződés 1. mellékletében felsorolt, a Bérlőnek fel nem róható okból meghibásodott berendezések javításáról.
8.3. The Landlord shall arrange for the repair of equipment listed in Annex 1 to the Agreement that has broken down for a reason not attributable to the Tenant.
8.4. Sürgős beavatkozást igénylő hiba esetén a Bérlő köteles lehetővé tenni, hogy a Bérbeadó vagy az általa megbízott szakember előzetes értesítés nélkül belépjen a Lakásba.
8.4. In the event of a defect requiring urgent intervention, the Tenant shall allow the Landlord or a professional appointed by the Landlord to enter the Apartment without prior notice.
8.5. Nem sürgős javítás esetén a belépés időpontját a Felek legalább egy munkanappal korábban egyeztetik, figyelembe véve mind a Bérlő jogos érdekeit, mind a munka elvégzéséhez szükséges időt.
8.5. In the case of a non-urgent repair, the Parties shall agree on the time of entry at least one working day in advance, taking into account both the Tenant’s legitimate interests and the time required to carry out the work.
8.6. A Bérlő felel az olyan kárért, amely a bejelentési kötelezettségének elmulasztásából ered, kivéve, ha bizonyítja, hogy a késedelem rajta kívül álló ok miatt következett be.
8.6. The Tenant is liable for any damage resulting from failure to meet the reporting obligation, unless the Tenant proves that the delay occurred for a reason beyond the Tenant’s control.
8.7. A javítás elvégzése nem mentesíti a Bérlőt az általa okozott, rendeltetésellenes használatból származó kár megtérítésének kötelezettsége alól.
8.7. Completion of the repair does not release the Tenant from the obligation to compensate for damage caused by the Tenant and arising from improper use.
Plain-English paraphrase
The tenant must promptly report defects in writing and normally include a description and, where safe, a photograph. The landlord organizes repairs for listed equipment when the tenant is not responsible for the fault. Urgent faults may justify entry without advance notice; otherwise, the parties agree on a time in advance. A tenant who fails to report a fault may be liable for the resulting damage, and repair of the property does not erase liability for damage caused by misuse.
This paraphrase preserves the allocation of duties, but it deliberately removes the contract’s nested modifiers. A paraphrase helps comprehension; it does not replace the signed wording.
Sentence-by-sentence segmentation
| Hungarian chunk | Literal structure | Plain function |
|---|---|---|
| a Lakás rendeltetésszerű használat-a során | the Apartment proper use-POSS during | during proper use of the apartment |
| észlel-t hibá-t | detect-PAST.PART defect-ACC | the defect that was detected |
| annak felfedezés-é-t követően | its discovery-POSS-ACC following | after discovering it |
| a bejelentés-nek tartalmaz-ni-a kell | the report-DAT contain-INF-POSS.3SG must | the report must contain |
| a Bérlő-nek fel nem ró-ható ok-ból | the Tenant-DAT blame not attach-POT.PART reason-ELA | for a reason not attributable to the tenant |
| az által-a meg-bíz-ott szakember | the by-POSS.3SG entrust-PAST.PART professional | a professional appointed by that party |
| mind … érdeke-i-t, mind … idő-t | both interest-POSS.PL-ACC and time-ACC | two coordinated objects |
| bejelentés-i kötelezettség-é-nek elmulasztás-á-ból | report-ADJ obligation-POSS-DAT omission-POSS-ELA | from failure to meet the reporting obligation |
| rajt-a kívül álló ok miatt | on-POSS.3SG outside standing reason because-of | for a reason beyond the person’s control |
| kár megtérítés-é-nek kötelezettség-e alól | damage compensation-POSS-DAT obligation-POSS from-under | from the obligation to compensate for damage |
Eight decisions behind the legal wording
1. Capitalized roles behave like defined labels
Bérlő, Bérbeadó, Lakás, Szerződés, and Felek are capitalized here because the fictional agreement treats them as defined terms. Outside that document, ordinary nouns are lowercase: a bérlő, a lakás. This contractual convention (formal/legal) should not be copied automatically into an ordinary email.
2. Nested possession maps legal relationships
In a Lakás rendeltetésszerű használata, the possessed noun használata identifies whose proper use is meant. The denser a bejelentési kötelezettségének elmulasztásából literally builds “from the omission of their reporting obligation.” Hungarian uses possessive suffixes plus case endings where English stacks several of phrases.
