Hungarian words and sentences with pronunciation help

This is very helpful to many i am sure including myself. Thanks!

Just want to  mention a few issues:

- To translate from British English to American English, "taps" are better known as "faucets", "flats" are known as "apartments" etc.

- The "phonetic" pronunciations provided here are not fully accurate. Avoiding local dialects, to pronounce Hungarian, it is far better to start with a few simple rules for Hungarian and use international linguistic guides for pronunciation rather than those provided here.

For example:

Golden Rule #1: Every letter in Hungarian is pronounced, and it is always pronounced in the same way.

Thus, one must realize that "a" and "á" are considered different letters in Hungarian. And are always pronounced differently. Thus, "a" is always pronounced as "ah" as in "father", and "á" is always pronounced more like a short "aw" sound in "card". The letter "s" is always pronounced as "sh", while "sz" is always as "s" as in "see".

So, the OP says:

LAKÁS (FLAT) - LOH-CASH

But really, it is more pronounced as:

L-AH-K-AW-SH

And following these constant rules:

TÁRSALGÓ (LOUNGE) - TARR-SHOL-GO

is more pronounce as:

TAWR-SH-AH-L-GO

Notice, the OP changed the "a" sound from "oh" to "o" between the two words. Many English speakers may pronounce "LOH" with a long "o" but "SHOL" with a short "o", but the "a" is actually not pronounced differently in Hungarian. One may "hear" them differently but that is not the same as correct pronunciation.

And I am afraid corrections like this applies to a lot of the suggested pronunciations.

in short, go to a book store and buy a "Hungarian to English" dictionary that has generic pronunciation guides and pronunciation examples for each word. Then ask a native Hungarian speaker to help you with your pronunciation and repeat to them constantly to be really, brutally honest with you, and not to just say "that is fine" because they may say that to you even when you say it wrong (Hungarian politeness syndrome not wanting to "humiliate you"). But I warn you, you will never know it, but you will probably always speak Hungarian with an accent.

Hope this helps.

All good guys but who is going to help us out when we get an answer back in Hungarian that we can't understand?
The few times I have tried to communicate to someone in Hungarian they assume I am fluent in Hungarian and let it out all at once and fast as the speed of sound.
I can usually understand allot of Hungarian but can not really respond any faster or better then a 2 year old child. It is embarrassing.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

but who is going to help us out when we get an answer back in Hungarian that we can't understand?

Excellent, excellent point.

That is when I say (in Hungarian), that I do not understand, and start to point and begin the hand signals.  And smile and shrug a lot.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

I can usually understand allot of Hungarian but can not really respond any faster or better then a 2 year old child. It is embarrassing.

I am the same in German. Can read a lot. Can understand a lot (if in High German and not a local dialect), but trying to speak it I sound like a toddler.

And when I speak Hungarian, I have been told my pronunciation is good, but my USA accent is too thick. So nobody understands me. I pride myself for being quite eloquent in English, so being unable to elucidate my thoughts in another language is frustrating.

I  found this mildly amusing:

Alternative HU Dictionary

One has to undergo a complete personality change when speaking a foreign language, or so my HU husband has told me.
I am used to him after all these many years but used to be slightly jealous of other HU speakers when he would be talking.
In Hungarian he has almost everyone laughing and at the least smiling at his funny ways  of saying things, telling stories and making little twists on words.
He can be funny in English too but sadly most times he isn't trying to be funny when he gets a laugh.
He says in Hungarian he has perfect timing, knows all sorts of words and ways to twist them to make things interesting etc. and he often feels just DUMB when speaking in English.
Really sad to think about that.
I for one fell in love with the old "boring" English speaking man so not even sure i would like his other persona!

fluffy2560 wrote:

I  found this mildly amusing:

Alternative HU Dictionary

And the classic:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNP7uQQT-oooo

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

In Hungarian he has almost everyone laughing and at the least smiling at his funny ways  of saying things, telling stories and making little twists on words.

I think my wife is the only person who laughs at my English puns. I guess she gets them not just, or only, because she has a excellent understanding of English (so gets the subtle puns I make), but really appreciates the twists of words for humor as being so common in Hungarian.

klsallee wrote:

fluffy2560 wrote:

I  found this mildly amusing:

Alternative HU Dictionary

And the classic:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNP7uQQT-oooo

A classic indeed.   

But I raise you Offensive Translator

Mrs Fluffy finds that one hilarious.

My Hungarian girlfriend helped with these translations. It took ages. Yes it might not be phonectically 100% 'symbol correct' (i.e. AW) but I based the spelling of syllables on the English language for easier pronunciation (i.e. for those who are not familiar with phonectics/phonectic sounds). LAKÁS (FLAT) for example IS pronounced as LOH-CASH. Perhaps you would care to do those translations and better them?.....as I will not be bothering next time.

