Template:U:hu:e-ö alternation

The opposition of and  is distinctive in a handful of word pairs; they form minimal pairs (see them on the appendix of Hungarian minimal pairs).

However, in most cases, there is more or less free variation between them. When one is preferred in the standard, the other may be dialectal or literary:  ;   →   ;   →   ;   →   ;   →   ;   →  ,   ,   ;   ;   ;   →   ,   ,   ;   →  ,   ,  ,   ,    (adverb and verb) ,   ,  ,   ,   ,   ;   ;   ;   ;   →   ;   ~   ;   (+ derivatives);   →   ;   ;   ~   ;   ;   ~   ~   ;   ;   ~   ~   ;   →   ,   ,   ;   ~   ;   →   ,   ,   ,   ;   ;   ;   →   ,   ,   ,   ,   ,   ,   ,   ;   →   ;   →   ,   ;   →   ;   ;   ;   →   ,   ;   ;   ;   ;  ( [!]) ;   →   ;   ;. Some less common (mostly regional) terms:  ;   ;   ;   ;   ;   ;.