Where You're From: Countries & Nationalities
Hungarian Basic Conversation 1
Chapter 4 · Where You're From: Countries & Nationalities
🌍 Where You're From — Honnan jössz?
Meeting someone new, the next question is usually where are you from? This chapter teaches you to answer it, to talk about nationality and language, and to use your first Hungarian suffixes (in and from), applying the vowel-harmony rules you learned in the alphabet course. Every line has a respelling beneath it.
① Where Are You From? — Honnan jössz?
② Nationality — Angol vagy?
③ Do You Speak Hungarian? — Beszélsz magyarul?
④ Formal — Honnan jön?
⑤ Where Do You Live? — Hol laksz?
⑥ Languages — Nyelvek
🗝️ Key Phrases — Fontos kifejezések
| Situation | Formal (Ön) | Informal (te) |
|---|---|---|
| Where do you come from? | Honnan jön? HON-nawn YEUN | Honnan jössz? HON-nawn YEUSS |
| I come from … | … jövök YEU-veuk | … jövök YEU-veuk |
| Where do you live? | Hol lakik? HOL LAW-kihk | Hol laksz? HOL LAWKS |
| I live in … | … lakom LAW-kom | … lakom LAW-kom |
| Do you speak …? | Beszél magyarul? BEH-sayl MAW-dyaw-rool | Beszélsz magyarul? BEH-sayls MAW-dyaw-rool |
| I speak … / a little … | Beszélek angolul. / Egy kicsit. BEH-say-lehk AWN-go-lool / EHDY KIH-chiht | (same) |
| I am Scottish / English / Hungarian | Skót / angol / magyar vagyok. SKOHT / AWN-gol / MAW-dyawr VAW-dyok | (same) |
🌍 Countries, Nationalities and Languages — Országok, nemzetiségek, nyelvek
The nationality word is also the word for the language, and the language is made with -ul / -ül ("in the language of"): magyar → magyarul, német → németül. The ending follows the harmony rule you know: back vowels -ul, front vowels -ül.
| Country | Hungarian | Nationality | Language |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scotland | Skócia SKOH-tsee-aw | skót SKOHT | (angolul) AWN-go-lool |
| England | Anglia AWN-glee-aw | angol AWN-gol | angolul AWN-go-lool |
| United Kingdom | Egyesült Királyság EH-dyeh-shuelt KIH-rahy-shahg | brit BRIHT | angolul AWN-go-lool |
| Hungary | Magyarország MAW-dyawr-or-sahg | magyar MAW-dyawr | magyarul MAW-dyaw-rool |
| Germany | Németország NAY-meht-or-sahg | német NAY-meht | németül NAY-meh-tuel |
| France | Franciaország FRAWN-tsee-aw-or-sahg | francia FRAWN-tsee-aw | franciául FRAWN-tsee-ah-ool |
| Italy | Olaszország O-laws-or-sahg | olasz O-laws | olaszul O-law-sool |
| Spain | Spanyolország SHPAW-nyol-or-sahg | spanyol SHPAW-nyol | spanyolul SHPAW-nyo-lool |
| USA | Amerika AW-meh-rih-kaw | amerikai AW-meh-rih-kaw-ih | angolul AWN-go-lool |
| Japan | Japán YAW-pahn | japán YAW-pahn | japánul YAW-pah-nool |
📍 Your First Suffixes — Ragok
Hungarian says "in Scotland" by adding an ending to the place name, not by putting a word in front. The ending picks the back or front version, using the harmony rules from Hungarian Alphabet 1 (Chapters 8 to 10).
| Meaning | Back vowels | Front vowels | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| in | -ban | -ben | Skóciában · Debrecenben SKOH-tsee-ah-bawn · DEH-breh-tsehn-behn |
| from (out of) | -ból | -ből | Skóciából · Debrecenből SKOH-tsee-ah-bohl · DEH-breh-tsehn-beuul |
| on (the "on" series) | -on / -n | -en / -ön / -n | Magyarországon · Budapesten MAW-dyawr-or-sah-gon · BOO-daw-pehsh-tehn |
| from (the "on" series) | -ról | -ről | Magyarországról · Budapestről MAW-dyawr-or-sahg-rohl · BOO-daw-pehsht-reuul |
🔤 Three More Verbs — Igék
Jönni is irregular (jövök, not jönök), and lakni belongs to a small group of verbs ending in -ik in the 3rd person.
| jönni (to come) | beszélni (to speak) | lakni (to live) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| én (I) AYN | jövök YEU-veuk | beszélek BEH-say-lehk | lakom LAW-kom |
| te (you) TEH | jössz YEUSS | beszélsz BEH-sayls | laksz LAWKS |
| ő, Ön EUU, EUN | jön YEUN | beszél BEH-sayl | lakik LAW-kihk |
| mi (we) MIH | jövünk YEU-vuenk | beszélünk BEH-say-luenk | lakunk LAW-kunk |
| ti (you, pl.) TIH | jöttök YEUT-teuk | beszéltek BEH-sayl-tehk | laktok LAWK-tok |
| ők (they) EUUK | jönnek YEUN-nehk | beszélnek BEH-sayl-nehk | laknak LAWK-nawk |
📖 Vocabulary — Szókincs
20 key words. Read the Hungarian first, then check the respelling (CAPITALS = the stressed first syllable).
| # | Hungarian | Say it | English | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ország | OR-sahg | country | noun |
| 2 | város | VAH-rosh | town; city | noun |
| 3 | honnan | HON-nawn | from where | adj |
| 4 | hol | HOL | where | adj |
| 5 | magyar | MAW-dyawr | Hungarian | adj |
| 6 | skót | SKOHT | Scottish | adj |
| 7 | angol | AWN-gol | English | adj |
| 8 | német | NAY-meht | German | adj |
| 9 | amerikai | AW-meh-rih-kaw-ih | American | adj |
| 10 | francia | FRAWN-tsee-aw | French | adj |
| 11 | magyarul | MAW-dyaw-rool | in Hungarian | adj |
| 12 | angolul | AWN-go-lool | in English | adj |
| 13 | beszélek | BEH-say-lehk | I speak | verb |
| 14 | jövök | YEU-veuk | I come | verb |
| 15 | lakom | LAW-kom | I live | verb |
| 16 | Skócia | SKOH-tsee-aw | Scotland | noun |
| 17 | Anglia | AWN-glee-aw | England | noun |
| 18 | Magyarország | MAW-dyawr-or-sahg | Hungary | noun |
| 19 | Egyesült Királyság | EH-dyeh-shuelt KIH-rahy-shahg | United Kingdom | noun |
| 20 | kicsit | KIH-chiht | a little; a bit | adj |
✍️ Try It Yourself — Gyakorlatok
Say each answer out loud first, then click to check.
1. Say "I come from Scotland" and "I live in Scotland".
Show answer
Skóciából jövök. · Skóciában lakom.
2. Ask a friend where they come from, and ask someone formally.
Show answer
Honnan jössz? · Honnan jön?
3. Say "I'm Scottish" and "I speak English".
Show answer
Skót vagyok. · Beszélek angolul.
4. Say "I speak a little Hungarian".
Show answer
Egy kicsit beszélek magyarul.
5. Which suffix means "in" for Skócia, and which for Debrecen? Why?
Show answer
Skóciában (back vowels, -ban) and Debrecenben (front vowels, -ben): vowel harmony.
6. Why is it Budapesten but Debrecenben?
Show answer
Budapest takes the "on" series (-en); Debrecen takes the "in" series (-ben). It's lexical: learn it with the place name.