Tag Archives: nyelv

500 verbs

there is, there are;
to be finished;
here it is!		 megvan + subj.
to adjust igazít
to admire csodál
to adore imád
to allow sy to megenged
to amuse sy mulattat
to analyse elemez
to angle for, to fish horgászik
to applaud tapsol
to argue (pej) okoskodik
to arrange; to settle
to direct (a play)		 rendez
to arrive érkezik
to ask for kér
to ask sg kérdez
to associate with társul …-hoz, -hez, -höz
to attest tanúsít
to attract vonz
to bake, to roast süt
to bark ugat
to be absent;
to be missing;
to be missed by sy		 hiányzik
to be afraid of sg fél …-tól, -től
to be apparent; to seem látszik
to be ashamed szégyell
to be bored un
to be born születik
to be burnt megég
to be clamorous hangoskodik
to be cold fázik
to be dying haldoklik
to be finished;
to finish sg		 elkészül
to be getting dark esteledik
to be glad about örül …-nak, -nek
to be growing dusk szürkül
to be hot/warm melege van
to be idle tétlenkedik
to be impudent szemtelenkedik
to be possible; maybe lehet
to be postponed eltolódik
to be put off elmarad
to be recovered (sy’s loss) megtérül
to be right about igaza van …-ban, -ben
to be sickly/unwell betegeskedik
to be situated elterül
to be solved megoldódik
to be sorry for sajnál
to be stupefied elképed …-on, -en, -ön
to be surprise meglepődik …-on, -en, -ön
to be terrified retteg …-tól, -től
to be wrong about téved …-ban, -ben
to be; there is van
to bear (a child) szül
to beat ver
to become black megfeketedik
to become crazy megőrül … miatt; …-tól, -től
to become dim elhomályosul
to become empty kiürül
to become faster gyorsul
to become invalid megrokkan
to become lowered elhalkul
to become mute megnémul
to become paralysesd megbénul
to become rotten elrohad
to become slower lassul
to become stupid butul
to begin sg kezd
to begin to (int.) kezdődik
to believe hisz …-ban, -ben
to bend hajlít
to bend, to bow down lehajol
to betray elárul
to blind megvakít
to blush elpirul
to bore untat
to brake down lefékez
to break (int.) eltörik
to break sg eltör
to break, to tear (int.) elszakad
to bring visz
to bring up felnevel
to build épít
to burn (int.) ég
to burn (sg) eléget
to burst out kipukkad
to bury eltemet
to busy oneself serénykedik …-on, -en, -ön
to buy; to take vesz
to call hív
to call sy by first name tegez
to call sy by last name magáz
to capture elfog
to catch a cold megfázik
to catch fire meggyúl
to cause okoz
to chase üldöz
to cheat csal
to chew rág
to chirp csiripel
to choose választ
to close csuk, becsuk
to collapse összedől
to collect, to gather gyűjt
to comb oneself fésülködik
to come jön
to come home hazajön
to come into being létrejön
to come to an end befejeződik
to come to an end végződik
to command, to order parancsol
to compensate kárpótol
to compete versenyez
to complain panaszkodik
to condemn elítél
to connect; to attach
to switch		 kapcsol
to cook főz
to cool hűt
to corrupt megront
to cough köhög
to count számol
to countersign láttamoz
to court sy udvarol …-nak, -nek
to cover takar
to create létrehoz
to credit jóváír
to crunch rágcsál
to cry about sír … miatt
to cure gyógyít
to cut vág
to cut (hair) nyír
to dawn hajnalodik
to decide, to settle eldönt
to defend, to protect véd
to deify istenít
to deliver a speech szónokol
to delude ámít
to demand sy sg követel …-tól, -től …-t
to demolish lebont
to denounce feljelent
to deny tagad
to derail kisiklik …-ról, -ről
to destroy pusztít
to destroy rombol
to detail részletez
to deteriorate; to grow worse megromlik
to dictate (a text for students) tollba mond
to die meghal
to dig ás
to digest emészt
to direct írányít
to dispparove of;
to think sg is wrong		 rosszall
to disturb zavar
to divide oszt
to do, to make csinál
to do, to prepare elkészít
to doubt kételkedik
to drag; to pull von
to draw rajzol
to draw a lesson from okul …-ból, -ből
to dream álmodik
to dream about ábrándozik …-ról, -ről
to drill fúr
to drink iszik
to drink beer sörözik
to drink wine borozik
to drive (machine);
to fold (paper);
to strike (root)		 hajt
