Talking About Your Family

Hungarian Basic Conversation 1

Chapter 5 · Talking About Your Family

👪 Talking About Your Family — A család

Talking about family is one of the most natural topics for a beginner, and it introduces two big Hungarian ideas: possessive endings (there is no word for "my": the ending on the noun does the job) and the Hungarian way to say "I have". Every line has a respelling beneath it.

① How Many in Your Family? — Hányan vagytok?

A: Hányan vagytok a családban? HAH-nyawn VAWDY-tok aw CHAW-lahd-bawn? How many of you are there in the family?

B: Négyen vagyunk: anya, apa, a húgom és én. NAY-dyehn VAW-dyunk: AW-nyaw, AW-paw, aw HOO-gom AYSH AYN. There are four of us: mum, dad, my younger sister and me.

② Do You Have Siblings? — Van testvéred?

A: Van testvéred? VAWN TEHSHT-vay-rehd? Do you have a brother or sister?

B: Igen, van egy bátyám. IH-gehn, VAWN EHDY BAH-tyahm. Yes, I have an older brother.

A: Hány éves? HAHNY AY-vehsh? How old is he?

B: Harminc éves. HAWR-mints AY-vehsh. He's thirty.

③ An Only Child — Egyke vagyok

A: Neked van testvéred? NEH-kehd VAWN TEHSHT-vay-rehd? Do you have a sibling?

B: Nincs, egyke vagyok. NINCH, EDY-keh VAW-dyok. No, I'm an only child.

A: Értem. AYR-tehm. I see.

④ Asking After the Family (formal) — A családja

A: Hogy van a családja? HODY VAWN aw CHAW-lahd-yaw? How is your family?

B: Köszönöm, mindenki jól van. KEU-seu-neum, MIN-dehn-kih YOHL VAWN. Thank you, everyone is well.

A: Örülök. EU-reu-leuk. I'm glad.

⑤ A Family Photo — A családom

A: Ez a családom. EHZ aw CHAW-lah-dom. This is my family.

B: Szép család! SAYP CHAW-lahd! A lovely family!

A: Ő az apám, ő az anyám. EUU AWZ AW-pahm, EUU AWZ AW-nyahm. That's my father, that's my mother.

⑥ Children and Pets — Gyerek, kutya

A: Van gyereked? VAWN DYEH-reh-kehd? Do you have children?

B: Igen, van egy lányom. Hat éves. IH-gehn, VAWN EHDY LAH-nyom. HAWT AY-vehsh. Yes, I have a daughter. She's six.

A: És macskád is van? AYSH MAWCH-kahd IHSH VAWN? And do you have a cat too?

B: Nem, egy kutyánk van. NEHM, EHDY KU-tyahnk VAWN. No, we have a dog.

👪 Family Words — Családtagok

Hungarian has separate words for older and younger brothers and sisters (báty, öcs, nővér, húg), and a general word for either, testvér.

Meaning	Hungarian	Say it	Notes
family	család	CHAW-lahd
mother	anya	AW-nyaw	also anyu, mama
father	apa	AW-paw	also apu, papa
parents	szülők	SUE-leuuk
brother or sister	testvér	TEHSHT-vayr	no word for sibling gender: just testvér
older brother	báty	BAHTY
younger brother	öcs	EUCH
older sister	nővér	NEUU-vayr	nővér also means nurse
younger sister	húg	HOOG
grandmother	nagymama	NAWDY-maw-maw	informal: nagyi (NAW-dyih)
grandfather	nagypapa	NAWDY-paw-paw	informal: papa
child (son / daughter)	gyerek / fiú / lány	DYEH-rehk / FIH-oo / LAHNY	fiú = boy; son, lány = girl; daughter
husband / wife	férj / feleség	FAYRY / FEH-leh-shayg

🔑 My, Your, His/Her: The Possessive Endings — Birtokos személyjelek

Hungarian does not use a separate word for "my" or "your": it adds an ending to the noun. The ending changes with the person and, as usual, with vowel harmony.

Word	my	your (informal)	his / her
anya (mother) AW-nyaw	anyám AW-nyahm	anyád AW-nyahd	anyja AWNY-yaw
apa (father) AW-paw	apám AW-pahm	apád AW-pahd	apja AWP-yaw
testvér (sibling) TEHSHT-vayr	testvérem TEHSHT-vay-rehm	testvéred TEHSHT-vay-rehd	testvére TEHSHT-vay-reh
báty (older brother) BAHTY	bátyám BAH-tyahm	bátyád BAH-tyahd	bátyja BAHTY-yaw
húg (younger sister) HOOG	húgom HOO-gom	húgod HOO-god	húga HOO-gaw
család (family) CHAW-lahd	családom CHAW-lah-dom	családod CHAW-lah-dod	családja CHAW-lahd-yaw

The Rules of Thumb my = -m (after a vowel) or -om / -em / -öm (after a consonant): anyám, testvérem, húgom. your (informal) = -d or -od / -ed / -öd: anyád, testvéred. his / her = -a / -e / -ja / -je: testvére, anyja. Notice that a final -a or -e of the noun lengthens before -m and -d: anya → anyám, apa → apám. A few words are irregular (such as öcs → öcsém, öccse): learn them as you meet them.