I think the post is a good thing for this site ie for expats.

There is difference in slang or dialect in every country just like Hungary so i feel there is few right or wrong answers. And i thank you Apartman for this post.

I am american born in California and lived all over USA. In my home country i could not understand many people mainly due to people saying things all kinds of ways unique to where they were or from. My father is born and raised in Nebraska and speaks normal no accent usa english but being from mid west knows how they have terms for things.  Like one thing he has noticed since being here in Hungary the ones that speak good English here have learned that Mid West USA english he grew up on. Which for me is odd.

For example we ate out here in Budapest and we choosing a place. It was like 3pm so i did not know what menu they were on. I asked the waiter who had almost perfect English what menu are you on? He said "Dinner" hmm ok lets eat here. The menu was like sandwiches and light stuff.  I wanted something more. I asked the waiter is that all you have for dinner? His reply yes. I get up to leave the asks me what is wrong, i say i wanted wild boar stew. He then said on come back later we do not have that for dinner. I am confused, my dad steps in and says that Hungarians use mid west usa english where the mid day meal which i call lunch is called dinner. I asked my father and the waiter what is the meal/menu for the evening, my dad said they call it supper. The waiter said yes that is right you can order from the supper menu.

In California there is no supper! Lived in Florida before moving here and nope no supper there either.

Last bf i had before moving out of USA he was from the backwoods of Kentucky and for some reason i went to visit his family for 9 days when we were dating. They had names and ways of saying things that i had never heard of!

Not getting into when i lived in Louisiana!

I think i sound normal, but every single person in USA before i moved always would ask me where i was from, i say "well some in Vallejo mostly in San Diego" everyone would always say oh i can tell, you sound like you are from California. I still do not know what means but whatever

FeliciaOni wrote:

..... Hungarians use mid west usa english where the mid day meal which i call lunch is called dinner. I asked my father and the waiter what is the meal/menu for the evening, my dad said they call it supper. The waiter said yes that is right you can order from the supper menu. ...

My two Forints....

I've never heard anyone call it supper here.  It's always been dinner as far as I know. And I've never heard anyone call lunch dinner unless they've mistranslated it.   Odd experiences.

Older people sometimes use the word supper in the North of England (after all it is English) but no-one really uses it any more there. 

don't think I've even had Afternoon Tea since I was a kid.  I quite miss that as it was always a family gathering.  The only time this occurs in that style now is Shrove Tuesday or as it's called sometimes Pancake Day.  A tradition that should not be lost. 

20 odd years ago we used to have Sunday Brunch at the big hotels next to the Danube.  $20 a person including "champagne".   Quite a fortune then.

I think what it is is Hungary teaches people really standard english? i do not know.

But i have heard that often, maybe i should list the restaurants? he hee.

FeliciaOni wrote:

I think what it is is Hungary teaches people really standard english? i do not know.

But i have heard that often, maybe i should list the restaurants? he hee.

I think not standard English here.   Every native I've met here speaks British sounding English.

I only know of one exception and she spoke American accented English, mainly because her father was a Hungarian diplomat in Cuba.  She was exceptionally fluent in English. I could not even tell she was not a native speaker. Remarkable really. 

Mrs Fluffy just described the standard meals to me but supper was not a word that would be commonly chosen so I think mistranslation by the waiting staff or restaurant.  She said she only knows this word from religious stories, as in The Last Supper.

I seemed to have married the "class clown", in grade school here in the 5th district my husband was the little trouble maker, sometimes I think he still is one!
He can sometimes say the funniest things in English too but half the time people are laughing at him for making a language mistake, poor thing.
He blames  me for any mistakes he makes as I was his "official" English teacher.
He is a master at word play in Hungarian and sometimes even with English which I find brilliant.
He is not very confident in his English  because in Hungarian he is perfect and he hates to make mistakes with anything and look silly.
I think he is brave though, came alone to the US only knowing about 5 words of English, no money dropped off in NYC with a couple of job leads, that was about it, oh 2 weeks paid for by the IRC in a run down rat infested hotel in a bad area of NYC.
He only knew how to order, "Ham and eggs" in restaurants, got so sick of eating them that he expanded his English.
Needless to say he has little to no sympathy for people who beg and just can't make it.
He was working within his first 10 days of landing in the US, not a slacker at all. just the English language makes little sense to him, he says it is not logical and has too many ways of making mistakes.

ApartmanSzeged wrote:

LAKÁS (FLAT) for example IS pronounced as LOH-CASH.

