The instrumental case: -val/-vel

The instrumental-comitative case -val/-vel is the Hungarian "with": tollal (with a pen), Péterrel (with Péter), busszal (by bus). Its meaning is easy; its spelling is the challenge, because the v of the suffix disappears into the consonant before it. This page gives you the assimilation rules, the special cases of digraphs and double letters, and the full range of uses.

After a vowel: -val/-vel unchanged

If the noun ends in a vowel, the suffix appears in its full form, -val after back-vowel words and -vel after front-vowel words (see vowel harmony). Final a/e lengthen as usual.

Note taxival and kávéval: mixed words with a back vowel take back suffixes.

After a consonant: the v becomes that consonant

After a consonant, the v of the suffix fully assimilates: it turns into a copy of the preceding consonant, which is then pronounced long and written double. The suffix you actually see is therefore "doubled consonant + -al/-el".

Two points learners often miss. First, the stem does not change: kézzel keeps its long é (compare the accusative kezet), and kanállal keeps á (compare kanalat). Second, the doubled consonant is really pronounced long: házzal is "ház-zal", not "há-zal". The same assimilation happens with the translative -vá/-vé: jéggé, házzá (see minor cases).

The digraph rule: busszal, heggyel, lánnyal

Hungarian writes several single sounds with two letters: cs, dz, dzs, gy, ly, ny, sz, ty, zs (see the alphabet). When such a sound is doubled, only the first letter is written twice. This applies to every suffix that doubles a consonant, but you see it most often with -val/-vel.

Words already ending in a double letter

If the noun already ends in a doubled consonant, Hungarian does not write three identical letters: toll → tollal, sakk → sakkal, orr → orral. The sound is simply long.

Names in traditional spelling

Some family names keep old spellings, such as Balogh (pronounced with a final g) or Madách (final cs sound). With these, the assimilated consonant is written with the modern letter for the sound actually pronounced, attached directly without a hyphen, so the name stays intact: Baloghgal, Madáchcsal. A hyphen is used only when three identical letters would meet: Kiss-sel, Széll-lel. Ordinary names follow the normal rule: Kovács → Kováccsal, Nagy → Naggyal. The authoritative source for these cases is A magyar helyesírás szabályai.

Pronoun forms: velem, veled, vele

Formal and demonstrative forms: Önnel, Önökkel, ezzel, azzal (with assimilation: ez + vel → ezzel), and question words kivel? (with whom?) and mivel? (with what?). Mivel is also a conjunction meaning "since, because": Mivel esett, otthon maradtunk. ("Since it was raining, we stayed home.")

With possessed and plural nouns, the suffix follows the last vowel or consonant: a barátommal (with my friend), a feleségével (with his wife), a gyerekekkel (with the children), a barátaimmal (with my friends).

Uses of the instrumental

Company: with someone

• Péterrel megyek moziba. I'm going to the cinema with Péter.
• A kutyámmal sétálok. I'm walking with my dog.
• Kivel beszéltél? Who were you talking to?

To stress "together", add együtt: Annával együtt jöttem ("I came together with Anna").

Tools and means: with something

• Tollal írj, ne ceruzával! Write with a pen, not with a pencil.
• Késsel és villával eszünk. We eat with a knife and fork.
• Kézzel mosom. I wash it by hand.
• Kártyával fizetek. I'll pay by card.

Transport: by bus, by train

Means of transport take the instrumental: busszal, vonattal, villamossal, metróval, autóval, taxival, repülővel, hajóval, biciklivel. "On foot" is the adverb gyalog.

• Busszal járok dolgozni. I go to work by bus.
• Vonattal megyünk Szegedre. We're going to Szeged by train.

Compare the location: a buszon ülök ("I'm sitting on the bus", surface case) versus busszal megyek ("I'm going by bus").

Manner and attendant circumstances

• Örömmel segítek. I'll gladly help. (literally "with joy")
• Türelemmel várt. She waited patiently.
• Egy szóval: nem. In a word: no.
• Tele van vízzel. It's full of water.

Letters often close with Üdvözlettel ("With regards") or Szeretettel ("With love").

Time and measure: két nappal később

The instrumental expresses the size of a difference, both in time and in comparisons (see comparison with -nál):

• Két nappal később megérkezett. He arrived two days later.
• Egy héttel korábban indultunk. We left a week earlier.
• Egy nappal a vizsga előtt beteg lett. She got sick a day before the exam.
• Három évvel idősebb nálam. He's three years older than me.
• Ez sokkal jobb. This is much better.
• Mennyivel drágább? How much more expensive is it?

Several time words are frozen instrumentals: tavasszal (in spring), ősszel (in autumn), nappal (in the daytime), and idővel (in time, eventually). Summer and winter, by contrast, use the superessive: nyáron, télen.

Verbs that take -val/-vel

These verbs take the instrumental where English uses a direct object or a different preposition:

Two everyday phrases: Mi van veled? ("What's up with you? / How are you doing?") and Mit kezdjek vele? ("What am I supposed to do with it?"). Note eredmény → eredménnyel: the digraph rule applies in the middle of real sentences, not just in tables.

Typical learner errors

1. Keeping the v: *Péterval, *házval. After a consonant the v always assimilates: Péterrel, házzal.
2. Doubling the whole digraph: *buszszal. Double only the first letter: busszal.
3. Shortening the stem: *kezzel (from the pattern kezet). The instrumental keeps the dictionary stem: kézzel.
4. Wrong harmony on mixed words: *taxivel. A back vowel anywhere gives -val: taxival.
5. Using -val for "with" meaning "having": "a girl with blue eyes" is egy kék szemű lány, an adjective, not *kék szemekkel.

Check any form in the suffix builder or drill with the case quiz.

Sources and further reading

• Magyar Tudományos Akadémia, A magyar helyesírás szabályai (12th ed., Akadémiai Kiadó, 2015), on doubling digraphs and on names in traditional spelling
• Péter Siptár and Miklós Törkenczy, The Phonology of Hungarian (Oxford University Press, 2000), on v-assimilation
• Carol H. Rounds, Hungarian: An Essential Grammar (2nd ed., Routledge, 2009), on the instrumental-comitative

Frequently asked questions