Indul means “set off, depart” or “start.” It is intransitive: a traveler, train, program, engine, or process itself begins moving or operating. This separates it from transitive indít, in which an agent starts something. Case-marked source and destination phrases, schedule time, and prefixes refine the event.
Principal parts
Indul is a back-vowel verb. Its forms preserve the sequence ndul and take back-vowel variants such as -ok, -unk, -na.
| Function | Form | Note |
|---|---|---|
| dictionary / present 3sg | indul | intransitive stem |
| past 3sg | indult | stem + -t |
| conditional 3sg | indulna | back-vowel ending |
| imperative–subjunctive 2sg | indulj | stem + -j |
| infinitive | indulni | stem + -ni |
| present participle | induló | “departing; starting” |
Complete indefinite conjugation
| Person | Present | Past | Conditional | Imperative–subjunctive |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| én | indulok | indultam | indulnék | induljak |
| te | indulsz | indultál | indulnál | indulj / induljál |
| ő | indul | indult | indulna | induljon |
| mi | indulunk | indultunk | indulnánk | induljunk |
| ti | indultok | indultatok | indulnátok | induljatok |
| ők | indulnak | indultak | indulnának | induljanak |
Mindjárt indulok, csak felveszem a kabátomat.
I’m leaving in a moment; I’m just putting on my coat.
There is no definite conjugation of indul, because the verb has no accusative object. A definite destination such as az irodába remains a direction phrase, not an object. The corresponding transitive verb is indít: elindítom a gépet “I start the machine.”
Numeral subjects follow general Hungarian agreement. Három busz indul egyszerre uses singular busz and indul, even though English requires “three buses leave.” Without a numeral, plural marking returns: A buszok egyszerre indulnak. This is subject agreement, entirely separate from object definiteness.
Departure: source, goal, and route
The point of departure often takes a source case: -ról/-ről from a surface or institution, -ból/-ből from inside, and -tól/-től from a point or person. A destination takes the corresponding directional goal form.
A turistacsoport reggel nyolckor indul a szállodából a várhoz.
The tourist group leaves the hotel for the castle at eight in the morning.
A komp a déli kikötőből indul a túlpartra.
The ferry departs from the southern harbor for the opposite bank.
A túra a látogatóközponttól indul, majd a patak mentén halad.
The hike starts at the visitor center and then follows the stream.
English often says “leave the hotel,” with hotel as a direct object. Hungarian indul instead uses source a szállodából. Transitive elhagyja a szállodát is possible, but it foregrounds leaving the place behind rather than setting off on a journey.
The fixed expression útnak indul means “set out.” Its -nak/-nek form is lexical; do not replace it with accusative utat.
Napkeltekor indulunk útnak, hogy délre felérjünk a gerincre.
We’ll set out at sunrise so that we reach the ridge by noon.
Scheduled departure
Public transport commonly uses present indul for a future timetable event. The clock time takes invariant -kor, while the platform or stop used as source takes a source case.
A pécsi gyorsvonat 7:15-kor indul a harmadik vágányról.
The express train to Pécs departs from platform three at 7:15.
Mikor indul az utolsó éjszakai busz a belvárosból?
When does the last night bus leave the city center?
A gép eredetileg délben indult volna, de két órát késik.
The plane was originally supposed to depart at noon, but it is delayed by two hours.
Hungarian needs no future auxiliary when the timetable and time adverb make futurity clear. Fog indulni is possible when the future prediction itself is prominent, but it is not the default way to print a schedule.
See the clock-time usage guide for the contrast among departure -kor, deadline -ra/-re, and duration expressions.
Activities and processes beginning
An event can be the subject of indul: indul a tanfolyam “the course starts,” indul a verseny “the race begins.” This is an inchoative meaning—the subject enters a new state or activity without an expressed external causer.
Jövő héten indul az ingyenes esti képzés.
The free evening course starts next week.
A nevezők számától függetlenül pontosan tízkor indul a verseny.
Regardless of the number of entrants, the race starts at exactly ten.
With a person, indul + infinitive normally means setting off in order to do something, not merely beginning the activity in place:
Mindjárt indulok bevásárolni a piacra, mielőtt bezár.
I’m about to head to the market to shop before it closes.
For “begin reading,” say olvasni kezd or elkezd olvasni. Olvasni indul means set off to go read in a context where movement is understood.
Competition and an abstract starting point
Indul also means enter or compete in an election, race, competition, or category. The event commonly takes superessive -n/-on/-en/-ön, an opponent takes ellen, and the goal or prize can take -ért.
A húgom idén először indul az országos úszóbajnokságon.
My younger sister is competing in the national swimming championship for the first time this year.
Három független jelölt indul a polgármesteri tisztségért.
Three independent candidates are running for the office of mayor.
A döntőben a tavalyi bajnok ellen indulok.
In the final I’m competing against last year’s champion.
