How do you form adverbs in Hungarian: -an/-en, -ul/-ül or -lag/-leg?

The default Hungarian adverb ending is -an/-en: gyors → gyorsan ("quickly"), szép → szépen ("nicely"). The other endings are not free alternatives. -ul/-ül is required after adjectives in -tlan/-telen and -atlan/-etlen and appears in a short list of other words, -lag/-leg belongs to adjectives in -i, and jó has its own form, jól. The ending of the adjective decides, and the table below sorts it by ending.

The rule by adjective ending

Look at how the adjective ends, find the row, and read off the suffix. The front or back form is chosen by vowel harmony, exactly as with case endings.

Read the table from the bottom up when you are unsure. If the adjective is jó, it is jól. If it ends in -i, it is -lag/-leg. If it ends in a privative -tlan-type suffix, it is -ul/-ül. Everything else takes -an/-en or -n unless you have learned it as one of the exceptions.

The default: -an, -en and -n

Wiktionary's entry for the suffix lists four shapes of the same ending, and which one you use depends on the last sound of the adjective:

• -n after a vowel, with final a becoming á and final e becoming é: csúnya → csúnyán, gyenge → gyengén, olcsó → olcsón. The lengthening is the same one you see in the plural (alma → almák).
• -an after a consonant in most back-vowel words: gyorsan, pontosan, alaposan, hangosan.
• -on after a consonant in some back-vowel words: nagyon ("very"), gazdagon ("richly, lavishly").
• -en after a consonant in front-vowel words: szépen, csendesen.

• Gyorsan megcsinálta. He did it quickly.
• Pontosan nyolckor érkezett. She arrived at exactly eight.
• Szépen beszél. He speaks nicely.
• Olcsón vettem. I bought it cheaply.
• Nagyon fáradt vagyok. I'm very tired.

The -on forms are few, and the two worth knowing first are nagyon and gazdagon. Both are also the superessive ("on") form of the adjective, so nagyon can, in the right sentence, mean "on the big one". In practice the adverb meaning "very" is the one you will meet.

Where -an/-en cannot go

The most useful single fact about -an/-en is its restriction, and it is the one learner pages leave out. Wiktionary states that the suffix "cannot be added to adjectives suffixed with -i, -beli, -nyi, -tlan -talan, -atlan." Two of those blocked groups have their own ending instead:

• Privative adjectives (-tlan/-tlen, -talan/-telen, -atlan/-etlen, "-less, un-") take -ul/-ül: véletlenül ("by accident"), feltétlenül ("definitely"), függetlenül ("independently"), váratlanul ("unexpectedly"). Wiktionary's declension table for -talan gives the adverb form as -talanul.
• Adjectives in -i take -lag/-leg, attached after the -i: gyakorlati → gyakorlatilag, elméleti → elméletileg. See the -lag/-leg section below.

So *véletlenen and *gyakorlatian are not adverbs. The suffix order is fixed: the adjective-forming suffix first, the adverb ending last, as in every other Hungarian word.

-ul/-ül: three different jobs

Wiktionary describes -ul/-ül as the essive-modal case suffix, with an "as" sense and an adverb-forming sense. In practice you meet it in three places:

1. After privative adjectives, as above. This is the only part of its adverb use that works as a rule: every -tlan/-telen adjective you learn has its adverb in -ul/-ül.
2. Language names: magyarul ("in Hungarian"), angolul, finnül, törökül, csehül. This use is fully productive and is covered with a table of languages in the minor cases. It is also why "I speak Hungarian" is Tudok magyarul with no object (see tud or ismer).
3. A short list of ordinary adjectives that you learn one by one: rossz → rosszul ("badly"), vad → vadul ("wildly, fiercely").

• Véletlenül töröltem a fájlt. I deleted the file by accident.
• Rosszul beszélnek angolul. They speak broken English.
• A kutya vadul ugatott. The dog was barking fiercely.
• Holnap feltétlenül hívj fel! Be sure to call me tomorrow!

