So far you have learnt many useful phrases by heart. In this lesson you will start to build your own sentences. To do that you need two things: words for people (I, you, she, we...) and verbs (learn, speak, work...). Hungarian verbs are very regular in the present tense. Once you know one set of endings, you can use hundreds of verbs.
Personal pronouns
Pronouns are the little words that stand for people: "I", "you", "she", "we" and so on. Here are the Hungarian ones:
| English | Hungarian |
|---|---|
| I | én |
| you (one friend) | te |
| he, she | ő |
| we | mi |
| you (several friends) | ti |
| they | ők |
| you (polite, one person) | Ön |
| you (polite, several people) | Önök |
Notice that ő means both "he" and "she". Hungarian has no gender at all, so you never need to choose. Ő tanár can mean "he is a teacher" or "she is a teacher", and the context tells you which.
Ő Anna. (This is Anna. (She is Anna.)) – pronounced “öö AWN-naw”
Ő tanár. (He is a teacher. / She is a teacher.) – pronounced “öö TAW-naar”
You met te and Ön in Lesson 3. Te is for one friend, and ti is for several friends. Ön is the polite "you" for one person, and Önök is the polite "you" for several people. Remember that Ön uses the same verb form as ő, and Önök uses the same verb form as ők.
The dictionary form
In English, the dictionary form of a verb is "to learn", "to speak". Hungarian dictionaries list verbs in the "he/she" form of the present tense, because it is the simplest form: just the bare stem with no ending.
tanul (he/she learns, studies) – pronounced “TAW-nul”
beszél (he/she speaks) – pronounced “BEH-sayl”
ül (he/she sits) – pronounced “ül”
So when you look up "to learn" in a dictionary, you will find tanul. In this course, we will translate it simply as "learn". To use it with other people, you add an ending to show who is doing it.
The present tense endings
Here is where Hungarian starts to show its character. The endings come in three versions, and you choose the one whose vowels match the vowels of the verb. This is called vowel harmony. Lesson 6 explains it in detail, but the idea is simple:
- If the verb has a, á, o, ó, u, ú in it (the "back" vowels), use the endings with o, u and a.
- If the verb has e, é, i, í (the "front" vowels), use the endings with e and ü.
- If the last vowel of the verb is ö, ő, ü, ű (front vowels with rounded lips), use the endings with ö and ü.
| Person | Back | Front | Rounded |
|---|---|---|---|
| én | -ok | -ek | -ök |
| te | -sz | -sz | -sz |
| ő | – | – | – |
| mi | -unk | -ünk | -ünk |
| ti | -tok | -tek | -tök |
| ők | -nak | -nek | -nek |
Notice that the "he/she" form has no ending at all: it is just the dictionary form. And notice that the "you" ending, -sz, is the same for all three.
Back verbs: tanul (learn)
Tanulok. (I am learning.) – pronounced “TAW-nu-lok”
Tanulsz? (Are you learning?) – pronounced “TAW-nuls”
Péter tanul. (Péter is learning.) – pronounced “PAY-ter TAW-nul”
Tanulunk. (We are learning.) – pronounced “TAW-nu-lunk”
Tanultok. (You (all) are learning.) – pronounced “TAW-nul-tok”
Ők tanulnak. (They are learning.) – pronounced “öök TAW-nul-nawk”
Front verbs: beszél (speak)
Beszélek angolul. (I speak English.) – pronounced “BEH-say-lek AWN-go-lul”
Beszélsz magyarul? (Do you speak Hungarian?) – pronounced “BEH-sayls MAW-dyaw-rul”
Anna beszél németül. (Anna speaks German.) – pronounced “AWN-naw BEH-sayl NAY-meh-tül”
Beszélünk. (We are talking.) – pronounced “BEH-say-lünk”
Beszéltek franciául? (Do you (all) speak French?) – pronounced “BEH-sayl-tek FRAWN-tsi-aa-ul”
Beszélnek. (They are talking.) – pronounced “BEH-sayl-nek”
Rounded verbs: ül (sit)
Itt ülök. (I am sitting here.) – pronounced “itt Ü-lök”
Ott ülsz. (You are sitting there.) – pronounced “ott üls”
Ő itt ül. (He is sitting here. / She is sitting here.) – pronounced “öö itt ül”
Itt ülünk. (We are sitting here.) – pronounced “itt Ü-lünk”
Ott ültök. (You (all) are sitting there.) – pronounced “ott ÜL-tök”
Ők ott ülnek. (They are sitting there.) – pronounced “öök ott ÜL-nek”
Itt means "here" and ott means "there". Here are the three verbs side by side, with some others that work in exactly the same way. The full tables are on the Verb Tables tab.
| tanul | beszél | ül | |
|---|---|---|---|
| én | tanulok | beszélek | ülök |
| te | tanulsz | beszélsz | ülsz |
| ő | tanul | beszél | ül |
| mi | tanulunk | beszélünk | ülünk |
| ti | tanultok | beszéltek | ültök |
| ők | tanulnak | beszélnek | ülnek |
Look at the words in Lesson 4 again: kérek (I ask for) is simply the "I" form of the front verb kér. You already know your first Hungarian verb!
