Hungarian phrasebook

Hungarian is a linguistic island; surrounded by Germanic and Slavic languages, both of which it is unrelated to. Two of Hungarians relatives, both spoken in Europe, are Finnish and Estonian. It shares with them the following properties:

• There is no grammatical gender.
• The first syllable is always stressed.
• Vowel and consonant length are distinctive; i.e., the meanings of words change when they are altered.
• Words are marked by case endings ("suffixes") which take on vowels similar to those in the words (e.g., a vonat Budára vagy Pestre közlekedik = the train goes to Buda or Pest). The importance of the similarity of vowels is a common aspect among languages which share a feature known as vowel harmony. The rules of vowel harmony are quite complex, but it basically consists of "front" vowels being placed with "front" vowels and "back" vowels placed with "back".

Pronunciation guide

Vowels

Vowel length is indicated by the acute accent. Words are often distinguished only by vowel length: e.g., jóbb "better" vs. jobb "right".

a

like 'o' in "old" (a very deep "o") ? [SYMBOL: å]

á

like 'a' in "father" ? [SYMBOL: a]

e

like 'e' in "let" ? [SYMBOL: e]

é

like 'a' in "say" ? [SYMBOL: ey]

i

like i in "hit" ? [SYMBOL: i]

í

like 'ee' in "seem" ? [SYMBOL: ee]

o

like 'o' in "or" ? [SYMBOL: o]

ó

like 'o' in "so" ? [SYMBOL: oa]

ö

like 'ö' in German "schön" or English "shun" (with rounded lips) ? [SYMBOL: ø]

?

like 'ö' but longer ? [SYMBOL: ø?]

u

like 'ou' in "could" ? [SYMBOL: ou]

ú

like 'oo' in "moon" ? [SYMBOL: oo]

ü

like 'ü' in German "über" (like "ee" with rounded lips) ? [SYMBOL: ?]

?

like "ü" but longer ? [SYMBOL: ??]

Consonants

Only the consonants having sounds different from those in English are noted here. Consonant length is distinctive: tizenegyedik "eleventh" vs. tizennegyedik "fourteenth". Consonants written with two letters are doubled by doubling the first letter: asszony "woman". Exception: tizennyolc is tizen-nyolc.

c

like 'ts' in hats ? [SYMBOL: ts]

cs

like 'ch' in chair ? [SYMBOL: ch]

dzs

like 'dg' in badge ? [SYMBOL: j]

gy

like 'j' in major or 'de y' in made your ? [SYMBOL: dj]

j

like 'y' in yes ? [SYMBOL: y]

ly

same

ny

as in canyon or 'ñ' in señor ? [SYMBOL: ny]

r

always rolled like as in Spanish "María

s

as in sugar ? [SYMBOL: sh]

sz

like 's' in see ? [SYMBOL: s]

ty

like 'tch' in batch ? [SYMBOL: ty]

zs

like 'g' in genre or 's' in pleasure ? [SYMBOL: zh]

Phrase list

Basics

Hello.

Szervusz. (SER-voos)

Hello. (informal)

Szia. (SEE-å) [like English "See ya!", (what a coincidence!)]

How are you?

Hogy vagy? (hodj vådj)

Fine, thank you.

Köszönöm, jól. (KØ-sø-nøm, yoal)

What is your name?

Hogy hívják? (hodj HEEV-yak?)

My name is ____________________________________________________________________________________

__ vån S?K-shey-gem'')

...toothpaste.

Fogkrémre... (FOG-kreym-re)

...a toothbrush.

Fogkefére... (FOG-ke-fey-re)

...tampons.

Tamponra... (TÅM-pon-rå)

...soap.

Szappanra... (SÅP-pån-rå)

...shampoo.

Samponra... (SHAM-pon-rå)

...pain reliever. (e.g., aspirin or ibuprofen)

Fájdalomcsillapítóra (például aszpirinre vagy ibuprofenre)... (FAY-då-lom-chil-lå-pee-toa-rå (PEL-da-oul ÅS-pi-rin-re vådj I-bou-pro-fen-re))

...cold medicine.

