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HUNGAROLINGUA BASIC
LEVEL 1
Gabriella Marschalkó
Debrecen 2010
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HUNGAROLINGUA BASIC
HUNGARIAN TEXTBOOK FOR BEGINNERS
by Gabriella Marschalkó
Proofreading by Dr. Pál Csontos and Philip M. Inman
Layout by Judit T. Nagy
DEBRECENI NYÁRI EGYETEM
2010
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I would like to thank people for their helpful comments on the manuscript and suggestions for
improvements. My greatest thanks are offered to Dr. Pál Csontos, Philip M. Inman, Edit
Hlavacska, Irén Kónya, Éva Kovács, Dr. Gyula Sankó and András Veréb.
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TARTALOMJEGYZÉK (Contents)
INTRODUCTION 6
VOWEL HARMONY 7
A MAGYAR ABC THE HUNGARIAN ALPHABET 8
A FEW RULES OF PHONETICS 8
1. KI VAGY? (Who are you?), MILYEN NYELVEN BESZÉLSZ? (What language do you speak?) 10
NYELVTAN (Grammar – Personal pronouns – Conjugation of the verb lenni – Word formation
ul
with ül
, )
) 11
2. KÖSZÖNÉSEK (Greetings) 12
3. SZÁMOK (Numbers) 14
4. MAGYAR PÉNZ (Hungarian money) 16
NYELVTAN (Grammar – How many? – Ordinal numbers) 17
5. HOGY VAGY? (How are you?), MI A BAJ? (What’s the matter?) 18
NYELVTAN (Grammar – Adverbs of time) 19
6. MIT CSINÁLSZ? (What are you doing?) 20
NYELVTAN (Grammar – Present tense verbal endings – Adverbs of time on en
, ön
, n
, ) 21
7. HOVÁ MÉSZ MA ESTE? (Where are you going tonight?) 22
NYELVTAN (Grammar – lenni in past and future – Adverbs of place ba be
, ) 23
8. MIT KÉRSZ? (What would you like?) 24
NYELVTAN (Grammar – Informal you ön/maga – Object of the sentence) 25
9. KÉRSZ EGY KÁVÉT? (Would you like a coffee?) 26
NYELVTAN (Grammar – Word formation with os as
, es
, ös
, s
, – Plural marker) 27
10. TUD/AKAR/SZERET/SZERETNE GITÁROZNI (Can/want to/like to/would like to play the
guitar) 28
NYELVTAN (Grammar – Infinitive – Word formation with zni) 29
11. MILYEN IDŐ VAN MA? (What’s the weather like today?) 30
NYELVTAN (Grammar ik
group verbs – Irregular verbs in the present tense) 31
12. POSTÁN (At the post office) 32
NYELVTAN (Grammar – ez az
, – Words of foreign origin) 33
13. MIT ESZÜNK MA ESTE? (What are we going to eat tonight?) 34
NYELVTAN (Grammar – Double negation – The negative of van vannak
, ) 35
14. TETSZIK A RUHÁD (I like your dress) 36
NYELVTAN (Grammar – Possessive – Nekem tetszik ) 37
15. AZ EMBERI TEST (The human body) 38
NYELVTAN (Grammar – Nekem van ) 39
16. MILYEN SZEME VAN? (What sort of eyes has she got?) 40
NYELVTAN (Grammar – Absence of van vannak
, – Comparison) 41
GYAKORLATOK (Exercises) 42
VOWEL HARMONY 42
1. KI VAGY? 43
2. KÖSZÖNÉSEK 45
3. SZÁMOK 46
4. MAGYAR PÉNZ 48
5. HOGY VAGY? 49
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6. MIT CSINÁLSZ? 50
7. HOVÁ MÉSZ MA ESTE? 52
8. MIT KÉRSZ? 54
9. KÉRSZ EGY KÁVÉT? 56
10. TUD/AKAR/SZERET/SZERETNE GITÁROZNI 58
11. MILYEN IDŐ VAN MA? 60
12. POSTÁN 61
13. MIT ESZÜNK MA ESTE? 63
14. TETSZIK A RUHÁD 65
15. AZ EMBERI TEST 66
16. MILYEN SZEME VAN? 67
BASICS OF HUNGARIAN GRAMMAR 68
SZAVAK 73
WORDS 87
APPENDIX 101
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INTRODUCTION
HUNGARIAN VOWELS
1. Back (position) vowels 2. Front (position) vowels
a á o ó u ú e é i í ö ő ü ű
táska ablak bicikli tévé
autó hal esernyő fésű
toll kártya dzsem üveg
ház olló tej szekrény
fagylalt pohár csirke gyűrű
szandál rózsa meggy könyv
Words with mixed vowels
tányér kávé
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taxi ceruza
VOWEL HARMONY
In Hungarian most endings harmonize with the word they are attached to. Endings generally have two
or three alternative forms differing only in the vowel. The choice of ending is determined by the vowels
in the word. The endings
ban
and
, for example, stand for the English preposition
ben in
. Words that
ban
contain only back vowels will take the back alternative of the ending: London (in London). Words
ben
that contain only front vowels will take the front alternative of the ending: Debrecen (
in Debrecen).
