Mikor jössz vissza a könyvtárból?

Hungarian usually does not need subject pronouns like I, you, he, she unless you want extra emphasis or contrast.

In jössz, the ending -sz already shows that the subject is you (singular).

So:

• jössz = you come / you are coming
• te jössz = you are coming, with extra emphasis

That is why te is not necessary here.

Mikor means when.

It introduces a question about time:

• Mikor jössz...? = When are you coming...?

Hungarian question words like mikor often come near the beginning of the sentence, just like when in English.

Vissza means back, and it is a verbal prefix or preverb.

The basic idea is:

• visszajön = comes back

But in Hungarian, when there is a question word like mikor, the preverb often moves after the verb:

• neutral statement: Visszajössz a könyvtárból. = You’re coming back from the library.
• question with focus word: Mikor jössz vissza a könyvtárból?

So jössz vissza is completely normal here.

Because Hungarian word order changes when another element gets focus, especially question words.

A very useful pattern is:

• preverb + verb in a neutral statement
• verb + preverb when a question word, negation, or another focused element comes before the verb

So:

• Visszajössz a könyvtárból.
• Mikor jössz vissza a könyvtárból?

Both are built from the same verb idea, but the word order changes because mikor is in focus.

Jössz is the 2nd person singular present tense form of jönni (to come).

This verb is somewhat irregular, so the forms are not built in a perfectly predictable way. Some common present-tense forms are:

• jövök = I come / I’m coming
• jössz = you come / you’re coming
• jön = he/she comes
• jövünk = we come
• jöttök = you all come
• jönnek = they come

So yes, jössz is just something you need to learn as part of this verb’s pattern.

Literally, it means from the library.

It breaks down like this:

• a = the
• könyvtár = library
• -ból = out of / from inside

So:

• könyvtárból = from the library
• more literally: out of the library

Hungarian often uses case endings where English uses prepositions.

-ból / -ből is the suffix meaning out of or from inside something.

It is used with places understood as enclosed spaces or institutions:

• a házból = from the house
• az iskolából = from school
• a könyvtárból = from the library

Here, könyvtár takes -ból because the meaning is coming out from the library / returning from the library.

Also, it is -ból rather than -ből because of vowel harmony: könyvtár has back vowels overall because of á, so it takes the back-vowel form -ból.

Hungarian often uses the definite article a / az where English also uses the:

• a könyvtár = the library

In this sentence, a könyvtárból suggests a specific library that both speaker and listener know about, or a library understood from context.

Without the article, könyvtárból can exist in some contexts, but a könyvtárból is the most natural way to say from the library in a normal sentence like this.

Hungarian often uses the present tense to talk about the near future, especially when the time is understood from context.

So:

• Mikor jössz vissza...? can mean
  • When are you coming back...?
  • When will you come back...?

English also does something similar with When are you coming back?

So this is a normal present form with a future sense.

The word order can change, but the change usually affects focus or emphasis.

The given sentence:

• Mikor jössz vissza a könyvtárból?

is the most natural neutral way to ask When are you coming back from the library?

Other orders are possible, for example:

• A könyvtárból mikor jössz vissza?
  This puts more attention on from the library.

But learners should treat the original version as the best standard pattern: question word + verb + preverb + other parts.

A few helpful pronunciation points:

• j in Hungarian sounds like English y in yes
• sz sounds like English s
• s by itself sounds like English sh
• ö is a rounded vowel not found in standard English; it is somewhat like the vowel in French peu or German schön
• ny sounds like Spanish ñ in señor
• á is a long vowel, roughly like a longer a

So:

• jössz is approximately yuss with rounded lips on the vowel
• könyvtárból is roughly kurny-vtaar-bole, though that is only an approximation

The important spelling facts are:

• sz = s
• ny = soft n
• j = y

Grammatically, yes: Hungarian present tense can cover both habitual present and planned/near-future meaning.

So depending on context, it could mean:

• When are you coming back from the library?
• When do you come back from the library?

But in ordinary conversation, people will usually understand it as a question about this occasion unless the wider context makes it habitual.

A simple way to see it is:

• Mikor = when
• jössz = you come / you are coming
• vissza = back
• a könyvtárból = from the library

So the pattern is:

When + are-you-coming + back + from the library?

This is a very useful Hungarian structure to remember:

question word + finite verb + preverb + place/time phrase