-hoz/-hez/-höz

To / Toward

Level 1

The allative case (-hoz/-hez/-höz) indicates movement toward a destination's exterior or vicinity. It is the mandatory way to say you are going 'to' a person.

How It Works

The allative case is one of the three 'external' directional cases in Hungarian. It is used in three primary ways:

1. Movement toward a person: In Hungarian, you never go 'into' or 'onto' a person. You always go 'to' them using this case. Using the allative with a person's name or title often implies going to their home or place of business.
Example: orvoshoz (to the doctor / to the doctor's office).

2. Movement toward the vicinity of an object: It suggests arriving at the outside or near something, rather than entering it.
Example: az asztalhoz (to the table).

3. Specific verbs: Some verbs 'govern' this case, meaning they always require it, such as tartozik (belongs to).

Personal Pronouns: When used with people, this case has special inflected forms rather than adding a suffix to a pronoun (e.g., hozzám - to me, hozzád - to you).

Vowel Harmony Rules:
This suffix follows three-way suffix harmony:

  • -hoz: Back vowels (a, á, o, ó, u, ú). Example: ablakhoz (to the window).
  • -hez: Front unrounded vowels (e, é, i, í). Example: székhez (to the chair).
  • -höz: Front rounded vowels (ö, ő, ü, ű). Example: tükörhöz (to the mirror).

Stem Changes: If a word ends in -a or -e, these vowels undergo low-vowel lengthening to -á or -é before adding the suffix (e.g., alma → almához).

Examples (5)

  1. Orvoshoz megyek.

    I am going to the doctor.

    Word by Word: Doctor-to I-go.

    This is the standard way to express movement toward a person.

  2. Gyere ide az asztalhoz!

    Come here to the table!

    Word by Word: Come here the table-to!

    Indicates movement to the vicinity of a solid object.

  3. A kulcs a zárhoz tartozik.

    The key belongs to the lock.

    Word by Word: The key the lock-to belongs.

    The verb 'tartozik' (belongs) always requires the allative case.

  4. Péterhez megyünk vacsorára.

    We are going to Peter's for dinner.

    Word by Word: Peter-to we-go dinner-for.

    When going to someone's home, you use the allative case on their name.

  5. Állj közel a falhoz!

    Stand close to the wall!

    Word by Word: Stand close the wall-to!

    The adjective 'közel' (close) often takes the allative case.

Common Mistakes

  • Using the illative (-ba/-be) for people.

    Péterbe megyek.
    Péterhez megyek.

    In Hungarian, you cannot go 'into' a person. You must use -hoz/-hez/-höz for movement toward people.

  • Using the allative for cities.

    Different MeaningLondonhoz utazom.
    Londonba utazom.

    Cities usually take the illative or sublative case. 'Londonhoz' would mean going to the area next to London, not into the city.

  • Ignoring vowel harmony.

    kerthoz
    kerthez

    Because 'kert' contains a front unrounded vowel, it must take the '-hez' suffix to follow three-way suffix harmony.

How It Connects

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

-hoz/-hez/-hözLevel 1To / Toward

Learn This First

To become confident with the allative case, you must first understand Hungarian's three-way vowel harmony system to correctly attach the suffix. It is also helpful to understand the directional question word 'hova' and how to use definite articles with nouns.

Words in This Pattern

-hoz-hez-höz