In the USA the "a" in "card" is pronounced "cayrd" in Boston and "cawrd" in Savanna. So "LOH-CASH" is ambiguous because is assumes everyone speaks your English dialect as to how to pronounce "LOH" or "CASH". For example, "LOH" might be pronounced by some as "LOW", and by others more like "LAH". Which was my main point -- to avoid confusion between English speaking dialects do not invent your own pronunciation guide, and rather use international pronunciation guides instead.

For example, I would read and pronounce "LOH" as "LOW" myself as if the "a" was a long "o" as in "Oh!". But that is wrong to pronounce "a" in this way in Hungarian:

http://www.hungarianreference.com/Hunga … ation.aspx

Most all Hungarians love speaking English to me, for some reason they say my voice is very clear and they can understand me.
Interesting, I usually speak fast.
Suppose having a HU born husband who uses English as his third language has made me more aware of pronunciation of words.
So many mix ups, hard feeling and misunderstandings over the years all due to one of us using the wrong words at the wrong time.
I remember once my husband was half asleep in the US, laying on the couch in front of the tv set.
He got cold and asked me in his half asleep way for a "pled" which I heard as plate, I gave him a dish and he thought I was being weird. He was asking for a blanket but in HU.

Well,..

Thanks for the pronunciations you linked here, but...I am his girlfriend and hopefully speak proper Hungarian as it's my mother language. I helped him on every word so for sure it's even better than a voice record.  You might know it takes a long time to get the right pronunciation when you try to learn a foreign language and his sentences were not about the pronunciations but more about the sentences being of use to whoever. Of course, even with perfect pronunciation, people will still say it their way. When I visited Liverpool I noticed how the people pronounced Book as buke (booook)! even though they can read Book on the written page. Furthermore, when practising, Hungarians do not expect perfect pronunciation. I understand my boyfriend's pronunciations and cannot see any problems with them. Yes you can buy so many different types of books as I did when I learnt English but I am sure it's more important to get some words and pronunciations from a native speaker.

Anyway, Kivánok sok sikert a magyar nyelv elsajátításához and I hope there are some other people here who are interested in the help given by my boyfriend and take it for what it is.....helpful sentences with my boyfriend's way of writing the syllable pronunciations. At the end of the day the sentences were there to help. If anyone pronounces them incorrectly in a shop the Hungarians will surely help out and more importantly understand what is trying to be said.

Hungarians also get the same problems when learning English. Example: One of my Hungarian-English books stated handkerchief should be pronounced hand-kih-chur (and not hand-ker-chief). The phonetics did not help either. Example: Apple is - /'æpəl/ - the A and E together meant nothing to me as I did not and do not read phonetics. Many Hungarian people do not understand how certain phonetics are spoken. Also, there are letters in Hungarian not spoken in English and vice versa. I would like to see for example an American speak perfect Hungarian with correct, phonetic, pronunciation all the time. I look forward to that day. Try saying the c, gy, ny, ty letters properly and the rolling R. Example words: cica, gyöngytyúk, nyom and farkinca ......say them even with correct phonetic guidance.

ApartmanSzeged wrote:

I am his girlfriend and hopefully speak proper Hungarian as it's my mother language.

The points I raised were of course only an issue of didactics. That is, about the quality of the teaching, not about the quality of the source.

This compendium of building words is really useful. Unfortunately it will cancel on this site after a time, and I would like more permanent access to it. I have tried many routes, but not been able to copy it out to anywhere else. If you were able to send me the file for permanent keeping, I would greatly appreciate it.
Thank you, David Pearce (dp@burntwoodsigns.co.uk)

It is extremely hard to speak another language without having an accent and sounding like a local person.
My husband can trace his family roots to Hungary so far as far back as the 1400,'s, was born and raised in HU but after 40 years in the US he has a tiny bit of "something else" when he speaks Hungarian. His accent in HU is perfect but he choses very formal words and uses no modern slang. People look at him strangely like he has just come out of a 40 year coma. At least he no longer walks up toe strangers on the street and asks where is Lenin Square !
The only American we ever knew who spoke perfect Hungarian without a accent was my husband's old bosses wife.
She was very , very smart, learned to fly her own private airplane at age 16 at the same time she learned to drive a car.
Of course she was lucky, her husband was very wealthy and she flew to HU anytime she wished to, her MIL from HU would visit them every year for 8 or 9 months and was her private teacher.
Their two kids also spoke perfect HU and lived in Calif. My husband said she was 100% perfect in Hungarian, he was blown away  by how good she was.
She was very unusual.

My Rus grandmother always said Booter for butter, I think having an accent makes a person interesting.
My husband still has the hardest time with the th sound, it always comes out as, either vhat or zat , he hates it but I think it sounds cute.
I personally have no ear for Hungarian, I honestly do not think it is a easy language on ones ear.I feel like a robot having to speak in monotone.