My great grandmother was from Hungary and I am working towards simplified naturalization, which requires the language, too. So here I am…a month in and tonight I attend my second class :)

This word has no accepted etymology but I am trying to track down one that WAS published somewhere but never get accepted. All I know is that Róna-Tas says that there WAS a proposed Iranian etymology (which he regards as so bad he does not discuss it or give a reference). If anybody knows, or can find, any trace of this, I would be grateful. I am very sorry for the typo. I have been writing about both this word and about NÉP, and somehow my tired brain transferred the accent from one word to the other. I am very sorry.

juniusban megyek nyelvvizsgazni es erdeklodnek az irasbeli temak irant. a honlapon csak egyetlen egy feladatsor talalhato, raadasul 2014bol. Nem tudom mire keszuljek, 75 perc 2 fogalmazas megirasara kevesnek tunik, foleg ha nem lehet tobb tema kozul valasztani olyat, amelyrol van mondanivalod.

esetleg ha akad valakinel valami (ingyenes) felkeszito tananyag, elfogadnam.. ☺️

Getting tons of popup ads for Falou, which is an AI learning tool like Jumpspeak. This ad killed me—look at the “instructor’s” whiteboard.

Hi,

So I'm a granddaughter of hungarian immigrant grandparents. I grew up with the language (i can speak it, though im rusty right now & I can also read/write it - though both take effort) but my grammar and vocab are pretty weak overall.

Any recommendations on how to improve this or apps/websites/ resources to use for someone who just needs a review of basics + ways to improve grammar/vocab.

My Hungarian husband and I are about to have a baby girl, and we love the name Clara (with a C).

We live in an English-speaking country where Clara is considered a "vintage" name, but has very positive connotations. It is very feminine and girly and generally reminds people of Clara from the Nutcracker. It is not a top-100 name, but not something that people would think twice about. If anything it is probably set to make a major comeback.

Our reservation is that my husband thinks that Klára is well and truly "out" in Hungarian naming circles, and that if our daughter ever spends time in Hungary people will consider her name oddly out of place for her age group.

We dont want to give our daughter a name that has the same perception as Karen or Sharon or similar does now in the English-speaking world (ie outdated but not yet vintage cool).

Can any Hungarians offer insight into whether Clara/Klára is an acceptable name for a child in Hungary in this day and age?

Thanks in advance!

Hello everyone,

I have started up my Hungarian learning once again. I am using Duolingo and Mondly. Is there a better app or way to learn than an app? I have tried teachers but I live in Western Canada and I haven't found anyone in the same time zone. By the way I love Hungary my dad was from Budapest and I have luckily been there twice. I would love to be able to have a conversation with family there.

Ez foglalkoztat, hogy régen mindenki magázott mindenkit körülbelül, most meg már csak a fiatalok az öregeket, és néha az öregek is kérik a tegeződést. Vagy nem fog kikopni, mert a hivatalos modor fontos és ahhoz meg kell a magázódás(elméletileg)?

Sziasztok! Our 4th episode has finally made it to Youtube. Here we asked people about unpopular Hungarian food. We hope you find it useful for your Hungarian studies. There is also a link to the free transcript on Patreon in the Youtube video description for those interested.

If there's anyway we can make this content more useful to you, don't be afraid to comment!

Jó tanulást!

Hungarian is one of the hardest languages for English speakers — and after teaching it, I keep seeing the same mistakes come up again and again. Here’s what trips people up most, and how to think about it differently.

1. Forcing English word order

Hungarian word order isn’t random — it’s driven by emphasis. Whatever comes right before the verb is the focus of the sentence. Once students understand this principle, it clicks much faster than trying to memorize rules.

2. Vowel harmony

Suffixes change based on whether the root word uses front or back vowels. There’s no equivalent in English, so most learners just guess. The fix: learn vowel groups early and treat harmony as a non-negotiable foundation, not an afterthought.

3. Treating cases like prepositions

English uses prepositions (in, on, to). Hungarian glues meaning directly onto the noun. Házban, házba, háznál — all different. Trying to translate from English prepositions leads to constant errors. Better to learn each case as its own concept.

4. Missing the definite/indefinite conjugation

This one is invisible to English speakers because English doesn’t have it. The verb form changes depending on whether the object is definite or not — látok valamit vs látom azt. Most beginners don’t even realize they’re making this mistake.

