Avoiding Common Mistakes: Exercises with Hungarian Prepositions

Mastering Hungarian prepositions can be a challenging yet rewarding endeavor for English speakers. Hungarian, with its unique structure and usage of postpositions and cases, presents a set of common pitfalls that can easily trip up learners. This page is dedicated to helping you navigate these tricky waters, offering targeted exercises designed to address the most frequent mistakes made with Hungarian prepositions. Whether you are a beginner or an advanced learner, these exercises will help you develop a more intuitive understanding of how to correctly use prepositions in various contexts, enhancing both your spoken and written Hungarian. Prepositions in Hungarian often don't have direct equivalents in English, and their usage can vary significantly depending on the context. For example, the Hungarian prepositions "ba/be" and "ban/ben" (into/in) or "ra/re" and "on/en/ön" (onto/on) require a deep understanding of spatial relationships and movement. This page provides exercises that focus on these nuances, allowing you to practice and internalize the correct forms and contexts for each preposition. By engaging with these exercises, you will not only avoid common mistakes but also gain confidence in your ability to communicate more precisely and effectively in Hungarian.

Exercise 1

1. Holnap *a* parkba megyek (preposition for direction).

2. A könyvet letettem *az* asztalra (preposition for placing something).

3. Szeretek *a* tengerparton sétálni (preposition for location).

4. Jövőre *az* egyetemre fogok járni (preposition for attending an institution).

5. A macska *a* szekrény mögött bújt el (preposition for behind something).

6. Este találkozunk *a* moziban (preposition for meeting place).

7. Kérlek, tedd vissza a könyvet *a* polcra (preposition for placing on a surface).

8. A kávézó *az* utca sarkán van (preposition for location at a corner).

9. Mindig *a* híd alatt sétálok haza (preposition for under something).

10. A levél *az* asztalon van (preposition for on top of something).

Exercise 2

1. Reggel *az* iskolába megyek (preposition for destination).

2. A könyv *az asztalon* van (preposition for location on a surface).

3. A macska *a szék alatt* fekszik (preposition for location under something).

4. Este sétálunk *a parkban* (preposition for location in a place).

5. A busz *a megálló előtt* áll (preposition for location in front of something).

6. A kulcs *a táskában* van (preposition for location inside something).

7. Holnap találkozunk *a városban* (preposition for location in a city).

8. Az autó *az út mellett* parkol (preposition for location beside something).

9. A repülőgép *az égben* van (preposition for location in the sky).

10. A gyerekek játszanak *a játszótéren* (preposition for location at a playground).

Exercise 3

1. Az autó *mellett* parkoltam (beside the car).

2. A könyv az asztal *alatt* van (under the table).

3. Sétálok a folyó *mellett* (beside the river).

4. A kulcsokat a táska *mellé* tettem (next to the bag).

5. A macska a doboz *alatt* bújt el (under the box).

6. A cipőimet az ágy *alatt* hagytam (under the bed).

7. A kutya a ház *mögött* ugat (behind the house).

8. A szék az asztal *mellett* áll (beside the table).

9. A bicikli a garázs *mellett* van (next to the garage).

10. A táskát a szék *mellé* raktam (next to the chair).