Understanding Elative, Delative, and Ablative Cases in Hungarian

What Are the Elative, Delative, and Ablative Cases in Hungarian?

In Hungarian, cases are used to express various grammatical relationships, often through suffixes attached to nouns. The Elative, Delative, and Ablative cases are three locative cases that indicate movement from a place or origin. Understanding these cases is essential for expressing 'from where' something or someone comes.

The Elative Case: Expressing Movement Out of Something

The Elative case answers the question "Honnan?" ("From where?") and indicates movement out of an enclosed space or area. It is formed by adding the suffix -ból/-ből to the noun, depending on vowel harmony.

Examples:
"házból" – from the house
"iskolából" – from the school
"kertből" – from the garden

The Delative Case: Expressing Movement Off or From the Surface of Something

The Delative case also answers "Honnan?" but is used to indicate movement off the surface of something or from a general area. It uses the suffix -ról/-ről.

Examples:
"asztalról" – off the table
"tetőről" – from the roof
"hídról" – from the bridge

The Ablative Case: Expressing Movement Away From a Point or Person

The Ablative case indicates movement away from a point, person, or place and uses the suffix -tól/-től. It also answers the question "Honnan?".

Examples:
"baráttól" – from the friend
"várostól" – from the city
"iskolától" – from the school (in the sense of away from the institution)

How to Choose Between Elative, Delative, and Ablative Cases?

Choosing the correct case depends on the type of location or origin you want to express:

• Use -ból/-ből (Elative) when moving out of an enclosed space or area.
• Use -ról/-ről (Delative) when moving off a surface or from a general area.
• Use -tól/-től (Ablative) when moving away from a point, person, or place, often more abstract or general.

Vowel Harmony in These Cases

Hungarian suffixes change according to vowel harmony rules. If the noun contains back vowels (a, o, u), use the back vowel suffixes (-ból, -ról, -tól). If the noun contains front vowels (e, é, i, í, ö, ő, ü, ű), use the front vowel suffixes (-ből, -ről, -től).

Examples in Sentences

Here are some example sentences to illustrate the use of these cases:

Elative:
"Kijöttem a házból." – I came out of the house.

Delative:
"Levettem a könyvet az asztalról." – I took the book off the table.

Ablative:
"Eljöttem a baráttól." – I came away from the friend.

Summary

The Elative, Delative, and Ablative cases in Hungarian all answer the question "Honnan?" (From where?), but they differ in the type of origin or movement they express. Mastering these cases will help you describe movement and origin more precisely in Hungarian.