Days, Dates & Time
Hungarian Basic Conversation 1
Chapter 7 · Days, Dates & Time
📅 Days, Dates & Time — Napok, dátumok, idő
This is the second three-part chapter and has one famous trap. Part 1 covers the days of the week; Part 2 covers the months and dates; Part 3 covers the time, including the Hungarian way of counting the half-hour towards the next hour. Every line has a respelling beneath it.
① Part 1 — What Day Is It? — Milyen nap van ma?
A:
Milyen nap van ma?
MIH-yehn NAWP VAWN MAW?
What day is it today?
B:
Ma péntek van.
MAW PAYN-tehk VAWN.
Today is Friday.
A:
Holnap szombat!
HOL-nawp SOM-bawt!
Tomorrow is Saturday!
B:
Igen, holnap szombat.
IH-gehn, HOL-nawp SOM-bawt.
Yes, tomorrow is Saturday.
② Part 1 — At the Weekend — Hétvégén
A:
Mit csinálsz hétvégén?
MIT CHIH-nahls HAYT-vay-gayn?
What are you doing at the weekend?
B:
Pihenek. És te?
PIH-heh-nehk. AYSH TEH?
I'm resting. And you?
A:
Én dolgozom.
AYN DOL-go-zom.
I'm working.
③ Part 2 — A Birthday — Születésnap
A:
Mikor van a születésnapod?
MIH-kor VAWN aw SUE-leh-taysh-naw-pod?
When is your birthday?
B:
Március harmadikán.
MAHR-tsih-oosh HAWR-maw-dih-kahn.
On the 3rd of March.
A:
Hányadika van ma?
HAH-nyaw-dih-kaw VAWN MAW?
What's the date today?
B:
Ma október negyedike van.
MAW OHK-toh-behr NEHDY-eh-dih-keh VAWN.
Today is the 4th of October.
④ Part 2 — Today's Date — Hányadika?
A:
Hányadika van ma?
HAH-nyaw-dih-kaw VAWN MAW?
What's the date today?
B:
Ma október ötödike van.
MAW OHK-toh-behr EU-teu-dih-keh VAWN.
Today is the 5th of October.
⑤ Part 3 — What Time Is It? — Hány óra van?
A:
Bocsánat, hány óra van?
BO-chah-nawt, HAHNY OH-raw VAWN?
Excuse me, what time is it?
B:
Fél három.
FAYL HAH-rom.
Half past two.
A:
Köszönöm.
KEU-seu-neum.
Thank you.
⑥ Part 3 — A Meeting — A találkozó
A:
Hánykor van a találkozó?
HAHNY-kor VAWN aw TAW-lahl-ko-zoh?
What time is the meeting?
B:
Háromkor.
HAH-rom-kor.
At three.
A:
Rendben, köszönöm.
REHND-behn, KEU-seu-neum.
OK, thank you.
🗝️ Key Questions — Fontos kérdések
| Situation | Formal and informal | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| What day is it today? | Milyen nap van ma? MIH-yehn NAWP VAWN MAW | answer: Ma péntek van. |
| What's the date today? | Hányadika van ma? HAH-nyaw-dih-kaw VAWN MAW | answer: Ma október negyedike van. |
| When is your birthday? | Mikor van a születésnapod? / …születésnapja? MIH-kor VAWN aw SUE-leh-taysh-naw-pod / -nawp-yaw | informal / formal |
| What time is it? | Hány óra van? / Mennyi az idő? HAHNY OH-raw VAWN / MEHN-nyih AWZ IH-deuu | both are common |
| At what time? | Hánykor? HAHNY-kor | answer: Háromkor. (-kor = at) |
| When? | Mikor? MIH-kor |
① Part 1 — Days of the Week — A hét napjai
Remember: days, months and nationalities are written without a capital letter in Hungarian. The week starts on Monday (hétfő).
| Day | Hungarian | Say it |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | hétfő | HAYT-feuu |
| Tuesday | kedd | KEHDD |
| Wednesday | szerda | SEHR-daw |
| Thursday | csütörtök | CHUE-teur-teuk |
| Friday | péntek | PAYN-tehk |
| Saturday | szombat | SOM-bawt |
| Sunday | vasárnap | VAW-shahr-nawp |
| weekend | hétvége | HAYT-vay-geh |
| today / tomorrow / yesterday | ma / holnap / tegnap | MAW / HOL-nawp / TEHG-nawp |
② Part 2 — Months and Dates — Hónapok és dátumok
Dates go month first, then the day, and the day is an ordinal ending in -ika / -ike: október negyedike ("the 4th of October"). To say on a date, add -n: március harmadikán ("on 3 March").