to drive; to manage vezet
to drudge, to work hard gürcöl
to eat eszik
to educate nevel
to educate, to instruct oktat
to elect megválaszt
to embezzle sikkaszt
to embrace átölel
to empty; to evacuate kiürít
to end, to finish befejez
to enlist besoroz
to enumerate felsorol
to exaggerate eltúloz
to expiate for bűnhődik … miatt
to expire lejár
to explode, to blow up robban
to fail, not to have success meghiúsul
to fail; to be rejected megbukik
to fall asleep elalszik
to fall down lehullik
to fall; to rain esik
to feed on sg táplálkozik
to feel érez
to feel dizzy szédül
to fight for harcol …-ért
to fight for kiáll …-ért
to find talál
to find a cure (fig.) orvosol
to find sg too much sokall
to fire (from job) kirúg
to flee, to escape from menekül … elől
to flood eláraszt
to fly repül
to fondle, to pet dédelget
to forbid megtilt
to forgive sy for sg megbocsát …-nak, -nek …-ért
to get baked megsül
to get dark elsötétül
to get ill megbetegszik
to get injured megsebesül
to get on (a bus) felszáll
to get stopped up eldugul
to get to know megtud
to get up felkel
to get wet ázik
to give in one’s notice felmond
to glaze mázol
to glide suhan
to go megy
to go bad;
to break down		 elromlik
to go blind megvakul
to go green zöldül
to go home hazamegy
to go in for sports sportol
to go in frequently;
to walk all over		 bejár
to go on, to advance;
to make progress		 halad
to gobble up zabál
to grieve at; to be sad about szomorkodik … miatt
to grow nő
to grow tired elfárad
to hammer kalapál
to hate utál
to have a conversation with sy about sg társalog …-val, -vel …-ról, -ről
to have a good time mulat
to have a wash mosakszik
to have a wash tisztálkodik
to have breakfast reggelizik
to have dinner vacsorázik
to have lunch ebédel
to have to, must;
to need to		 kell
to hear hall
to heat fűt
to help sy do sg segít …-nak, -nek …-ban, -ben
to hide rejt
to hide; to keep a secret titkol
to hit üt
to hit sy (with a car) elüt
to hold, to keep tart
to hold, to take;
to take hold of		 fog
to hope remél
to howl üvölt
to hunt vadászik …-ra, -re
to hurt bánt
to hurt, to ache;
to have …-ache		 fáj
to imprison bebörtönöz
to improve (int.) javul
to inform, to make known közöl
to inherit örököl
to injure; to insult
to violate (a law)		 megsért
to instruct; to command utasít
to insult; to assault bántalmaz
to interpret értelmez
to irritate felbosszant
to jam, to be squeezed szorul
to join csatlakozik …-hoz, -hez, -höz
to jump ugrik
to know (only for things, not for people) tud
to land leszáll
to laugh about nevet …-on, -en, -ön
to learn, to study tanul
to let hagy
to let sg fall leejt
to let sy know sg tudat …-val, -vel …-t
to lie (swhere) fekszik
to lie down, to go to bed lefekszik
to light meggyújt
to like sy kedvel
to limp sántít
to listen to hallgat
to litter szemetel
to live él
to live swhere, to reside lakik
to loaf lófrál
to lock zár, bezár
to loiter ténfereg
to look for keres
to look for food in a refuse bin kukázik
to look, to watch néz
to lose veszít
to lose one’s way eltéved
to love szeret
to make a show of fitogtat
to make angry felmérgesít
to make experiments kísérletezik
to make friends with sy barátkozik …-val -vel
to make sg faster gyorsít
to make sy lose the power of speech megnémít
to make sy smarter okosít
to make war háborúzik
to make white fehérít
to manage, to administer igazgat
to marinade pácol
to marvel about ámul …-on, -en, -ön
to measure, to weigh lemér
to meet sy találkozik …-val, -vel
to mend javít
to mew nyávog
to neigh nyerít
to nurse; to care of ápol
to obey sy engedelmeskedik …-nak, -nek
to offer for sale árul
to open nyit, kinyit
to operate on műt
to organize szervez
to outwit kicselez
to overthrow (a government);
to break (a record)		 megdönt
to overturn (int.) felborul
to overturn; to decide dönt
to own; to endure bír
to pack csomagol
to pack pakol
to paint fest
to paralyse megbénít
to park parkol
to pass (time passes) múlik
to pay fizet
to pay sy a visit vizitel …-nál, -nél
to pay taxes adózik
to peep kukucskál
