Welcome is a word Hungarian expresses in several ways.
If someone arrives:
Welcome! – Isten hozott! / Üdvözöllek! (informal)
Welcome! – Isten hozta! / Üdvözlöm! (formal polite)
You’re always welcome in my house.
Mindig szívesen látlak a házamban.
To be welcome – Szívesen lát valakit (= to see someone with pleasure)
If you answer to someone saying thank you:
-Thank you for helping me. –You’re welcome.
-Köszönöm, hogy segítettél. –Szívesen! / Nincs mit!
It is a general and versatile exclamation. It comes from the verb tetszik. Actually, it is the imperative 3rd PS indefinite form of tetszik. Its meanings can be:
If someone is knocking at the door:
Come in! – Tessék!
If you give somebody a gentle order:
Please sit down. – Tessék csak leülni!
-May I come in? -Bejöhetek?
–Please. – Tessék!
If you didn’t understand something:
I beg your pardon? – Tessék?
> In this case it is a question.
When sitting at the table:
Help yourself. – Tessék!
T O L I K E
This is a simple English verb, but Hungarian expresses it with three different verbs.
TO LIKE SOMEBODY, SOMETHING:
I like that girl.
She likes horror movies.
You can say these verbs in Hungarian like this: tetszik, kedvel
I like that girl.
Kedvelem azt a lányt. OR
Tetszik (nekem) az a lány.
She likes horror movies.
Kedveli a horrorfilmeket.
Tetszenek neki a horrorfilmek.
The formula is:
Kedvel + accusative case
Kedveli azt a filmet. – She likes that movie.
> The accusative case causes kedvel to be in definite conjugation!
Tetszik + dative pronouns + subjective case
Tetszik neki az a film. – She likes that movie.
> The subjective case causes tetszik to be simply in indefinite conjugation!
> And if there are more objects you like, tetszik is put in 3rd PP!
Tetszenek neki azok a filmek. – She likes those movies.
TO LIKE FOODS, DRINKS:
I like sushi.
I like red wine.
You can say these verbs in Hungarian like this: ízlik, szeret
I like sushi.
Szeretem a szusit.
Ízlik (nekem) a szusi.
I like red wine.
Szeretem a vörös bort.
Ízlik (nekem) a vörös bor.
The formula is:
Szeret + accusative case
Szeretem a bort. – I like wine.
> The accusative case causes szeret to be in definite conjugation!
Ízlik + dative pronouns + subjective case
Ízlik nekem a bor. – I like wine.
> The subjective case causes ízlik to be in indefinite conjugation!
> If there are more food, drink you like, ízlik is put in 3rd PP!
Ízlenek nekem a borok. – I like wines.
Summary:
To like people and objects: kedvel, tetszik
To like food, drink: szeret, ízlik
– kedvel / tetszik in definite conjugation 3rd PS + requires accusative case
– tetszik / ízlik in indefinite conjugation 3rd PS or 3rd PP + subjective case
> and the dative pronoun is not mandatory.
You should avoid saying ‘szeret’ if you talk about a person. In this case szeret means: to love
Szeretem azt a lányt. – I love that girl.
Would like is said in Hungarian by putting the verb szeret in conditional mood.
Would you like to go shopping?
Szeretnél vásárolni menni?
I’d like to talk to you.
Szeretnék beszélni veled.
She’d like to make a lot of money.
Szeretne sok pénzt keresni.
If you would like someone else to do something than you say in English:
I’d like her to come with me.
In Hungarian you use conditional mood for both verbs as if you said:
I’d like if she came with me.
Szeretném, ha velem jönne.
This sentence is an if-clause which is our next topic.
As for ‘to want’, Hungarian uses szeret in conditional mood when it comes to sentences like:
I want you to know I told the truth.
Szeretném, ha tudnád, hogy az igazat mondtam.
Literally: I would want if you knew I told the truth.