Words that contain both back and front vowels will take the back alternative of the ending: Madrid
ban
(
in
Madrid).
1. Hungarian does not use prepositions. Instead, there are endings, which are attached to the word they
qualify.
The umbrella is in
the wardrobe.
Az esernyő a szekrény ben
van.
a
2. The definite article in Hungarian is ,
butif the following word begins with a vowel, az
is used:
a
szekrény az
esernyő
3. Write sentences about where things are.
táska szekrény
Atáska
aszekrényben
van.
(The bag is in the wardrobe.)
tej pohár _______________________
esernyő autó _______________________
bicikli ház _______________________
váza ablak _______________________
dzsem üveg _______________________
(The word üveg can stand for jar as well.)
4. Practise saying with your partner.
A: Hol van a táska? (Where is the bag?)
B: A táska a szekrényben van. (The bag is in the wardrobe.)
A: Hol van a tej?
B: _____________________.
A: Hol van az esernyő?
B: _____________________.
A: Hol van a bicikli?
B: _____________________.
A: Hol van a váza?
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B: _____________________.
A: Hol van a dzsem?
B: _____________________.
A MAGYAR ABC (The Hungarian Alphabet)
a a
blak o
similar to English h t ny köny
v n
similar to English ew
á á
h z similar to English aha o o
lló o
similar to English t p
b b
a lak b
similar to English ad ó ó
rzsa a
similar to English t ll
c c
bi ikli
similar to English cats ö ö
k nyv similar to French peu
cs cs
irke similar to English ő esernyő u
similar to English f r
cheese p p
énz p
similar to English ut
d híd d
similar to English og q I
Q similar to English
coo l,
dz edz similar to English ki
ds mainly in words of
dzs dzs j
em similar to English oke foreign origin
e e
t j e
similar to English b t r gyű r
ű r
similar to English ed,
é é
t vé a
similar to English b y always trilled
f f
ésű f
similar to English eel s s
e ernyő similar to English sh e
g üve g g
similar to English o sz szekrény similar to English s
ee
gy gy űrű similar to English t út t
similar to English ea
duke ty kár tya t
similar to English ube
h hal h
similar to English at u u
a tó similar to English put
i csi i
rke similar to English ht ú út similar to English boo t
í ví
z similar to English b
ee ü üveg similar to German f ünf
j tej similar to English ű ű
t z similar to German
y
ellow Übung
k tás ka k
similar to English s ip v víz v
similar to English ivid
l ha l similar to English feel w W C the same as English
ly fo lyó similar to English vivid, mainly in words of
y
ellow foreign origin
m m eggy similar to English x taxi mainly in words of
m eet foreign origin
n pé nz n
similar to English o y Y ork mainly in words of
foreign origin
z víz similar to English laz
y
zs rózs a similar to English
pleas
ure
A FEW RULES OF PHONETICS
1. Vowels
a. Pronunciation
A vowel can be either short or long. In the case of
i
,
o
,
u
,
ö
, í
ü the long vowel (,
ó
,
ú
,
ő
,
ű
) is pronounced twice as long as the short vowel with no change in quality. In the case
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of
a
and á and
e the long vowel ( é
) differs not only in length but in quality. Look at the
Hungarian alphabet above.
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b. Spelling
a
If the vowel is short, there is no accent (,
e
,
i
,
o
,
u
) or in the case of
ö and
ü there are
two dots above the vowel. If the vowel is long, an acute accent is placed above it ( á
,
é
,
í ó
, ú
, ), or a double acute accent in the case of ő and ű.
