Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
appear as plural: eg
könyvek
means “books”, but “two books” is
két könyv
(using the singular
form of the noun).
Adjectives
precede the noun (
a piros ház
= the red house), adopting suffixes to form the
comparative (
jó
= good;
jobb
= better), plus the prefix
leg
to signify the superlative (
legjobb
= the best).
Negatives
are usually formed by placing the word
nem
before the verb or adjective.
Ez
(this),
ezek
(these),
az
(that) and
azok
(those) are the demonstratives.
PRONUNCIATION
Achieving passably good
pronunciation
, rather than grammar, is the first priority (see gen-
eral
guidelines
).
Stress
almost invariably falls on the first syllable of a word and all letters
are spoken, although in sentences the tendency is to slur words together. Vowel sounds are
greatly affected by the bristling
accents
(that actually distinguish separate letters) which, to-
gether with the “double letters”
cs, gy
,
ly
,
ny
,
sz
,
ty
, and
zs
, give the Hungarian
alphabet
its
formidable appearance.
a
o as in h
o
t
á
a as in f
a
ther
b
b as in
b
est
c
ts as in ba
ts
cs
ch as in
ch
ur
ch
d
d as in
d
ust
e
e as in y
e
t
é
ay as in s
ay
f
f as in
f
ed
g
g as in
g
o
gy
a soft dy as in
d
ue
h
h as in
h
at
i
i as in b
i
t, but slightly longer
í
ee as in s
ee
j
y as in
y
es
k
k as in sic
k
l
l as in
l
eap
ly
y as in
y
es
m
m as in
m
ud
