Greetings and politeness

Before any greeting, Hungarian makes you choose: are you speaking to this person as te or as Ön? Te is the informal “you” — for friends, family, children, and people your own age in relaxed settings. Ön is the formal one — for shop assistants, officials, your doctor, and anyone older you don’t know.

Almost every greeting comes in a te version and an Ön version. Learn them as pairs:

The formal greetings are wishes named after the time of day. Each one is really the start of a sentence: Jó napot kívánok means “I wish (you) a good day”. That is why the time word ends in -t — it is the thing being wished. In everyday speech the kívánok is often dropped.

• Jó reggelt!

  Say it: yoh REG-geltyoh reg·gelt

  Good morning!

  Until about 9 or 10 in the morning.

• Jó napot kívánok!

  Say it: yoh NAW-pot KEE-vaa-nokyoh naw·pot kee·vaa·nok

  Hello / Good day!

  The safe greeting for the whole day.

• Jó estét!

  Say it: yoh ESH-taytyoh esh·tayt

  Good evening!

  From early evening on.

• Jó éjszakát!

  Say it: yoh AY-saw-kaatyoh ay·saw·kaat

  Good night!

  Only when parting late or going to bed — never as a hello.

To say goodbye formally, use Viszontlátásra! — literally “until we see each other again”. Its short form Viszlát! is friendlier and works with most people. With friends, Szia! does both jobs: hello and goodbye. To a group of friends it becomes Sziasztok!

• Köszönöm.

  Say it: KUR-sur-nurmkur·sur·nurm

  Thank you.

• Köszönöm szépen.

  Say it: KUR-sur-nurm SAY-penkur·sur·nurm say·pen

  Thank you very much.

• Szívesen.

  Say it: SEE-ve-shensee·ve·shen

  You’re welcome.

• Nincs mit.

  Say it: ninch mitninch mit

  Don’t mention it.

“Please” follows the te/Ön split: kérlek to a friend, kérem to everyone else. For a polite request to a stranger, legyen szíves (“be so kind”) is even more courteous.

• Egy kávét kérek, legyen szíves.

  A coffee, please.

  Kérek means “I ask for” — the standard way to order.

• Elnézést, hol van a mosdó?

  Excuse me, where is the toilet?

  Elnézést gets someone’s attention, politely.

• Bocsánat!

  Say it: BO-chaa-nawtbo·chaa·nawt

  Sorry!

  When you bump into someone or get something wrong.

To a friend: Hogy vagy? To someone you call Ön: Hogy van? The formal question uses the same verb form as “he” or “she” — van means “is” — so it literally asks “how is (the gentleman/lady)?” You will meet this pattern again in every lesson: formal “you” always takes the he/she form of the verb.

• Jól vagyok, köszönöm.

  Say it: yohl VAW-dyok, KUR-sur-nurmyohl vaw·dyok, kur·sur·nurm

  I’m well, thank you.

• Nagyon jól.

  Say it: NAW-dyon yohlnaw·dyon yohl

  Very well.

• Megvagyok.

  Say it: MEG-vaw-dyokmeg·vaw·dyok

  I’m getting by.

  A very common, modest answer.

• És te?

  Say it: aysh teaysh te

  And you? (to a friend)

• És Ön?

  Say it: aysh urnaysh urn

  And you? (formal)

Igen is yes and nem is no. Nem also means “not”, and goes right before the word it negates — which gives you two sentences worth knowing on day one:

• Nem értem.

  Say it: nem AYR-temnem ayr·tem

  I don’t understand.

• Nem tudom.

  Say it: nem TOO-domnem too·dom

  I don’t know.

English needs a fixed word order. Hungarian doesn’t: the endings show how the words fit together, so you can move them around and the meaning stays the same. What changes is the emphasis — the word you put first, or right before the verb, is the one you’re stressing.

• Kérek egy kávét.

  I’d like a coffee.

  Neutral — a plain request.

• Egy kávét kérek.

  A coffee, please.

  Stresses the coffee — what you want, not something else.

• Jól vagyok, köszönöm.

  I’m well, thank you.

• Köszönöm, jól vagyok.

  Thank you, I’m well.

  Same sentence, thanks first — both are completely normal.