Hungarian language

[Marcus Marulus]

Introduction to the Hungarian language




Table of contents:

• Some facts
• Hungarian letters
• Some useful words and phrases
  • The most important words
  • Numbers - számok
  • Ordinal numbers - sorszámok
  • Pronouns - névmások
  • Days of the week - a hét napjai
  • Transport, traveling - közlekedés, utazás
  • Restaurant, food - vendéglõ, élelmiszer
  • Smoking - dohányzás
  • Post office - posta
  • Entertainment - szórakozás
  • Illness/emergency - betegség/baleset
  • Other useful sentences
• Basics of Hungarian grammar
• The Hungarian anthem (Ferenc Kölcsey: Hymnus)

Outer links:

• A free Hungarian Course for Beginners
• Magyaróra - Hungarian lessons at intermediate to advanced level
• Hungarian/English - English/Hungarian dictionary
• An earthy guide to Hungarian slang
• Information about Hungary and Budapest

First of all, I'm not a linguist, not even an arts scientist. I'm trying not to use the technical terms of grammar (since I don't know them in English :-)

If you search for a grammar book on Hungarian language, one of your first hits may be "Teach Yourself Hungarian". However, I personally do not recommend this book. Why? Just two reviews (borrowed from amazon.com):
Teach Yourself Hungarian could do a little better. It's great if you're going to visit Hungary and not gain full proficiency, but it seems to fail being an effective grammatical text. First mistake -- it starts off with dialogs, afterwards giving you a lengthy vocabulary list. The book may be for you if you can learn off of phrases alone, rather than taking apart each phrase and looking at a language word-by-word. If you are truly looking to 'teach yourself', may it be suggested to try something else. (lennen@erols.com)
Insufficient exercises and shallowness in the explanations of grammar are the biggest problems with this book. Use it as a supplement to a more thorough text, though, and it is very useful. The dialogues have very good content and the recorded versions are excellent -- easy to listen to and not at all dry or stilted. The tapes also have question-and-answer sections where you can practice your spoken Hungarian. It's better than the average Teach Yourself books, so if you like that style you can expect satisfaction from this. (siehler@cs.elte.hu)
Some facts


The Hungarian language belongs to the Ugrian group of the Finno-Ugrian language family. We don't have relatives in Europe. Closer relatives are the Kazahs. I met some Kazahs, and really, we understood some words. (As much as an Italian understands some German.) We began our "career" at the Ural mountains and left our closest relatives there appr. 1500 years ago. While travelling to the Carpathian Basin, our ancestors passed through today's Turkey. This is why the sound of our words can be similar to Turkish and there are lots of common words in the two languages. We also got some words during 150 years of Turkish occupation.
Finns and Estonians belong to the Finnish group thus only the structure of grammar is common in Finnish and Hungarian. (I was really not able to understand even a word in Finland.)
Our grammar is very different from most European languages, but you can try to learn it, anyway. Hungarian is a very nice language, so it's worth learning it, even if it is very hard to do. Hungarian language is full of very expressive, idiomatic words, too. The word for brother/sister comes from "test" (body) + "vér" (blood), meaning brothers/sisters are from the same body and are from the same blood. Or "brothers in arms" are "bajtársak", that is, fellows in trouble. (Though the English expression is just as expressive here.)
We have lived in the Carpathian Basin for 1100 years, so we have some words coming from the Slavonic languages of our neighbours. Due to the years of Austro-Hungarian Monarchy and Austria as a neighbour, lots of German word were imported and melted into Hungarian but they are alien and considered undesirable to use. The same applies to the "American" language nowadays. (And if you hear a word you think you've recognized, just watch out! For example "(autó)szervíz" (coming from "service") means garage, while "garázs" (coming from "e;garage") means parking place.

