Introducing Yourself

Hungarian Basic Conversation 1

Chapter 2 · Introducing Yourself

🤝 Introducing Yourself — Bemutatkozás

Now that you can greet people, let's tell them who you are. In this chapter you'll learn to say your name, ask someone else's, say you're pleased to meet them, introduce a friend, and use the verb lenni ("to be"), including its surprising third-person behaviour. Every line has a respelling beneath it.

① Meeting Someone (formal) — Örvendek

A: Jó napot kívánok! A nevem Kovács János. YOH NAW-pot KEE-vah-nok! AW NEH-vehm KO-vahch YAH-nosh. Good day! My name is János Kovács.

B: Jó napot! Nagy Anna vagyok. Örvendek! YOH NAW-pot! NAWDY AWN-naw VAW-dyok. EUR-vehn-dehk! Good day! I'm Anna Nagy. Pleased to meet you!

A: Szintén! SIHN-tayn! Likewise!

② Asking and Spelling a Name — Hogy hívják?

A: Hogy hívják? HODY HEEV-yahk? What is your name?

B: Philip vagyok. FIH-lihp VAW-dyok. I'm Philip.

A: Hogy írják? HODY EER-yahk? How do you spell it?

B: Pé, há, i, el, i, pé. PAY, HAH, IH, EHL, IH, PAY. P-H-I-L-I-P.

③ Meeting a Friend (informal) — Mi a neved?

A: Szia! Mi a neved? SIH-aw! MIH AW NEH-vehd? Hi! What's your name?

B: Péter vagyok. És te? PAY-tehr VAW-dyok. AYSH TEH? I'm Péter. And you?

A: Anna. Örülök! AWN-naw. EU-reu-leuk! Anna. Pleased to meet you!

B: Én is örülök. AYN IHSH EU-reu-leuk. Me too.

④ Introducing a Colleague — Ez Anna

A: Ez Anna. Ő a kollégám. EHZ AWN-naw. EUU aw KOL-lay-gahm. This is Anna. She is my colleague.

B: Szia, Anna! Örülök! SIH-aw, AWN-naw! EU-reu-leuk! Hi, Anna! Pleased to meet you!

C: Szia! Én is. SIH-aw! AYN IHSH. Hi! Me too.

⑤ Are You Mr Kovács? — Ön Kovács úr?

A: Ön Kovács úr? EUN KO-vahch OOR? Are you Mr Kovács?

B: Igen, én vagyok. IH-gehn, AYN VAW-dyok. Yes, that's me.

A: Örvendek. EUR-vehn-dehk. Pleased to meet you.

B: Szintén. SIHN-tayn. Likewise.

⑥ Who Is That? — Ki ő?

A: Ki ő? KIH EUU? Who is that?

B: Ő Anna. EUU AWN-naw. That's Anna.

A: Itt van? IHTT VAWN? Is she here?

B: Igen, itt van. IH-gehn, IHTT VAWN. Yes, she is here.

🗝️ Key Phrases — Fontos kifejezések

Situation	Formal (Ön)	Informal (te)
My name is …	A nevem … AW NEH-vehm	A nevem … / … vagyok AW NEH-vehm / … VAW-dyok
I am …	… vagyok … VAW-dyok	… vagyok … VAW-dyok
What is your name?	Hogy hívják? / Mi a neve? HODY HEEV-yahk / MIH AW NEH-veh	Hogy hívnak? / Mi a neved? HODY HEEV-nawk / MIH AW NEH-vehd
Pleased to meet you	Örvendek! / Örülök! EUR-vehn-dehk / EU-reu-leuk	Örülök! EU-reu-leuk
Likewise / Me too	Szintén! SIHN-tayn	Én is! AYN IHSH
Are you Mr Kovács / Péter?	Ön Kovács úr? EUN KO-vahch OOR	Te Péter vagy? TEH PAY-tehr VAWDY
How do you spell it?	Hogy írják? HODY EER-yahk	Hogy írják? HODY EER-yahk
This is …	Ez … EHZ	Ez … EHZ

🧍 The Personal Pronouns — Személyes névmások

Hungarian pronouns are short, and you often leave them out, because the verb ending already tells you who is speaking: Philip vagyok is enough for "I am Philip". Use én when you want to stress it: Én is örülök ("I'm pleased too").

