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Word Order
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First, before we explain anything, let's clear up this misconception.

Hungarian has a free order.

This isn't strictly true. While words can be rearranged, there are always exceptions.

Neutral Sentences

SVO

The default order for neutral sentences is SubjectVerbObject (SVO). The subject does something (the verb) to the object. In English, personal pronouns or nouns are generally the subject.

  • He kicked the chair.
  • You threw the rock.
  • The thieves stole my bag.
  • György wrote his name in the sand.

In Hungarian neutral sentences, the subject is omitted if it is a personal pronoun. This is because the subject is implicitly stated in the conjugation.

  • Rúgta a széket.
  • Dobod a követ.
  • A tolvajok ellopták a táskámat.
  • György írta a nevét a homokba.

If there is no article, the order becomes SOV.

  • Péter levelet ír. - (Péter writes a letter.)
  • Hegyeket rajzolok. - (I'm drawing mountains.)
  • Mindent akarok. - (I want everything.)
  • Magyarul tanul. - (He's/She's learning Hungarian.)

Note the last one doesn't have a direct object, but the same logic applies.

If the sentence is describing something without verbs, (e.g. the ground is wet) the order becomes Adjective-Noun.

  • Esik az eső. - (It's raining lit. The rain is falling.)
  • Kék az ég. - (The sky is blue.)
  • Nagyon cuki a cicád. - (Your kitten is very cute.)

Emphasis

To place emphasis on a word in English, stress it. This emphasis can change the whole meaning of the sentence. Let's look at an easy example.

  • I didn't give the book to her. - (Someone else gave the book to her.)
  • I didn't give the book to her. - (No meaning changed.)
  • I didn't give the book to her. - (I could have sold the book to her.)
  • I didn't give the book to her. - (I gave her something else.)
  • I didn't give the book to her. - (I gave the book to someone else.)

Because English generally has a rigid word order, emphasis only happens through stressing words.

Hungarian is a topic-prominent language. The topic (what the sentence is about) is placed at the beginning of the sentence, and the rest of the sentence talks about this topic.

So because the case system in Hungarian frees up the word order, the emphasis now becomes based upon word order. The topic goes first, and the thing that is to be emphasised goes before the verb.

  • Tegnap a matek vizsgám volt. - (Yesterday I had my maths exam.)
    • Topic: Tegnap
    • Emphasis: a matek vizsgám

Because the emphasis is on a matek vizsgám, this sentence could work as a response to Tegnap milyen vizsgád volt?. The topic of conversation would be when was it with the emphasis on what kind of exam?. With word order, the answer reflects the question.

Barnabás: Mit szoktál reggelizni? - (What do you usually have for breakfast?)

Alex: Csak két szendvicset szoktam. - (Usually just two sandwiches.)

  • Topic + Emphasis: Mit? Két szendvicset

The effect of coverbs

There's a simple rule when it comes to coverbs. While the coverb remains attached to the verb, the verb is emphasised and the sentence remains neutral. However, when the coverb is detached, the word order can change and thus different things can become emphasised. For example:

  • A mohó róka megette a csirkét. - (The greedy fox at the chicken. NEUTRAL)
    • A mohó róka ette meg a csirkét. - (It was the fox that ate the chicken.)
    • A csirkét ette meg a mohó róka. - (It was the chicken that the fox ate.)

This detachment can also be seen when a verb and a telic verb in the infinitive are used together.

  • Próbáltam elnézni. - (I tried to look away)
    • El próbáltam nézni. - (I tried to look away. Not up, down, out or in.)
    • Elnézni próbáltam - (I tried to look away. Not see, listen or speak.)

Whenever the sentence is negated and/or contains imperatives or subjunctives, the coverb will always be detached.

Questions

Something you'll notice is that the verb almost always follow a question word.

  • Hol van a tollam? - (Where is my pen?)
  • Mit csináltál tegnap? - (What did you do yesterday?)
  • Milyen volt a koncert? - (How was the concert?)
  • Mikor indulunk el? - (When do we leave?)

An exception: Milyen napod volt? (Due to the focus of your day).

Note: The verb may be omitted in the question word. If that is the case, it usually asks about the general state of something. E.g. Milyen a leves? vs Milyen van a leves?. The latter would be incorrect, as it asks of the general state of the soup right now, as opposed to how the soup is generally (does it taste nice?).

Negation

The negative word always comes first when negating the sentence. The word directly after the negative word is emphasised.

  • Nem vagyok magyar. - (I'm not Hungarian.)
  • Nem magyar vagyok. - (I'm not Hungarian.)

Now the second sentence is incomplete. The emphasis has been placed on magyar which leads people to believe you are going to give them more information. Here are two ways you could complete the sentence.

  • Nem magyar vagyok, hanem angol. - (I'm not Hungarian but (rather) I'm English)
  • Nem magyar vagyok, de angol sem. - (I'm not Hungarian, but I'm not English either.)

Recall the listening when we first covered negation. Pay attention to the word order as the topic changes.

  • Pisti: Segíts, mi a gond?
  • Jani: A gond az, hogy nincs videó

[...]

  • Pisti: Mármint mi nincs?
  • Jani: Videó nincs.

The original topic was asking about the issue, the issue is that there is no video. The next topic asks what is missing, the video is missing.

Adding pronouns

The addition of pronouns places the emphasis on that person, generally done as a followup in conversations.

Alex: Hogy vagy ma? - (How are you today?)

Barnabás: Nagyon jól vagyok, ma az utolsó vizsgám volt. Te hogy vagy? - (I'm very well, I had my last exam today. How are you?)

The same can be done with is (as well) and sem (neither).

Péter: Nem szeretek halászni, annyira unalmas! - (I don't like fishing, it's so boring!)

Barnabás: Én sem, túl sokáig tart. - (Neither do I, it takes too long.)

György: Szeretem a csoki tortát. - (I love chocolate cake.)

Alex: Én is! Ez a kedvencem! - (Me too! It's my favourite!)

Challenge!

Arrange these words into a neutral sentence. Remember the position of the topic.

  • főnökömmel
  • a
  • 10-kor
  • reggel
  • megbeszélek
  • holnap

Holnap reggel megbeszélek a főnökömmel 10-kor.

Further Links

Naturally, this can be a difficult topic to grasp, as it differs a lot from English. Here are some videos on youtube that may help you.