Grammar Topic

To Where? (Hova?) - Motion Toward a Place

When you talk about movement toward a place or object, Hungarian answers Hova? (“To where?”) with three different suffix groups. The choice depends on whether the motion goes inside, onto a surface, or to a person/object.

Meaning	Ending by vowel harmony	Examples	English
Into	-ba / -be	autóba, kertbe	into the car, into the garden
Onto	-ra / -re	asztalra, székre	onto the table, onto the chair
To / toward a person	-hoz / -hez / -höz	orvoshoz, rendőrhöz	to the doctor, to the police officer

Important exception: Most Hungarian city names use the “onto” endings -ra/-re, while foreign cities usually use the “into” endings -ba/-be.

• Budapestre megyek. - I am going to Budapest.
• Moszkvába megyek. - I am going to Moscow.

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Reading Practice

• A turista a szállodába megy. [The tourist goes to the hotel.]
• Péter a könyvet az asztalra teszi. [Péter puts the book on the table.]
• A lány az orvoshoz siet. [The girl hurries to the doctor.]
• A diákok Szegedre utaznak. [The students travel to Szeged.]
• A busz a repülőtérre érkezik. [The bus arrives at the airport.]