Hungarian letters


The strict Hungarian alphabet:

The full Hungarian alphabet (including foreign letters):

We have some special vowels:


ais much more closed than in most other European languages, similar to "hot" or "dot"is near to the usual "a" (as in "bar", "guy" etc.), but it's a bit longeris similar to the first vowel in "make", "aim", etc.is a long "i" (as in "teeth", "feed", etc.)is a long "o" (as in "wall", "show", etc.)is equal to the German, as in the English "sir", "her", etc.is the long "ö", as "Böhm" or "schön" in German, or similar to the first syllable of "dirty"is a long "u" (as in "new", "loop", etc.)is equal to the German, as in French "vue", etc.is the long "ü", as "Kühl" or "Tür" in German, or "allure" in French
The letters ("o" with double acute accents) and ("u" with double acute accents) can be found only in the Hungarian alphabet.
It is very important to use the accents right. A word means something very different with/without accent. For example "koros" means old, "kóros" means diseased/pathological, "kórós" means something with weed.

and some special consonants:


cis like "ts" (like in "itsy-bitsy") or like German "z" (like in "Zahn"), it never becomes "k" or "s".csis like in "cheep", "chat", etc.dzis "d"+"z"dzsis "d"+"z"+"s", like in "jungle", "jive", etc.gyis "g"+"y", soft "g", like in "during", "due", etc.jis like "y" in English ("youth", "yogurt", etc.)lyis "l"+"y", soft "l", almost equal to "j" ("youth", "yogurt", etc.)nyis "n"+"y", soft "n", like in "new", etc.sis like "sh" in English ("short", "shy", etc.)szis like "s" in English ("spam", "spy", etc.)tyis "t"+"y", soft "t", like in English "Tudor", "tube", etc.zsis "z"+"s", like in French "Jules", "Jacques", etc.
Double consonants are really pronounced long; if you see "tt", you should say "t+t". For long consonants, only the first character is doubled in writing: "sz"+"sz" = "ssz", "gy"+"gy" = "ggy".
Finally, the accent is always on the first syllable when speaking.



Some useful words and phrases:


The most important words:


yes = igen
no/not = nem
Good morning! = Jó reggelt (kívánok)!
Good day! = Jó napot (kívánok)!
Good evening! = Jó estét (kívánok)!
Good night! = Jó éjszakát!
Good bye! = Viszlát!/Viszontlátásra!
Hi! (for one man) = Szia!
Hi! (for more than one person) = Sziasztok!
I understand = értem
I don't understand = nem értem
please = kérek/kérem
Thanks! = Kösz/köszi!
Thank you! = Köszönöm!
Thank you very much! = Köszönöm szépen!
Don't mention it!/My pleasure (as a reply for "Thank you") = Szívesen.
Excuse me! = Elnézést (kérek)!
I'm sorry! / I beg your pardon! = Bocsánat / Bocsánatot kérek!
Could you help me, please? = Tudna segíteni?
How much is it? = Mennyibe kerül?
help = segítség
where? = hol?
which way/in which direction? = merre?
when? = mikor?
how? = hogyan?
now = most
later = késõbb
urgent = sürgõs
day = nap
week = hét [derived from "seven" (days)]
month = hónap
morning (early) = reggel
morning (before noon) = délelõtt
noon = dél
afternoon = délután
evening = este
night = éjszaka
today = ma
tomorrow = holnap
the day after tomorrow = holnapután
yesterday = tegnap
the day before yesterday = tegnapelõtt
to eat = enni
to drink = inni
to sleep = aludni
square = tér
street = utca
road = út
museum = múzeum
post office = posta
travel office = utazási iroda
right/to right = jobb/jobbra
left/to left = bal/balra
straight = egyenesen
in front of = szemben
and = és

Numbers - számok:


0nulla1egy2kettõ (két)3három4négy5öt6hat7hét8nyolc9kilenc10tíz20húsz30harminc40negyven50ötven60hatvan70hetven80nyolcvan90kilencven100száz1000ezer10^6millió10^9milliárd10^12billió10+xtizen...11tizenegy12tizenkettõ20+xhuszon...30+xharminc...40+xnegyven...200kétszáz300háromszáz2000kétezer...2197kétezer-(egy)százkilencvenhét

Ordinal numbers - sorszámok:


1stelsõ2ndmásodik3rdharmadik4thnegyedik5thötödik6thhatodik7thhetedik8thnyolcadik9thkilencedik10thtizedik11thtizenegyedik12thtizenkettedik20thhuszadik100thszázadik101stszázegyedik1000thezredik10^6 thmilliomodik2197thkétezer-(egy)százkilencvenhetedik

Pronouns - névmások:


the = a/az
a = egy

Iénfor menekemwith mevelemyoute/önfor youneked/önnekwith youveled/önnelhe/sheõfor him/hernekiwith him/herveleit (this)ezfor it (this)ennekwith it (this)ezzelit (that)azfor it (that)annakwith it (that)azzalwemifor usnekünkwith usvelünkyouti/önökfor younektek/önöknekwith youveletek/önökkeltheyõkfor themnekikwith themvelük("te" = informal, "ön" = formal)

