Vowel harmony checker

Almost every Hungarian suffix has two or three shapes, and the vowels of the word choose between them. This checker shows you which vowels matter in a given word and which suffix shape follows.

The three vowel groups

The front unrounded vowels are called neutral because in a word that also contains back vowels, they usually do not count. That is the single fact that explains most "strange" cases.

The decision steps the checker follows

1. Look at the last vowel of the word (for compounds, of the last element: Magyarország takes its harmony from ország).
2. If it is back (a á o ó u ú), use back suffixes: asztalon.
3. If it is front rounded (ö ő ü ű), use front suffixes with the rounded option where one exists: sofőrhöz, gyümölcsön.
4. If it is neutral, look further left. A back vowel earlier in the word usually wins: papírban, kávéhoz. Words with only neutral vowels are front: kertben, kéréssel.
5. Check the short list of exceptions: a group of old stems with only i, í or é take back suffixes (híd → hídon, cél → célok, ír → írok).

Where native speakers vary

A handful of loanwords ending in a back vowel plus e or é are genuinely variable: both hotelban and hotelben occur, and fotelban/fotelben the same. The checker flags these instead of pretending there is one right answer. Personal names follow the same logic: József → Józsefnek, Ágnes → Ágnessel, both front.

For the full treatment, including why neutral vowels behave this way, read Hungarian vowel harmony. To see every case form of a word at once, use the suffix builder.

Sources and further reading

• Péter Siptár and Miklós Törkenczy, The Phonology of Hungarian (Oxford University Press, 2000)
• Carol H. Rounds, Hungarian: An Essential Grammar (2nd ed., Routledge, 2009)

Frequently asked questions