Causative and Formal Writing

This lesson has two parts. First you will learn the causative, a single ending that means "to have something done" or "to make someone do something". Then you will look at formal Hungarian: the different ways of being polite, and how to write a formal letter or email. Both are things you need when you start living and working in Hungarian, dealing with landlords, offices, banks and repairmen.

The causative: having something done

In English, if you don't repair your car yourself, you say "I'm having my car repaired". Hungarian does this with one ending, -at/-et or -tat/-tet, added to the verb:

▶Megjavítom az autómat. (I'm repairing my car.) I do it myself.

▶Megjavíttatom az autómat. (I'm having my car repaired.) Someone else does it.

The result is an ordinary new verb, and it conjugates like any other: ▶megjavíttatom, ▶megjavíttatod, ▶megjavíttatja; past ▶megjavíttattam.

-at/-et or -tat/-tet?

The general rule is simple:

• Most one-syllable verbs take -at/-et: ▶ír → ▶írat, ▶mos → ▶mosat, ▶vág → ▶vágat, ▶fest → ▶festet.
• Verbs of two or more syllables, and all verbs in -ít, take -tat/-tet: ▶csinál → ▶csináltat, ▶olvas → ▶olvastat, ▶épít → ▶építtet, ▶javít → ▶javíttat.

There are a few exceptions, and some causatives have developed their own meanings. Learn these as separate words:

▶eszik, etet (eat → to feed)

▶iszik, itat (drink → to give a drink to (animals))

▶ül, ültet (sit → to seat (someone); to plant)

▶fekszik, fektet (lie → to lay (someone) down; to invest)

▶tud, tudat (know → to inform, let (someone) know) Formal.

Having things done

The most useful everyday meaning is "to get or have something done by a professional":

▶Levágattam a hajamat. (I had my hair cut.)

▶Kitakaríttatjuk a lakást, mielőtt beköltözünk. (We're having the flat cleaned before we move in.)

▶A szüleim házat építtetnek. (My parents are having a house built.)

▶Megcsináltattam a cipőmet. (I had my shoes repaired.) Hungarian says "my shoe", singular.

▶Kifestetjük a nappalit. (We're having the living room painted.)

Making someone do something

The causative also means "to make or let someone do something". If the original verb has an object, the person who does the action goes into the -val/-vel case:

▶A tanár felolvastatja a szöveget a diákokkal. (The teacher has the students read the text aloud.)

▶Az anyja mindig vele mosatja el az edényeket. (His mother always makes him wash the dishes.)

If the original verb has no object, the person goes into the accusative:

▶A főnök késő estig dolgoztatja a kollégáit. (The boss makes his colleagues work until late in the evening.)

▶Mindenkit megnevettet. (He makes everyone laugh.)

▶Ne várass meg! (Don't keep me waiting!)

-hat/-het: may, can

In Lesson 15 you learned that -hat/-het means "can" or "may". It is the Hungarian way of giving permission, and it combines happily with the causative:

▶Most már hazamehetsz. (You can go home now.)

▶Bejöhetek? (May I come in?)

▶A cipődet megjavíttathatod a sarki cipésznél. (You can have your shoes repaired at the shoemaker on the corner.)

For "let someone do something", use ▶hagy (let, leave) with an infinitive, or ▶enged / ▶megenged (allow) with ▶hogy and the subjunctive (Lesson 21):

▶Hagyd aludni a gyereket! (Let the child sleep!)

▶A szüleim nem engedik, hogy egyedül utazzak. (My parents don't let me travel alone.)

▶Engedje meg, hogy bemutatkozzam. (Allow me to introduce myself.) Very formal.

Ways of being polite

In Lesson 3 you learned the difference between ▶tegezés (saying ▶te) and ▶magázás (being formal). Now let's look more closely at the formal side, because Hungarian has several ways of doing it, and each one sounds different.

Ön and Önök

▶Ön (singular) and ▶Önök (plural) are the standard polite pronouns. They take 3rd person verbs. This is what you will hear in shops, offices, on the phone and in all official writing. In letters they are usually written with a capital letter, as a sign of respect, though ▶ön in lower case is also correct.

