Tap a sentence to see its translation.
Hungarian is written with the Latin alphabet, and a word is said almost exactly as it is written: each letter has one sound, and no letter is silent. An English speaker meets four difficulties: s is said “sh” and sz is said “s”, the reverse of what the eye expects; c is “ts”, never “k” or “s”; ly and j are both “y”; and the vowels ö, ő, ü and ű have no English sound. The accent on a vowel marks length, never stress, and a double consonant is held longer. The stress falls on the first syllable of every word.
0
The Hungarian alphabet
The alphabet has forty-four letters. Nine of them are written with two or three signs but are single letters: cs, dz, dzs, gy, ly, ny, sz, ty and zs. Each has its own place in the alphabet and in the dictionary, so that cs comes after c and sz after s. A long vowel (á é í ó ő ú ű) is sorted with its short one. The letters q, w, x and y are found only in names and loanwords (Washington, taxi); Hungarian writes such sounds with kv, v, ksz and i in its own words.
A letter’s name is what you say when you spell a word aloud, for example your name or address on the phone.
| Letter | Name | Sounds | Examples | Tip |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A a | a /ɒ/ | /ɒ/ | hat anya | short, with rounded lips, like the “o” of British “hot” (hat); never the “a” of “cat” said a, like the “o” of British “hot” |
| Á á | á /aː/ | long, like the “a” of “father” (ház); never “ay” said á, like the “a” of “father”sorted with a | ||
| B b | bé /beː/ | /b/ | bor | as in English (bor) said bé, “bay” with no glide at the end |
| C c | cé /tseː/ | /ts/ | cukor | “ts” as in “cats” (cukor); never “k” and never “s” said cé, “tsay”, with the “ts” of “cats” |
| CS cs | csé /tʃeː/ | “ch” as in “church” (család) said csé, “chay”, with the “ch” of “church” | ||
| D d | dé /deː/ | /d/ | dió | as in English (dió) said dé, “day” with no glide at the end |
| DZ dz | dzé /dzeː/ | “dz”, as in “adze” (edző); rare, found in a few words said dzé, “dzay”, with the “dz” of “adze” | ||
| DZS dzs | dzsé /dʒeː/ | “j” as in “jam” (dzsekí); rare, found in loanwords said dzsé, “jay”, with the “j” of “jam” | ||
| E e | e /ɛ/ | /ɛ/ | nem | like the “e” of “bed” (nem) said e, like the “e” of “bed” |
| É é | é /eː/ | long, close to the “ay” of “day” with no glide (név) said é, close to “ay” of “day” with no glidesorted with e | ||
| F f | ef /ɛf/ | /f/ | fa | as in English (fa) said ef, like the English letter “F” |
| G g | gé /ɡeː/ | /ɡ/ | gép | the “g” of “go” (gép); never the “g” of “gem” said gé, “gay”, with the “g” of “go” |
| GY gy | gyé /ɟeː/ | one soft sound, close to the “d” of British “duke” (magyar); the tongue presses against the roof of the mouth said gyé, “dyay”, with the soft “gy” | ||
| H h | há /haː/ | /h/ | ház | the “h” of “hat”, said in full (ház) said há, “haa”, with the “h” of “hat” |
| I i | i /i/ | /i/ | itt | short, like the “i” of “bit” (itt); never “eye” said i, like “ee” in “see”, but short |
| Í í | í /iː/ | long, like “ee” in “see” (víz) said í, like “ee” in “see”sorted with i | ||
| J j | jé /jeː/ | /j/ | jó | the “y” of “yes” (jó); never the “j” of “jam” said jé, “yay”, with the “y” of “yes” |
| K k | ká /kaː/ | /k/ | kép | as in English (kép) said ká, “kaa”, with the “k” of “key” |
| L l | el /ɛl/ | /l/ | lány | as in English, clear (lány) said el, like the English letter “L” |
| LY ly | elipszilon /ˈɛlipsilon/ | the “y” of “yes”, the same sound as j (hely) said elipszilon, “EL-ip-see-lon”, a long name for the letter “l” with “y” | ||
| M m | em /ɛm/ | /m/ | magyar | as in English (magyar) said em, like the English letter “M” |
| N n | en /ɛn/ | /n/ | nem | as in English (nem) said en, like the English letter “N” |
| NY ny | eny /ɛɲ/ | like “ny” in “canyon” (anya); one sound said eny, “en” with a “y” at the end | ||
| O o | o /o/ | /o/ | ott | like the “o” of “more” without the glide into “oo” (ott); never “oh” as in “go” said o, like the “o” of “more” without a glide |
