Front Vowels Continued

Hungarian Alphabet 1

Chapter 5 · Front Vowels: I Í

🔤 More Front Vowels — i í

The next front-vowel pair is i and í. They are the same sound at two lengths, like o / ó and u / ú. Once you know them, you can read the Hungarian question words (mi, ki, hol, mikor, miért) and ask your first real questions.

Front vowels	Short	Long	Respelled
Chapter 4	e	é	eh · ay
Chapter 5 (today)	i	í	ih · ee
Chapters 6–7	ö ü	ő ű	(rounded front vowels)

✨ Two New Vowels — i í

I · i

a short, tight "ee" — respelled ih

front vowel · short

Mouth tip: spread your lips as if smiling and say a quick "ee". It's tenser and closer than the English "i" in bit, so aim for a clipped "ee", not a lazy "ih".

Í · í

long, like the "ee" in see — respelled ee

front vowel · long

Mouth tip: the same smile and the same tongue position as i, but hold it for about twice as long.

i and í: Only the Length Changes Unlike a / á and e / é, the pair i / í has the same vowel quality. The short one is simply a shorter version of the long one, so you only have to remember how long to hold it. The accent is your "hold it" signal.

📖 Read It — New Words

You can read all of these. As before, s is said "sh" (Chapter 13) and stress is on the first syllable.

#	Hungarian	Say it	English	Note
1	igen	IH-gehn	yes	short i, short e
2	ki	KIH	who	short i
3	mi	MIH	what; we	two meanings
4	ti	TIH	you (plural)	"you all"
5	ír	EER	writes; an Irish person	tapped r
6	víz	VEEZ	water	long í
7	hír	HEER	news	long í
8	tíz	TEEZ	ten	long í
9	hideg	HIH-dehg	cold	short i, short e
10	fiú	FIH-oo	boy	short i, then long ú
11	mikor	MIH-kor	when	a question word
12	tilos	TIH-losh	forbidden	s is said "sh"

❓ The Question Words

With i in hand, you now know nearly all the basic question words. Notice that they all start with m or k (apart from hol).

Hungarian	Say it	English	Example
mi	MIH	what	Mi ez? (What is this?)
ki	KIH	who	Ki ez? (Who is this?)
hol	HOL	where	Hol a víz? (Where is the water?)
mikor	MIH-kor	when	Mikor? (When?)
miért	MIH-ayrt	why	Miért? (Why?)

A Neutral Vowel — i and í in Vowel Harmony i and í are neutral vowels: they're front vowels, but they can sit comfortably next to back vowels in the same word. In practice, a word whose vowels are only i, í, e or é takes the front ending: víz → vízben (in the water), hír → hírben (in the news). There are a few well-known exceptions, such as híd ("bridge", HEED) which takes the back ending: hídban (in the bridge). Chapter 10 returns to these.

💬 Mini-Dialogs

① What Is This? — Mi ez?

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

B: Ez víz. EHZ VEEZ. This is water.

② Who Is This? — Ki ez?

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

B: Ez a fiú. EHZ aw FIH-oo. This is the boy.

③ Cold Water — Hideg a víz?

A: Hideg a víz? HIH-dehg aw VEEZ? Is the water cold?

B: Igen, hideg! IH-gehn, HIH-dehg! Yes, it's cold!

Real Hungarian Tip — "Tilos" on Signs Tilos ("forbidden, not allowed") appears on signs all over Hungary, for example on no-entry and no-parking signs, so it's one of the most useful words to be able to read. You'll recognise it as soon as you see it.

Review: Chapter 4 Words Cover the English and read these again: te (you) · ez (this) · tér (square) · kéz (hand) · lé (juice) · ég (sky) · kert (garden) · hét (week) · tél (winter) · kék (blue) · pénz (money) · ebéd (lunch).

✍️ Try It Yourself — Gyakorlatok

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

1. Say the two new vowels with their respellings: i · í

Show answer

i = ih (a short, tight "ee") · í = ee (long, as in see).

2. Do i and í differ in sound, or only in length?

Show answer

Only in length: they're the same vowel, short and long (like o/ó and u/ú).

3. Read aloud and translate: ki · mi · igen

Show answer

KIH (who) · MIH (what; also "we") · IH-gehn (yes)

4. Read aloud and translate: víz · tíz · hír

Show answer

VEEZ (water) · TEEZ (ten) · HEER (news)

5. Say in Hungarian: "What is this?" · "Who is this?" · "Is the water cold?"

Show answer

Mi ez? · Ki ez? · Hideg a víz?

6. Add "in": víz · ház. Why do they take different endings?

Show answer

vízben (front ending: víz has only the neutral vowel í) and házban (back ending: ház has the back vowel á).

Coming Up in Chapter 6 The rounded front vowels begin with ö and ő. These are made with the tongue in the "ee" position and the lips in the "oo" position, like the German ö or French eu. You'll then read ő (he/she), nő (woman), öt (five), kör (circle) and köd (fog).