Begin Hungarian
Hungarian Alphabet
The Hungarian Alphabet
The Hungarian alphabet uses Latin letters, but with a few additions. It has 44 letters in total, which might seem like a lot, but there's good news: Hungarian is highly phonetic. Once you learn the sound for each letter, you can pronounce almost any word correctly. You read what you see.
The Vowels
Hungarian has 14 vowels, which come in seven pairs. Each pair has a short and a long version. The long vowels are marked with an acute accent (´) or double acute accent (˝), and you hold the sound for a bit longer. This length can change a word's meaning entirely, so it's important.
| Vowel | Pronunciation (like in...) | Example (in Hungarian) |
|---|---|---|
| a | 'o' in "hot" | alma (apple) |
| á | 'a' in "father" | fá (tree) |
| e | 'e' in "bed" | ember (person) |
| é | 'ay' in "say" | kép (picture) |
| i | 'i' in "sit" | is (also) |
| í | 'ee' in "see" | ír (writes) |
| o | 'o' in "lot" | ott (there) |
| ó | 'o' in "go" | jó (good) |
| ö | 'u' in "fur" (but lips rounded) | örül (is happy) |
| ő | a longer version of 'ö' | ő (he/she) |
| u | 'oo' in "book" | kutya (dog) |
| ú | 'oo' in "moon" | út (road) |
| ü | like the 'u' in French "tu" | ül (sits) |
| ű | a longer version of 'ü' | tű (needle) |
The Consonants
There are 25 consonants. Many sound just like they do in English, but some are unique. Hungarian also uses digraphs (two letters) and a trigraph (three letters) to represent single sounds. These are considered single letters in the alphabet.
| Letter(s) | Pronunciation (like in...) | Example (in Hungarian) |
|---|---|---|
| c | 'ts' in "cats" | citrom (lemon) |
| cs | 'ch' in "church" | csak (only) |
| dzs | 'j' in "jungle" | dzsungel (jungle) |
| gy | 'd' in "due" | magyar (Hungarian) |
| ly | 'y' in "yes" | gólya (stork) |
| ny | 'ni' in "onion" | nyak (neck) |
| s | 'sh' in "shoe" | só (salt) |
| sz | 's' in "sun" | szia (hello) |
| ty | 't' in "tune" | kutyatya (doggy) |
| zs | 's' in "pleasure" | rózsa (rose) |
Note that ly and j make the exact same sound. The spelling is just based on the word's history. Also, the letters q, w, x, and y only appear in foreign loanwords.
Vowel Harmony
Vowel harmony is a core rule of Hungarian. It might sound complex, but it's quite logical. Vowels are divided into two main groups: front and back, based on where they are formed in the mouth.
- Back vowels: a, á, o, ó, u, ú
- Front vowels: e, é, i, í, ö, ő, ü, ű
The rule is simple: a word usually contains either back vowels or front vowels, but not both. More importantly, any suffix you add to a word must match the word's vowel type. If the word has back vowels, the suffix will use a back vowel. If the word has front vowels, the suffix will use a front vowel.
Let's look at an example with the suffix that means "in." This suffix has two forms: -ban (with a back vowel a) and -ben (with a front vowel e).
The word ház (house) has the back vowel á. So, to say "in the house," you use the back-vowel suffix: házban.
The word kert (garden) has the front vowel e. To say "in the garden," you use the front-vowel suffix: kertben.
This principle applies to most suffixes in the language, creating a natural, flowing sound. Once you get the hang of identifying a word's vowels, choosing the right suffix becomes second nature.
Now, let's test your understanding of these new sounds and rules.
How many letters are in the Hungarian alphabet?
True or False: In Hungarian, the length of a vowel sound can change a word's meaning.
Mastering the alphabet and vowel harmony is the single most important step to speaking Hungarian clearly. With this foundation, you're ready to start building your vocabulary.