Lesson Two: More Basics

Vocabulary
Grammar
Exercises

Vocabulary

ott - there
mi? - what?
ki? - who?
az - that (a different word than the definite article, but looks and sounds the same)
ez - this
köszönöm - thank you
mi a neve? - what's your name? (polite)
a nevem - my name is...
asztal - table
pincér (remember c is 'ts') - waiter
jól - well
hol? - where?
is - also
hogy? - how?
egy - a, an, one
autó - car

Mi az?
What is that?

Ez egy autó és az egy asztal.
This is a car and that is a table.

Köszönöm, jól vagyok.
Thank you, I am good (well)

Hol a pincér? Ott.
Where is the waiter? There.

Grammar

The Indefinite Article

The indefinite article in Hungarian is egy, which also means 'one'. However, it is used less frequently than in English. Look at the following sentences:
O" turista.
He is (a) tourist.

Egyetemista vagyok.
I am (a) student.

In the above sentences, the article is required in English, but not in Hungarian. You will get a feel of when to use the article once you have been exposed to more sentences and had some practice.

Ez and Az

The Hungarian words ez and az correspond to English 'this' and 'that' respectively, in the context of both 'that book is good' and 'that is a book' (French, for example, makes a difference between 'that' in these two contexts). When ez or az is modifying the noun, as in 'that book', the Hungarian noun must be preceded by the definite article a or az. Examine the following sentences:

Ki ez?
Who's this?

Ez az autó szép.
This car is pretty.

Az az autó is szép.
That car is also pretty.

Ez az asztal.
This is the table.
Note: Ez az asztal can mean 'this is the table' or 'this table...' but here it must be the former because the latter is not a complete sentence.

Greetings

Here are some practical greetings:
Jó reggelt (kívánok) - Good morning
Jó napot (kívánok) - Hello (formal, literally 'good day')
Jó estét (kívánok) - Good evening
Jó éjszakát (kívánok) - Good night

Note: the above expression are both formal and informal. The kívánok is optional and slightly more formal. With kívánok, the expressions mean 'I wish you good morning', etc...

A viszontlátásra - Goodbye (formal)
Szervusz (Szervusztok to more than one person) - Hello/Goodbye (informal)
Szia (Sziasztok to more than one person) - Hello/Goodbye (more informal)

Hogy van? - How are you? (formal)
Hogy vagy? - How are you? (informal)
Note: When you ask Hogy vagy? in Hungarian, you are really asking how they are, unlike in English where 'how are you' is a polite greeting. A good answer to the question would be: Jól vagyok, 'I am fine (well)'.

Vowel Harmony

Vowel harmony is a very important concept in Hungarian. Vowels are divided into two categories, front and back. Examine the following table:

Back Vowels	a á o ó u ú
Front Vowels	e é i í ö o" ü u"

The concept is important when adding suffixes and, as you will discover, Hungarian has plenty of suffixes. Suffixes usually come in groups of two, so which one to use depends on whether the word is a front word (consisting of front vowels) or a back word (consisting of back vowels). A word that is mixed (contains both front and back vowels) is most often a back word, and in the case of a compound word (two words put together) one must use the vowels in the second word. And, finally, sometimes there is a third suffix to chose from that applies only words in what is called the -ö, o", ü, u"- sub-category. This may seem confusing at first, but take a look at some sample words and it may seem clearer:

Back Words	Front Words	Front ö,o",ü,u" Words
asztal	étterem	ül
barát	üveg	külföld
gulyás	keres	küld
virág (mixed)	útlevél (compound)

Vowel harmony will be important when discussing verb endings in Lesson Three.

Exercises

Translate the following sentences into English:

1. Turista vagy.
2. Ez az asztal szép.
3. Az az autó.
4. Jó napot, hol egy pincér?
5. Ott a no".

Translate the following into Hungarian:

6. This is the man.
7. This language is easy.
8. What is that?
9. Where is a car?
10. Good morning, how are you? I am fine, thank you.

Which vowel category do the following words fall into:

11. nyelv 12. anya 13. fogalom 14. egyetem 15. pincér 16. Magyarország 17. Lengyelország 18. üveg 19. külföld 20. világ
Click here for the answers.

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