-ról/-ről

Off / About

Level 1

Use -ról/-ről to describe moving away from the top of something (like a table) or to say what you are talking/thinking about.

How It Works

The delative case serves several primary functions in Hungarian:

1. Spatial Movement (Off/Down from)
It indicates movement away from a surface. It is the opposite of the sublative (-ra/-re, onto). This includes:

  • Surfaces: Taking something off a table (asztalról) or shelf (polcról). Body parts are also treated as surfaces (e.g., fejéről - off their head, lábáról - off their foot).
  • Visual Media: Screens and photos are treated as surfaces. You see something on a screen and it comes off the screen (a képernyőről) or from a photo (a képről). It also expresses the 'of/about' nuance for photos (e.g., egy fénykép rólad - a photo of you).
  • Public Transport: Getting off large/open vehicles like a bus (buszról), train (vonatról), or bike (bicikliről). Note that small enclosed vehicles like cars use the elative (autóból).
  • Islands: Coming from an island, like Margitsziget (Margitszigetről). While most islands use this, some specific island nations (like Japan, the UK, or Cuba) use the elative by lexical convention (e.g., Japánból).

2. Abstract Meaning (About/Concerning & Detachment)
This is the most common way to express the topic of communication. It is used with verbs like beszél (speak), gondol (to have an opinion about, e.g., Mit gondolsz erről? - What do you think about this? Note: directing your thoughts to someone/something uses the sublative, e.g., Rád gondolok - I am thinking of you), ír (write), szól (to be about, e.g., Miről szól a film?), tud (know about), hall (hear about), olvas (read about), and álmodik (dream about). Certain other verbs and adjectives also specifically govern this case, such as gondoskodik (take care of) or híres (famous for). Additionally, it is famously used with verbs of detachment or missing out, such as lemond (resign from / give up) and lemarad (miss out on / fall behind / miss a vehicle).

3. Geographic Origin
Hungarian cities that take the superessive (-on/-en/-ön) for 'at' use the delative for 'from'. This applies to most Hungarian cities (Budapestről, Szegedről). In contrast, foreign cities and countries generally use the elative case (e.g., Londonból, Németországból).

Crucially, the word for Hungary itself, Magyarország, takes the delative for geographic origin and spatial movement: Magyarországról (from Hungary).

4. Language Translation and Time Progression
The delative is used when translating from a language (e.g., angolról magyarra - from English to Hungarian) and in expressions of gradual time progression (e.g., napról napra - day by day, évről évre - year by year).

5. Personal Pronouns
When talking about people, the suffix turns into these forms:

  • rólam (about me)
  • rólad (about you)
  • róla (about him/her/it)
  • rólunk (about us)
  • rólatok (about you all)
  • róluk (about them)
  • Önről / magáról (about you, formal singular)
  • Önökről / magukról (about you, formal plural)

6. Demonstrative Pronouns
When using this and that, the demonstrative must take the delative case to match the noun. Note that the final -z of ez and az assimilates to the -r of the suffix, dropping the z and doubling the r (ez + -ről = erről, az + -ról = arról):

  • erről (about this / off this)
  • arról (about that / off that)
  • ezekről (about these / off these)
  • azokról (about those / off those)

Morphology Rules:

  • -ról: Back-vowel words (e.g., hajó → hajóról).
  • -ről: Front-vowel words (e.g., szék → székről).
  • Vowel Lengthening: If a word ends in -a or -e, it lengthens to -á or -é (e.g., posta → postáról).

Examples (6)

  1. A könyv leesett az asztalról.

    The book fell off the table.

    Word by Word: The book fell-down the table-off.

    Here, -ról shows movement away from the surface of the table.

  2. Budapestről jövök.

    I am coming from Budapest.

    Word by Word: Budapest-from I-come.

    Most Hungarian cities use the delative case to indicate origin because they are treated as 'surfaces'.

  3. Leszállok a buszról.

    I am getting off the bus.

    Word by Word: I-descend the bus-off.

    Public transport vehicles (bus, train, tram) always use the delative case when you exit them.

  4. A postáról jövök.

    I am coming from the post office.

    Word by Word: The post-office-off I-come.

    Certain institutions like the post office (posta) or market (piac) are treated as surfaces and take -ról/-ről.

  5. Rólad beszélünk.

    We are talking about you.

    Word by Word: About-you we-talk.

    This shows the inflected personal pronoun form 'rólad' (about you).

  6. Sokat tudok erről a filmről.

    I know a lot about this movie.

    Word by Word: Much-acc I-know this-about the movie-about.

    Note how the demonstrative 'ez' (this) also changes to 'erről' to agree with the noun.

Common Mistakes

  • Using -ból/-ből (out of) instead of -ról/-ről for surfaces.

    Vedd le a tányért az asztalból.
    Vedd le a tányért az asztalról.

    Since a plate is on top of a table (a surface), you must use -ról. Using -ból would imply the plate was inside the wood of the table.

  • Forgetting to lengthen the final -a or -e.

    Beszélünk a palacsintaról.
    Beszélünk a palacsintáról.

    When a word ends in 'a', it must become 'á' before the suffix is attached, as seen in 'palacsinta' (pancake).

  • Using -ról for time expressions meaning 'about'.

    Találkozunk hat óráról.
    Találkozunk hat óra körül.

    The delative means 'about' only in the sense of a topic. For 'about' regarding time, use 'körül'.

How It Connects

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

-ról/-rőlLevel 1Off / About

Learn This First

To understand the delative case, you must first understand two-way vowel harmony to correctly choose between -ról and -ről. Additionally, it is functionally linked to the superessive and sublative cases, as they all describe spatial relationships involving surfaces (on, onto, and off of).

Words in This Pattern

-ról-ről