Days of the week - a hét napjai:


Monday = hétfõ
Tuesday = kedd
Wednesday = szerda
Thursday = csütörtök
Friday = péntek
Saturday = szombat
Sunday = vasárnap

Transport, traveling - közlekedés, utazás:


open = nyitva
closed = zárva
bus = (autó)busz
ship = hajó
tram = villamos
train = vonat
When does it leave? = Mikor indul?
When does it arrive? = Mikor érkezik?
Give me a ticket to ..., please. = Kérek egy jegyet ...re!
Give me a seat reservation to ..., please. = Kérek egy helyjegyet ...re!
(railway or coach) station = állomás
railway station (bigger) = pályaudvar
harbour = kikötõ
airport = repülõtér
ticket office = pénztár
Where can I buy tickets? = Hol lehet jegyet váltani?
ticket = jegy
slow train = személyvonat
even slower train (post train) = postavonat
faster train = sebesvonat
express train = gyorsvonat
first-class = elsõ osztály
second-class = másodosztály
porter = hordár
luggage = csomag
left-luggage = csomagmegõrzõ
lost&found = talált tárgyak (osztálya)
washroom, toilette = WC
entrance = bejárat
exit = kijárat
woman = nõ
man = férfi
girl = lány
boy = fiú
parking garage = garázs
parking place = parkoló
gas station, filling station, garage = benzinkút
petrol, gas = benzin
unleaded = ólommentes
gas (diesel oil) = gázolaj/dízelolaj
oil = olaj
service station = szervíz

out of order = nem mûködik / üzemen kívül
Restaurant, food - vendéglõ, élelmiszer:


restaurant = vendéglõ/étterem
café = kávéház
sweet shop = cukrászda
menu = étlap
waiter = pincér
to pay = fizetni
soup = leves
meat = hús
pork = sertéshús
beef = marhahús
poultry = szárnyas/baromfi
chicken = csirke
fish = hal
salt water fish = tengeri hal
fillet/steak/slice = szelet
fried/grilled meat = sült hús
goulash = gulyás(leves)
garnish = köret
vegetable = zöldség
boiled vegetables as garnish = zöldségköret
vegetable-dish = fõzelék
bean = bab
string beans = zöldbab
tomato = paradicsom
potato = burgonya/krumpli
cabbage = káposzta
green pepper = zöld paprika
lettuce = saláta [as vegetable]
salad = saláta [as food]
stuffed paprika = töltött paprika
fruit = gyümölcs
grape = szõlõ
pear = körte
apple = alma
plum = szilva
peach = (õszi)barack
apricot = sárgabarack
watermelon = (görög)dinnye
melon = sárgadinnye
lemon = citrom
tart (cake) = torta
ice cream = fagylalt/jégkrém
pastry/cake = sütemény
juice = gyümölcslé
syrup = szörp
water = víz
mineral water = ásványvíz
beer = sör
wine = bor
schnaps = pálinka
cup = csésze
glass = pohár
bottle = üveg
milk = tej
yogurt = joghurt
coffee = kávé
tea = tea
bread = kenyér
toast = pirítós (kenyér)
roll/bun = zsemle
scrambled eggs = rántotta
boiled eggs (soft) = lágy tojás
boiled eggs (hard) = kemény tojás
ham = sonka
sausage = kolbász
frankfurter = virsli
butter = vaj
cheese = sajt
jam = gyümölcsíz/dzsem/lekvár
honey = méz
sugar = cukor
chocolate = csokoládé
salt = só
vinegar = ecet
mustard = mustár
red pepper = pirospaprika
black pepper = bors
onion = hagyma

Smoking - dohányzás:


Do not smoke!/Smoking is forbidden! = Tilos a dohányzás!
non-smoking = nemdohányzó
to smoke = dohányozni
match = gyufa
cigarette = cigaretta
cigar = szivar
pipe = pipa
tobacco = dohány

Post office - posta:


letter = levél
mail = levél / postai küldemény
registered mail = ajánlott levél
parcel = csomag
air mail = légiposta
telegram = távirat
stamp = bélyeg
postcard = levelezõlap
picture postcard = képeslap