to penetrate behatol
to pick up;
to engage (worker)		 felvesz
to pity szán
to place; to assert állít
to plan tervez
to play játszik
to play chess sakkozik
to poison megmérgez
to ponder about elmélkedik …-on, -en, -ön
to possess birtokol
to pour; to fill tölt
to praise dícsér
to press szorít
to pretend tettet
to prevent; to precede;
to overtake (another car)		 megelőz
to prick, to sting szúr
to protect óv
to provoke provokál
to publish kiad
to publish publikál
to pull húz
to purchase, to buy vásárol
to purr dorombol
to push (with elbow) meglök
to push over felborít
to push, to shove tol
to put one’s hands up;
to apply for (a job)		 jelentkezik
to put out of order;
to spoil; to bungle		 elront
to put; to do tesz
to ravage; to rage dúl
to read sg/about sg olvas …-t/…-ról, -ről
to recover (one’s health) meggyógyul
to refuel tankol
to refuse visszautasít
to regret megbán
to reign, to rule uralkodik
to reject (at an exam)
to overthrow (a government)		 megbuktat
to repair szerel
to rest nyugszik
to return visszatér
to revolve, to turn forog
to ride a horse lovagol
to ring cseng
to ring the bell csenget
to rise árad
to risk kockáztat
to roar ordít
to rob rabol
to rummage turkál
to run fut
to run along rohan
to run at top speed száguld
to scold lehord
to scold megszid
to scream sikít
to screech rikácsol
to scrub (floor); to rub against súrol
to see lát
to seem tűnik
to sell elad
to send to school iskoláztat
to set (a watch) beállít
to set off, to depart indul
to set the table megterít
to settle down (swhere) letelepszik
to settle, to colonize telepít, kolonizál
to shake ráz
to shake (head);
to wag (tail)		 csóvál
to shake (int.) reng
to shed its coat vedlik
to shiver (with cold) didereg
to shiver with cold vacog
to shoot lő
to shout kiabál
to shovel lapátol
to show mutat
to shriek sikolt
to shunt tolat
to sing énekel
to sit, to be seated ül
to ski síel
to skin nyúz
to sleep alszik
to slow down lassít
to smear ken
to smoke füstöl
to sneak oson
to sneeze tüsszent
to snow havazik
to solve megold
to speak beszél
to spell betűz
to spit köp
to spoil elkényeztet
to spring, to burst fakad
to squander eltékozol
to squat on one’s heel guggol
to stab ledöf
to stand áll
to stand about ácsorog
to start rajtol
to stay marad
to steal lop
to step lép
to stick ragad
to stick; to occur akad
to stop abbahagy
to storm; to rage tombol
to strike; to afflict sújt
to stroke, to pet simogat
to struggle;
to fight (for/against)		 küzd
to stumble megbotlik
to stupefy butít
to succeed sikerül
to suck; to smoke (cigarattes) szív
to suffer szenved
to suffer torments gyötrődik
to surpass túlszárnyal
to sweat izzad
to sweep seper/söpör
to swim úszik
to swing ringat
to swing (int.) lendül
to swing (int.) ring
to swing sg lendít
to tail skid farol
to take a bath fürdik
to take a walk sétál
to take care of törődik …-val, -vel
to take in (a paper);
to run (the engine)		 járat
to talk about beszélget …-ról, -ről
to talk over;
to come to an agreement		 megbeszél
to talk; to warn szól
to teach tanít
to tear apart szakít
to tear, to rip tép
to tell a lie hazudik
to tell, to narrate mesél
to tell, to say mond
to think gondol
to think about gondolkodik …-on, -en, -ön
to think sg too little kevesell
to thread (needle) fűz
to thrust; to be repulsive taszít
to tickle csiklandoz
to tidy up takarít
to to blow sg up robbant
to toast pirít
to torment gyötör
to torture kínoz
to tow vontat
to trade kereskedik
to travel utazik
to trust megbízik
to try próbál
to turn up the volume felhangosít
to turn/switch off lekapcsol
to turn/switch on felkapcsol
to understand ért
to value, to estimate értékel
to visit meglátogat
to walk, to take a walk gyalogol
to walk; to be swhere jár
to want akar
to wash mos
to watch TV tévézik
to water, to irrigate öntöz
to weave fon
to weld (metal) hegeszt
to win győz
to wither elhervad
to wonder at csodálkozik …-on, -en, -ön
to work (on sg) dolgozik (…-on, -en, -ön)
to write sg/about sg ír …-t/…-ról, -ről
to yawn ásít
to yelp csahol
will be; to become lesz

