OV~X: Basic word order is OV; the position of X varies.

(1) juli level-et ír.

Juli letter-acc write.prs.3sg

‘Juli is writing a letter.’

(2) juli level-et ír a szobá-ban.

Juli letter-acc write.prs.3sg the room-ine

‘Juli is writing a letter in the room.’

(3) juli the szobá-ban level-et ír.

Juli the room-ine letter-acc write.prs.3sg

‘Juli is writing a letter in the room.’

(4) juli level-et a szobá-ban ír.

Juli letter-acc the room-ine write.prs.3sg

‘Juli is writing a letter in the room.’

(5) juli level-et ír a barát-já-nak.

Juli letter-acc write.prs.3sg the friend-3sg-dat

‘Juli is writing a letter to her friend.’

In Hungarian, nominal adverbials have a rather flexible word order. Adverbials are typically put after indeterminate (OV basic word order) verbs (2) or between the subject and the object (3). The adjectival is in focus position between the object and the verb (4), and thus the sentence is not neutral. Adjunct datives come after the monotransitive verb (5) in neutral sentences (cf. Kenesei et al. 1998: 176, 179‒181).