Breakdown of A postán a díj a csomag súlyától függ.
Questions & Answers about A postán a díj a csomag súlyától függ.
Postán means at the post office (more literally, at the post). It’s posta + the place ending -n (a form of the superessive case, often used with certain institutions/places in idiomatic Hungarian).
- posta = post office
- -n here ≈ at/on (idiomatic location)
- a postán = at the post office (the post office as a known place in context)
You’ll also see other location endings depending on the noun (e.g., bankban = in the bank, iskolában = in the school), so this is partly something you learn noun-by-noun.
Hungarian uses the definite article a/az very frequently, often where English might omit the.
In this sentence:
- A postán = At the post office (definite place)
- a díj = the fee
- a csomag súlyától = on the package’s weight (literally: from the package’s weight)
So it’s normal to have multiple a’s: each noun phrase can take its own article.
The subject is a díj (the fee). Hungarian verb agreement is with the subject, and a díj is third-person singular, so:
- (a díj) függ = (the fee) depends
függ is the present tense, 3rd person singular form of függni (to depend / to hang).
The basic pattern is:
- X Y-tól / Y-től függ = X depends on Y
So Hungarian uses the ending -tól/-től (often taught as “from”) after the thing you depend on.
In your sentence:
- a díj … függ = the fee depends
- a csomag súlyától = on the package’s weight (using -tól)
Yes—Hungarian builds “the package’s weight” with a possessive ending, then adds the case ending needed by the verb.
a csomag súlyától =
- a csomag = the package
- súly-a = its weight / the weight of it (3rd person possessive: “package’s”)
- súly-á-tól = from its weight (possessive + case ending)
So the structure is essentially:
- (the package) (its weight) (from)
This is the normal Hungarian way to say the weight of the package without using a separate word for of.
That’s vowel harmony. Hungarian chooses the vowel in many endings based on the vowels in the word.
- -tól is used after back-vowel words
- -től is used after front-vowel words
súly contains ú (a back vowel), so it takes -tól:
- súly + -tól → súlytól (and here with possessive: súlyától)
The word order is flexible. Putting A postán first sets the scene/topic: as for the post office…
Other natural word orders include:
- A díj a postán a csomag súlyától függ. (more neutral “the fee” first)
- A csomag súlyától függ a díj a postán. (emphasizes weight as the key factor)
Hungarian word order often reflects what you want to emphasize, not just grammar.
You can, but it changes the meaning/feel.
- A postán a díj… = At the post office, the fee… (a specific, known fee—e.g., the postage fee)
- A postán egy díj… = At the post office, a fee… (more like “there is a fee that…”, introducing it as new/one of many)
Dropping articles entirely is usually not natural in Hungarian unless you’re using a special style (headlines, notes).
Common distinctions:
- díj = fee/charge (often for a service; very natural for postal services)
- ár = price (more like the price of a product or a listed price)
- költség = cost/expense (broader, can be your cost rather than a fee charged)
For postage, díj is a very typical choice.
A few common ones:
- díj: long í (hold it a bit longer)
- cs in csomag: like English ch in chat
- súly: s is like English sh (so súly starts with sh), and ú is long
- gy doesn’t appear here, but függ has doubled gg, which is held slightly longer than a single g
- Stress is usually on the first syllable of each word: PÓstán, DÍJ, CSOmag, SÚlyától, FÜGG