There is something nice here: Hungarian has only one present tense. Tanulok can mean "I learn", "I am learning" and "I do learn". You don't have to choose between "I work" and "I am working" as you do in English.
You can leave out the pronoun
Because the ending already shows the person, Hungarians usually leave out én, te, mi and so on. Tanulok on its own means "I am learning", because only "I" ends in -ok. You only add the pronoun when you want to stress it, often to make a contrast: Én tanulok, te dolgozol. (I am studying, you are working.)
Verbs that end in s, sz or z
One small change: if the verb itself ends in s, sz or z, the "you" form can't add another -sz. It uses -ol, -el or -öl instead. A very common example is olvas (read):
olvasok (I read) – pronounced “OL-vaw-shok”
olvasol (you read) – pronounced “OL-vaw-shol”
olvas (he/she reads) – pronounced “OL-vawsh”
The other forms are regular: olvasunk, olvastok, olvasnak.
The ik-verbs
Some Hungarian verbs end in -ik in the dictionary form. They are called the ik-verbs. They take the same endings as the other verbs, with two differences:
- The "he/she" form ends in -ik: lakik (lives), dolgozik (works).
- The "I" form usually ends in -om, -em or -öm instead of -ok, -ek, -ök: lakom (I live), dolgozom (I work).
| lakik | dolgozik | |
|---|---|---|
| én | lakom | dolgozom |
| te | laksz | dolgozol |
| ő | lakik | dolgozik |
| mi | lakunk | dolgozunk |
| ti | laktok | dolgoztok |
| ők | laknak | dolgoznak |
Itt lakom. (I live here.) – pronounced “itt LAW-kom”
Ott laksz? (Do you live there?) – pronounced “ott lawks”
Péter otthon dolgozik. (Péter works at home.) – pronounced “PAY-ter OTT-hon DOL-go-zik”
Ma nem dolgozunk. (We aren't working today.) – pronounced “maw nem DOL-go-zunk”
Notice dolgozol (you work): dolgozik has a z before the -ik, so the "you" form uses -ol, just like olvasol. In everyday speech you will often hear dolgozok instead of dolgozom. Both are understood, but dolgozom is the standard form, so learn that one.
Eating and drinking
Two very common ik-verbs are a little irregular: eszik (eats) and iszik (drinks). Their stems are esz- and isz-, so the "you" forms use -el and -ol:
| eszik | iszik | |
|---|---|---|
| én | eszem | iszom |
| te | eszel | iszol |
| ő | eszik | iszik |
| mi | eszünk | iszunk |
| ti | esztek | isztok |
| ők | esznek | isznak |
Look what you can do now with the menu words from Lesson 4. The thing you eat or drink is the object, so it takes -t:
Kávét iszom. (I'm drinking coffee.) – pronounced “KAA-vayt I-som”
Mit iszol? (What are you drinking?) – pronounced “mit I-sol”
Egy pogácsát eszem. (I'm eating a savoury scone.) – pronounced “edy PO-gaa-chaat EH-sem”
Anna levest eszik. (Anna is eating soup.) – pronounced “AWN-naw LEH-vesht EH-sik”
Nem iszunk sört. (We don't drink beer.) – pronounced “nem I-sunk shört”
Mit means "what" when it is the object, as in "What are you drinking?". It is mi (what) with the -t ending.
The verb "to be"
The verb "to be" is irregular, as it is in English. Its dictionary form is van (is, there is):
| van | |
|---|---|
| én | vagyok |
| te | vagy |
| ő | van |
| mi | vagyunk |
| ti | vagytok |
| ők | vannak |
Angol vagyok. (I'm English.) – pronounced “AWN-gol VAW-dyok”
Te magyar vagy? (Are you Hungarian?) – pronounced “teh MAW-dyawr vawdy”
Itt vagyunk. (We're here.) – pronounced “itt VAW-dyunk”
Ott vagytok? (Are you (all) there?) – pronounced “ott VAWDY-tok”
Otthon vannak. (They're at home.) – pronounced “OTT-hon VAWN-nawk”
No "is" with he, she and they
Here is something very different from English. When you say what someone or something is (a teacher, Hungarian, tasty), you leave out van and vannak completely. You only use them for where someone or something is, or to say that something exists:
Anna tanár. (Anna is a teacher.) – pronounced “AWN-naw TAW-naar” No van.
