Possession: "X of Y", -nak and -é

English marks the owner with 's or of. Hungarian does the opposite: it marks the thing owned. Péter háza is literally "Péter house-his". This page explains that basic pattern, the alternative with -nak/-nek and when it is obligatory, the independent possessive -é ("Péter's", "mine"), and how all of this builds the Hungarian way of saying "have".

The basic pattern: Péter háza

In a possessive phrase the possessor comes first, in the nominative, and the possessed noun follows with a third person possessive suffix:

• Péter háza Péter's house
• a szomszéd kutyája the neighbour's dog
• az ablak kerete the frame of the window
• Magyarország fővárosa the capital of Hungary
• a film vége the end of the film

Three details trip learners up:

• The article belongs to the possessor. In a szomszéd kutyája, the a goes with szomszéd. There is no second article before kutyája. Names normally have no article in standard Hungarian: Péter háza (colloquial a Péter háza is common in speech).
• The suffix is always third person singular with a noun possessor, even if the possessor is plural: a gyerekek szobája ("the children's room"), not *a gyerekek szobájuk. Plural agreement (-uk/-ük) appears only with the pronoun: az ő szobájuk ("their room").
• Plural possessions use -i-: Péter könyvei ("Péter's books"), a szomszédok autói ("the neighbours' cars").

With a personal pronoun as possessor, the pronoun is usually dropped: a házam ("my house"), az én házam only for emphasis.

The -nak/-nek form: Péternek a háza

The possessor can also be put in the dative form -nak/-nek. When it is, the possessed noun takes its own article:

Where both are possible, the bare form is the neutral, everyday choice, and the -nak form is slightly more emphatic or explicit. But in several situations only the -nak form is grammatical or natural.

When -nak/-nek is required

1. The possessor is a demonstrative phrase

• Ennek a háznak a teteje piros. The roof of this house is red.
• Annak a fiúnak az anyja tanár. That boy's mother is a teacher.

In formal written style you may also see the short demonstrative e/ama without -nak: e ház teteje ("the roof of this house").

2. The possessor is a question word or relative pronoun

• Kinek a táskája ez? Whose bag is this?
• Minek a része? What is it part of?
• Az a lány, akinek a kutyája elszökött... The girl whose dog ran away...

3. The possessor is separated from the possessed noun

Hungarian word order is driven by topic and focus (see word order and focus). If the possessor moves away from the possessed noun, it must carry -nak/-nek:

• Péternek elromlott az autója. Péter's car broke down.
• Annának nagyon szép a lakása. Anna's flat is very nice.
• Kinek fáj a feje? Who has a headache? (literally "whose head hurts?")

4. Chains of possessors

In "X's Y's Z", the middle link takes -nak/-nek in careful Hungarian:

• Péter barátjának az autója Péter's friend's car
• a szomszéd lányának a férje the neighbour's daughter's husband
• a cég vezetőjének a titkárnője the company director's secretary

The unmarked chain Péter barátja autója also occurs, especially in speech, but with more than two links it quickly becomes hard to follow. Marking the middle link with -nak is the safe choice.

Optional -nak with indefinite and universal pronouns

With valaki, mindenki, senki both forms are used: mindenki véleménye or mindenkinek a véleménye ("everyone's opinion"), valakinek a kabátja ("someone's coat").

The possessive -é: Péteré, a szomszédé

The suffix -é turns a possessor into a stand-alone "the one belonging to X", like English "Péter's" at the end of a sentence or "mine".

• Kié ez a toll? Péteré. Whose pen is this? Péter's.
• Ez a ház a szomszédé. This house is the neighbour's.
• A kék autó Annáé. The blue car is Anna's.
• Ez a lakás a szüleimé. This flat belongs to my parents.

It attaches directly, with the usual lengthening (Anna → Annáé, anya → anyáé), and it can be followed by a case suffix: A szomszédét kölcsönkértem. ("I borrowed the neighbour's.") The question word is kié? ("whose?").

Possessive pronouns: az enyém, a tiéd

• Ez a táska az enyém. This bag is mine.
• Az én autóm gyorsabb a tiédnél. My car is faster than yours.
• Használd az enyémet! Use mine.

The possessive pronouns take the article a/az; names with -é do not (Ez Péteré).

Plural possessions: -éi

If the things owned are plural, add -i: Ezek a könyvek Péteréi. ("These books are Péter's.") In everyday speech Hungarians often rephrase instead: Ezek Péter könyvei. ("These are Péter's books.")

Don't confuse -é and -ék

Péteré is "Péter's (thing)"; Péterék is "Péter and his family / friends". They can combine: Ez a ház Péteréké. ("This house belongs to Péter's family.") With local cases: Péteréknél vagyunk ("We're at Péter's place").

"Have": van + dative + possessive

Hungarian builds "have" out of the possessive phrase and the verb van ("there is"). Literally, "to Péter there is his house":

Rules to note:

• The possessor is in the dative (or left out if it is a pronoun). Compare the possessive phrase Péternek a háza ("Péter's house") with the "have" sentence Péternek van háza ("Péter has a house"): the article makes the difference.
• The possessed noun is the subject, so it never takes the accusative (see the accusative).
• Here plural owners usually agree: A szomszédoknak nincs kertjük, with -juk, because the owner is outside the possessive phrase. The singular kertje is also heard.
• Negation uses nincs in the present (plural nincsenek) and nem volt / nem lesz in other tenses (see van and nincs and negation).
• After numbers use the singular: két testvérem van, not *két testvéreim.

Related expressions

• Megvan a jegyed? Have you got your ticket? (is it with you, not lost)
• Van nálad toll? Do you have a pen on you?
• Nekem is van. I have one too.

Which form should I use? A quick guide

1. Want to say "X's Y" inside a sentence? Use X Y-ja: Péter háza.
2. Is X ez/az + noun, a question word, or a relative pronoun? Use -nak: ennek a háznak a teteje, kinek a...
3. Is X separated from Y, or in the middle of a chain? Use -nak.
4. Does the thing owned not appear ("It's Péter's")? Use -é: Péteré, az enyém.
5. Do you mean "have"? Use dative + van + possessive: Péternek van egy háza.

Typical learner errors

• *a ház Péter or *Péter ház: the possessed noun needs the suffix, Péter háza.
• *a gyerekek szobájuk: with a noun possessor use the singular suffix, a gyerekek szobája.
• *ez a ház teteje for "the roof of this house": use ennek a háznak a teteje.
• *Ez a könyv én. "It's mine" is Ez a könyv az enyém.
• *az enyém ház: before a noun use the possessive suffix, az én házam.

Sources and further reading

• Katalin É. Kiss, The Syntax of Hungarian (Cambridge University Press, 2002), on the possessive construction and dative possessors
• Carol H. Rounds, Hungarian: An Essential Grammar (2nd ed., Routledge, 2009), on possession and "have"
• István Kenesei, Robert M. Vago and Anna Fenyvesi, Hungarian (Descriptive Grammars series, Routledge, 1998)

Frequently asked questions