These complements are not direct objects, so indul remains indefinite. English run a race can be transitive, but Hungarian says versenyen indul or uses another verb such as lefutja a távot when the distance is the object.
The prefixed construction abból indul ki, hogy… means “start from the assumption/fact that…” or “proceed on the basis that…” (formal). The base takes elative -ból/-ből, while the prefix ki belongs to the verb.
A tervezésnél abból indulunk ki, hogy ősszel nőni fog a forgalom.
In planning, we proceed on the assumption that traffic will increase in the fall.
Az elemzés nem személyes benyomásokból indult ki, hanem mért adatokból.
The analysis did not start from personal impressions but from measured data.
The second example shows contrastive prefix separation: the negated source precedes indult, and ki follows. The construction cannot be translated by attaching English from to any arbitrary noun; its Hungarian frame is specifically kiindul valamiből.
Ebből a megfigyelésből kiindulva módosítottuk a kísérlet tervét.
Starting from this observation, we modified the experiment design.
Here kiindulva is an adverbial participle (academic). Its understood subject is the team expressed by módosítottuk, so the sentence does not leave the starting thinker unidentified.
Prefixes: onset with different event shapes
Elindul usually presents the actual onset of movement or a process. Beindul presents a machine beginning to operate or an activity gathering momentum. Megindul means begin moving or flowing and can be more sudden or perceptible. Újraindul means restart.
A sor lassan elindult a pénztár felé.
The line slowly started moving toward the checkout.
A motor csak a harmadik próbálkozásra indult be.
The engine only started on the third attempt.
A felhőszakadás után megindult a víz az aluljáró felé.
After the downpour, water began flowing toward the underpass.
A karbantartás után automatikusan újraindul a szerver.
After maintenance, the server restarts automatically.
Unprefixed indul is fully natural for a scheduled departure or the beginning of an organized event. Elindul more strongly profiles the transition into motion or operation. The overlap is contextual rather than a rigid perfective/imperfective equation.
Prefix separation under negation and focus
When el-, be-, meg- precedes a neutral positive finite verb, it is written together. Negation, a question word, or contrastive focus normally moves the prefix after the verb.
A tartalék akkumulátorral sem indult el a robogó.
The scooter didn’t start even with the spare battery.
Miért nem indult be a fűtés hajnalban?
Why didn’t the heating come on at dawn?
Csak a második jelzésre indult meg a menet.
The procession only began moving at the second signal.
The last example places the focused phrase csak a második jelzésre before the verb; meg follows. Prefix placement signals information structure as well as aspect.
The prefix-order guide gives the cross-verb diagnostics behind this alternation.
Infinitive and participles
Personal infinitive forms are indulnom, indulnod, indulnia, indulnunk, indulnotok, indulniuk.
Legkésőbb hatkor kell indulnotok, ha el akarjátok kerülni a dugót.
You all have to leave by six at the latest if you want to avoid the traffic jam.
| Form | Typical use | Register |
|---|---|---|
| indulni | korán szeretne indulni “would like to leave early” | unmarked |
| induló | az Egerbe induló busz “the bus departing for Eger” | unmarked |
| indult | a tegnap indult program “the program that started yesterday” | unmarked |
| indulva | ebből a feltevésből indulva “starting from this assumption” | (formal) or (academic) |
| — | no established unprefixed future-participial form in ordinary standard use | use a relative clause instead |
Common Mistakes
❌ A járat hét órán indul.
Incorrect — a point on the clock takes invariant -kor.
✅ A reggeli járat hét órakor indul a főbejárat elől.
The morning service departs from in front of the main entrance at seven o’clock.
❌ Fél nyolckor induljuk a kirándulást.
Incorrect — transitive ‘start the excursion’ requires indít, not definite indul.
✅ Fél nyolckor indítjuk a vezetett kirándulást.
We start the guided excursion at half past seven.
❌ A hajó nem elindult a köd miatt.
Incorrect — neutral negation separates el- from the verb.
✅ A hajó nem indult el a sűrű köd miatt.
The ship didn’t set off because of the dense fog.
❌ Tíz perc múlva indulok a pályaudvart.
Incorrect — the departure point takes a source case, not accusative.
✅ Tíz perc múlva indulok a pályaudvarról a szállásra.
I’m leaving the railway station for my accommodation in ten minutes.
Key Takeaways
- The principal forms are indul – indult – indulna – indulj – indulni – induló.
- Indul is intransitive; transitive “start something” is indít.
- Sources take “from” cases and goals take directional cases; útnak indul is a fixed frame.
- Present indul is normal for future scheduled departures.
- Events and processes can be subjects: indul a verseny, indul a képzés.
- Competitors versenyen indulnak, while arguments can valamiből indulnak ki “start from something.”
- Prefixes distinguish types of onset, and negation or focus separates them: elindult, but nem indult el.
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