Spelling and Names
Hungarian Alphabet 1
Chapter 19 · Spelling Aloud and Reading Names
🗣️ Spelling Aloud and Reading Names — Betűzés és nevek
Every Hungarian letter has a name, used when you spell a word aloud, on the phone, or at a hotel desk. This chapter teaches the names, how a Hungarian dictionary orders the alphabet, and how to read six well-known place names.
🔤 The Letter Names
Most consonant names are the letter plus -é (bé, cé, dé) or e- plus the letter (ef, el, em). Digraphs have names too, and count as one letter: cs is "csé", sz is "esz".
| Letter | Name (say it) | Letter | Name (say it) |
|---|---|---|---|
| a | AW | á | AH |
| b | BAY | c | TSAY |
| cs | CHAY | d | DAY |
| dz | DZAY | dzs | DZHAY |
| e | EH | é | AY |
| f | EHF | g | GAY |
| gy | DYAY | h | HAH |
| i | IH | í | EE |
| j | YAY | k | KAH |
| l | EHL | ly | EHY |
| m | EHM | n | EHN |
| ny | EHNY | o | O |
| ó | OH | ö | EU |
| ő | EUU | p | PAY |
| q | KOO | r | EHR |
| s | EHSH | sz | EHS |
| t | TAY | ty | TYAY |
| u | U | ú | OO |
| ü | UE | ű | UUE |
| v | VAY | w | DOOP-law VAY |
| x | IHKS | y | IHP-sih-lon |
| z | ZAY | zs | ZHAY |
📚 Alphabetical Order
In a dictionary or a phone list, Hungarian treats each digraph as one letter, placed after its first letter: c, cs, d, dz, dzs, e, g, gy, l, ly, n, ny, s, sz, t, ty, z, zs. Accented vowels sit right after their plain partners (a, á; o, ó, ö, ő). So cukor (sugar) comes before csak (only), and gomb (button) comes before gyerek (child).
🏙️ Reading Place Names
| # | Name | Say it | What it is | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Budapest | BOO-daw-pesht | the capital | s = sh |
| 2 | Debrecen | DEH-breh-tsehn | city in the east | c = ts |
| 3 | Szeged | SEH-gehd | city in the south | sz = s |
| 4 | Győr | DYEUUR | city in the north-west | gy = dy; long ő |
| 5 | Pécs | PAYCH | city in the south-west | é = ay; cs = ch |
| 6 | Miskolc | MIH-shkolts | city in the north-east | s = sh; c = ts |
💬 Mini-Dialogs
① Spell It — Betűzés
② Where? — Hol van?
③ Which Town? — Melyik város?
✍️ Try It Yourself — Gyakorlatok
Say each answer out loud first, then click to check.
1. Spell Győr aloud with letter names (gy, ő, r).
Show answer
gyé, ő, er: DYAY, EUU, EHR.
2. Which comes first in a Hungarian dictionary: cukor or csak?
Show answer
cukor, because c comes before cs.
3. How many letters is Szeged in Hungarian alphabetical terms?
Show answer
Five: sz, e, g, e, d (sz counts as one).
4. Read aloud: Debrecen · Miskolc · Pécs
Show answer
DEH-breh-tsehn · MIH-shkolts · PAYCH
5. What is the name of the letter w?
Show answer
dupla vé ("double v"): DOOP-law VAY.
6. Which name comes first in Szabó Anna: family name or given name?
Show answer
The family name, Szabó.