előtt / után

Before and After

Level 1

Hungarian postpositions előtt (before/in front of) and után (after) follow the noun they modify. They work for both time and space.

How It Works

Hungarian uses postpositions to describe relationships in time and space.

1. Spatial Usage (Where?)

  • előtt: Means 'in front of' (static position). Example: a ház előtt (in front of the house).
  • után: Means 'after' or 'following' in a sequence. Note: For physical 'behind', Hungarians use mögött.

2. The Directional System
Hungarian postpositions often come in triplets depending on the direction of movement.

  • előtt: Static position (in front of).
  • elé: Moving towards the front (e.g., a ház elé megyek).
  • elől: Moving away from the front (e.g., a ház elől jövök).
  • Important: Unlike 'előtt', the postposition után is non-triadic. It does not change form for movement (e.g., a kutya után futok - I run after the dog).

3. Temporal Usage (When?)

  • előtt: Means 'before' (ebéd előtt). To say 'ago', you can use the specific form ezelőtt along with a time duration and the -val/-vel suffix (e.g., egy évvel ezelőtt - one year ago). Alternatively, Hungarian frequently expresses 'ago' by simply attaching the 3rd-person possessive suffix to the time word, provided the verb is in the past tense (e.g., egy éve költözött el - he moved away a year ago). If used with a present tense verb, it means 'for [duration]' (e.g., egy éve élek itt - I have lived here for a year). Note: To say 'in [X time]' (the future counterpart), use múlva (e.g., egy év múlva - in a year), not után.
  • után: Means 'after' (munka után).

4. Nouns vs. Verbs

  • előtt / után: Used with nouns or noun phrases. (Note: They are not placed as separate words after personal pronouns; instead, they take personal suffixes, as explained in Section 5).
  • mielőtt / miután: Use these conjunctions when you want to follow with a verb/clause (e.g., Mielőtt eszel... - Before you eat...).

5. Grammar Rules

  • No Case Suffixes: The noun remains in the nominative case.
  • Demonstrative Repetition: With ez/az, you must repeat the postposition: az után a nap után (after that day). Note the spelling: when modifying a noun, the demonstrative and postposition are written as two separate words (az után, ez előtt), unlike the standalone adverbs (azután, ezelőtt).
  • Pronouns: When used with pronouns, they take personal endings for all persons. The full paradigm for előtt is: előttem, előtted, előtte, előttünk, előttetek, előttük. The full paradigm for után is: utánam, utánad, utána, utánunk, utánatok, utánuk. A subject pronoun can be added for emphasis (e.g., énutánam - after ME). Note that the directional forms elé and elől also take personal suffixes if the movement is relative to a person (e.g., elém - in front of me, előlem - away from in front of me).

6. Standalone Adverbs (Beforehand / Afterwards)
English speakers often try to use bare előtt or után to mean 'beforehand' or 'afterwards', which is ungrammatical. You must use the standalone adverbial forms előtte (beforehand/before that) and utána (afterwards/after that). Example: Eszünk, és utána moziba megyünk. (We eat, and afterwards we go to the cinema.)

Examples (6)

  1. A macska a ház előtt ül.

    The cat is sitting in front of the house.

    Word by Word: The cat the house before sits.

    Here 'előtt' shows a static spatial position (in front of).

  2. Találkozzunk öt óra után.

    Let's meet after five o'clock.

    Word by Word: Let-us-meet five hour after.

    Here 'után' is used for a specific point in time.

  3. Három nappal ezelőtt találkoztunk.

    We met three days ago.

    Word by Word: Three day-with before-this we-met.

    To express 'ago', use 'ezelőtt' with a duration and the -val/-vel suffix. Alternatively, you can simply use the possessive suffix: 'Három napja találkoztunk'.

  4. Ez után a hét után nyaralni megyek.

    After this week, I am going on vacation.

    Word by Word: This after the week after to-vacation I-go.

    When using demonstratives, the postposition must be repeated after both the pronoun and the noun. Notice that 'ez után' is written as two words here.

  5. A busz után futok.

    I am running after the bus.

    Word by Word: The bus after I-run.

    Unlike 'előtt', 'után' does not change its form when there is movement toward the object.

  6. Eszünk, és utána moziba megyünk.

    We eat, and afterwards we go to the cinema.

    Word by Word: We-eat, and after-it cinema-into we-go.

    To say 'afterwards' or 'after that' without a noun, you must use the standalone adverbial form 'utána', not just 'után'.

Common Mistakes

  • Placing the postposition before the noun (English word order).

    előtt a ház
    a ház előtt

    In Hungarian, these words MUST come after the noun they describe.

  • Using a verb directly before the postposition.

    Aludni előtt
    Alvás előtt

    Postpositions follow nouns. To say 'before sleeping', use the noun form (alvás) or a conjunction like mielőtt for a full clause.

  • Forgetting to repeat the postposition with 'ez' or 'az'.

    az után a hét
    az után a hét után

    When using demonstratives, the postposition must appear twice: once after the pronoun and once after the noun.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

előtt / utánLevel 1Before and After

Learn This First

To use 'előtt' and 'után', you need to understand how to identify nouns using definite articles and where to place these phrases within a basic sentence structure. Unlike many other Hungarian suffixes, these postpositions do not require vowel harmony, making them relatively straightforward once basic noun usage is understood.

Learn Next

Patterns that build on this one.

Words in This Pattern

előttután