| Month | Hungarian | Say it |
|---|---|---|
| January | január | YAW-nu-ahr |
| February | február | FEHB-ru-ahr |
| March | március | MAHR-tsih-oosh |
| April | április | AHP-rih-lish |
| May | május | MAH-yoosh |
| June | június | YOO-nih-oosh |
| July | július | YOO-lih-oosh |
| August | augusztus | OW-gus-toosh |
| September | szeptember | SEHP-tehm-behr |
| October | október | OHK-toh-behr |
| November | november | NO-vehm-behr |
| December | december | DEH-tsehm-behr |
| Date | Hungarian | Say it |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | elseje | EHL-sheh-yeh |
| 2nd | másodika | MAH-sho-dih-kaw |
| 3rd | harmadika | HAWR-maw-dih-kaw |
| 4th | negyedike | NEHDY-eh-dih-keh |
| 5th | ötödike | EU-teu-dih-keh |
| 6th | hatodika | HAW-to-dih-kaw |
| 7th | hetedike | HEH-teh-dih-keh |
| 8th | nyolcadika | NYOL-tsaw-dih-kaw |
| 9th | kilencedike | KIH-lehn-tseh-dih-keh |
| 10th | tizedike | TIH-zeh-dih-keh |
| 20th | huszadika | HUS-aw-dih-kaw |
| 31st | harmincegyedike | HAWR-mints-eh-dyeh-dih-keh |
| what date? | hányadika | HAH-nyaw-dih-kaw |
Hungarian Dates: Year, Month, Day
In writing, Hungarian dates go from big to small: 2026. október 4. (year, month, day, with full stops). That is the opposite of the day-month-year order used in Britain. Read it aloud as két ezer huszonhat, október negyedike.
③ Part 3 — The Time — Az idő
Round hours are easy: három óra ("three o'clock"). The half-hours are the famous Hungarian surprise: Hungarians count towards the next hour, so fél három ("half three") means 2:30, half way to three.
| Hour | Hungarian | Say it |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | egy óra | EHDY OH-raw |
| 2 | két óra | KAYT OH-raw |
| 3 | három óra | HAH-rom OH-raw |
| 4 | négy óra | NAYDY OH-raw |
| 5 | öt óra | EUT OH-raw |
| 6 | hat óra | HAWT OH-raw |
| 7 | hét óra | HAYT OH-raw |
| 8 | nyolc óra | NYOLTS OH-raw |
| 9 | kilenc óra | KIH-lehnts OH-raw |
| 10 | tíz óra | TEEZ OH-raw |
| 11 | tizenegy óra | TIH-zehn-ehdy OH-raw |
| 12 | tizenkét óra | TIH-zehn-kayt OH-raw |
| Time | Hungarian | Say it | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2:00 | két óra | KAYT OH-raw | két before a noun |
| 2:05 | két óra öt perc | KAYT OH-raw EUT PEHRTS | |
| 2:15 | negyed három | NEHDY-ehd HAH-rom | "a quarter (of the way) to three" |
| 2:30 | fél három | FAYL HAH-rom | "half (way) to three" |
| 2:45 | háromnegyed három | HAH-rom-nehdy-ehd HAH-rom | "three quarters (of the way) to three" |
| 3:00 | három óra | HAH-rom OH-raw |
Remember: Count Towards the Next Hour
fél három = half to three = 2:30, not 3:30! negyed három = a quarter of the way to three = 2:15. háromnegyed három = three quarters of the way to three = 2:45. A good trick: the hour you hear is always the next one.
| Part of the day | Hungarian | Say it |
|---|---|---|
| morning | reggel | REHG-gehl |
| before noon | délelőtt | DAY-leh-leuut |
| afternoon | délután | DAYL-oo-tahn |
| evening | este | EHSH-teh |
| at night | éjjel | AY-yehl |
"At" a Time: -kor
To say at a time, add -kor to the number: háromkor ("at three"), négykor ("at four"), fél háromkor ("at 2:30"). The question is Hánykor? ("At what time?").
