Tavaly

Tavaly is a Hungarian adverb meaning “in the previous year” or “last year.” It refers to the year that has recently ended or is immediately before the current calendar year, and it is used in both spoken and written Hungarian. It can modify verbs or time expressions: for example, “Tavaly nyáron elutaztunk" (Last summer we traveled) or “Tavaly sokat dolgoztam” (I worked a lot last year).

Tavaly can appear at the beginning of a sentence or after the subject: “Tavaly volt a legmelegebb nyár.” It is also used in comparative phrases such as “tavalyhoz képest” meaning “compared to last year,” or in more formal language “az elmúlt évhez viszonyítva” (in relation to the past year).

Linguistic notes: Tavaly is widespread in everyday language and is commonly preferred for its conciseness over more formal equivalents like “az elmúlt évben” or “az előző évben.” The related adjective “tavalyi” describes nouns referring to the previous year, for example “tavalyi adatok” (last year’s data) or “tavalyi év végi statisztikák” (year-end statistics from last year).

Etymology and usage context: The word is an inherited element of Hungarian temporal vocabulary with a long literary and colloquial history. It typically marks a non-current, completed year and is not used to refer to the ongoing year. In formal or technical writing, readers may substitute longer phrases for precision.

See also: múlt év, előző év, elmúlt év, tavalyi.