Kezébe

Kezébe is a Hungarian illative possessive construction that means “into (someone’s) hand(s).” It is formed from the noun kéz (hand) combined with a possessive suffix to indicate the owner, followed by the illative ending -be, signaling movement into that entity. The overall sense is to express that something is placed, entrusted, or transferred into the custody or control of a person.

In use, kezébe is employed with verbs of giving, handing over, entrusting, or falling under someone’s authority. It functions as a noun phrase that marks the recipient of an action. A typical example is: A kulcs a férfi kezébe került, meaning “The key came into the man’s hands.” Another common formulation is to say that something is placed kezébe, such as egy levél kezébe adni (to hand a letter into someone’s hands). The construction is common in formal or literary Hungarian and is also found in idiomatic expressions such as kezébe kerül, meaning “to fall into someone’s hands” (often with a sense of being outside one’s initial control).

Etymologically, kezébe combines kéz with a possessive suffix indicating ownership and the illative case ending -be. The form varies with the possessor, yielding phrases like kezébe for third-person possessors and analogous forms for other persons. It is part of a broader set of Hungarian postpositional constructions that convey transfer or placement relative to a holder.

See also: Hungarian illative case, Hungarian possessive constructions, idioms of handing over and entrusting.