Bye now. 🙂
Now I’ll snow you a few words that are written exactly or almost exactly like some English words. So the confusion is kind of foreprogrammed. You see the Hungarian words, their actual meaning in English and the brackets show what they shouldn’t be confused with.
hat > six (and it’s not a hat on your head)
here > testicle (and it’s not like: Come here!)
van > is, there is (and it’s not a vehicle)
most > now (and it’s not like: most of them)
jog > law, right (and it’s not like: I jog every morning)
fog > tooth (and it’s not the fog on a rainy day)
hold > moon (and it’s not like: I hold something)
nap > day, sun (and it’s not like: I take a nap)
had > army (and not like: I had no idea)
Fuss! > Run! (and it’s not like: I make a fuss)
is > also, too (and it’s not the 3rd PS of ‘to be’)
dug > to hide, to stick (and it’s not like: I dug up the whole garden)
sugár > ray, beam (and it’s not like: There’s no sugar in my tea)
And some more curiosity: there are some words which you can pronounce easier if you think of these words. You see the Hungarian word, then the actual meaning in English and the brackets show words you should think of to pronounce them easier.
hét > seven, week (hate)
rét > meadow (rate)
szék > chair (sake)
fék > brake (fake)
kék > blue (cake)
tép > to tear (tape)
fém > metal (fame)
Bye now! 🙂
Vocabulary:
city, town – város
inhabitant – lakos
And here are the cities:
Budapest > budapesti (Budapest)
Róma > római (Rome)
Berlin > berlini (Berlin)
Zágráb > zágrábi (Zagreb)
Prága > prágai (Prague)
Stockholm > stockholmi
Helsinki > helsinki
Madrid > madridi
Moszkva > moszkvai (Moscow)
Atén > aténi (Athens)
Varsó > varsói (Warsaw)
Ankara > ankarai
Dublin > dublini
Párizs > párizsi (Paris)
London > londoni
Lisszabon >lisszaboni (Lisbon)
Oslo > osloi
Koppenhága > koppenhágai (Copenhagen)
Bécs > bécsi (Vienna)
Pozsony > pozsonyi (Bratislava)
Bukarest > bukaresti (Bucharest)
Brazíliaváros > brazil (Brasília)
Újdelhi > újdelhi lakos (New Delhi)
Brüsszel > brüsszeli (Brussels)
Peking > pekingi (Beijing)
Tokió > tokiói (Tokyo)
Washington > washingtoni
Mexikóváros > mexikói (Mexico City)
Ottawa > ottawai
Bagdad > bagdadi (Baghdad)
Teherán > teheráni (Tehran)
You see it’s the same as for countries. You need the suffix -i to form the inhabitant from the city: Budapest > budapesti. And remember to write folk names and inhabitants of a city with lowercase!
ONE MORE THING! If you talk about a country or city expressed with more words, then you refer to the inhabitants with the suffix -beli!
Amerikai Egyesült Államok (United States of America) > egyesült-államokbeli (stateside)
Mexikóváros (Mexico City) > mexikóvárosbeli (Mexican)
But you can also just say: amerikai, mexikói
Next time more about Hungary. How the territory is divided and so on… Bye now.
Best wishes, László
Before learning some cities, let’s take a look at the “Hungarian compass” as well as continents.
THE FOUR CARDINAL POINTS = A NÉGY ÉGTÁJ
észak – north > északi – northern
dél – south > déli – southern
kelet – east > keleti – eastern
nyugat – west > nyugati – western
As you see, you can make adjectives by adding an -i suffix to them: észak > északi = north > northern
észak-kelet(i) > north-east(ern)
észak-nyugat(i) > north-west(ern)
dél-kelet(i) > south-east(ern)
dél-nyugat(i) > south-west(ern)
And so on…
C O N T I N E N T S
continent – kontinens OR szárazföld (literally: dryland)
Európa – Europe > európai – European
Amerika – America > amerikai – American
Afrika – Africa > afrikai – African
Ázsia – Asia > ázsiai – Asian
Ausztrália – Australia > ausztráliai – Australian
Északi-sark – North Pole
Déli-sark – South Pole
Arktisz – Arctic
Antarktisz – Antarctic
Északi-sark and Déli-sark can be made adjectives like this: északi-sarki, déli-sarki
You see it’s all the same in Hungarian: you add the adjectival suffix -i and you must not use capital letters when the suffix -i is added: Észak > északi, Amerika > amerikai
So much for today. Bye now.
