jár

From Proto-Finno-Ugric *jorkɜ (“to turn, wind”).^[1]

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• Rhymes: -aːr

jár

1. to go, to move between places, whether on foot or by transportation
   1. (transitive, intransitive) to walk, to ambulate (to move by alternately setting each foot forward)
      • 1999, Alfréd Turay, chapter IV, in Az ember és a kozmosz:

        Ez a lény alkalmilag két lábon járt, és talán már köveket is használt eszközként.

        This creature walked on two feet occasionally, and it may already have used stones as tools.

   2. (intransitive) to pass by unexpectedly or by chance, to happen to be somewhere
      • 1990, Gábor Terebess, editor, Folyik a híd‎:

        Arra járt egy vándor szerzetes, és azt kérdezte tőle, melyik út vezet a Nan-csüan kolostorba.

        A wandering monk was passing by and asked him the way to the monastery of Nan-Chuan.

   3. (transitive, intransitive) to visit, to have been to (to go to a place and return)
      • c. 1993, Edward Teller, László Zeley (interviewer), “Hétköznapi és ünnepi tudományról...”, in A magyar zsidóság sorsa a XX. században‎:

        Alig voltam 20 éves, amikor először jártam Koppenhágában.

        I was barely 20 years old when I first visited Copenhagen.

2. to habitually do something, especially when it involves going outside
   1. (intransitive, with lative suffixes or with an infinitive) to attend, to frequent, to go to (to regularly visit a place)

      A szomszédba jártunk fürödni. ― We used to take baths next door.

      Minden kedden teniszezni járok. ― On Tuesdays, I play tennis.

      Az erdőbe jár tűzifáért. ― He gets his firewood from the forest.

      A férje esténként a kocsmába jár. ― Her husband spends his evenings in the pub.

      • 1948, Lajos Jócsik, chapter 20, in A fekete kecske‎:

        Október közepe volt akkor, arról tudtam, mert már másfél hónapja jártam iskolába.

        It was the middle of October, I knew because I had been attending school for a month and a half.

   2. (intransitive) to travel by, to regularly take (to use as a means of transportation)
      • 2011, Judit Madarassy, Gergely Simon, András Lukács, “4.23 Essen”, in Korommentes városok‎:

        A központi téma: aki busszal vagy vonattal jár, az hozzájárul az éghajlatvédelemhez.

        Its central theme: if you travel by bus or train, you contribute to climate protection.

   3. (intransitive with -val/-vel) to go out with, to date (to have a romantic relationship)
      • 2017, Bea Dobosi, “A seb”, in Liget‎, volume 30, number 3:

        Az egyik barátnőm egy huszonnégy éves fiúval járt.

        A friend of mine was dating a twenty-four-year-old boy.

   4. (intransitive) to dress in a certain manner, to habitually wear
      • 1898, Gyula Pekár, chapter VII, in Délen és északon‎, volume II:

        A lapp asszonyok szintén nadrágban járnak, mint a férfiak.

        Lapp women wear trousers the same as men.

   5. (intransitive, in set phrases) to go about life in a certain manner, to carry oneself in a certain way
      • 2010, Ildikó Balázs, “Janicsárok a katedrán”, in Utazások a katedra körül‎:

        Üres zsebbel az embernek nehéz emelt fővel járni.

        When your pockets are empty, it is difficult to keep your head held high.

        (literally, “to walk with your head held high”)

3. to move or to be moved regularly or repetitively
   1. (transitive) to dance (to perform the steps to)
      • 1917, Aleksandr Kuprin, chapter XIV, in Mihály Balla, transl., A párbaj:

        Azt álmodtam, hogy mi ketten egy egészen szokatlan szobában keringőt jártunk.

        I dreamt that the two of us were dancing a waltz in a most unusual room.

   2. (intransitive) to perform a repetitive motion (of an object or body part)
      • 1996, Júlia Lángh, “Bororo félelmek”, in Közel Afrikához‎:

        A nőknek megállás nélkül jár a tű a kezükben.

        The needles are incessantly moving in the women’s hands.

   3. (intransitive) to run, to operate, to work (of a mechanical device)
      • 2009, Ingo Schulze, “Az örökkévalóság munkása”, in Lídia Nádori, transl., Adam és Evelyn:

        Néha elfelejtem felhúzni, és olyankor nem tudom, jól jár-e.

        Sometimes I forget to wind it, and then I cannot tell if it’s on time.

        (literally, “if it’s going right”)

   4. (intransitive) to run, to be in service (of a means of public transportation, to operate on a determined schedule)
      • 2017, Gábor Mándy, “Zűrzavar”, in Egy nem létező ember története‎:

        A körúton nem jártak a villamosok, némelyik még felborítva feküdt a síneken.

        The trams were out of service on the boulevard, some of them were still lying overturned on the rails.

        (literally, “the trams weren’t going on the boulevard”)

   5. (intransitive) to go around (of an object, to pass from person to person)
      • 1986, György Nógrádi Kovács, chapter 1, in A seriff és bandája‎:

        A levelet, amely kézről kézre járt, mindenki elolvasta.

        The letter went around from hand to hand, and everyone read it.

   6. (transitive, also with null object) to go around (of news or gossip, to spread by word of mouth)
      • 1943, Iván Fónagy, “A spiritizmus története. Elméletek”, in A mágia története‎:

        A házról az a hír járta, hogy kísértetek járnak benne.

        Word had gone around that the house was haunted by ghosts.

