Lekvárba

Lekvárba is the illative form of the Hungarian noun lekvár, meaning jam or fruit preserves. In Hungarian, the illative case (ending in -ba or -be) expresses motion into a place or container, and lekvárba literally means “into the jam.” It is used when something is directed into jam or when describing immersion in jam as part of an action.

In practice, lekvárba is used with verbs of immersion or movement, such as mártani (to dip) or merülni (to dip/immerse). For example, A kanalat a lekvárba mártja means “He dips the spoon into the jam.” Another example: A kenyérszeletet a lekvárba mártottam, meaning “I dipped the slice of bread into the jam.” These sentences illustrate the directional, into-jam sense that illative forms convey.

Usage notes:

- Lekvárba denotes the destination into the jam rather than the jam’s location. If one means “in the jam” in a static sense, other constructions or cases would be used.

- The form is common in everyday Hungarian when describing food preparation, dipping foods into jam, spreading jam, or recipes involving immersion.

Overall, lekvárba functions as a specific case-marked expression of “into the jam,” primarily encountered in cooking and descriptive actions involving dipping or immersion.