Breakdown of Kedden a barátnőm is vonattal utazik egy másik városba.
Questions & Answers about Kedden a barátnőm is vonattal utazik egy másik városba.
Here is means also / too / as well.
- a barátnőm = my girlfriend
- a barátnőm is = my girlfriend also / my girlfriend too
In Hungarian, is normally comes right after the word it belongs to, not before it like English also often does. So:
- a barátnőm is = my girlfriend also
- vonattal is utazik would mean she’s also travelling by train (in addition to some other means)
So the position of is shows what is being added to a previous context. Here, the thing being added is my girlfriend.
Kedd means Tuesday. To say on Tuesday, Hungarian adds a suffix:
- kedd → kedden = on Tuesday
That -en is the same suffix you see in:
- hétfőn – on Monday (hétfő = Monday)
- szerdán – on Wednesday (szerda = Wednesday)
- pénteken – on Friday (péntek = Friday)
The exact vowel/consonant changes depend on the word, but the idea is:
day-name + -n/-on/-en/-ön = on X-day
So Kedden literally means on Tuesday; no separate word for on is needed.
barátnő = (girl)friend / girlfriend
barátnőm = my (girl)friend / my girlfriend
The -m ending is a possessive suffix meaning my.
In Hungarian, when you say “my X” in a neutral statement, you usually:
- Put a possessive suffix on the noun
- Still use the definite article a / az
So:
- a barátnőm = my girlfriend
- a házam = my house
- a könyvem = my book
Leaving out a (barátnőm) is possible in some contexts (headlines, lists, strong emphasis), but in a normal sentence like this, a barátnőm is the natural form.
vonat = train
-val / -vel = with, by (instrumental/comitative suffix)
When you attach -val / -vel to a word ending in a consonant, the v assimilates and you get a double consonant:
- vonat + val → vonattal (the v disappears, t doubles)
vonattal literally means with a train, but in practice it is used for by train (as a means of transport):
- busszal – by bus (busz + val)
- autóval – by car
- repülővel – by plane
So vonattal utazik = (she) travels by train.
The difference is the case ending:
- -ba / -be = into / to (inside) → direction, movement
- -ban / -ben = in / inside → location, no movement
So:
- egy másik városba = to another city (movement towards it)
- egy másik városban = in another city (already there / location)
Since the verb is utazik (travels, goes), we are talking about going to another city, so Hungarian uses városba (into/to a city), not városban.
In the phrase egy másik városba:
- egy = a / one
- másik = other, another
- város = city, town
- városba = into/to a city
In Hungarian noun phrases, the case ending (like -ba) is usually attached only to the head noun, which is the main noun of the phrase. Here, the head noun is város.
So:
- egy nagy városba – to a big city
- egy új ismeretlen városba – to a new unknown city
Only the last noun (város) takes the case ending; the adjectives (nagy, új, ismeretlen, másik) stay in their base form.
Hungarian word order is more flexible than English, but changes in order usually change what is emphasized.
The original sentence:
- Kedden a barátnőm is vonattal utazik egy másik városba.
This has a fairly neutral order: time – subject – (also) – manner – verb – destination.
If you say:
- A barátnőm is kedden vonattal utazik egy másik városba.
the emphasis shifts toward kedden: it sounds more like “My girlfriend also travels on Tuesday (rather than on some other day).”
Technically, Hungarian has a special focus position right before the finite verb. Putting different elements closer to the verb or sentence-initial position changes what is being highlighted. Many orders are grammatically possible, but they don’t all mean exactly the same.
So yes, you can move things around, but each order has its own nuance.
Hungarian very often uses the present tense to talk about future events, especially when:
- the time is made clear by a word like kedden (on Tuesday), holnap (tomorrow), etc.
- the event is scheduled, arranged, or clearly planned
So:
- Kedden utazik. – She travels / is travelling on Tuesday.
- Holnap megyek Budapestre. – I’m going to Budapest tomorrow.
There is a future form with fog (e.g. utazni fog), but in everyday speech, the simple present with a time expression is very common and completely natural here.
- utazik = to travel (often implies a trip, some distance, a journey)
- megy = to go (more general, just movement from A to B)
In many contexts, both are possible:
- vonattal utazik – she travels by train
- vonattal megy – she goes by train
Your alternative sentence:
- Kedden a barátnőm is vonattal megy egy másik városba.
is grammatically correct and natural. utazik just sounds a bit more like “to travel” (slightly more formal or descriptive), while megy is the everyday, general verb “to go”.
The base verb is utazni (to travel).
In the sentence we have utazik, which is:
- 3rd person singular (he/she/it)
- present tense
- indefinite conjugation (no direct object)
Many Hungarian verbs historically have an -ik form in 3rd person singular present, called -ik-verbs:
- alszik – he/she sleeps (from aludni)
- tetszik – it pleases / you like it
- utazik – he/she travels
Because utazik has no direct object (you don’t “travel something”), it uses the indefinite form. A definite 3rd person form (like -ja / -i) is used only when there is a definite object (e.g. “sees the book”, “writes the letter”).
Yes, you can say:
- Kedden a barátnőm is vonattal utazik másik városba.
This is grammatically correct and can be understood as to another city as well. The difference is subtle:
- egy másik városba – explicitly to another (one) city
- másik városba – more like to another city, slightly less specific, a bit more “generic”
In many everyday contexts, both are fine and will be understood the same way. Using egy just makes it sound a bit more like “to one other city” rather than talking about “other cities” in general.