Soft Consonants II

Hungarian Alphabet 1

Chapter 16 · The Soft Consonants II: NY and LY

🔤 The Other Two Soft Consonants — ny ly

The last two soft consonants are ny and ly. One of them is easy to say and the other is a spelling quirk: ny sounds like the "ny" in canyon (Spanish ñ), and ly sounds exactly like j, a plain "y". With them you can say all the numbers from 0 to 10, and read the signs for "open" and "closed".

✨ Two New Letters

Ny ny

like the "ny" in canyon or the Spanish ñ in año

respelled ny

Mouth tip: press the middle of the tongue against the roof of the mouth and let the sound out through the nose, as in canyon. It is one letter: anya is AW-nyaw, not "an-ya".

Ly ly

said exactly like j, a plain "y" as in yes

respelled y

Remember: not "l" + "y". Long ago it was a soft "l", but today ly and j are one sound. hely = HEHY, folyó = FO-yoh.

ly and j Sound the Same, So Learn the Spelling Because ly and j are pronounced alike, you can't tell from the sound which one a word uses: folyó (FO-yoh, "river") is spelled with ly, while hajó (HAW-yoh, "ship") is spelled with j. Hungarians learn the spelling of each word, just as English speakers learn their / there. For reading aloud it makes no difference: both are "y".

Watch the Letters in Order: négy and nyolc Read the letters in order, grouping the digraphs. In négy (four) you have n + é + gy: it's NAYDY, with a plain "n". In nyolc (eight) the n and y belong together as ny: it's NYOLTS.

📖 Read It — New Words

You can read all of these. Stress is on the first syllable.

#	Hungarian	Say it	English	Note
1	nyár	NYAHR	summer	ny
2	anya	AW-nyaw	mother	ny in the middle
3	kenyér	KEH-nyayr	bread	ny, long é
4	könyv	KEUNYV	book	ö then ny
5	nyelv	NYEHLV	tongue; language	two meanings
6	nyitva	NYIHT-vaw	open	on shop doors
7	hely	HEHY	place	ly = y
8	folyó	FO-yoh	river	ly = y
9	gólya	GOH-yaw	stork	ly = y
10	király	KIH-rahy	king	final ly
11	melyik	MEH-yihk	which	a question word
12	milyen	MIH-yehn	what kind of; how	a question word

🔢 The Numbers 0 to 10 — Complete

Number	Hungarian	Say it	Number	Hungarian	Say it
0	nulla	NUL-law	6	hat	HAWT
1	egy	EHDY	7	hét	HAYT
2	kettő · két	KEHT-teuu · KAYT	8	nyolc	NYOLTS
3	három	HAH-rom	9	kilenc	KIH-lehnts
4	négy	NAYDY	10	tíz	TEEZ
5	öt	EUT

❓ More Question Words

With ny and ly you can now read the whole set of basic question words.

Hungarian	Say it	English	Example
hány	HAHNY	how many	Hány? (How many?)
melyik	MEH-yihk	which	Melyik? (Which one?)
milyen	MIH-yehn	what kind of; how	Milyen a kenyér? (What is the bread like?)

Together with mi, ki, hol, hová, honnan, mikor and miért from earlier chapters, that's every question word you need.

Real Hungarian Tip — Nyitva and Zárva On shop doors and signs, nyitva (NYIHT-vaw) means "open" and zárva (ZAHR-vaw) means "closed". You'll see them everywhere, often next to opening hours, with the days written as you learned in Chapter 14: hétfő–péntek (Monday to Friday). Even before you can read a full sentence, those two words will save you a wasted trip.

💬 Mini-Dialogs

① Mother and Father — Ki ez?

A: Ki ez? KIH EHZ? Who is this?

B: Ez az anya. EHZ awz AW-nyaw. This is the mother.

A: És ő? AYSH EUU? And he?

B: Ő az apa. EUU awz AW-paw. He is the father.

② Open or Closed? — Nyitva?

A: Nyitva? NYIHT-vaw? Is it open?

B: Nem, zárva! NEHM, ZAHR-vaw! No, closed!

A: Hétfőn? HAYT-feuun? On Monday?

B: Igen, hétfőn zárva. IH-gehn, HAYT-feuun ZAHR-vaw. Yes, closed on Monday.

③ A Book — Ez egy könyv

A: Mi ez? MIH EHZ? What is this?

B: Ez egy könyv. EHZ EHDY KEUNYV. This is a book.

A: Magyar könyv? MAW-dyawr KEUNYV? A Hungarian book?

B: Igen, magyar! IH-gehn, MAW-dyawr! Yes, Hungarian!

Review: Chapter 15 Words Cover the English and read these again: nagy (big) · egy (one) · hegy (mountain) · magyar (Hungarian) · gyerek (child) · ágy (bed) · gyár (factory) · gyors (fast) · kutya (dog) · tyúk (hen) · hattyú (swan) · gyertya (candle).

✍️ Try It Yourself — Gyakorlatok

Say each answer out loud first, then click to check.

1. What sounds do ny and ly make?

Show answer

ny = the "ny" of canyon (Spanish ñ). ly = a plain "y", exactly like j.

2. Read aloud and translate: nyár · anya · könyv

Show answer

NYAHR (summer) · AW-nyaw (mother) · KEUNYV (book)

3. Read aloud and translate: hely · folyó · gólya

Show answer

HEHY (place) · FO-yoh (river) · GOH-yaw (stork)

4. Count from 0 to 10 in Hungarian.

Show answer

nulla · egy · kettő · három · négy · öt · hat · hét · nyolc · kilenc · tíz

5. What do nyitva and zárva mean?

Show answer

Open and closed, as on shop doors.

6. Why can't you tell by sound whether a word is spelled with ly or j?

Show answer

Because both are pronounced as a plain "y". You learn the spelling of each word (folyó with ly, hajó with j).

Coming Up in Chapter 17 The last six letters: dz and dzs, and the rare letters q, w, x, y (found mostly in names and foreign words). After that, all 44 letters of the Hungarian alphabet will be done.