Adjective Complements

When an adjective governs a case, the required suffix attaches to the noun phrase acting as its complement. The specific case required depends on the adjective itself and often the semantic role of the complement. For example, büszke (proud) takes the sublative case (-ra/-re), elégedett (satisfied) takes the instrumental case (-val/-vel), hasonló (similar) takes the allative case (-hoz/-hez/-höz), szerelmes (in love) takes the illative case (-ba/-be) for the person you are in love with (szerelmes valakibe), gazdag (rich) takes the inessive case (-ban/-ben), and hálás (grateful) takes the dative case (-nak/-nek) for the person you are grateful to (hálás a tanárnak), but the causal-final case (-ért) for the thing you are grateful for (hálás a segítségért). Some adjectives can even govern different cases to yield entirely different meanings, making it crucial to memorize the specific case along with the adjective. For example, jó means 'good at something' with the inessive case (jó valamiben), 'good for something' with the sublative case (jó valamire), and 'good/kind to someone' with the allative case (jó valakihez). When these adjectives govern a case in a full sentence, they are frequently used predicatively with the copula lenni (to be), for example, Büszke vagyok rád (I am proud of you).

Key Rules:

• Vowel Harmony: The suffix must follow standard vowel harmony rules (e.g., büszke a fiára 'proud of his/her son' vs. büszke a sikerére 'proud of his/her success').
• Adjective Form: The adjective itself does not take the governed case suffix; it remains in the nominative case. However, it can take a plural marker if it acts as a predicate for a plural subject (e.g., Büszkék vagyunk rád 'We are proud of you').
• Pronouns: If the complement is a personal pronoun, the case suffix acts as a stem and takes a personal ending (e.g., büszke rá 'proud of him/her/it'). For emphasis or contrast, the nominative pronoun is prepended to this inflected form (e.g., én + rám = büszke énrám 'proud of ME').
• Demonstrative Pronouns: When using ez or az, the final 'z' of the demonstrative assimilates to the initial consonant of the governed case suffix (e.g., az + ra = arra 'proud of that'). However, if the suffix starts with a vowel, the 'z' remains unchanged (e.g., az + ért = azért 'grateful for that'). This inflected demonstrative pronoun in the main clause often points forward to a subordinate that-clause (hogy) when the complement is an action or a full clause (e.g., Büszke vagyok arra, hogy itt lehetek. 'I am proud to be here.').
• Governed Postpositions: Some adjectives govern a specific postposition instead of a case suffix (e.g., érdeklődő valami iránt 'interested in something').
• Infinitive Complements: Certain adjectives govern an infinitive (e.g., hajlandó segíteni 'willing to help').
• Word Order and Articles: When used predicatively, the complement usually follows the adjective (A tanár büszke a diákra.). For emphasis, the complement can be moved before the adjective (e.g., A tanár a diákra büszke. 'It is the student the teacher is proud of.'). When used attributively (modifying a noun directly), the complement must strictly precede the adjective. Note that if both the noun phrase and the complement require a definite article, they merge into a single article at the beginning of the phrase due to article haplology (a diákra büszke tanár = the teacher proud of the student). The surviving single article must phonologically agree (a vs. az) with the word immediately following it (the complement), not the head noun (e.g., az asztalra büszke tanár = the teacher proud of the table, where az agrees with asztalra even though tanár would take a).

Do not confuse governed cases with free spatial cases. A governed case is rigidly dictated by the adjective itself, regardless of spatial logic.