Expressing Time
Many expressions of time use the case endings and postpositions which are also used for position, e.g.:
- -tól/-től - when from
- -ig - until when
- -ra/-re - by (before) a certain time
- között (postposition) - between; among
- előtt (postposition) - before
- után (postposition) - after
- -n belül (postposition with suffix) - within
There are also some which are used only for time, e.g.:
- -kor - at what time, e.g. kilenckor ("at nine"), karácsonykor ("at Christmas")
- -onta/-ente/-önte - every ..., e.g. naponta ("daily")
- múlva (postposition) - in ... time, e.g. 2 hét múlva ("in 2 weeks' time")
There are 2 ways of expressing how long ago something happened:
- 3rd singular possessive suffix with past tense, e.g. 10 éve költözött el. ("He moved away 10 years ago.")
- -val/-vel + ezelőtt with past tense, e.g. 10 évvel ezelőtt költözött el. ("He moved away 10 years ago.")
Read more about this topic: Hungarian Grammar
Famous quotes containing the words expressing and/or time:
“There is also this benefit in brag, that the speaker is unconsciously expressing his own ideal. Humor him by all means, draw it all out, and hold him to it.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“Everything ponderous, viscous, and solemnly clumsy, all long- winded and boring types of style are developed in profuse variety among Germans—forgive me the fact that even Goethe’s prose, in its mixture of stiffness and elegance, is no exception, being a reflection of the “good old time” to which it belongs, and a reflection of German taste at a time when there still was a “German taste”Ma rococo taste in moribus et artibus.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)