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Tegnap moziba mentem.

Tegnap moziba mentem.
Yesterday I went to the cinema.
FromLesson 5inHardcore Hungarian

Breakdown of Tegnap moziba mentem.

én
I
menni
to go
-ba
to
tegnap
yesterday
mozi
the cinema

Questions & Answers about Tegnap moziba mentem.

What does Tegnap mean in this sentence?
Tegnap is an adverb meaning “yesterday.” Hungarian typically places time expressions early in the sentence, so Tegnap tells you that the action happened the day before today.
Why is mozi turned into moziba instead of just staying mozi?
Hungarian uses case endings to show relationships like movement. moziba is mozi (cinema) plus the -ba illative suffix, which means “into” or “to the inside of.” So moziba literally means “into the cinema” or idiomatically “to the movies.”
What exactly does the -ba suffix indicate?

The suffix -ba (one of the illative endings) marks movement into a location. Other related cases are inessive -ban/-ben (“in/inside”) and elative -ból/-ből (“out of”). So:
• ház “house” → házba “into the house”
• házban “in the house”
• házból “out of the house”

How does vowel harmony determine that we use -ba and not -be?
Hungarian vowels are classified as front or back. Suffixes harmonize with the first (root) vowel of the word. In mozi, the first vowel is o (a back vowel), so we use the back-vowel variant -ba rather than the front-vowel -be.
Why is there no definite article a before moziba?
In Hungarian you often drop the article before place names when describing routine actions (like going to the cinema, school, work, etc.). Saying “Tegnap moziba mentem” is perfectly natural. You can say “Tegnap a moziba mentem,” but in everyday speech the article is usually omitted.
What does mentem mean and how is it formed?

mentem is the 1st person singular past tense of menni (“to go”) in the indefinite conjugation. Break-down:
• Root: ment- (the past stem)
• Ending: -em (I)
So mentem = “I went.”

Why isn’t the pronoun én (“I”) used before mentem?

Hungarian is a pro-drop language: the verb ending -em already tells you the subject is I, so you usually omit én unless you want to add extra emphasis:
• (Én) mentem – “I went.” (The én is optional.)

Is the word order in Tegnap moziba mentem fixed?

It’s flexible but follows the typical Time–Place–Verb pattern:

  1. Tegnap (time)
  2. moziba (place)
  3. mentem (verb)
    You can rearrange for emphasis:
    • Moziba mentem tegnap. (focus on destination)
    • Mentem tegnap moziba. (neutral, slightly unusual)
Could I say Tegnap elmentem moziba instead?
Yes. Adding the prefix el- to menni (elmentem) still means “I went away” or “I went off” to the cinema. The prefix emphasizes departing, but in casual speech people often omit it: both mentem and elmentem are understood as “I went.”
What’s the difference between moziba and mozihoz?

• moziba (-ba illative) = “into/to the inside of the cinema.”
• mozihoz (-hoz dative/adessive) = “to/toward the vicinity of the cinema,” emphasizing approach rather than entry.
Use -ba when you want to stress going inside the building.

More from this lesson

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