Megh?lés/megfázás elleni gyógyszerre... (MEG-h??-leys/MEG-fa-zash EL-le-ni DJOADJ-ser-re)

...stomach medicine.

Hasfogóra... (HÅSH-fo-goa-rå)

...a razor.

Borotvára... (BO-rot-va-rå)

...an umbrella.

Eserny?re... (E-sher-nyø?-re)

...sunblock lotion.

Er?s naptejre... (E-rø?sh NÅP-tey-re)

...a postcard.

Képeslapra... (KEY-pesh-låp-rå)

...postage stamps.

Bélyegre... (BEY-???eg-re)

...batteries.

Elemre... (E-lem-re)

...writing paper.

Üres papírra... (?-resh PÅ-peer-rå)

...a pen.

Tollra... (TOL-rå)

...English-language books.

Angol nyelv? könyvre... (ÅN-gol NYELV-?? KØN?-vre)

...English-language magazines.

Angol nyelv? lapra/magazinra... (ÅN-gol NYELV-?? LÅP-rå/MÅ-gå-zin-rå)

...an English-language newspaper.

Angol nyelv? újságra... (ÅN-gol NYELV-?? OOY-shag-rå)

...an English-Hungarian dictionary.

Angol-magyar szótárra. (ÅN-gol/MÅ-djår SO-tar-rå)

Driving

I want to rent a car.

Autót szeretnék bérelni. (Å-ou-toat SE-ret-neyk BEY-rel-ni)

Can I get insurance?

Köthetek biztosítást? (KØT-he-tek BIZ-to-shee-tasht)

STOP (on a street sign)

STOP

one way

egyirányú (E-dji-ra-nyoo)

yield

els?bbségadás kötelez? (EL-shø?b-shey-gå-dash KØ-te-le-zø?)

no parking

megállni tilos (ME-gal-ni TI-losh)

speed limit

sebességkorlátozás (SHE-besh-sheyg-kor-la-to-zash)

gas (petrol) station

benzinkút (BEN-zin-koot)

petrol

benzin (BEN-zin)

diesel

gázolaj/dízel (GAZ-o-lay/DEE-zel)

Authority

I haven't done anything wrong.

Nem csináltam semmi rosszat. (nem CHIN-al-tåm SHEM-mi RO-såt)

It was a misunderstanding.

Félreértés volt. (FEYL-re-eyr-teys volt)

Where are you taking me?

Hova visz engem? (HO-vå vis EN-gem)

Am I under arrest?

Le vagyok tartóztatva? (le VÅ-djok TÅR-toaz-tåt-vå)

I am an American/Australian/British/Canadian citizen.

Amerikai/ausztrál/brit/kanadai állampolgár vagyok. (Å-me-ri-kå-i/Å-oust-ral/brit/KÅ-nå-då-i AL-låm-pol-gar VÅ-djok)

I want to talk to the American/Australian/British/Canadian embassy/consulate.

Az amerikai/ausztrál/brit/kanadai követséggel akarok beszélni. (åz Å-me-ri-kå-i/Å-oust-ral/brit/KÅ-nå-då-i KØ-vet-shey-gel Å-kå-rok BE-seyl-ni)

I want to talk to a lawyer.

Ügyvéddel akarok beszélni. (?DJ-veyd-del Å-kå-rok BE-seyl-ni)

Can I just pay a fine now?

Nem lehetne csak büntetést fizetni? (nem LE-het-ne chåk B?N-te-teysht FI-zet-ni)

Learning more

What is this/that called?

Hogy hívják ezt/azt? (hodj HEEV-yak ezt/åzt)

• Hear and learn useful expressions in Hungarian Sentences are accompanied by sketch pictures to illustrate the situation where conversation happens

Dictionary

• Sztaki Dictionary: on-line dictionary from and to Hungarian and 6 other languages (English, German, French, Dutch, Italian, Polish)

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