| Ó ó | ó /oː/ | long, the same sound held longer (jó) said ó, the “o” of “more” held longersorted with o | ||
| Ö ö | ö /ø/ | round your lips as for “oh” and say the “ay” of “day” (öt); close to the “ur” of “nurse” said without an r said ö, the vowel of öt | ||
| Ő ő | ő /øː/ | the same as ö, held longer (ő, “he, she”) said ő, the vowel ö held longersorted with ö | ||
| P p | pé /peː/ | /p/ | pénz | as in English (pénz) said pé, “pay” with no glide at the end |
| Q q | kú /kuː/ | “k” plus “v” (kv), a letter of names and loanwords only said kú, “koo” | ||
| R r | er /ɛr/ | /r/ | rizs | a quick tap of the tongue, like the “tt” of American “butter” (rizs); never the English r said er, like “air” with a tapped r |
| S s | es /ɛʃ/ | /ʃ/ | sajt | the “sh” of “shop” (sajt); never “s” said es, like “esh”, with the “sh” of “shop” |
| SZ sz | esz /ɛs/ | the “s” of “see” (szia); never “z” said esz, like the English letter “S” | ||
| T t | té /teː/ | /t/ | te | as in English (te), the tongue against the upper teeth said té, “tay” with no glide at the end |
| TY ty | tyé /ceː/ | one soft sound, close to the “t” of British “tune” (kutya) said tyé, “tyay”, with the soft “ty” | ||
| U u | u /u/ | /u/ | utca | like the “oo” of “food” (utca), but short; never “you” said u, like “oo” in “food” |
| Ú ú | ú /uː/ | long, like the “oo” of “food” (út) said ú, like “oo” in “food” held longersorted with u | ||
| Ü ü | ü /y/ | round your lips as for “oo” and say “ee” (ül); close to French u said ü, the vowel of ül | ||
| Ű ű | ű /yː/ | the same as ü, held longer (tűz) said ű, the vowel ü held longersorted with ü | ||
| V v | vé /veː/ | /v/ | víz | as in English (víz) said vé, “vay” with the “v” of “van” |
| W w | dupla vé /ˈduplɒveː/ | “v” (Washington); a letter of names and loanwords only said dupla vé, “double v” | ||
| X x | iksz /iks/ | /ks/ | taxi | “ks” (taxi); a letter of loanwords only said iksz, like the English letter “X” |
| Y y | ipszilon /ˈipsilon/ | “i”, found in old family names and loanwords (Bátory); it is not a letter of the words of daily life said ipszilon, “IP-see-lon” | ||
| Z z | zé /zeː/ | /z/ | zöld | the “z” of “zoo” (zöld) said zé, “zay” with the “z” of “zoo” |
| ZS zs | zsé /ʒeː/ | the “s” of “pleasure” (rizs); never “j” said zsé, “zhay”, with the “s” of “pleasure” |
Spelling aloud. A word is spelt aloud with the name of each letter: ház (“house”) is spelt há – á – zé. A single letter written with two or three signs is named with its own name, since sz is esz and zs is zsé; s and sz are told apart by their names, es and esz. The question Hogy írják? means “How is it written?”. The names of the long vowels are the vowels themselves, á, é, í, ó, ő, ú and ű.
- sajtcheese
- sziahi
- cukorsugar
Most consonants are said much as in English: b, d, f, h, k, l, m, n, p, t, v and z. Said differently are c, j, r, s and sz, and above all the vowels ö, ő, ü and ű, which are in the part « Written marks ». Every vowel is pure: it does not glide, as English “no” ends in “oo” and “day” in “ee”.
Difference from English
English spells one sound in many ways and one letter in many sounds. Hungarian has one sound for each letter or group of letters, with one trap for an English reader: s and sz are the reverse of what the eye expects. s is “sh” (sajt, “cheese”) and sz is “s” (szia, “hi”). The letter c is always “ts”, never “k” or “s”, and j is always “y”, never the “j” of “jam”; that sound is written dzs.
Vowels in two groups
The fourteen vowels are grouped by where the tongue is: back a á o ó u ú and front e é i í ö ő ü ű. A Hungarian word draws its vowels mostly from one group, and the endings added to it follow its last vowel. This is called vowel harmony, and it is taught with the grammar of A1.
Common mistakes
[ʃiːa]→ [siɒ]In szia, sz is “s” and not “sh”: it is s alone that is “sh”.[ˈkukoɾ]→ [ˈtsukoɾ]In cukor, c is “ts” and never “k”.[ˈdʒoː]→ [ˈjoː]In jó, j is the “y” of “yes”, never the “j” of “jam”.