🧾 "I Have" — Van …

Hungarian has no verb "to have". It says "there is my sibling" instead: Van egy bátyám means "I have an older brother" (literally "there is a brother-of-mine"). The possessive ending on the noun tells you whose it is, and van says it exists.

Say this	Hungarian	Meaning
Do you have …?	Van testvéred? VAWN TEHSHT-vay-rehd	Do you have a sibling?
I have …	Van egy bátyám. VAWN EHDY BAH-tyahm	I have an older brother.
I don't have …	Nincs testvérem. NINCH TEHSHT-vay-rehm	I don't have a sibling.
I have two …	Két testvérem van. KAYT TEHSHT-vay-rehm VAWN	I have two siblings.
I'm an only child	Egyke vagyok. EDY-keh VAW-dyok
There are four of us	Négyen vagyunk. NAY-dyehn VAW-dyunk

👥 "The Two of Us" — Ketten, hárman, négyen

To say how many people there are, Hungarian uses special forms of the numbers with -en / -an:

Number of people	Hungarian	Say it
two of us / them	ketten	KEHT-tehn
three	hárman	HAHR-mawn
four	négyen	NAY-dyehn
five	öten	EU-tehn
six	hatan	HAW-tawn
how many people?	hányan	HAH-nyawn

🔤 Three More Verbs — Igék

	szeretni (to love; to like)	élni (to live)	ismerni (to know a person)
én (I) AYN	szeretek SEH-reh-tehk	élek AY-lehk	ismerek IHSH-meh-rehk
te (you) TEH	szeretsz SEH-rehts	élsz AYLS	ismersz IHSH-mehrs
ő, Ön EUU, EUN	szeret SEH-reht	él AYL	ismer IHSH-mehr
mi (we) MIH	szeretünk SEH-reh-tuenk	élünk AY-luenk	ismerünk IHSH-meh-ruenk
ti (you, pl.) TIH	szerettek SEH-reht-tehk	éltek AYL-tehk	ismertek IHSH-mehr-tehk
ők (they) EUUK	szeretnek SEH-reht-nehk	élnek AYL-nehk	ismernek IHSH-mehr-nehk

📖 Vocabulary — Szókincs

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

#	Hungarian	Say it	English	Type
1	család	CHAW-lahd	family	noun
2	anya	AW-nyaw	mother	noun
3	apa	AW-paw	father	noun
4	szülők	SUE-leuuk	parents	noun
5	testvér	TEHSHT-vayr	brother or sister; sibling	noun
6	báty	BAHTY	older brother	noun
7	öcs	EUCH	younger brother	noun
8	nővér	NEUU-vayr	older sister	noun
9	húg	HOOG	younger sister	noun
10	nagymama	NAWDY-maw-maw	grandmother	noun
11	nagypapa	NAWDY-paw-paw	grandfather	noun
12	gyerek	DYEH-rehk	child	noun
13	férj	FAYRY	husband	noun
14	feleség	FEH-leh-shayg	wife	noun
15	fiú	FIH-oo	boy; son	noun
16	lány	LAHNY	girl; daughter	noun
17	kutya	KU-tyaw	dog	noun
18	macska	MAWCH-kaw	cat	noun
19	egyke	EDY-keh	only child	noun
20	mindenki	MIN-dehn-kih	everyone	noun

Real Hungarian Tip — Older and Younger Matter Like Japanese, Hungarian marks whether a brother or sister is older or younger. Báty and nővér are older; öcs and húg are younger. Hungarians also use testvér when they don't need to say which.

Család Is Also Your Surname Család means "family", and családnév ("family name") is the other common word for surname, alongside vezetéknév from Chapter 2. On a form you may see either one.

Mama, Papa, Nagyi Hungarian children say mama and papa (or anyu and apu) for their parents, and nagyi (NAW-dyih) for a grandmother. The adult words anya and apa are what you say when you talk about your parents to other people.

The Ending Does the Work Because the possessive is an ending, there is no word for "my" in anyám or a családom: the -m and -om are the "my". It feels strange at first, but you will soon hear it as a natural pattern: apám, bátyám, húgom, testvérem.

✍️ Try It Yourself — Gyakorlatok

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

1. Say "I have an older brother" and "I have a younger sister".

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Van egy bátyám. · Van egy húgom.

2. Say "I don't have a sibling. I'm an only child."

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Nincs testvérem. Egyke vagyok.

3. Ask a friend whether they have a sibling.

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Van testvéred?

4. Say "We are four: mum, dad, my sister and me."

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Négyen vagyunk: anya, apa, a húgom és én.

5. What is the formal way to ask how someone's family is?

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Hogy van a családja?

6. How do you say "my mother" and "my father"? What happens to the final vowel?

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anyám · apám: the final -a lengthens to -á before -m.

Coming Up in Chapter 6 Talking about your job: Mi a foglalkozásod? ("What's your job?"), Mérnök vagyok ("I'm an engineer"), and the endings -nál / -nél ("at") and -ban / -ben ("in") for saying where you work.