❓ Question Words — Kérdőszók

Six short conversations built entirely around asking questions — meeting someone, talking about where you live, your age and languages, and making plans. Natural, everyday Hungarian your family will recognise.

Pronunciation quick-guide: cs = "ch" (church) sz = "s" (sun) zs = "zh" (measure) gy = soft "dj" ny = "ny" (canyon) j / ly = "y" (yes) s = "sh" (shop)

① Meeting Someone New — Ismerkedés

A: Szia! Hogy hívnak? Hi! What's your name?

B: Zsófia vagyok. És téged? Zsófia = "Zho-fi-a" I'm Zsófia. And you?

A: Én Péter vagyok. Örülök, hogy találkoztunk. I'm Péter. Nice to have met you.

② Where Do You Live — Hol laksz?

A: Hol laksz? Where do you live?

B: Budapesten lakom. És te, hol élsz? I live in Budapest. And you, where do you live?

A: Én Debrecenben élek. I live in Debrecen.

③ Age and Languages — Kor és nyelvek

A: Hány éves vagy? How old are you?

B: Huszonkettő éves vagyok. És te? huszonkettő = 22 I'm 22. And you?

A: Én ötvenkettő éves vagyok. Milyen nyelveket beszélsz? ötvenkettő = 52 I'm 52. What languages do you speak?

B: Angolul és magyarul beszélek. I speak English and Hungarian.

④ Asking Why — Miért tanulod?

A: Miért tanulsz magyarul? Why are you learning Hungarian?

B: Mert a családommal szeretnék beszélni. családommal = "with my family" (family + -mal suffix) Because I want to speak with my family.

A: Mióta tanulod a nyelvet? Since when have you been learning the language?

B: Egy éve már. For a year already.

⑤ Shopping — Vásárlás

A: Ez mennyibe kerül? How much does this cost?

B: Ezer forintba. A thousand forints.

A: És melyik sajt a legjobb? And which cheese is the best?

B: Ez a trappista, nagyon finom. This trappista, it's very tasty.

⑥ Making Plans — Tervezés

A: Mikor találkozunk? When shall we meet?

B: Szombaton, ha ráérsz. Saturday, if you're free.

A: Kivel jössz még? Who else are you coming with?

B: A testvéremmel jövök. I'm coming with my sibling.

📖 Vocabulary — Szókincs

20 key question words and phrases. Question words that attach to "ki" (who) with a case suffix — kivel, kinek, kié — are shown as one combined word, exactly the way they're actually said.

#	Hungarian	English	Type	Note
1	ki	who	pronoun	refers to people
2	mi	what	pronoun	refers to things
3	hol	where	adverb	location — "where (at)"
4	hova / hová	where to	adverb	direction of movement
5	honnan	from where	adverb	Honnan jössz? — Where are you from?
6	mikor	when	adverb
7	miért	why	adverb
8	hogyan / hogy	how	adverb	hogy is the shorter, everyday form
9	hány	how many	adjective	used directly before a noun
10	mennyi	how much	adjective	for uncountable amounts
11	hány éves	how old	phrase	Hány éves vagy? — How old are you?
12	hányszor	how many times	adverb
13	milyen	what kind of / what... like	adjective	Milyen nyelveket beszélsz? — What languages do you speak?
14	melyik	which	pronoun	choosing from a known set
15	mennyi ideig	how long	phrase	asking about duration
16	hánykor	at what time	phrase	hány + -kor (at) suffix
17	kivel	with whom	phrase	ki + -vel (with) suffix
18	kinek	to / for whom	phrase	ki + -nek (to/for) suffix
19	kié	whose	phrase	ki + -é (possessive) suffix
20	mióta	since when	adverb	for an ongoing duration

Real Hungarian Tip — Watch the Tone of "Ki": A direct Ki vagy te? ("Who are you?") can sound confrontational in Hungarian, almost like a challenge — not the friendly opener it looks like in English. For a natural first meeting, ask Hogy hívnak? ("What are you called?") instead, the way Dialog ① does. Ki vagy te? and its cousin Ki jár erre? ("Who goes there? / Who's coming this way?") are better saved for situations that genuinely call for a bit of suspicion or surprise. Separately, notice Dialog ②'s two verbs for "to live" — lakni (Hol laksz?) is the everyday word for where you reside, while élni (Hol élsz?) is used just as commonly in conversation but leans slightly more general/literary ("to live" in the broader sense) — both are completely natural and you'll hear them used interchangeably by your Hungarian family.