mögötte

Mögötte is a Hungarian spatial postposition meaning behind, used to indicate that something is located at the rear of something else or relative to a referent. It is a base postposition that combines with personal suffixes to mark the referent. The form mögött itself means behind in a general sense; when the referent is a person or a specific possessor, the suffix changes to reflect who is being referred to.

The pronoun suffix system yields forms such as mögöttem (behind me), mögötted (behind you), mögötte (behind him/her/it), mögöttünk (behind us), mögöttök (behind you all), and mögöttük (behind them). These forms attach to the postposition rather than to a noun, and they often replace or accompany a noun phrase in a sentence. For example: A ház mögöttem van means “The house is behind me.” A fa mögötted áll means “The tree stands behind you.” A templom mögötte van means “The church is behind him/her/it.” A kerítés mögöttünk van means “It is behind us.”

Usage notes: mögötte can refer to physical positioning (behind someone or something) and can be extended metaphorically to indicate being in the background or not prominently in the foreground. The word is typically used with definite references established in conversation or text; it is less common to use a bare noun without the corresponding suffix when indicating a specific referent in relation to the speaker.

Etymology and related forms: mögötte derives from the base postposition mögött, with possessive suffixes marking the person referenced. It is part of a broader set of Hungarian postpositions that form person-specific locatives, such as mellett (beside) and elé (in front of), which use similar suffixation patterns.