The Many Faces of Lenni

THE MANY FACES OF LENNI

You already know that the 3rd person singular and plural form of lenni in present tense is not used in predicative constructions (> copula).

Ő tanár. – He is a teacher.
Ők jó gyerekek. – They are good children.
A fiú magas. – The boy is tall.
Ő Sándor. – He is Alexander.

With the exception of that rule, van/vannak are used in any other situation even in present tense.

EXISTENCE:
Van egy toll az asztalon. – There is a pen on the table.
Tanulók vannak az osztályokban. – There are students in the classrooms.
Hány utas van a vonaton? – How many passengers are there on the train?
124 utas van a vonaton. There are 124 passengers on the train.

WHEREABOUTS:
A kocsi a ház előtt van. – The car is in front of the house.
Nem Londonban vannak, hanem Párizsban. – They are not in London, but in Paris.
Hol vagy? – Where are you?
Az állomáson vagyok. – I’m at the station.
Ki van ott? – Who is there?

IS MADE OF/FROM:
A szék fából van. – The chair is made of wood.
A bor szőlőből van. – Wine is made from grapes.
A szobrok bronzból vannak. – The statues are made of bronze.

STATE OF HEALTH:
Hogy vagy? – How are you?
Jól vagyok. – I’m fine.
Nem vagyok túl jól. – I’m not too well.

POSSESSION: with dative pronouns or -nak, -nek suffixes and possessive endings
Nekem van egy autóm. – I have a car.
Nekik lányaik vannak, nem fiaik. – They have daughters, not sons.
Gábornak még egy esélye van. – Gábor has one chance.
A háznak van teteje, de rozoga. – The house has a roof, but it’s shaky.

WHEATER, TIME, DATE, PERIODS OF THE DAY/WEEK/YEAR:
Meleg van. – It is hot.
Esős idő van. – It is rainy.
Hány óra van? – What time is it?
Fél három van. – It is half past two.
2011. október 25.-e van. – It is 25 October, 2011.
Hétfő van. – It is Monday.
Január van. – It is January.

And various idiomatic expressions:

BENNE VAN = TO BE IN
-Buli lesz a strandon. Te is jössz? –Benne vagyok.
-There’s gonna be a beach party. Are you coming? –I’m in.

AZON VAN, HOGY + IMPERATIVE MOOD = TO DO ONE’S BEST TO
Azon vagyok, hogy megtanuljam a leckét.
I’m doing my best to learn the lesson.
Azon vannak, hogy ne késsenek el.
They’re doing their best not to be late.

ÚGY VOLT, HOGY + PRESENT TENSE = SOMEONE WAS TO DO SOMETHING
Úgy volt, hogy eljövök, de valami közbejött.
I was to come, but something came up.
Úgy volt, hogy együtt megyünk moziba, de Péter még sehol sincs.
We were to go to the movies together, but Peter is not here yet.