2. Every consonant can be either short or long. Long consonants should be pronounced about
twice as long as short ones. Length is marked by doubling in writing. In long twoletter
consonants we double only the first letter.
hal (fish) – short l szép (beautiful) – short sz
olló (scissors) – long l vissza (back) – long sz
There are twoletter consonants, for which we write two letters, but we pronounce only one
sound.
szandál (sandal) – sz
stands for one sound
Ázsia (Asia) – zs stands for one sound
3. Vowel lengthening. If the last letter of a word is either
a
or
e
, it will become long when an
ending is attached to the word.
táska (bag) – táskában (in the bag)
pince (cellar) – pincében (in the cellar)
4. Word stress in Hungarian does not change; it is always on the first syllable of a word.
olló (scissors) – the first o
is stressed but short, the second ó is long but not stressed.
5. Try to read out the signs you may come across in Hungary.
tolni = push kijárat = exit nők = ladies
húzni = pull vészkijárat = emergency exit férfiak = men
nyitva = open indulás = departure kiadó = (office) to let
zárva = closed nyitva tartás = opening hours (room) to let
bejárat = entrance érkezés = arrival eladó = (office) for sale
(house) for sale
HASZNOS KIFEJEZÉSEK (Useful expresssions)
Bocsánat! Nem értem. I’m sorry I don’t understand.
Nem beszélek magyarul. I don’t speak Hungarian.
Tessék! Here you are.
Köszönöm. Thank you.
Szívesen. You are welcome.
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1. KI VAGY? (Who are you?)
A: Szervusz! (Hello.)
B: Szia!
(Hello.)
A: Mi a neved? (What is your name?)
B: Renee vagyok. És te ki (I’m Renee. And who are you?)
vagy?
A: Én Kati vagyok. (I’m Kate.)
B: Én amerikai vagyok. És te? (I’m from America. And you?)
A: Én magyar vagyok. Renee, (I’m from Hungary. Do you speak
te beszélsz németül? German, Renee?)
B: Nem. Csak angolul és (No, I don’t. I speak only English
spanyolul beszélek és egy and Spanish and a little Hungarian.
kicsit magyarul. És te? And you?)
A:
Én is beszélek angolul, (I also speak English, Hungarian,
természetesen magyarul és of course, and a little German.)
egy kicsit németül.
SZAVAK (Words)
Szia! = Hello. magyar = Hungarian angolul = in English
Szervusz! = Hello. német = German spanyol = Spanish
mi? = what? németül = in German spanyolul = in Spanish
név = name beszélsz = you speak egy kicsit = a little
neved = your name beszél/beszélni = speak is = also
és = and nem = no, not természetesen = of course
ki? = who? csak = only magyarul = in Hungarian
amerikai = American angol = English én = I
te = you
MILYEN NYELVEN BESZÉLSZ? (What language do you speak?)
A: Milyen nyelven beszélsz? (What language do you speak?)
B: Jól beszélek angolul és franciául. És egy (I speak English and French well. And a
kicsit németül. little German.)
SZAVAK (Words)
milyen? = what sort of? nyelv = language jól = well
EGYÉB NEMZETISÉGEK (Other nationalities
)
arab = Arabic koreai = Korean olasz = Italian
iráni = Iranian lengyel = Polish osztrák = Austrian
japán = Japanese norvég = Norwegian svéd = Swedish
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NYELVTAN (Grammar)
1. Hungarian personal pronouns.
én = I mi = we
te = you ti = you
ő = s/he ők = they
2. The present tense forms of the verb van (is).
/én/ vagyok
= I am /mi/ vagyunk = we are
/te/ vagy = you are /ti/ vagytok = you are
/ő/ van = he/she/it is /ők/ vannak = they are
3. In Hungarian we tend to omit the personal pronouns from sentences if they are not
specifically emphasized, since the verbal ending clearly indicates the person:
/Én/ Latifah vagy
ok
. =
Iam Latifah.
4. Adjectives of nationality are not capitalised.
angol = English
5. When describing the language in which people speak, for example, in English, Hungarian
uses the ending ul
,
ül
.
Remember the rule of vowel harmony.
back and mixed vowel words front vowel words
magyar ul
(in Hungarian) svédül
(in Swedish)
angolul (in English) németül (in German)
spanyolul (in Spanish) lengyelül (in Polish)
olasz
ul (in Italian)
franciá
ul (in French)
japánul
(in Japanese)
norvégul (in Norwegian)
HASZNOS KIFEJEZÉSEK (Useful expressions)
Még egyszer, légy szíves! Once more, please.
(Egy) kicsit lassabban, légy szíves! A bit slower, please.
Nem tudom. I don’t know.
(Egy) pillanat. Just a minute.
Hogy mondják magyarul ‘table’? What do they say for ‘table’ in Hungarian?
Bocsánat a késésért. Sorry for being late.
Semmi baj. No problem.
Kimehetek a mosdóba? May I go to the bathroom?
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