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Hungarian is a unique and hard language. It has no relationship neither with the big
European nor the Slavik languages. But there is good news here - the
pronounciation is easier than it is in English, since each letter has just one spelling
pattern. However many Americans have problem with pronounciation, because
there are some "strange" - that sounds strange to English speakers. Let's start with
the Hungarian alphabet now, that consits of 44 letters. I list them here and you can
download the spelling in a .wav sound file.
Magyar ABC
a e j ó t x
á é k ö ty y
b f l ő u z
c g ly p ú zs
cs gy m q ü
d h n r ű
dz i ny s v
dzs í o sz w
Let's practice these strange sounds a little more in some basic Hungarian words.
And another pronounciation practice. Listen and say the next words, all contain
strange sounds.
As you probably noticed, there are two forms in second person: 'te' and 'ön'. The
first version is used among relatives and friends and the second is a formal version,
used otherwise. The formal version is not used among children and teenagers. The
formal - informal pair exists in plural too as 'ti' and 'önök'. In order to form
sentences, we need some other words, adjectives or verbs. Since verbs have
complicated conjugation, I use adjectives in the first lesson - verbs come later.
You find parantheses in the third person forms, because they are omitted most of
the times.
Now it is time for the first sentences! Let's use the adjective 'magas' in singular
mode.
Since the verb 'van' has different form in different person, the verb itself can refer
to the person. Based on the ending, you know the subject of the sentence -
therefore we might omit the personal pronouns 'én' and 'te', and might say shortly:
Again, because there is no conjugated verb in the 3rd person, we have to keep the
subject.
The article 'the' corresponds the Hungarian 'a' or 'az'. The former is used if the
following word starts with a consonant, while 'az' is used before a word that starts
with a vowel. For example: 'a toll', or 'az asztal'.
Please, note that the subjects are in plural in the 2nd and 4th sentences, so they
receive a -k ending. (házak, fák)
Months / Hónapok
kedd Tuesday
szerda Wednesday
csütörtök Thursday
péntek Friday
szombat Saturday
vasárnap Sunday
In sentences the names of months receive the ending -ban -ben . Please, take a
review on the vowel harmony as always if you have to use endings.
For future tense you might use present or future tense of the verbs. To make it
easier in the beginning, we use present tense now. The content of the sentence will
put the meaning to the future. For simplicity case I use a few examples only with
past tense now.
Januárban autót veszek.
The name of the days receive -n ending in sentences, some uses extra vowel with
vowel harmony: hétfőn, kedden, szerdán, csütörtökön, pénteken, szombaton,
vasárnap
Seasons:
tavasz, nyár, ősz, tél.
They receive no ending in sentences (good news, hmm?)- the only exception is
délben
Other phrases:
holnap -- holnapután
ma--tegnap -- tegnapelőtt
tavaly -- jövőre
Numbers in Hungarian
We use different verb forms if the verb has an object, or if does not and whether the object is
definite or indefinite. This situation is absolutely unknown in English. For example:
This means that verbs have 2 conjugations, definite and indefinite. The definite vs indefinite
contrast is used in all verb tenses, mode and in all person/number combination.
Now, how to find which one to choose? It can be rather complicated, I cover only the most
common occurence here -- just leave something for the intermediate level *lol*
1. For intransitive verbs (they can not have an object) use the indefinite form. Examples: megy
(go), fut (run), mosolyog (smile).
2. Use indefinite form for indefinite object:
Látok egy fát. (I see a tree.)
Hivok valakit. (I call somebody.) 3. Use definite form for a definite object:
Nézem a filmet. (I watch the movie.)
Singular Plural
1st -ok/ -ek /-ök -unk, -ünk
-sz /-asz/-esz -tok/ -tek/-tök
2nd
-ol /-el/-öl -otok/-etek/-ötök
3rd -- -nak/ -nek/ -anak/ -enek
Singular Plural
1st -om/ -em /-öm -juk/ -jük/ -uk/ ük
-átok/ -játok/-itek
2nd -od /-ed/-öd
-otok/-etek/-ötök
3rd -a/ -ja/ -i -ák/ -ják/ -ik
Ige / Verb olvas / read ír / write hoz / bring énekel / sing vesz / buy mond / say
Én / I olvasok írok hozok énekelek veszek mondok
Te / You olvasol írsz hozol énekelsz veszel mondasz
Ő / He,she,it olvas ír hoz énekel vesz mond
Mi / We olvasunk írunk hozunk énekelünk veszünk mondunk
Ti / You olvastok írtok hoztok énekeltek vesztek mondotok
Ők / They olvasnak írnak hoznak énekelnek vesznek mondanak
Ige / Verb olvas / read ír / write hoz / bring énekel / sing vesz / buy mond / say
Én / I olvasom írom hozom énekelem veszem mondom
Te / You olvasod írod hozod énekeled veszed mondod
Ő / He,she,it olvassa írja hozza énekeli veszi mondja
Mi / We olvassuk írjuk hozzuk énekeljük vesszük mondjuk
Ti / You olvassátok írjátok hozzátok énekelitek veszitek mondjátok
Ők / They olvassák írják hozzák énekelik veszik mondják
Common Questions and Answers / Általános
kérdések