🔤 Three More Verbs — Igék
| kezdeni (to begin) | várni (to wait) | találkozni (to meet) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| én (I) AYN | kezdek KEHZ-dehk | várok VAH-rok | találkozom TAW-lahl-ko-zom |
| te (you) TEH | kezdesz KEHZ-dehs | vársz VAHRS | találkozol TAW-lahl-ko-zol |
| ő, Ön EUU, EUN | kezd KEHZD | vár VAHR | találkozik TAW-lahl-ko-zihk |
| mi (we) MIH | kezdünk KEHZ-duenk | várunk VAH-runk | találkozunk TAW-lahl-ko-zunk |
| ti (you, pl.) TIH | kezdetek KEHZ-deh-tehk | vártok VAHR-tok | találkoztok TAW-lahl-kos-tok |
| ők (they) EUUK | kezdenek KEHZ-deh-nehk | várnak VAHR-nawk | találkoznak TAW-lahl-koz-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 | hét | HAYT | week; seven | noun |
| 2 | hétfő | HAYT-feuu | Monday | noun |
| 3 | kedd | KEHDD | Tuesday | noun |
| 4 | szerda | SEHR-daw | Wednesday | noun |
| 5 | csütörtök | CHUE-teur-teuk | Thursday | noun |
| 6 | péntek | PAYN-tehk | Friday | noun |
| 7 | szombat | SOM-bawt | Saturday | noun |
| 8 | vasárnap | VAW-shahr-nawp | Sunday | noun |
| 9 | hétvége | HAYT-vay-geh | weekend | noun |
| 10 | ma | MAW | today | adj |
| 11 | holnap | HOL-nawp | tomorrow | adj |
| 12 | tegnap | TEHG-nawp | yesterday | adj |
| 13 | hónap | HOH-nawp | month | noun |
| 14 | év | AYV | year | noun |
| 15 | óra | OH-raw | hour; o'clock; clock | noun |
| 16 | perc | PEHRTS | minute | noun |
| 17 | fél | FAYL | half | noun |
| 18 | negyed | NEHDY-ehd | quarter | noun |
| 19 | mikor | MIH-kor | when | adj |
| 20 | hánykor | HAHNY-kor | at what time | adj |
Real Hungarian Tip — Learn Fél Három Early
Mixing up fél három (2:30) with 3:30 is the most common mistake for learners, and it can make you an hour late. Whenever you hear fél, negyed or háromnegyed, say to yourself: "It's before the hour I hear." In shops and on timetables you may also see digital times (14:30), which are unambiguous.
The 24-Hour Clock
In writing and on timetables, Hungarians use the 24-hour clock: 14:30 is tizennégy óra harminc perc. In conversation people use the 12-hour style with délután (afternoon) or este (evening): délután két óra is 2 p.m.
Hétvége and Hét
Hét means both "seven" and "week", so hétvége is literally "the end of the week". You also meet it in the days: hétfő is "the head of the week" (hét + fő).
Mennyi az idő?
Mennyi az idő? (MEHN-nyih AWZ IH-deuu, literally "how much is the time?") is a very common alternative to Hány óra van?, and a good thing to recognise when you hear it in the street.
✍️ Try It Yourself — Gyakorlatok
Say each answer out loud first, then click to check.
1. Ask what day it is, then answer that it is Friday.
Show answer
Milyen nap van ma? · Ma péntek van.
2. Say "tomorrow is Saturday".
Show answer
Holnap szombat van. or Holnap szombat.
3. Say the date: the 4th of October.
Show answer
október negyedike
4. What time is fél hat? And negyed nyolc?
Show answer
fél hat = 5:30 · negyed nyolc = 7:15 (count towards the next hour).
5. Say "at three o'clock" and ask "at what time?"
Show answer
Háromkor. · Hánykor?
6. What is the Hungarian week's first day, and is it written with a capital letter?
Show answer
hétfő (Monday), with no capital letter.
Coming Up in Chapter 8
Ordering food and drink at a café: Kérek egy kávét ("I'd like a coffee"), the object ending -t, Mit parancsol? ("What can I get you?") and paying the bill.