Van benne valami. – There’s something in it.
Na mi van? – What’s up?
Hol volt, hol nem volt, volt egyszer egy. – Once upon a time there was a…

Language and Pronunciation

ABOUT HUNGARIAN

And here some reasons why Hungarian is not a difficult language:

-One letter is one sound (if you know how to pronounce a letter, you say it exactly like that in every word)
-No gender discrimination (much like in English)
-Adjectives are unmarked when preceding nouns (like in English)
-There is only one present tense, one past tense and the future tense is often expressed with present tense
-Only 14(-20) irregular verbs in the entire language!!
-No striking dialect variations (if you can speak Hungarian, you’ll understand people in the whole country)

Here are some reasons why Hungarian is a difficult language:

-Two ways to conjugate verbs (definite and indefinite)
-Some vowels and consonants are not present in English, or they’re said in a slightly different way
-It is an agglutinative language, that is suffixes are attached to the end of the word. Prepositions are quite unknown. There is only one of them ‘mint’.

Vowels – A a

The Hungarian a is different from anything you know in English. Well almost. You don’t say it as the a in cat or the a in access.

The simplest explanation is the interrogative word: WHAT. The a in what is the closest thing I can refer to if I have to explain native English speakers how to say it. Many books, websites and teachers teach nonsense like “The phoneme a is to be pronounced as o in hot”. It is important for you to understand that Hungarian a has no correlation with any kind of o. Yes, it’s between á (sound like u in cup) and o (sound like o in hot with British pronunciation), but still, it’s definitely not similar to o.

Practice saying these Hungarian words by saying WHAT first and then the Hungarian words:

WHAT- ALMA (apple)
WHAT- ABLAK (window)
WHAT- ALAK (figure)
WHAT – ADAT (data)
WHAT – ALAP (base)

Vowels – Difference between Á-O-A

If you’ve downloaded the book, you already know this:

á is to be pronounced like u in cut, but it’s always a long sound! A better example is the word spa.

o is to be pronounced like hot, bot with British pronunciation! It’s a short sound. Its long version is ó.

a is to be pronounced like the a in the English word what.

Practice these words:

alom (litter)
farok (tail)
okos (smart)
óvatos (wary)
gondos (thoughful)
parkoló (car park)
szálloda (hotel)

Vowels – E e, É é

– e is pronounced like e in get
– é is pronounced like a in bay, except that in Hungarian é never becomes y at the end. Try to say bay without the y.

Practice these words:

szél (wind)
szel (to cut)

téli (winter – as adjective)
teli (full)

vér (blood)
ver (to beat, to hit)

Vowels — I i, Í í

The short i is pronounced like i in kit, the long í like ee in deep.

Practice these words:

kis (small)
iskola (school)
kinn (outside)

ír (to write; Irish)
sír (to cry)
nyíl (arrow)

Vowels — O o, Ó ó

The short o is pronounced like o in hot with British pronunciation. The long ó is said like o in role.

Practice these words:

tol (to push)
bokor (bush)
rokon (relative)

jó (good)
pók (spider)
folyó (river)

Vowels – Ö ö, Ő ő

– ö is pronounced like fur, early, curly, certain, curtain, again
– ő is the same, just longer

Practice these words:

tör (to break)
szög (angle)
köd (fog)
köp (to spit)

lő (to shoot)
kő (stone)
nő (woman)
tő (shaft)

and watch the difference between short ö and long ő:

tör (to break)
tőr (dagger)

örök (eternal)
őrök (guards)

töke (his marrow)
tőke (capital)

Vowels — U u, Ú ú

The short u is pronounced like u in put. The long ú is said like oo in shoot.

Practice these words:

un (to be annoyed)
ruha (clothes)
kulcs (key)

út (road)
súly (weight)
búcsú (good-bye)

Vowels – Ü ü, Ű ű

It’s the hardest vowel for a native English speaker. Examples can be given from other foreign languages.

– ü is pronounced like: ü the German word Mütter or u in the French word tu.
– ű is the same, just longer.

