Ez or az, ebben or abban: how do "this" and "that" work in Hungarian?

Ez means "this" and az means "that". Before a noun they always need the definite article as well, so "this house" is ez a ház, never *ez ház. When the noun takes a case ending, the demonstrative takes the same ending: ebben a házban, "in this house", azzal a tollal, "with that pen".

Why "ez a ház" needs the article

Wiktionary describes ez as a determiner "used before a noun phrase with a definite article", one that "gets the case of the noun phrase". The article is part of the construction, not an optional extra. Without it, ez is a pronoun standing alone, and the sentence means something different:

• Ez a ház nagyon szép. This house is very beautiful.
• Ez egy szép ház. This is a nice house.
• Ez a kutyám. This is my dog.

Because Hungarian has no word for "is" in the present tense with a third-person subject, az a ház can be read two ways. Wiktionary's note on az points out the ambiguity: it is both the phrase "that house" and the sentence "That is the house".

There is one place where ez appears without an article: a set of fixed, somewhat archaic phrases before vowel-initial nouns, such as ez ügyben ("in this matter"), ez esetben ("in this case") and ez alkalommal ("on this occasion"). Wiktionary glosses ez ügyben as equivalent to ebben az ügyben. Recognise them; do not build new ones.

Case endings: the full table

The complete declension, from Wiktionary's tables for ez and az, with each form in front of a noun:

The six local cases in the middle of the table follow the same logic as on nouns; if the "in, on, at" grid is new to you, start with the local cases.

How the z assimilates, and where it does not

hungarianreference.com puts the rule in one line: "the -z in ez/az changes into the first consonant of the ending". So ez + ben is ebben, az + hoz is ahhoz, ez + től is ettől. Three groups behave differently, and they are the forms learners get wrong.

Endings that leave the z alone

• The accusative -t: ezt, azt. There is no *ett.
• Vowel-initial endings: the superessive gives ezen, azon, and -ért gives ezért, azért. With a vowel next to it, the z has nothing to turn into.

Ezzel: the ending changes, not the z

The one-line rule ("z becomes the ending's consonant") predicts *evvel for "with this". The standard form is ezzel, and the reason is that -val/-vel and -vá/-vé behave on ez exactly as on any word ending in a consonant: their v turns into that consonant, as in ház → házzal. So ez gives ezzel, ezzé and az gives azzal, azzá (the instrumental guide covers this doubling on nouns).

The forms evvel and avval do exist, which is why some learner tables print them as the main forms. Wiktionary labels them "somewhat folksy" and adds that although both are correct, ezzel and azzal are "the most common choice". Learn ezzel and azzal; recognise the other two when you hear them.

One irregular form: eddig

-ig starts with a vowel, yet the forms are eddig and addig, with a doubled d. Wiktionary's declension tables list it this way; learn it as a word, everyday "so far, until now".

Ebben a házban: each word keeps its own harmony

Ez has a front vowel, so it always takes the front form of an ending; az has a back vowel and always takes the back form. The noun chooses separately, by its own vowels. hungarianreference.com states that the choice for the demonstrative "is independent of our choice for the noun itself". The result is phrases with two different forms of the same suffix:

• ebben a házban in this house (front -ben, back -ban)
• abban a kertben in that garden (back -ban, front -ben)
• ezzel a tollal with this pen

The common slip is to let the noun decide for both words: *abban a házban for "in this house". That phrase exists, but it means "in that house". Since the vowel of the demonstrative is what carries "this" versus "that", copying the noun's harmony silently changes the meaning. If you need a refresher on front and back vowels, see vowel harmony.

The plural: ezek and azok never assimilate

"These" is ezek and "those" is azok. They end in -k, and hungarianreference.com is explicit that they "simply take the noun endings without any change". The noun goes into the plural too:

• ezek a házak these houses
• ezekben a házakban in these houses
• azokkal a tollakkal with those pens

So the plural forms are regular: ezeket, ezekkel; azokat, azokkal. The noun's own plural follows the usual linking-vowel rules in the plural guide.

Ezt and azt take the definite conjugation

A demonstrative object is a definite object, so the verb takes its definite endings, whether ezt stands alone or before a noun:

• Látom ezt a kutyát. I see this dog.
• Ezt kérem. I'd like this one.
• Azt nem értem. I don't understand that.

*Ezt kérek is wrong, and so is *Látok azt a házat. The same holds for azt pointing forward to a clause, as in Azt mondta, hogy... ("He said that..."); the definite and indefinite conjugation guide lists every other trigger.

The whole family: itt, ide, ilyen, így and their question words

Hungarian builds its words for place, manner, amount and time on the same two stems. Near the speaker the word starts with e- or i-; far from the speaker with a-, o- or ú-. Each pair answers a question word beginning with m- or h-, and adding a- to the question word makes the relative form. This table brings them together, from Wiktionary's Hungarian table of correlatives:

Two things stand out. First, some "case forms" of ez and az double as adverbs: erre is both "onto this" and "this way", ezért both "for this" and "that's why", eddig both "up to this" and "so far". Second, the "that" column pairs with the relative column to build "the place where", "the way that" and similar sentences:

• Ott várlak, ahol tegnap. I'll wait for you where (I did) yesterday.
• Úgy csináld, ahogy mondtam. Do it the way I said.
• Annyit eszik, amennyit akar. He eats as much as he wants.

The relative words themselves are covered in ami, amely or amelyik, and the akkor ... amikor pair in ha or amikor.

E, eme, ezen: the formal forms

Written Hungarian has shorter "this" words that break the rules above. Wiktionary describes e, eme and ezen as literary or archaic substitutes for ez that "do not take the case of the noun", with no article after them:

• ebben a házban → e házban, ezen házban in this house
• E házban lakott Petőfi Sándor. Sándor Petőfi lived in this house.

You will see them on plaques, in official letters and in news headlines (az e heti hírek, "this week's news"). Do not mix the systems: either ebben a házban or e házban, never *e a házban.

Typical learner errors

1. *ez ház → ez a ház. The article is required.
2. *ez a házban or *ebben ház → ebben a házban. The ending goes on both words, and the article stays.
3. *abban a házban for "in this house" → ebben a házban. Ez keeps its front vowel.
4. *ett a kutyát → ezt a kutyát. No assimilation before -t.
5. *ezekben a házban → ezekben a házakban. Plural demonstrative, plural noun.
6. *Ezt kérek → Ezt kérem. A demonstrative object is definite.

Where these rules stop applying

• Formal e, eme, ezen + noun take no article and no repeated ending.
• Possessive forms of ez and az are not in use, per Wiktionary; the possessive forms of ilyen and olyan stand in for them.

Sources and further reading

• hungarianreference.com, "Demonstrative pronouns": the article construction, assimilation, independent vowel harmony and the unassimilated plural
• Wiktionary, "ez" and "az" (Hungarian): declension tables, determiner usage, fixed phrases without the article, the az a ház ambiguity
• Wiktionary, "ilyen" and its Hungarian table of correlatives, for the family table
• Wiktionary, "evvel", "avval", "e" and "ezen"

Frequently asked questions