Practise
0
Letter groups
Hungarian writes some single sounds with two or three letters, as English writes “sh” or “ch”. In Hungarian they are single letters of the alphabet: each of them is a letter of its own, and its second letter does not change the first. Three of them look like a normal pair but are not: sz is not “s” followed by “z”, zs is not “z” followed by “s”, and gy is not “g” followed by “y”. A consonant may also be written twice, and then it is said longer; tt, ll and ssz are examples.
| Spelling | Sounds | Examples | Tip |
|---|---|---|---|
| cs | /tʃ/ | család | “ch” as in “church” (család); never “k” or “s” |
| dz | /dz/ | edző | “dz” as in “adze” (edző); rare |
| dzs | /dʒ/ | dzseki | “j” as in “jam” (dzsekí); rare |
| gy | /ɟ/ | magyar | one soft sound, close to the “d” of British “duke” (magyar) |
| ly | /j/ | hely | the “y” of “yes” (hely); the same sound as j |
| ny | /ɲ/ | anya | like “ny” in “canyon” (anya); one sound |
| sz | /s/ | szia | the “s” of “see” (szia); never “z” |
| ty | /c/ | kutya | one soft sound, close to the “t” of British “tune” (kutya) |
| zs | /ʒ/ | rizs | the “s” of “pleasure” (rizs) |
| tt | /tː/ | itt | a long “t”, held for two beats, as in “cat tail” (itt); both letters are said |
| ll | /lː/ | kell | a long “l”, held for two beats, as in “wholly” (kell); both letters are said |
| ssz | /sː/ | asszony | a long “s”, held for two beats, as in “this sauce” (asszony); written ssz, never szsz |
- családfamily
- magyarHungarian
- helyplace
- anyamother
- kutyadog
- rizsrice
- itthere
- kellit is necessary
Difference from English
A double consonant is held longer, as the two words of English “cat tail” are said with a pause between “t” and “t”. In Hungarian, the length changes the word: kel (“he gets up”) and kell (“it is necessary”) differ only in the length of the l. English never makes this distinction, so the second letter is not decoration: say it.
Remember
The long consonants of a double letter follow the digraph: sz doubled is ssz (asszony, “woman”), cs doubled is ccs, and ny doubled is nny. Only the first letter is written twice.
Practise
0
Written marks
Hungarian marks vowels in two ways. An acute accent (á é í ó ú) makes a vowel long, and the long vowel is the same quality as the short one, except that a and á differ in quality too. Two dots (ö ü) change the vowel into a front rounded one, and a double acute accent (ő ű) makes that vowel long. In every case the mark is part of the letter: a and á are two letters, as are o and ó.
| Spelling | Sounds | Examples | Tip |
|---|---|---|---|
| á | /aː/ | ház | long, like the “a” of “father” (ház); never “ay” |
| é | /eː/ | név | long, close to the “ay” of “day” with no glide (név) |
| í | /iː/ | víz | long, like “ee” in “see” (víz) |
| ó | /oː/ | jó | long, like the “o” of “more” held longer (jó); no glide into “oo” |
| ö | /ø/ | öt | round your lips as for “oh” and say the “ay” of “day” (öt) |
| ő | /øː/ | ő | the same as ö, held longer (ő, “he, she”) |
| ú | /uː/ | út | long, like “oo” in “food” (út) |
| ü | /y/ | ül | round your lips as for “oo” and say “ee” (ül); close to French u |
| ű | /yː/ | tűz | the same as ü, held longer (tűz) |
Difference from English
The accent marks length, never stress. In English an accent mark is rare and the stress moves from word to word. In Hungarian the stress is always on the first syllable, whatever the accents: ma-gyar, i-ga-zán, ké-szít are all said with a stress on the first syllable. A long vowel is held longer, and the word changes with it: sor (“row”) and sór (“salt”) differ by the length of the o.
- házhouse
- névname
- vízwater
- jógood
- ötfive
- őhe, she
- útroad
- ülhe sits
- tűzfire
Short and long vowels
Seven vowels have a short and a long form: a á, e é, i í, o ó, ö ő, u ú, ü ű. The two forms are two different letters in the alphabet, and a change from short to long changes the word. Long and short vowels also keep their group: u ú o ó a á are back, ü ű ö ő e é i í are front. The group of a word's vowels sets which ending it takes, which is vowel harmony.
Common mistakes
[hɒz]→ [haːz]In ház, á is long and open, like the “a” of “father”; the short a is the rounded “o” of British “hot”.[ˈoːt]→ [øt]In öt, ö is not “o”: the lips of “oh” say the “ay” of “day”.[ul]→ [yl]The two dots of ü are part of the letter: ül is said with the lips of “oo” saying “ee”, never a plain “oo”.
Practise
0
In short
| Written | Said | Example |
|---|---|---|
| s | “sh” of “shop” | sajt |
| sz | “s” of “see” | szia |
| c | “ts” of “cats” | cukor |
| cs | “ch” of “church” | család |
| zs | “s” of “pleasure” | rizs |
| gy | soft sound, close to “d” of British “duke” | magyar |
| ty | soft sound, close to “t” of British “tune” | kutya |
| ny | “ny” of “canyon” | anya |
| j, ly | “y” of “yes” | jó, hely |
| a | short, “o” of British “hot” | hat |
| á | long, “a” of “father” | ház |
| ö, ü | lips of “oh” saying “ay”; lips of “oo” saying “ee” | öt, ül |
| ő, ű | ö, ü held longer | ő, tűz |
| tt, ll, ssz | held longer | itt, kell, asszony |