Péter magyar. (Péter is Hungarian.) – pronounced “PAY-ter MAW-dyawr” No van.
A kávé finom. (The coffee is tasty.) – pronounced “aw KAA-vay FI-nom” No van.
Anna itt van. (Anna is here.) – pronounced “AWN-naw itt vawn” Where she is, so use van.
Van kávé? (Is there any coffee?) – pronounced “vawn KAA-vay” Something exists, so use van.
You saw this already in Lesson 2, in Ez háromszáz forint (This is 300 forints). With "I", "you" and "we", you always keep the verb: Tanár vagyok (I am a teacher).
Saying "not"
To make a sentence negative, put nem (not) directly in front of the verb:
Nem tanulok. (I'm not studying.) – pronounced “nem TAW-nu-lok”
Nem beszélek magyarul. (I don't speak Hungarian.) – pronounced “nem BEH-say-lek MAW-dyaw-rul”
Péter nem dolgozik. (Péter isn't working.) – pronounced “PAY-ter nem DOL-go-zik”
Nem vagyok tanár. (I'm not a teacher.) – pronounced “nem VAW-dyok TAW-naar”
Anna nem orvos. (Anna isn't a doctor.) – pronounced “AWN-naw nem OR-vosh”
But there is one important exception. When "is not" or "are not" is about where someone is, or whether something exists, Hungarian doesn't say "nem van". It has special words: nincs (is not, there is no) and nincsenek (are not, there are no).
Anna nincs itt. (Anna isn't here.) – pronounced “AWN-naw ninch itt”
Péter nincs otthon. (Péter isn't at home.) – pronounced “PAY-ter ninch OTT-hon”
Nincs kávé. (There's no coffee.) – pronounced “ninch KAA-vay”
Ők nincsenek itt. (They aren't here.) – pronounced “öök NIN-cheh-nek itt”
Van and nincs
Think of van and nincs as a pair. Whenever you would say van in a positive sentence, use nincs in the negative. Whenever you would leave out van (with "he is a teacher"), use nem: Anna tanár. becomes Anna nem tanár., but Anna itt van. becomes Anna nincs itt.
Yes/no questions
In English you change the word order to ask a question: "You speak" becomes "Do you speak?". In Hungarian you don't change anything. You just say the sentence with a question in your voice:
Beszélsz angolul. (You speak English.) – pronounced “BEH-sayls AWN-go-lul”
Beszélsz angolul? (Do you speak English?) – pronounced “BEH-sayls AWN-go-lul”
The melody is different from English, though. In a Hungarian yes/no question, your voice goes up on the second-to-last syllable and then down on the last one. In Beszélsz angolul?, the voice rises on "go" and falls on "lul". Listen to the recordings to hear it. If you let your voice rise at the very end, as in English, it can sound surprised or even angry to a Hungarian.
To answer, Hungarians usually don't just say "yes" or "no". They repeat the verb:
Beszélsz angolul? Igen, beszélek. (Do you speak English? Yes, I do.)
Tanulsz? Nem, nem tanulok. (Are you studying? No, I'm not.)
Ön magyar? Igen. (Are you Hungarian? Yes.)
In formal writing, you may also see the little word -e added to the verb with a hyphen to mark a question: Beszél-e angolul? You don't need to use it yourself.
Also: is
The word is in Hungarian has nothing to do with English "is". It means "also" or "too", and it comes straight after the word it belongs to:
Én is tanulok. (I'm studying too.) – pronounced “ayn ish TAW-nu-lok”
Én is. (Me too.) – pronounced “ayn ish”
Ön is angol? (Are you English too?) – pronounced “ön ish AWN-gol”
Putting it all together
Szia! Mit csinálsz? (Hi! What are you doing?)
Tanulok. Magyarul tanulok. (I'm studying. I'm learning Hungarian.)
Én is! Te itt laksz? (Me too! Do you live here?)
Nem, nem itt lakom. Itt dolgozom. (No, I don't live here. I work here.)
Anna is itt dolgozik? (Does Anna work here too?)
Igen, de ma nincs itt. (Yes, but she isn't here today.)
De means "but", and ma means "today".
Conclusion
You can now make your own sentences in the present tense. You know the pronouns, the three versions of the verb endings, the ik-verbs, the verb "to be", how to say "not" with nem and nincs, and how to ask a yes/no question. Look over the Verb Tables and the Vocabulary, then try the Exercises. In Lesson 6 you will learn exactly how vowel harmony works, and how to make nouns plural. For more verbs, see the verbs grammar page.