Practice these words:

ül (to be sitting)
fül (ear)
szül (to bear a child)
küld (to send)
szünet (pause)
tünet (symptom)
üveg (bottle)

űr (space)
fű (grass)
szűk (narrow)
tű (needle)

Consonants – C c , CS cs

– c is pronounced like ts in tsunami
– cs is pronounced like ch in change, church. You always write c and s together if you want to write that ch sound

C = TS (tsunami)
CS = CH (change)

Practice these words:

cica (kitten)
cukor (sugar)
kelepce (trap)

csend (silence)
kacsa (duck)
csapat (team)

Consonants – DZ dz, DZS dzs

There’s no need to worry about these consonants. They are present in a few words.

– dz is pronounced like ds in Hudson. The letter dz is a digraph, that is two letters give one sound.
– dzs is pronounced like j in jungle. The letter dzs is a trigraph, that is three letters give one sound.

The few words with dz and dzs are:

madzag (string)
edz (to be in training)
bodza (elderberry)
dzsungel (jungle)
dzsem (jam)
maharadzsa (maharaja)

If you want to tarnscribe the word JUDO in Hungarian, it goes like this: DZSÚDÓ

Consonants – G g , GY gy

– g is always pronounced like g in get
– gy is like saying d in duty, duke with British pronunciation

Practice these words:

galamb (pigeon)
gomb (button)
gitár (guitar)
gömb (orb, sphere)
adag (dose)
ország (country)
bagoly (owl)

gyep (lawn)
egy (one)
megy (he goes)
gyenge (weak)
gyufa (match)
agyag (clay)
gyalog (on foot)

Consonants – H h

H is not really a difficult consontant, but needs an explanation. Fundamentally, it is never a mute h! You always say it like in these words: hit, hat, honey. However, there are some exceptions when h is at the end of certain words. These three words are said without that h sound!

méh (bee), rüh (mange), düh (anger)

If they get a suffix, then h is pronounced again: méhek (bees), rühes (mangy), dühös (angry)

Other words ending in h are fully pronounced: doh (fustiness), potroh (abdomen of an insect)

Consonants – J j, LY ly

If you remember, there are two sounds in Hungarian alphabet, which are pronounced as y in yellow. These are

J and LY

And the difference? There is no difference between j and ly. You say both like y in yellow.  The difference occurs in written form. Due to historical reasons, some words are written with j, some with ly. However, there is only one word beginning with ly: lyuk (hole). Let’s see some examples:

gólya (stork)
pólya (swaddle)
gally (twig) DOUBLE CONSONANT!
ilyen, olyan (like this, like that)
ölyv (buzzard)
bagoly (owl)

száj (mouth)
jelen (present)
nyáj (herd)
éj (night)  – Actually, this word is said like the letter A in English!

Consonants – NY ny, TY ty

– ny is pronounced like n in new with British pronunciation
– ty is pronounced like t in stew, tuna with British pronunciation

COMPARE ny and ty to: – gy is pronounced like d in duke, duty with British pronunciation

Practice these words:

nyak (neck)
nyúl (rabbit)
anya (mother)
lány (girl)
nyal (to lick)
aranyos (cute, sweet – referring to animal, person)
nyeremény (prize)

tyúk (hen) > the only word beginning with ty!
atya (father – meaning clerk, not dad!)
latyak (slush)
báty (elder brother)
fátyol (veil)
hattyú (swan) DOUBLE TY = TTY!

Consonants – S s vs. SZ sz

Now listen to this part carefully! These two sounds are quite in the way of driving foreign students crazy. I think you’ve already realized why.

In English, the S sound is to be said like s in see, spoon and sound itself . The SH combination, however, is said like in ship, Ashton.

NOW COMES THE IMPORTANT PART!

The Hungarian S sound is pronounced like the English SH!!!

AND

The Hungarian SZ sound is pronounced like the English S!!! Furthermore, note that this sound is created with S+Z! So if you see a word like ASZTAL (table), you don’t say s and z separately, but you say this digraph as one sound, like the English S.

Difficult? Not really. You just need to practice and memorize them.