Entertainment - szórakozás:


theatre = színház
Opera Theatre = Operaház
concert = hangverseny
cinema = mozi/filmszínház
ticket = jegy
free entrance = ingyen(es)
admission fee = belépõdíj

Illness/emergency - betegség/baleset:


doctor = orvos
surgeon = sebész
pharmacy = gyógyszertár
hospital = kórház
ambulance = mentõ
fire dept. = tûzoltóság
police = rendõrség

Other useful sentences:


Would you like to see my stamp collection? [to hint at getting her to your room] = Megnézed a bélyeggyûjteményem?
Would you go to dance? = Jössz táncolni?
May I invite you for a dance, lady? = Hölgyem, felkérhetem egy táncra?
I want a fruit yogurt with peach pieces, please. = Egy darabos õszibarackos joghurtot kérek.
I don't understand/speak Hungarian. = Nem értek/beszélek magyarul.
How to get to ...? = Hogyan jutok el a ...hez?
How far is it? = Milyen messze van?
Where is it? = Hol van?




Basics of Hungarian grammar


We don't have genders in our grammar. So there is no "he" and "she", and no gender for words either. This is why Hungarian people occasionally say "he" for a girl or vice versa.
Unlike in several major languages, the first letters of certain words are not capitalised (as in German, or "Monday", "I", "English" in English). The only capitals are for names/places, etc., and for the first letter of a sentence.
The order of words is not fixed, in contrast to English. Usually the sequence of the words reflects decreasing importance. For example:
holnap = tomorrow
moziba = to the cinema
megyek = I (will) go
Holnap moziba megyek. = [default]
Holnap moziba megyek. = I will go to the cinema tomorrow.
Moziba megyek holnap. = I will go to the cinema tomorrow.
Megyek holnap moziba. = I will go to the cinema tomorrow.
Elmegyek moziba holnap. = I will go to the cinema tomorrow. (It's sure.)
Én megyek holnap moziba. = I will go to the cinema tomorrow.
There is also the same order for questions:
Holnap moziba megyünk. = We will go to the cinema tomorrow.
Holnap megyünk moziba? = Will we go to the cinema tomorrow?
Holnap moziba megyünk? = Will we go to the cinema tomorrow?
Megyünk holnap moziba? = Will we go to the cinema tomorrow?
etc.
Generally personal pronouns are used only for emphasis, since the subject is known from the inflection:
I read = olvasok = én olvasok
you read = olvasol = te olvasol
he/she reads = olvas = õ olvas


The Hungarian language is "additive" which means that we meld some letters to the end of the word. Some examples for inflection:
table = asztal
on table = asztalON
to table = asztalHOZ
onto table = asztalRA,
etc.
Plural is indicated by adding a "k" at the end of the word. To make pronunciation easier, sometimes a vowel is inserted:
tables = asztaloK.

We don't use plural for units and multiple things with their quantity given:
100 forint, 10 kg, 2 asztal, etc.

Please note that Hungarian is a very rich language. We have lots of synonyms for a word. For example, there are appr. 200 different words describing the breed and the colouring of a horse.
We create "new" words by adding some of them also (compounds), just like "public transport" = "tömeg+közlekedés" but it is not so elaborate as in the German language. If a new expression is put together from at least three words and it would be longer than 6 syllables, a hyphen is compulsory: ideg-összeroppanás (nervous break-down).

A nice grammatical example: "fiaiéiból" where: fi (archaic for "fi"" - boy) = son
fia = someone's son
fiai = someone's sons
fiaié = something belonging to/owned by someone's sons
fiaiéi = more items owned by someone's sons
fiaiéiból = from the above mentioned items

[source]

[M.R.]

Originally Posted by prometheus

ais much more closed than in most other European languages, similar to "hot" or "dot"is near to the usual "a" (as in "bar", "guy" etc.), but it's a bit longeris similar to the first vowel in "make", "aim", etc.is a long "i" (as in "teeth", "feed", etc.)is a long "o" (as in "wall", "show", etc.)is equal to the German, as in the English "sir", "her", etc.is the long "ö", as "Böhm" or "schön" in German, or similar to the first syllable of "dirty"is a long "u" (as in "new", "loop", etc.)is equal to the German, as in French "vue", etc.is the long "ü", as "Kühl" or "Tür" in German, or "allure" in French
The letters ("o" with double acute accents) and ("u" with double acute accents) can be found only in the Hungarian alphabet.
It is very important to use the accents right. A word means something very different with/without accent. For example "koros" means old, "kóros" means diseased/pathological, "kórós" means something with weed.