The pair that settles the confusion is csúnyán and rosszul. Both describe something done badly, and both come from adjectives ending in a plain vowel or consonant, yet one takes -n and the other -ul. Nothing in rossz predicts -ul: the hungarianreference.com grammar calls the choice "a little idiosyncratic", and that is accurate for this group. For ordinary adjectives, assume -an/-en, and treat each -ul/-ül form you meet as a word to learn.

The irregular one: jó → jól

"Well" is jól, from jó with a lone -l. Wiktionary describes this -l as an adverb-of-manner suffix. Do not apply the default rule here: the adverb is not *jón.

• Hogy vagy? Jól, köszönöm. How are you? Fine, thanks.
• Jól főz. She cooks well.

Its comparative is jobban, which is also the comparative of nagyon, so jobban means both "better" and "more" (next section).

-lag/-leg: "as regards" and fixed words

-lag (back) and -leg (front) form adverbs too, but not from ordinary adjectives. Wiktionary's usage note says the suffix mainly attaches to adjectives already ending in -i and to present participles. The -i adjectives mostly mean "relating to X", so their adverbs mean "in terms of X" or "as regards X":

• gyakorlati → gyakorlatilag in practice; practically, basically
• elméleti → elméletileg in theory
• politikai → politikailag, jogi → jogilag politically, legally

A second group is older and fixed, built straight on a noun or adjective: tényleg ("really, indeed", from tény, "fact"), aránylag ("relatively", from arány, "proportion"), viszonylag ("relatively"), and egyhangúlag ("unanimously"). These are vocabulary, not a pattern to extend: you cannot make *gyorslag.

• Tényleg? Really?
• A konyha aránylag kicsi volt. The kitchen was relatively small.
• Gyakorlatilag kész vagyok. I'm practically done.

Comparing adverbs: gyorsabban, legjobban

The comparative -bb goes between the adjective and the adverb ending, and the adverb ending stays the one the base adverb uses. The superlative adds leg- in front, as with adjectives (full rules in comparative and superlative).

Two things follow from the table. The comparative stem is the adjective's own comparative, irregulars included: szebb → szebben, jobb → jobban. And an -ul adverb keeps -ul in the comparative: rosszabbul, not *rosszabban.

• Beszélj lassabban, kérlek! Speak more slowly, please!
• Legjobban a kávét szeretem. I like coffee most.

Typical learner errors

1. *jón, *jóan → jól.
2. *rosszan → rosszul; but *csúnyául → csúnyán.
3. *véletlenen, *váratlanan → véletlenül, váratlanul: privative adjectives always take -ul/-ül.
4. *gyakorlatian → gyakorlatilag: -i adjectives take -lag/-leg.
5. *lassúan → lassan; *könnyűen → könnyen.
6. *csúnyan, *gyengen → csúnyán, gyengén: final a/e lengthens.
7. lassul for "slowly". It is a verb, "to slow down"; the adverb is lassan.

Adverbs also interact with word order: an adverb of manner like gyorsan does not split a verb from its prefix unless you stress it (verbal prefixes).

Where these rules stop applying

• Two endings, one stem. For szomorú both szomorúan and szomorún exist, and the -ú/-ű row in general has to be learned word by word.
• Adverbs from numbers. The same -an/-en on a numeral counts people, not manner: hatan ("six of us/them"), hányan? ("how many people?"). These are covered under numbers.
• Not every adverb comes from an adjective. Words like gyalog ("on foot"), már ("already") and végül ("finally") are adverbs with no adjective behind them. The table above is for turning an adjective into "how" something is done.

Sources and further reading

• Wiktionary, "-an" (Hungarian), usage notes on the allomorphs -n, -an, -on, -en and the restriction after -i, -beli, -nyi, -tlan, -talan, -atlan
• Wiktionary, "-ul", "-ül", "-lag" and "-talan" (Hungarian), and Appendix: Hungarian suffixes
• Wiktionary entries for jól, nagyon, gazdagon, csúnyán, lassan, hosszan, könnyen, rosszul, vadul, véletlenül, tényleg, aránylag and gyakorlatilag, for the forms, comparatives and examples
• Hungarian Reference, "-an/-en, -ul/-ül: adverbs", for szomorúan/szomorún and the idiosyncrasy of the -ul group

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