Let’s see examples:

seb (wound)
sas (eagle)
só (salt – said like show in English)
has (belly – almost said like HUSH or HAH-SH)
esik (to fall, to rain)
ás (to dig)

kész (ready, finished)
veszély (danger – said like VEH-SAY;  if it helps?)
szesz (spirit, hard drink)
szex (sex)
eszik (to eat)
iszik (to drink)
szem (eye)

Consonants – Q q, W w, X x, Y y

We’ve arrived to the ’odd’ number 13. So now we’ll take a look at these four strange consonants: q, w, x, y.

What’s important about these consonants is that they are present in loan-words as they were adopted from abroad.

Q is actually not quite present in Hungarian words. The explanation is this: foreign words usually have q followed by u, that is qu. QUANTUM, AQUARIUM and so on. Hungarian transcribes these two letters into KV! Examples: quantum – kvantum; aquarium – akvárium, quartz – kvarc, quasar – kvazár

W is pronounced like the simple V! That is: watt is written like watt, but said as vatt. Other example:

English people say “I’m going to the toilet”, while Hungarian people say “WC-re megyek.” We use the abbreviation for water closet and say it like VÉCÉ, that is VA(Y)-TSA(Y) or VE(Y)-TSE(Y). I hope it’s some help at least.

X is said like IKSZ and pronounced like in English: szex (sex), fax (fax), maximum (maximum), expresszionizmus (expressionism), latex (latex), oximoron (oximoron), oxigén (oxygen). There some words where GZ replaces X: egzakt (exact), egzotikus (exotic), egzisztencia (existence), egzaltált (exalted).

Y is NOT PRONOUNCED in any way! The letter itself is called IPSZILON and has one job in Hungarian: to make g, l, n, t unvoiced!

g+y = gy
l+ y = ly
n+ y = ny
t +y = ty

Consonants – Z z vs. ZS zs

Z vs. ZS is much easier than S vs. SZ.

– z is pronounced like z in zero, zap, zest. It’s the same as its English fellow.
– zs is pronounced like s in pleasure, g in genre, or j in the French name Jean. If you see Z and S together in a word like ZSEB (pocket), you don’t say it separately, but like those S, G, J in those words

Examples for zs (because z is the same):

zsák (sack)
zsarnok (despot, oppressor)
zsaru (cop – it’s a word specifically for ‘cop’. Police-officer is rendőr)
Zsuzsanna (female name – Susan)
bézs (beige)
darázs (wasp)
garázs (garage)
pázsit (lawn – synonym is gyep)
rózsa (rose)

Short and Long/High and Deep Vowels

As written in the book you can download in the Download the grammar book/More to Hungarian category, there are short and long vowels, and consonants are to be pronounced long/doubled if written doubled. It’s important since the length of these sounds changes the meaning of a word.

VOWELS: are either front or back vowel words. The Hungarian term is high (magas) and deep (mély) words. From now on I’ll refer to them like that. HIGH AND DEEP.

High vowels are: e, é, i,  í, ö, ő, ü, ű
Deep vowels are: a, á, o, ó, u, ú

Long sounds are: á, é, í, ó, ő, ú, ű
Short sounds are: a, e, i, o, ö, u, ü

Vowels written without accent are: a, e, o, u
Vowels written with one long accent (stroke on the top) are: á, é, í, ó, ú
Vowels written with two long accents are: ő, ű
Vowels written with two dots on the top are: ö, ü
There is only one vowel written with one dot: i

The capitalized versions of these vowels are the same A, Á, E, É, Í, O, Ó, Ö, Ő, U, Ú, Ü, Ű except the capitalized I which has no dot on the top.

Now let’s see how vowels can change the meaning of a word. In English, it should be familiar to some extent: hat, hit – cat, cut – pet, put…

Examples:

Short/Long vowel <> High/Deep vowels
ver (to beat) <> ver (to beat)
vér (blood) <> vár (to wait)

rak (to put) <> szó (word)
rák (cancer) <> sző (to weave)

kor (age) <> kár (damage)
kór (disease) <> kér (to ask)

kerek (round) <> szél (wind)
kerék (wheel) <> szál (strand)
kérek (I’d like) <> szól (to tell)

IMPORTANT! There are no diphthongs in Hungarian. Every vowel is spelled separately! The only diphthongs you can find is in autó (car) and Európa (Europe).