We have this special vowels in Slovenian dialect from the region I come from (near Hungary).

Days of the week - a hét napjai:


Monday = hétfõ
Tuesday = kedd
Wednesday = szerda
Thursday = csütörtök
Friday = péntek
Saturday = szombat
Sunday = vasárnap

Quite simmilar to Slovene.

[Marcus Marulus]

Originally Posted by Panonski

Quite simmilar to Slovene.

These are loanwords from Slavic. About 15% of the Hungarian vocabulary are Slavic loanwords.

[M.R.]

Originally Posted by prometheus

These are loanwords from Slavic. About 15% of the Hungarian vocabulary are Slavic loanwords.

I noticed yes. It's logical if you consider who were the original inhabitants of Pannonia.

[Breogan]

Originally Posted by prometheus

Basics of Hungarian grammar


We don't have genders in our grammar. So there is no "he" and "she", and no gender for words either. This is why Hungarian people occasionally say "he" for a girl or vice versa.

This fact is very weird indeed.

The order of words is not fixed, in contrast to English. Usually the sequence of the words reflects decreasing importance. For example:
holnap = tomorrow
moziba = to the cinema
megyek = I (will) go
Holnap moziba megyek. = [default]
Holnap moziba megyek. = I will go to the cinema tomorrow.
Moziba megyek holnap. = I will go to the cinema tomorrow.
Megyek holnap moziba. = I will go to the cinema tomorrow.
Elmegyek moziba holnap. = I will go to the cinema tomorrow. (It's sure.)
Én megyek holnap moziba. = I will go to the cinema tomorrow.
There is also the same order for questions:
Holnap moziba megyünk. = We will go to the cinema tomorrow.
Holnap megyünk moziba? = Will we go to the cinema tomorrow?
Holnap moziba megyünk? = Will we go to the cinema tomorrow?
Megyünk holnap moziba? = Will we go to the cinema tomorrow?
etc.
Generally personal pronouns are used only for emphasis, since the subject is known from the inflection:
I read = olvasok = én olvasok
you read = olvasol = te olvasol
he/she reads = olvas = õ olvas

The same thing occurs in Latin for example.

The Hungarian language is "additive" which means that we meld some letters to the end of the word. Some examples for inflection:
table = asztal
on table = asztalON
to table = asztalHOZ
onto table = asztalRA,
etc.

The opposite of flexible Indoeuropean languages that use separated words for these purpouses.

Plural is indicated by adding a "k" at the end of the word. To make pronunciation easier, sometimes a vowel is inserted:
tables = asztaloK.

Well, this reminds me of something.

We don't use plural for units and multiple things with their quantity given:
100 forint, 10 kg, 2 asztal, etc.

And this too.

Please note that Hungarian is a very rich language. We have lots of synonyms for a word. For example, there are appr. 200 different words describing the breed and the colouring of a horse.

Attila's horse perhaps.

Yep, and innuits have a lot ones for describing "snow" and so on.
It's an old history.

[Marcus Marulus]

Originally Posted by Breogan

This fact is very weird indeed.

It's not weird. The essence is that the Hungarian language has only a generalised pronoun for the third person, which means "he", "she" and "it". The author of this small introduction probably wanted to say that Hungarians who learn foreign languages, not having the grammatical gender in their mother tongue, tend to make such mistakes like confusing "he" nad "she" (el and ella etc)

It is intersting to note that the absence of the grammatical gender is a common trait shared by all Finno-Ugric, Turkic, Mongolian and Tunguso-Manchurian languages.

[Ostrogorski]

Originally Posted by Breogan

Attila's horse perhaps.

[Breogan]

Originally Posted by prometheus

It's not weird. The essence is that the Hungarian language has only a generalised pronoun for the third person, which means "he", "she" and "it". The author of this small introduction probably wanted to say that Hungarians who learn foreign languages, not having the grammatical gender in their mother tongue, tend to make such mistakes like confusing "he" nad "she" (el and ella etc)

It is intersting to note that the absence of the grammatical gender is a common trait shared by all Finno-Ugric, Turkic, Mongolian and Tunguso-Manchurian languages.

I hadn't understood properly, thinking of nouns and not just the third person pronoun. I see now, thanks.