Már or még: how do you say already, still, yet and no longer in Hungarian?

Már says a change has already happened; még says the earlier state is still going on. Már itt vagyok is "I'm already here", Még itt vagyok is "I'm still here", and with nem the pair gives you "not yet" (még nem) and "no longer" (már nem). The trap is English "yet", which is már in a question and még in a negative answer.

The rule: has the change happened?

Every sentence with these two words looks at a point where something changes: you arrive, the rain stops, the letter comes. Ask one question: from where you are speaking, is that change behind you or still ahead?

• Behind you: már. The new state has begun. Wiktionary's first sense is "already (prior to some time)".
• Still ahead: még. The old state continues. Wiktionary glosses it "still" in statements and questions and "yet" with a negative, and lists már as its antonym.

That one question produces all four combinations.

The four combinations in one grid

Read the table as a timeline. The left column is before the change, the right column is after it. Positive sentences are about a state starting (arriving, being ready); negative sentences turn it round.

The diagonal pairs describe the same situation from opposite ends. If the change is "I leave", then még itt vagyok (still here) and már nem vagyok itt (no longer here) sit on either side of it. If the change is "I arrive", then még nem vagyok ott (not there yet) and már ott vagyok (already there) do. So még nem and már nem are not variants of one phrase: they are opposites.

• Azt még nem értem. I don't understand that yet. (I expect to)
• Azt már nem értem. I don't understand that any more. (I used to, or I followed you up to here)

The second pair of meanings comes from elon.io's explanation of Azt még nem értem, which states it plainly: még nem = "not yet / still not", már nem = "no longer / not anymore", and the two are opposites. For "no longer" Wiktionary also gives többé nem, literally "not more": Többé nem csinálom, "I won't do it any more".

Why "yet" splits in two

This is the confusion behind most searches for the pair. Learners map "already" to már and "yet" to még, and then ask "Have you eaten yet?" with még. That is half right. English "yet" does two different jobs, and Hungarian gives each to a different word:

• "Yet" in a question asks whether the change has happened. That is már. Wiktionary's sense line for már is "already ..., yet (in some questions)".
• "Yet" after a negative says the change has not happened. That is még. Wiktionary's translation table for English "yet" ("thus far") gives még "in a negative sentence", and for "not yet" gives még nem, glossed "not for the moment, though expected later".

So a question and its two answers use both words:

• Ettél már? Have you eaten yet?
• Igen, már ettem. Yes, I've already eaten.
• Még nem. Not yet.

*Ettél még? does not ask "yet": még in a positive question means "still" or "more" (Kérsz még?, see below), so it asks whether you ate more. The same már also covers English "ever" in experience questions, as on the past tense page: Voltál már Egerben?, "Have you ever been to Eger?" Hungarian needs no separate tense for "have you", the ordinary past does it, and the answer is again Még nem or Igen, már voltam. For the melody that turns a statement into a yes or no question, see asking questions.

Még or még mindig: neutral "still" or annoyed "still"

Még mindig (literally "still always") is the emphatic "still". Wiktionary's examples are Még mindig esik az eső ("It's still raining") and Még mindig nem érkezett meg a levél ("The letter has still not arrived"). Its usage note adds what the plain word lacks: még mindig can convey annoyance that a situation goes on against expectations. It contrasts three versions of one question:

The same split holds in the negative. Még nem jött meg is the neutral "he hasn't come yet", with the arrival expected later. Még mindig nem jött meg is "he still hasn't come", and you are starting to wonder why. If you only want to report the facts, use plain még.

Where már and még go, and what they do to a prefix

In a statement both words normally stand before the verb, and they behave differently with a verbal prefix:

• Már on its own leaves the prefix attached. It does not take the focus slot in front of the verb unless you stress it as a contrast: Már megcsináltam, "I've already done it". The word order and focus page lists már with is as words that do not push the prefix away.
• Még nem and már nem split it, because the nem claims that slot, exactly as in any negative sentence: Még nem olvastam el, "I haven't read it yet"; Már nem megyek el, "I'm not going any more" (the plan has changed).

• Megjött már a levél? Has the letter come yet?
• Már megjött. It's already come.
• Még nem jött meg. It hasn't come yet.

In the "yet" questions on this page, már comes after the verb, as in Ettél már? and Megjött már a levél?, and the prefix stays attached to the verb, just as in the answer.

The other jobs of még: more, even, still bigger

Not every még is about time. Wiktionary lists two further senses, and one more is common enough to learn now.

The comparative use is how Hungarian says "even bigger" or "still more" with -bb forms (see comparatives and superlatives). The last row comes from Slade and Csirmaz's study of Hungarian aspectual particles, which marks the version without is as ungrammatical: "even Feri" is még Feri is, with the same is as in én is, "me too".

Still acceptable, already too much

The same study describes a "marginality" use: Az Octavia még biztonságos means the Octavia is still safe, but only just, as the least safe of the safe cars. Már is its counterpart for the first item past the line. This is how you talk about limits in a shop or a timetable:

• Ötezer forint még belefér, de hatezer már sok. Five thousand forints is still within budget, but six thousand is too much.

The other jobs of már, and the words built on both

Már also works as an intensifier of impatience, a sense Wiktionary gives in the translations of English "already" ("Come on already!"): Gyere már!, "Come on!"; Hagyd már abba!, "Just stop it!" Here it adds a tone, not a time. Add csak ("only, merely") and both words measure what is left: Még csak hat óra van, "It's only six o'clock" (there is time), and Már csak öt perc, "Only five minutes left". Clock phrases are on the telling time page.

The last two rows answer the third English "still", the one that means "nevertheless". Temporal "still" is még, concessive "still" is mégis, and the study above gives the minimal pair: János kapott egy injekciót, mégis meghalt, "János got a shot, but he still died", with *még ungrammatical in that slot. Mégsem is the negative partner, and it is the word on the Cancel button of Hungarian software, while Mégis can label Redo. For other ways to say "but", see de or hanem.

Where the rule stops

• It is about time only. The before-and-after test settles már versus még as "already" and "still". It does not apply to még as "more" or "even", or to impatient már, which have no timeline.
• "Yet" in a positive statement is neither. "The best is yet to come" or "yet another delay" are not about a change you are waiting for, so translate the meaning, not the word.
• Immár is literary and immáron archaic. Both mean the same as már or most már; you will read them but do not need them in conversation.

Common learner errors

1. *Ettél még? for "Have you eaten yet?" A question about the change takes már: Ettél már?
2. *Már nem for "not yet". That means "no longer". "Not yet" is Még nem.
3. *Még nem elolvastam. The nem moves the prefix after the verb: Még nem olvastam el.
4. Még mindig where you mean a neutral "still". It sounds impatient. Még itt van just reports the fact.
5. *Még Feri szendvicset kért for "Even Feri". "Even" needs is: Még Feri is.
6. *még for "he still died". "Nevertheless" is mégis.

Sources and further reading

• Wiktionary, "már", "még" and "még mindig" (Hungarian): senses and the usage note on Pista még mindig itt van?
• Wiktionary, "mégis", "mégsem", "máris", "most már", "már-már", "immár" and "csak"
• Wiktionary, English "yet", "not yet", "no longer", "already", "still" and "even" (Hungarian translations)
• Benjamin Slade and Aniko Csirmaz, "Anatomy of Hungarian aspectual particles", abstract, 13th International Conference on the Structure of Hungarian (ICSH13)
• elon.io, "Azt még nem értem" (még nem versus már nem)

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