50 Useful Words in Hungarian

These usages are equivalents for daily use in a dance camp.
They are NOT designed to be linguistically precise.
There are 42 different sounds signified by the Hungarian alphabet.
ALMOST all of them are INDIVIDUAL letters.
UNLIKE English, however, they are
each pronounced individually, and always pronounced the same.
(See below for a guide to some of the more challenging letters.)


igen 
nem 
tessék 
légy szíves 
köszönöm/köszi 
köszönöm szépen 
nagyon szépen köszönöm 
bal, jobb 
balra, jobbra 
láb, kéz 
lépés 
másik 
másik láb 
forgás 
fordul 
váltás 
párcsere 
egy 
ké/két/kettő 
hár/három 
négy, öt, hat, hét, nyolc, kilenc,
tíz, húsz, harminc, negyven, ötven 
kicsi 
nagy/nagyon 
fiú/férfi 
leány/nő 
nehéz 
egyszerű 
egyszer, kétszer, háromszor 
első, második, harmadik, negyedik 
még egyszer 
megfordul 
hosszú, rövid 
kezdet, vég 
kezdőknek, haladóknak 
tanár, tanítás 
és, az 
bocs, semmi baj 
hiba, nem jó 
ez az 
fáradt 
víz 
meleg, hideg 
reggeli, ébed, vacsora 
keri 
toalett 
hétfő, kedd, szerda
csütörtök, péntek 
szombat, vasárnap 
jó reggelt kívánok
jó napot kívánok 
jó estét kívánok 
délelőtt, délután 
helló/szervusz/szia 
viszontlátásra 
tegnap, ma, holnap 
tavaly, jövőre 
jó étvágyat kívánok 
viszont 
korsó sör 
üveg sör 
pohár bor 
pálinka
egészségünkre
yes
no
if you please
please
thanks
thanks very much
thanks very much indeed
left, right
to the left, to the right
leg/foot, hand
step
other
change feet
turn
spin
change direction
change partners
one
two
three
four, five, six, seven, eight, nine,
ten, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty
little
big/very much
man
woman
difficult
easy
once, twice, three times
first, second, third, fourth
once again
turn around
long, short
beginning, end
for beginners, for advanced
teacher, lesson
and, that
it's my fault, nothing's wrong
mistake, no good
that's it!
tired
water
warm/hot, cold
breakfast, lunch, dinner
second helping
toilet
monday, tuesday, wednesday
thursday, friday
saturday, sunday
good morning
good day/hello
good evening
morning, afternoon
{both} hello {and} goodbye
farewell
yesterday, today, tomorrow
last year, next year
eat well/bon appetit
the same to you
mug of beer
bottle of beer
glass of wine
brandy
cheers/your very good health
With thanks to Kovács Árpi for the spelling assist.


An Approximate Guide to Hungarian Pronunciation
Each individual letter is (almost) always pronounced separately.
This INCLUDES double letters - such as "ll" or "tt".
There are only SEVEN diphthongs
(where two letters are pronounced as one) - see below.
When pronouncing a word, the accent is ALWAYS on the first syllable
An accent is NOT an indication that the sound should be stressed.
A FEW of these sounds require a LOT of practice!

Single Letters

a
á
c
e
é
g
i
í
j
o
ó
ö
ő
r
s
u
ú
ü
ű
This one is tricky - like the "o" in "hot" or the UK "a" in "what"
Like "baa-baa" from a sheep
A hard sound - like the "ts" in cats"
As in "get" or "pen"
Not as you would expect - like "name" or "say"
This is always a hard sound - like "get"
As in "sit"
Not as you would expect - like "meet" or "beat"
Like the "y" in "yes"
As in "politics" or "top"
Not as you would expect - like "tall"
Not an English sound - like "können" (German) or "le" (French)
Difficult - somewhat like "schön" (German) or "deux" (French)
This letter is ALWAYS sounded individually
Pronounced "sh" - this tends to catch you out by surprise!
As in "put"
As in "rule"
Not an English sound - like "küssen" (German) or "tu" (French)
Not an English sound - like "güte" (German) or "début" (French)
Diphthongs
cs
gy
ly
ny
sz
ty
zs
Like the "ch" in "clutch"
This takes practice - somewhat like "j" in "jury"
This takes practice - somewhat like "y" in "yes"
Not an English sound - like a Spanish "ñ" or "cognac" (French)
Not as you would expect - prounced "s"
Like the "ch" in "chew"
Like the "s" in "measure"


Last modified Sunday, 20-Aug-2000 20:14:20 GMT

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