3. Participles keep conditions inside the noun phrase
Észlelt hiba, felsorolt berendezések, meghibásodott berendezések, megbízott szakember, and általa okozott kár replace relative clauses. The participles do not agree with their nouns. Their arguments retain normal Hungarian marking: a Bérlőnek fel nem róható places the affected person in the dative.
4. Obligation has more than one construction
A Bérlő köteles … bejelenteni uses an adjective plus infinitive and names the obligated party as subject. A bejelentésnek tartalmaznia kell… uses a dative participant and a personal infinitive. Both are strongly directive (formal); neither is merely a prediction with English “will.”
5. Postpositions govern visible case patterns
Használat során uses an unmarked noun before során; felfedezését követően uses the accusative before követően; értesítés nélkül uses an unmarked noun before nélkül. In kötelezettsége alól, the noun carries only its possessive suffix, while the postposition alól expresses release “from under” an obligation. These patterns must be learned with each postposition.
6. Coordination prevents a one-sided reading
Mind a Bérlő jogos érdekeit, mind … az időt presents two equally explicit considerations. Both coordinated noun phrases bear accusative -t because both are objects of figyelembe véve. English often marks the relationship only once through position; Hungarian repeats the relevant morphology.
7. Exceptions have defined scope
Kivéve, ha… introduces the exception to tenant liability, not an unrelated afterthought. Inside it, bizonyítja uses the definite conjugation because its object is the following content clause. The explicit a Bérlő is omitted because the prior sentence makes the third-person subject clear.
8. Prefixes and focus still work in legal prose
Neutral bekövetkezett would present occurrence as a complete event. The clause has rajta kívül álló ok miatt következett be: the causal phrase is focused before the verb, so be- follows. Legal register does not suspend ordinary Hungarian information structure.
See the formal postpositions guide for the case patterns used in administrative and legal prose.
Diagnosing an English-shaped clause
A learner may write A Bérlő köteles bejelenteni a Bérbeadó a hiba huszonnégy óra belül. This follows English noun order, leaves the recipient and defect unmarked, and treats the deadline as a bare noun sequence.
❌ A Bérlő köteles bejelenteni a Bérbeadó a hiba huszonnégy óra belül.
Incorrect — the recipient, object, and deadline require Hungarian case marking.
✅ A Bérlő köteles huszonnégy órán belül bejelenteni a hibát a Bérbeadónak.
The Tenant shall report the defect to the Landlord within twenty-four hours.
The corrected sentence has hibát as an accusative indefinite object and Bérbeadónak as the dative recipient. Because the object is indefinite, a finite first-person version would use the indefinite conjugation: bejelentek egy hibát, not bejelentem egy hibát.
Common Mistakes
❌ A bejelentés kell tartalmazni a hiba leírását.
Incorrect — this necessity construction requires a dative subject and personal infinitive.
✅ A bejelentésnek tartalmaznia kell a hiba rövid leírását.
The report must contain a brief description of the defect.
❌ A szerződésben felsorolt berendezéseket a Bérbeadó javításáról gondoskodik.
Incorrect — gondoskodik takes a -ról/-ről complement; the equipment must be embedded as the possessor of javításáról, not left as a separate accusative.
✅ A Bérbeadó gondoskodik a felsorolt berendezések javításáról.
The Landlord arranges for the repair of the listed equipment.
❌ A szakember belép a Lakás, előzetes értesítés nélkül.
Incorrect — movement into the apartment requires -ba/-be.
✅ Sürgős esetben a szakember előzetes értesítés nélkül beléphet a Lakásba.
In an urgent case, the professional may enter the Apartment without prior notice.
❌ A késedelem rajta kívül álló ok miatt bekövetkezett.
Misleading order — the causal phrase is intended as focus, so the prefix follows the verb.
✅ A késedelem rajta kívül álló ok miatt következett be.
The delay occurred for a reason beyond the person’s control.
Key Takeaways
- Defined contractual roles may be capitalized (formal/legal), but ordinary common nouns are not.
- Possessive suffixes and final case endings encode the hierarchy inside dense legal noun phrases.
- Participles compress conditions without agreeing with their head noun.
- Köteles + infinitive and dative + personal infinitive + kell both express obligation.
- Postpositions, coordination, definite conjugation, and verbal-prefix placement remain grammatically active even in highly formal prose.
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