Person	Hungarian	Say it	Notes
I	én	AYN
you (informal, one person)	te	TEH	friends, family, peers
he / she	ő	EUU	the same word for both: no he/she difference
you (formal, one person)	Ön	EUN	written with a capital; used with ő-forms
we	mi	MIH
you (informal, plural)	ti	TIH
they	ők	EUUK

✨ The Verb "To Be" — Lenni

The most important Hungarian verb has a surprise: in the third person (he, she, it, Ön) it is left out before a noun or an adjective. Look at how the three verbs in the table below conjugate, and notice that lenni has a blank in the ő row for sentences like Ő Anna.

	lenni (to be)	hívni (to call)	örülni (to be glad)
én (I) AYN	vagyok VAW-dyok	hívok HEE-vok	örülök EU-reu-leuk
te (you) TEH	vagy VAWDY	hívsz HEEVS	örülsz EU-reuls
ő, Ön (he/she; formal you) EUU, EUN	van / (nothing) VAWN	hív HEEV	örül EU-reul
mi (we) MIH	vagyunk VAW-dyunk	hívunk HEE-vunk	örülünk EU-reu-luenk
ti (you, plural) TIH	vagytok VAWDY-tok	hívtok HEEV-tok	örültök EU-reul-teuk
ők (they) EUUK	vannak VAWN-nawk	hívnak HEEV-nawk	örülnek EU-reul-nehk

Where Is the Third-Person "Is"? You say Ő Anna ("She is Anna") and Péter magyar ("Péter is Hungarian"), with no verb. But when you talk about where someone is, the verb returns: Ő itt van ("She is here"). The same goes for the plural: Ők itt vannak ("They are here"). For "I am" and "you are" the verb is always there: Philip vagyok, Péter vagy.

🏷️ Names on Forms — Nevek

In Hungarian the family name comes first: Kovács János is János Kovács. On a form you will see two boxes:

Word	Meaning	Say it
vezetéknév	family name; surname	VEH-zeh-tehk-nayv
keresztnév	first name; given name	KEH-rehst-nayv
név	name	NAYV

📖 Vocabulary — Szókincs

20 key words. Read the Hungarian first, then check the respelling (CAPITALS = the stressed first syllable).

#	Hungarian	Say it	English	Type
1	név	NAYV	name	noun
2	keresztnév	KEH-rehst-nayv	first name	noun
3	vezetéknév	VEH-zeh-tehk-nayv	family name; surname	noun
4	betű	BEH-tuue	letter (of the alphabet)	noun
5	én	AYN	I	noun
6	te	TEH	you (informal)	noun
7	ő	EUU	he; she	noun
8	Ön	EUN	you (formal)	noun
9	ez	EHZ	this	noun
10	ki	KIH	who	noun
11	kolléga	KOL-lay-gaw	colleague	noun
12	barát	BAW-raht	friend (male)	noun
13	itt	IHTT	here	adj
14	vagyok	VAW-dyok	I am	verb
15	hívják	HEEV-yahk	they call (you): what you're called	verb
16	örülök	EU-reu-leuk	I'm glad	verb
17	örvendek	EUR-vehn-dehk	pleased to meet you	phrase
18	szintén	SIHN-tayn	likewise	phrase
19	nagyon	NAW-dyon	very	adj
20	is	IHSH	also; too	adj

Real Hungarian Tip — Hungarians Often Translate Your Name Many foreign first names have a Hungarian equivalent, and Hungarians may use it: Philip is Fülöp (FUE-leup), John is János, Peter is Péter, Anna is Anna. You don't have to use it: Philip vagyok is perfectly fine, but don't be surprised if someone calls you by the Hungarian form.

Name Days — Névnap Hungarians celebrate name days (névnap, NAYV-nawp) alongside birthdays: each day of the calendar belongs to a name, and people with that name get flowers, chocolates or a small gift. It is a good reason to know that your name has a Hungarian form.

Örvendek or Örülök? Örvendek is the more formal "pleased to meet you", and Örülök (literally "I'm glad") works in every situation, formal or informal. If you only remember one, remember Örülök!

Ő Means He and She Hungarian has no he/she distinction: ő covers both. That is why Ő Anna ("She is Anna") and Ő Péter ("He is Péter") use the same pronoun. The gender comes from the name or the context, not the grammar.

✍️ Try It Yourself — Gyakorlatok

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

1. Introduce yourself with your name, informally.

Show answer

Philip vagyok. or A nevem Philip. (your own name)

2. Ask a stranger politely what their name is, and then ask a friend.

Show answer

Hogy hívják? · Mi a neved?

3. Say "Pleased to meet you" in the formal way and in the all-purpose way.

Show answer

Örvendek! · Örülök!

4. Say "This is Anna. She is my colleague."

Show answer

Ez Anna. Ő a kollégám.

5. Is the verb "is" used in Ő Anna? And in Ő itt van?

Show answer

Not in Ő Anna (noun, no verb). Yes in Ő itt van (place: the verb van is used).

6. Which comes first in Hungarian, the family name or the first name?

Show answer

The family name: Kovács János.

Coming Up in Chapter 3 Numbers, age and contact details: counting from 0 to 100, saying how old you are with éves and reading out a phone number. A three-part chapter.