VOWEL HARMONY

All those troubles with vowels (and consonants) have a purpose. The purpose is to understand:

Hungarian words are either HIGH or DEEP VOWEL words.

Let’s see the vowels according to vowel harmony again.

High vowels: e, é, i, í, ö, ő, ü, ű
Deep vowels: a, á, o, ó, u, ú

The Hungarian language is entirely based on VOWEL HARMONY which means that high-vowel words take suffixes containing high vowels, while deep-vowel words take suffixes containing deep vowels. Examples:

Let’s see these two suffixes: –ban, -ben meaning in, inside. -ban is deep-vowel, -ben is high-vowel.

ház (deep word) + deep-vowel suffix -ban = házban (in the house)

kert (high word) + high-vowel suffix -ben = kertben (in the garden)

Well, that’s all about it in a few words. You can read about it much more in the book. And I’ll continue blogging about it soon. I’ll give you more examples and also exercises:

ablak + -on, -en ? = ablakon (on the window)
ágy + -nál, -nél ? = ágynál (next to the bed)
étterem + -ban, -ben ? = étteremben (in the restaurant)
tér + -hoz, -hez ? = térhez (to the square)

And now the exercises after the examples above:

asztal + -on, -en ? =______________ (on the table)
repülő + -tól, -től ? =_______________ (from the airplane)
bank + -ban, -ben? =________________ (in the bank)
egyetem + -on, -en? =_______________ (at the university)
állomás + -on, -en? =_______________(at the station)

NOTE! Accents on vowels are NOT SYLLABLE ACCENTS!

Long and Short Consonants

Important! While long and short vowels are part of the Hungarian alphabet, doubled consonants are NOT!

Examples can be Italian words : pizza, mamma. You say zz and mm doubled, double as long as it were z or m.

Simple consonants are doubled (gemination) by writing the same letter after it: bb, cc, dd, ff, gg, hh, jj, kk, ll, mm, nn, pp, rr, ss, tt, vv, zz

Digraphs and trigraphs are doubled by only writing the first consonant twice: ccs, ddz, ddzs, ggy, lly, nny, ssz, tty, zzs

At the beginning of a sentence or when writing a name, only the first letter is capitalized: Zsuzsanna…Csak moziba megyek.

Like vowels, consonants can change the meaning of a word when doubled. Common examples for this:

megy (he goes)
meggy (sour cherry)

szál (string)
száll (to fly)

hason (prone)
Hasson! (It’d better have an effect / It should be effective)

Other words with doubled consonants:

dinnye (melon)
tonna (ton)
kotta (music sheet)
abba (into that) – NOTE! It’s not the ABBA band
védett (protected)
fattyú (bastard)
függöny (curtain)

NOTE! Hungarian words NEVER BEGIN with double consonants!

The Alphabet

The entire Hungarian alphabet consists of 14 vowels + 30 consonants = 44 letters. Watch the Hungarian pronunciation in the brackets, as well.

And remember! ONE LETTER IS ONE SOUND!

a á b (bé) c (cé) cs (csé) d (dé) dz (dzé) dzs (dzsé) e é f (eff) g (gé) gy (gyé) h (há) i í j (jé) k (ká) l (ell) ly (ejj) m (emm) n (enn) ny (enny) o ó ö ő p (pé) q (kú) r (err) s (ess) sz (essz) t (té) ty (tyé) u ú ü ű v (vé) w (dupla vé) x (iksz) y (ipszilon) z (zé) zs (zsé)

More in detail:

You say the consonant + é with these letters: b c cs d g gy p t ty v w z zs (bé, cé, csé…)
You say e + the consonant with these letters: f l ly m n ny r s sz (eff, ell…)
You say the consonant + á with these letters: h k (há, ká)

Q = kú
W = dupla vé (double v and NOT DOUBLE U like in English)
X = iksz (not EKS)
Y = ipszilon