   7. (intransitive) to go on in one’s mind (to be in one’s thoughts persistently)
      • 1905, László Beöthy, chapter V, in Két leány és egy legény‎:

        Némán mentek egymás mellett, mindegyiknek a maga gyásza járt az eszében.

        They were silently walking side by side, each of them thinking of their own grief.

        (literally, “with their own grief going on in their minds”)

4. (figurative) to be customary, to usually happen in some way
   1. (intransitive) to regularly arrive to a subscriber
      • 2018, Tibor Zalán, Attila Thimár (interviewer), “Az igazság soha nincs középen...”, in Kortárs‎, volume 62, number 6:

        Pedig elég sok irodalmi folyóirat jár nekem, és olvasom őket.

        Even though I’m subscribed to quite a lot of literary periodicals, and I do read them.

        (literally, “quite a lot of literary periodicals go to me”)

   2. (intransitive with -nak/-nek) to be owed, deserved or justly expected (of a payment, benefit, reward or punishment)
      • 2001, Béla Gárdonyi, “Apa: mi ketten, férfiak”, in Tamás könyve‎:

        Tamás most rokkantnyugdíjas: kedvezményes vasúti jegy jár neki.

        Tamás is now a disability pensioner: he is entitled to a discount on railway tickets.

        (literally, “a discount on railway tickets goes to him”)

   3. (intransitive) to be included with (to be free along with the purchase or obtainment of something)
      • 1995, Attila Mizser, “Távcsőpiaci körkép”, in Meteor‎, volume 25, number 9:

        Hordtáska és könnyű alumíniumállvány is jár hozzá.

        It comes with a carrying case and a light aluminum tripod.

        (literally, “and a light aluminum tripod go with it”)

   4. (intransitive with -val/-vel) to involve, to bring about, to come with, to mean as a consequence
      • 1858, László Beöthy, chapter XIII, in «A kék macskához»‎:

        Hja, bizony, sok bajjal jár egy leány kiházasítása!

        Marrying off a daughter comes with a lot of trouble indeed.

   5. (transitive with null object) to be customary, appropriate, right, fair or proper
      • 1922, István Tömörkény, “Nyelvészet a duttyánban”, in Célszerű szegény emberek‎:

        Rendes embert pedig ne önözzön senki, mert az nem járja.

        And no one should call a decent man mister, because that’s not proper.

5. (figurative) to progress, to be at a certain stage
   1. (intransitive with -ra/-re) to come to pass, to befall
      • 1995, Ilona Fekete Lippai, “Sok kicsi sokra megy”, in Algyői Hírmondó‎, volume 4, number 4:

        Nehéz idők járnak a kulturális intézményekre.

        Hard times have befallen cultural institutions.

   2. (intransitive, also with null subject) to be getting, to be around (used to vaguely express the time, date or season)
      • 2017, István Kaskötő, “Hárman ültek a padon...”, in A látogató‎:

        Már igen későre járt és hűvösre fordult a kora nyári est.

        It was getting rather late, and the early summer evening turned chilly.

   3. (intransitive) to be at, to be around (used to express the actual stage of a progress, or a person’s age)
      • 2008, István Jávori, “Ügyintézés”, in Változástenger‎:

        A 94. oldalon járok a könyvben, amikor újra az én számom következik.

        I am at page 94 of the book when my number gets called again.

6. (figurative) to have something happen to someone
   1. (intransitive with így, úgy or hogy) to have something befall someone, typically with a negative outcome
      • 1886, Mór Jókai, “Ha az ember híressé lesz”, in Életemből:

        Így jár, aki híres emberré lesz, s azt nem tudja titokban tartani.

        This is what you get when you become famous and cannot keep it a secret.

        (literally, “this is how you go when”)

   2. (intransitive with an adverb) to come out of a situation favorably or unfavorably, to benefit from or be hurt by
      • 2012, Attila Berka, “Ha”, in Új Forrás‎, volume 44, number 1:

        Szerencséje volt tehát, megúszta, igen, kimondottan jól járt.

        He was lucky, he got off easy, indeed, he came out of it quite well.

Sometimes the difference between the senses 1.3. (“to visit, to have been to”) and 2.1. (“to attend, to frequent, to regularly go to”) is indicated only by the locative (“in, on, at”) (inessive, superessive, adessive) and lative (“to, into, onto”) (illative, sublative, allative). The difference between -ba / -ban and -be / -ben may be neutralized to ‑ba and ‑be in casual speech. For example:

• A városban jártam. ― I was in the city or I have been to the city (on a single occasion)
• A városba jártam. ― I regularly went to the city (on multiple occasions)

The context usually provides a sufficient clue, for example an adverb of time that is conceived like a point, e.g. tegnap (“yesterday”) may suggest the former sense, while an adverb expressing duration, e.g. abban az évben (“in that year”), and/or an adverb of manner, e.g. busszal (“by bus”), may hint at the latter. Adverbs of frequency, e.g. gyakran (“often”), may occur with either. Examples with other locative–lative suffix pairs:

• az egyetemen jártam (“I was (I happened to be) at the college (on a single occasion)”) versus egyetemre jártam (“I went to college (regularly)”)
• fodrásznál jártam (“I was at or I have been to the hairdresser’s (once)”) versus fodrászhoz jártam (“I (regularly) attended the hairdresser’s”).

(With verbal prefixes):

• jár in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh. A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára (“The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language”, abbr.: ÉrtSz.). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN