megy: Complete Conjugation and Usage | Hungarian Grammar

Megy means “go,” but the useful unit is rarely the verb alone. Hungarian encodes the destination on a noun or adverb, chooses megy versus jön from a deictic viewpoint, and uses separable prefixes for paths and lexicalized meanings. Its past ment and imperative menj also reveal stem alternations that must be learned.

This page collects the complete core paradigm and the verb's main frames. It does not replace the broader motion-expression overview. Unless marked otherwise, the forms here are neutral in everyday speech and standard writing.

Principal parts

Infinitive	Present 3sg	Past 3sg	Imperative 2sg	Conditional 3sg
menni	megy	ment	menj / menjél	menne

The alternation megy – ment – menj – menn- is irregular. The doubled nn appears before several suffixes in menni, mennék, and the personal infinitive mennem; it does not appear in ment.

Reggel gyalog megyek dolgozni, délután viszont busszal jövök haza.

In the morning I walk to work, but in the afternoon I come home by bus.

The translation uses “walk,” although Hungarian says literally “go on foot.” Learning only megy = go misses both the manner phrase gyalog and the viewpoint contrast with jön.

Present and past

Person	Present	Past
én	megyek	mentem
te	mész	mentél
ő / ön	megy	ment
mi	megyünk	mentünk
ti	mentek	mentetek
ők / önök	mennek	mentek

Megy is intransitive and therefore has no definite object paradigm. The surface form mentek is ambiguous: it can mean “you (plural) go” or “they went.” Subject, tense adverbs, and context resolve it.

Ti mikor mentek szabadságra?

When are you going on holiday?

A vendégek éjfél előtt mentek haza.

The guests went home before midnight.

No object conjugation is hiding in either sentence. Szabadságra and haza are destination expressions, not direct objects.

Conditional, imperative–subjunctive, and future

Person	Conditional	Imperative–subjunctive
én	mennék	menjek
te	mennél	menj / menjél
ő / ön	menne	menjen
mi	mennénk	menjünk
ti	mennétek	menjetek
ők / önök	mennének	menjenek

Both menj and menjél address one familiar person; menj is the compact neutral command, while menjél is common in conversation. The same menj- series serves in subordinate clauses after wishes and requirements.

Menj be nyugodtan, a recepciós már vár rád!

Go on in; the receptionist is already expecting you! (informal)

Azt kérte, hogy menjünk fel hozzá a harmadik emeletre.

He asked us to go up to his place on the third floor.

Future motion can use fog + menni when the speaker explicitly presents the event as a future prediction, but a present form with a future-time expression is often more natural for a settled plan.

A rossz idő miatt holnap valószínűleg busszal fogok menni dolgozni.

Because of the bad weather, I'll probably go to work by bus tomorrow.

Holnap korán megyünk, hogy elkerüljük a forgalmat.

We're leaving early tomorrow to avoid the traffic.

Infinitive and participles

The infinitive is menni. Its personal forms are mennem, menned, mennie, mennünk, mennetek, menniük.

Most már tényleg mennem kell, különben lekésem az utolsó vonatot.

I really have to go now, or I'll miss the last train.

Form	Function	Register note
menő	present participle “going”; also adjective “cool”	motion use neutral; “cool” informal
elment	completed participial modifier “having left/gone”	neutral
menendő	future/necessitative “to be traveled/gone”	rare, formal or literary
menve	adverbial participle “while going”	neutral but less frequent than a finite clause

A reptérre menő busz a túloldali megállóból indul.

The bus going to the airport leaves from the stop on the other side.

Hazafelé menve beugrottam a pékségbe.

On my way home, I popped into the bakery.

There is no need to force rare menendő into ordinary conversation. A finite relative clause with kell is normally clearer.

Destination, source, path, and means

English uses to across many destinations; Hungarian selects a case according to the spatial relation.

Destination type	Typical form	Example
inside / institution	-ba/-be	az irodába megy
surface, event, many place names	-ra/-re	Budapestre, koncertre megy
person or endpoint	-hoz/-hez/-höz	az orvoshoz megy
deictic/home adverb	ide, oda, haza	oda megy, hazamegy

Source cases form matching sets: az irodából, Budapestről, az orvostól. Means is typically instrumental busszal, while route can be az alagúton át or a rakparton.

A csomagért előbb a postára megyek, utána a fogorvoshoz.

First I'm going to the post office for the parcel, then to the dentist.

A bicikliúton mentünk végig egészen a tóig.

We followed the cycle path all the way to the lake.

💡

Do not supply one Hungarian equivalent for English to. Learn each destination as a spatial frame: inside -ba/-be, onto/event -ra/-re, toward a person -hoz/-hez/-höz, or a lexical adverb such as haza.

Deixis: megy versus jön

Megy normally presents motion away from the speaker or current reference center; jön presents motion toward it. The destination alone does not decide. A speaker already waiting at the office says Mikor jössz be?, while someone at home asks Mikor mész be? about the same trip.

Én már a moziban vagyok; te mikor jössz ide?

I'm already at the cinema; when are you coming here?

Még otthon vagyok, de tíz perc múlva megyek oda.

I'm still at home, but I'll go there in ten minutes.

Prefixes and their position

Directional prefixes combine productively with megy: bemegy “go in,” kimegy “go out,” felmegy “go up,” lemegy “go down,” átmegy “go across,” elmegy “leave/go away,” and visszamegy “go back.” Neutral completion or bounded motion puts the prefix before the verb. Negation, a wh-word, or contrastive focus commonly places it after.

Ebéd után visszamegyek az irodába a laptopomért.

After lunch I'm going back to the office for my laptop.

Ma nem megyek vissza, mert otthonról dolgozom.

I'm not going back today because I'm working from home.

Melyik ajtón mentetek be az épületbe?

Which door did you use to enter the building?

The prefix is not merely a translation of an English preposition. It also interacts with boundedness and discourse focus; see verb-prefix word order.

Nonliteral frames

Megy also describes functioning, progress, compatibility, and success. These meanings impose their own participants.

A nyomtató megint nem megy, pedig tegnap megjavították.

The printer isn't working again, even though they repaired it yesterday.

Lilinek jól megy a fejszámolás.

Lili is good at mental arithmetic.

The experiencer is dative in valakinek jól megy valami. English makes the person the subject; Hungarian makes the activity the grammatical subject.

💡

A verb reference is a network: stem shapes, complement cases, prefix behavior, aspect, and viewpoint reinforce one another. Memorizing only megy = go leaves most of that network unavailable.

Common Mistakes

❌ Délután a könyvtárra megyek tanulni.

Incorrect destination case for entering this institution: use the illative.

✅ Délután a könyvtárba megyek tanulni.

I'm going to the library to study this afternoon.

❌ Tegnap későn megytem haza.

Incorrect past stem: megy uses ment-.

✅ Tegnap későn mentem haza.

I went home late yesterday.

⚠️ Nem bemegyek az értekezletre.

Possible only with corrective contrast; neutral negation separates the prefix.

✅ Nem megyek be az értekezletre.

I'm not going into the meeting.

❌ Nekem jól megyek a nyelvek.

Incorrect agreement: the activity is the subject, and the experiencer is dative.

✅ Nekem jól mennek a nyelvek.

I'm good at languages.

Key Takeaways

Memorize megy – ment – menj – menni and the menn- stem before conditional and infinitive endings.
Megy is intransitive, so destination phrases do not trigger object conjugation.
Choose destination cases by spatial frame, not by translating English to.
Megy points away from a deictic center; jön points toward it.
Neutral prefixes precede the verb, but negation, questions, and focus can produce megy be / ment vissza.

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