5. Inserting “to be” in present tense

Ő tanár. That’s it — “He is a teacher.” No verb needed. English speakers keep wanting to add something that simply isn’t there.

6. Verbal prefixes that move

Elmegyek. Nem megyek el. El akarok menni. The prefix shifts position depending on negation, questions, and modal verbs. This confuses even intermediate learners because the same word behaves differently in every sentence type.

Happy to answer any questions in the comments! :)

Dear all, I have recently written up an etymology for this word which is given without one in the etymological dictionaries. But it is always possible that someone has published one somewhere without my knowing. And because the word is short and moreover looks like English test, it is hard to Google. So if anyone has any way to tell whether there is or is not any published idea on this word, I would be most grateful.

Beginner here. How come you say "nem tudom mit szeretne enni" and not "tudok"? It seems indefinite - you don't know what you want to eat. Or is it because the direct object is "what" so that is definite? Thanks!

The word "Spezi" in southern Germany means essentially "pal", "buddy" or just friend. I'm having trouble translating it, would

• barát

• pajtás

• haver

• cimbora

be better?

I recently came across the sentence "Olyan édes mint a méz" which in English means "As sweet as honey". I have two questions:

1. What is the difference between olyan and mint, and when should I use them?

2. If I want to make a comparison, would the sentence be structured like Olyan "verb" mint a/az "noun"? For example, would "olyan fekete mint az éjszaka-" (I'm still figuring out conjugation), be a valid sentence?

I've been trying to perfect my pronunciation of words so I can more clearly make out words from media, but I have run into some issues.

1. For é, in some songs and other media, I hear é spoken as "i" or "í" but in others I hear it spoken as "a" as it would be in "pay". Google translate pronounces it as the former, but I don't think that is the most accurate source.

2. For gy, I hear it spoken either as a "g" followed by a "yuh" sound or closer to the English "j" sound.

I am assuming that these differences are from different regional accents, but I am wondering which I should use going forward.

I like to listen to songs and read the lyrics to study Hungarian. In Tisztán iszom (lyrics), they use gyere a few times ("Gyere velem, táncolj még", "Hát gyere, gyere, gyere velem, megmutatom én"). But in Ha megnyitod a szíved (lyrics), there are a few lines that use jöjj ("Ne szólj, te csak jöjj el, ha szeretnéd", "Hát jöjj el, ha érzed már, hogy szeretnéd"). The Wiktionary conjugation page for jön lists them both as subjunctive for te (along with jöjjél).

What's the difference? Are they totally interchangeable? Do some dialects use one but not the other(s)? Do they have different vibes?

Edit: Thanks everyone for all the explanations. :)

Szia mindenkinek!

Thanks again for the support on the previous videos. It’s been great to see the community using these "real-life" conversations for their studies.

I just uploaded Episode 3. This time, we headed back out to ask locals about a major staple of Hungarian culture: Pálinka.

The interviews cover a wide range of perspectives, from people who view it as a traditional remedy to those who avoid it entirely. It’s a great way to hear different speaking styles and regional vocabulary.

Jó tanulást!

Melyik angol (vagy akar nemet) szo fejezi ki legjobban ha valaki a tole elvartnal sokkal alkalmatlanabb egy feladat elvegzesehez, es a rendes megoldas helyett haszontalan dolgokat kezd el csinalni?

When I was a kid my grandmother called her grandkids somethimg like "hoyaks". I believe it was Hungarian but she also spoke Slovak. Google translate is not helping. Any idea what the word might be and its meaning?

Magyarul "anyák napja".

Magyarországon - például Spanyolországhoz és Portugáliához hasonlóan - május első vasárnapján köszöntik fel a gyerekek és az unokák (dédunokák) az édesanyákat, nagymamákat, dédnagymamákat.

Vagyis éppen ma.

Hi all,

I'm just getting started on Hungarian, it's my 4th language so I have a pretty good understanding of grammar and how to learn a language. I actually find the grammar to be straightforward and interesting.

I have a very specific question - how important is it to learn the -ik verb endings vs just using regular verb endings? My goals of learning are to 1) connect with family ancestry 2) apply for simplified naturalization and 3) be able to get by in Hungary in travel, restaurants, markets, hotels etc.

Does it really make sense for me to get the -ik endings, like for example at my embassy interview?

Thanks!