Vocabulary:
nation – nemzet
national – nemzeti
nationality – nemzetiség
nationalities – nemzetiségek
Now let’s see the nationality names for the countries I wrote about in the previous entry.
NOTE! If you see a country name with the word ország in it, you already know the nationality: Magyarország = magyar + ország. So Hungarian is magyar.
IMPORTANT! Hungarian people write nationalities with lowercase (small letters all the way).
Magyarország > magyar (Hungarian)
Olaszország > olasz (Italian)
Spanyolország > spanyol (Spanish)
Németország > német (German)
Franciaország > francia (French)
Finnország > finn (Finn)
Horvátország > horvát (Croat)
Törökország > török (Turkish)
Oroszország > orosz (Russian)
Csehország > cseh (Bohemian)
Svédország > svéd (Swede)
Görögország > görög (Greek)
Lengyelország > lengyel (Pole, Polish)
Írország > ír (Irish)
Norvégia > norvég (Norwegian)
Ausztria > osztrák (Austrian)
Ausztrália > ausztráliai (Australian)
Portugál > portugál (Portuguese)
Szlovákia > szlovák (Slovak)
Szlovénia > szlovén (Sloven)
Bulgária > bolgár (Bulgarian)
Hollandia > holland (Dutch)
Brazília > brazil (Brazilian)
Anglia /Nagy Britannia > angol / brit (English / British)
Dánia > dán (Danish)
Románia > román (Rumanian)
Mexikó > mexikói (Mexican)
Japán > japán (Japanese)
Kína > kínai (Chinese)
Amerikai Egyesült Államok > amerikai (American)
Kanada > kanadai (Canadian)
Irak > iraki (Iraqi)
Irán > iráni (Iranian)
And I forgot: Svájc (Switzerland) > svájci (Swiss)
Hungarian makes the folk name plural in this case:
The Hungarian eat goulash. – A magyarok gulyást esznek.
The Italian talk much. – Az olaszok sokat beszélnek.
The Japanese are respectful. – A japánok tisztelettudóak.
And the nationality names above are adjectives and nouns at the same time. So as adjective:
Italian food is tasty. – Az olasz ételek finomak.
Japanese cars are small. – A japán autók kicsik.
Finnish education is outstanding. – A finn oktatás kiváló.
The word for country is: ORSZÁG. Mainly European countries are expressed with the nationality and the word ‘country’ in Hungarian. The rest of the countries are recognizable, too. Countries are written with capital letters.
Magyarország – Hungary
Olaszország – Italy
Spanyolország – Spain
Németország – Germany
Franciaország – France
Finnország – Finland
Horvátország – Croatia
Törökország – Turkey
Oroszország – Russia
Csehország – Czech Republic
Svédország – Sweden
Görögország – Greece
Lengyelország – Poland
Írország – Ireland
Norvégia – Norway
Ausztria – Austria
Ausztrália – Australia
Portugália – Portugal
Szlovákia – Slovakia
Szlovénia – Slovenia
Bulgária – Bulgaria
Hollandia – Holland
Brazília – Brazil
Nagy Britannia / Anglia – England
Dánia – Danmark
Románia – Romania
Mexikó – Mexico
Japán – Japan
Kína – China
Amerikai Egyesült Államok – United States of America
Kanada – Canada
Irak – Iraq
Irán – Iran
Hogy? – How?
you are – vagy
You (Sir) are – van/vannak
–Hogy vagy? / How are you?
-Jól vagyok, köszönöm. És te? /I’m fine, thanks. How about you?
-Megvagyok. / So so.
-Hogy vagy? / How are you?
-Rosszul. Egész nap fáj a fejem. / I feel unwell. I have a headache all day.
-Hogy van (Ön)? / How are you (sir)?
-Kiválóan, köszönöm. / I’m feeling great. Thank you.
NOTE! If you call someone sir/Mr./Ms. the substantive verb is in 3rd PS or 3rd PP!!!
–Hogy vannak, uraim? / How are you, gentlemen?
–Fantasztikusan. / We feel fantastic.
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