▶Ön mit kér? (What would you like?)

▶Önök honnan jöttek? (Where have you come from? (plural))

▶Elnézést, Ön beszél angolul? (Excuse me, do you speak English?)

In practice, Hungarians very often leave out the pronoun altogether and just use the 3rd person verb: ▶Mit kér?, ▶Hogy van?. This sounds polite and natural.

Maga

▶Maga is another polite pronoun, with the same 3rd person verbs. Many older people and people in the countryside use it in a perfectly friendly way. But in Budapest and among younger people it can sound distant, and in an argument it can even sound rude: ▶Maga mit képzel? means "Who do you think you are?" As a learner, stick to ▶Ön or leave the pronoun out.

Tetszik + infinitive

There is a third, very Hungarian kind of politeness. When children and younger people talk to older people (especially older women), they often use ▶tetszik + infinitive instead of a normal verb. ▶Tetszik here doesn't mean "like" at all. It is just a polite helper:

▶Hogy tetszik lenni? (How are you?) Instead of Hogy van?

▶Mit tetszik kérni? (What would you like?) A shop assistant to an elderly customer.

▶Hova tetszik menni? (Where are you going?)

▶Tessék! (Here you are! / Pardon? / Come in!) The subjunctive of tetszik, used for many polite purposes.

Together with this goes the greeting ▶Csókolom! ("I kiss (your hand)"), which children say to adult women, and which some men still say to older women.

Titles

When you speak formally to someone, you often use a title instead of a name:

▶Kovács úr (Mr Kovács) úr = sir, Mr, after the name.

▶Uram (sir)

▶Hölgyem (madam)

▶Tanár úr, tanárnő (Sir, Miss (to a teacher)) Also used at university.

▶Doktor úr, doktornő (Doctor)

Writing a formal letter

Hungarian formal letters and emails follow a few clear conventions. Once you know them, they are easy to copy.

The greeting

The greeting ends with an exclamation mark, not a comma, and the letter starts on a new line with a capital letter:

▶Tisztelt Hölgyem, Uram! (Dear Sir or Madam,)

▶Tisztelt Kovács Úr! (Dear Mr Kovács,)

▶Tisztelt Ügyfélszolgálat! (Dear Customer Service,)

▶Kedves Tanárnő! (Dear Teacher, (to a woman)) Kedves = dear, less formal than Tisztelt.

▶Kedves Péter! (Dear Péter,)

Use ▶Tisztelt (respected) for strangers and officials, and ▶Kedves (dear) for people you know. In greetings, every word of a title is usually written with a capital letter.

Useful formal phrases

▶Azzal a kéréssel fordulok Önhöz, hogy... (I am writing to ask you to...) Literally "I turn to you with the request that..."

▶Ezúton szeretném jelezni, hogy... (I would like to let you know that...)

▶Tájékoztatom, hogy... (I wish to inform you that...)

▶Mellékelten küldöm... (Please find attached...)

▶Kérem, szíveskedjen... (Would you kindly...) + infinitive. Very formal.

▶Válaszát előre is köszönöm. (Thank you in advance for your reply.)

▶Várom mielőbbi válaszát. (I look forward to your prompt reply.)

The ending

The closing phrase is followed by a colon, and then your name, with the family name first:

▶Tisztelettel: (Yours faithfully, (very formal))

▶Üdvözlettel: (Kind regards,)

▶Szívélyes üdvözlettel: (Warm regards,)

▶Köszönettel: (With thanks,)

▶Kovács Anna (Anna Kovács) Family name first.

The date

Hungarian dates go from the largest unit to the smallest: year, month, day. The year is followed by a full stop, the month is written in lower case, and the day is followed by a full stop:

▶Budapest, 2026. november 6. (Budapest, 6 November 2026)

You can see two complete examples on the Model Letters tab.

Conclusion

You can now have things done for you, make people do things, and write to an office or a teacher in correct, polite Hungarian. Read the Model Letters, learn the Vocabulary and practise with the Exercises. In Lesson 25 we go to the other end of the scale: slang, idioms, proverbs and the varieties of Hungarian.