Length Matters
Hungarian Alphabet 1
Chapter 18 · Length Matters
⏱️ Length Matters — Hosszú és rövid
You now know all 44 letters. This chapter is about time. In Hungarian a sound can be short or long, and the difference can change a word's meaning: hat is "six", hát is "back". English speakers rarely hear length this way, so it deserves its own chapter.
🔠 Long Vowels
The accent marks you've been learning (á é í ó ö→ő ú ü→ű) show a long vowel. For i, u, ö, ü the long version is the same vowel held longer. For a/á and e/é the quality changes as well (you met this in Chapters 1 and 4).
| Short | Say it | English | Long | Say it | English |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| kar | KAWR | arm | kár | KAHR | damage; a pity |
| hat | HAWT | six | hát | HAHT | back (body) |
| ver | VEHR | beats, hits | vér | VAYR | blood |
| fel | FEHL | up | fél | FAYL | half; is afraid |
| kor | KOR | age, era | kór | KOHR | disease |
🔡 Long (Double) Consonants
A doubled consonant is a long consonant: don't say it twice, hold it for about twice as long, like the "n" in English unnamed or the "t" in hot tea said carefully.
| Short | Say it | English | Long | Say it | English |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| tol | TOL | pushes | toll | TOLL | feather; pen |
| hal | HAWL | fish | hall | HAWLL | hears |
| kel | KEHL | rises, gets up | kell | KEHLL | must; is needed |
| sok | SHOK | many, much | sokk | SHOKK | shock |
🔗 Doubling Digraphs: ssz, ccs, tty, ggy
Digraphs (two-letter sounds) double in a special way: only the first letter is written twice, not the whole digraph. Doubled sz is ssz, doubled cs is ccs, doubled ty is tty, and doubled gy is ggy. The sound is simply the long version: hold it.
| Short | Long (written) | Example | Say it | English |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| sz | ssz | hosszú | HOS-soo | long |
| cs | ccs | öccs | EUCH-ch | younger brother |
| ty | tty | hattyú | HAWT-tyoo | swan |
| gy | ggy | meggy | MEHD-dy | sour cherry |
| ny | nny | könny | KEUN-ny | tear (from the eye) |
📖 Read It — Words With Long Sounds
| # | Hungarian | Say it | English | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | tessék | TEHSH-shayk | please; here you are | ss = long "sh" |
| 2 | asszony | AWS-sony | woman; married woman | ssz = long "s" |
| 3 | kettő | KEHT-teuu | two | tt; long ő |
| 4 | ennyi | EHN-nyih | this much | nny |
| 5 | hosszú | HOS-soo | long | ssz + ú |
| 6 | hattyú | HAWT-tyoo | swan | tty + ú |
| 7 | kell | KEHLL | must | ll |
| 8 | hall | HAWLL | hears | ll |
| 9 | hát | HAHT | back | long á |
| 10 | vér | VAYR | blood | long é |
| 11 | könny | KEUN-ny | tear | nny |
| 12 | meggy | MEHD-dy | sour cherry | ggy |
💬 Mini-Dialogs
① Please — Tessék!
② Must I? — Kell?
③ Numbers — Hat és kettő
✍️ Try It Yourself — Gyakorlatok
Say each answer out loud first, then click to check.
1. Which is "six" and which is "back": hat or hát?
Show answer
hat (HAWT) = six; hát (HAHT) = back.
2. What does a doubled consonant tell you about how to say it?
Show answer
Hold it for longer. Don't say it twice.
3. How is a doubled sz written? And a doubled cs?
Show answer
ssz and ccs: only the first letter of the digraph is doubled.
4. Read aloud and translate: kel · kell
Show answer
KEHL (rises) · KEHLL (must, is needed): the second has a longer "l".
5. Read aloud and translate: hosszú · hattyú · tessék
Show answer
HOS-soo (long) · HAWT-tyoo (swan) · TEHSH-shayk (please; here you are)
6. Where does the stress fall in hattyú and in tessék?
Show answer
On the first syllable, always: HAT-tyú, TES-sék. A long vowel later in the word (the ú, the é) does not move the stress.