Let’s LearnHungarian

Lesson 3 of 74 · A1, Unit 1: First words

Numbers 0 to 100

Hungarian numbers are regular once you have the building blocks. Eleven to nineteen are 'ten-on-one', 'ten-on-two', and so on (tizen- + the digit). Twenty-one to twenty-nine use huszon-.

The number 'two' has two forms: kettő when it stands alone or ends a phrase, and két directly before a noun — két alma, 'two apples'.

By the end you can:

  • count from zero to twenty out loud
  • say the tens, one hundred, and one thousand
  • build numbers like 21 and 145, and use két before a noun

1.Zero to ten

Start with these eleven. Everything else is built from them. Listen for the gy in egy and négy — it is one sound, like the “d-y” in “during”.

HungarianHungarian
0nulla6hat
1egy7hét
2kettő / két8nyolc
3három9kilenc
4négy10tíz
5öt

2.Eleven to nineteen: “ten-on-”

The teens are tizen- plus a digit — literally “ten-on-one”, “ten-on-two”. Note the short i: tíz on its own, but tizen- in combination.

  • tizenegy

    Say it: TI-zen-edy

    11

  • tizenöt

    Say it: TI-zen-urt

    15

  • tizenkilenc

    Say it: TI-zen-ki-lents

    19

What is tizenhét?

3.The tens, and everything in between

Twenty is húsz, and 21–29 use huszon- the same way the teens use tizen-: huszonegy, huszonöt. From forty on, the tens end in -van or -ven — vowel harmony again.

HungarianHungarian
20húsz60hatvan
30harminc70hetven
40negyven80nyolcvan
50ötven90kilencven

After 29, you simply put the digit straight after the ten, as one word: harmincöt (35), negyvenkettő (42), kilencvenkilenc (99). No “and”, no hyphen.

How do you say 25?

4.Two kinds of “two” — and singular after numbers

On its own, two is kettő. Directly in front of a noun it shortens to két: két kávé, “two coffees”. And notice that the noun stays singular — the number already says there is more than one. It’s három alma, never “három almák”.

  • Két kávét kérek.

    Say it: kayt KAA-vayt KAY-rek

    Two coffees, please.

  • Hány éves vagy?

    Say it: haany AY-vesh vawdy

    How old are you? (literally: how-many yeared are you)

  • Huszonhárom éves vagyok.

    I’m twenty-three.

“Two coffees, please” is…

5.Hundreds, thousands and years

Száz is a hundred and ezer a thousand. Multiply by putting a number in front — kétszáz, ötezer — and add by putting it after. Long numbers are written as one word up to two thousand; above that, a hyphen separates the thousands.

  • száznegyvenöt

    145

  • ötszáz

    500

  • ezerkilencszáznyolcvan

    1980

  • kétezer-huszonhat

    2026

Words in this lesson (31)

  • nulla

    Say it: NOOL-law

    0

  • egy

    Say it: edy

    1

  • kettő

    Say it: KET-tur

    2

    Use két before a noun: két kávé, 'two coffees'.

  • három

    Say it: HAA-rom

    3

  • négy

    Say it: naydy

    4

  • öt

    Say it: urt

    5

  • hat

    Say it: hawt

    6

  • hét

    Say it: hayt

    7 (also 'week')

  • nyolc

    Say it: nyolts

    8

  • kilenc

    Say it: KI-lents

    9

  • tíz

    Say it: teez

    10

  • tizenegy

    Say it: TI-zen-edy

    11

    literally ten-on-one

  • tizenkettő

    Say it: TI-zen-ket-tur

    12

  • tizenhárom

    Say it: TI-zen-haa-rom

    13

  • tizennégy

    Say it: TI-zen-naydy

    14

  • tizenöt

    Say it: TI-zen-urt

    15

  • tizenhat

    Say it: TI-zen-hawt

    16

  • tizenhét

    Say it: TI-zen-hayt

    17

  • tizennyolc

    Say it: TI-zen-nyolts

    18

  • tizenkilenc

    Say it: TI-zen-ki-lents

    19

  • húsz

    Say it: hoos

    20

  • huszonegy

    Say it: HOO-son-edy

    21

    literally twenty-on-one

  • harminc

    Say it: HAWR-mints

    30

  • negyven

    Say it: NEDY-ven

    40

  • ötven

    Say it: URT-ven

    50

  • hatvan

    Say it: HAWT-vawn

    60

  • hetven

    Say it: HET-ven

    70

  • nyolcvan

    Say it: NYOLTS-vawn

    80

  • kilencven

    Say it: KI-lents-ven

    90

  • száz

    Say it: saaz

    100

  • ezer

    Say it: E-zer

    1000

See it in context

At the market
  1. Eladó

    Jó napot! Mit kér?

    Say it: yoh NAW-pot! mit kayr

    Hello! What would you like?

  2. Vevő

    Jó napot! Hat almát kérek.

    Say it: yoh NAW-pot! hawt AWL-maat KAY-rek

    Hello! Six apples, please.

  3. Eladó

    Tessék. Még valamit?

    Say it: TESH-shayk. mayg VAW-law-mit

    Here you are. Anything else?

  4. Vevő

    Két kiflit is kérek. Mennyi lesz?

    Say it: kayt KIF-lit ish KAY-rek. MEN-nyi les

    Two croissant rolls too, please. How much will that be?

  5. Eladó

    Négyszázötven forint.

    Say it: NAYDY-saaz-urt-ven FO-rint

    Four hundred and fifty forints.

  6. Vevő

    Tessék, ötszáz.

    Say it: TESH-shayk, URT-saaz

    Here you go, five hundred.

  7. Eladó

    Köszönöm. Ötven forint vissza.

    Say it: KUR-sur-nurm. URT-ven FO-rint VIS-saw

    Thank you. Fifty forints change.

Did you follow it?

How many apples does the customer buy?

How much does everything cost?

How much change does the customer get?

Say it in Hungarian

Read the English, say the sentence out loud, then check yourself.

  1. Two coffees, please.

  2. Six apples, please.

  3. I’m twenty-three.

  4. How much will that be?

Flashcards and a quick quiz

31 words. Flip through them, then take the quiz: multiple choice, typing, listening, and matching.

1 / 310 marked known

Meaning

80

nyolcvan

NYOLTS-vawn

Or drill every lesson together.

Finishing the quiz marks this too.

Remember

  • 11–19 are tizen- + digit; 21–29 are huszon- + digit.
  • From 30, digit straight after the ten: harmincöt, kilencvenkilenc.
  • Kettő alone, két before a noun: két kávé.
  • After a number the noun stays singular: három alma.
  • Száz 100, ezer 1000; above 2000 use a hyphen: kétezer-huszonhat.