A0 · Nullpunkt Kapitel 3

First Contact: Greetings and Basics

4 Gesamtregeln
1 Min.

Chapter in 30 Seconds

Unlock the power of your first authentic Hungarian interactions with essential greetings and polite conversational building blocks.

  • Master standard greetings for different times of day.
  • Employ polite particles to sound like a local.
  • Form simple yes/no questions using the '-e' suffix.
Speak Hungarian from your very first day.

Was du lernen wirst

Essential survival phrases and the most common polite expressions. Basic sentence structures for simple interactions.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this chapter, you will be able to:

  1. 1
    By the end you will be able to: Greet a native speaker and initiate a basic question.

Tipps & Tricks (4)

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When in doubt, be formal

If you aren't sure if you should use 'Szia' or 'Jó napot', go with 'Jó napot'. It's never rude to be polite.
frontend.learn_grammar.from_rule: Basic Greetings (Szia, Jó napot)
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Register Check

Always ask yourself: 'Is this person a friend or a stranger?' before choosing your particle.
frontend.learn_grammar.from_rule: Polite Particles (Légy szíves, Kérem)
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Use the hyphen

Always use a hyphen before '-e'. It makes your writing look professional.
frontend.learn_grammar.from_rule: The Question Particle '-e'
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The Comma Rule

Always use a comma after 'Igen' or 'Nem'. It makes your writing look professional.
frontend.learn_grammar.from_rule: Yes and No (Igen, Nem)

Wichtige Vokabeln (6)

Szia Hi/Bye Jó napot Good day Kérem Please Igen Yes Nem No Köszönöm Thank you

Real-World Preview

coffee

The Coffee Shop

Review Summary

  • Szia / Jó napot
  • Verb + kérem / legyen szíves
  • Word + -e
  • Igen / Nem

Häufige Fehler

You don't need the definite article 'a' when asking generally about existence.

Wrong: Van-e a kávé?
Richtig: Van-e kávé?

Mixing informal and formal greetings is confusing. Use one or the other.

Wrong: Szia napot
Richtig: Jó napot

Polite particles like 'kérem' are requests, not questions, so they don't take the '-e' suffix.

Wrong: Kérem-e?
Richtig: Kérem.

Next Steps

You are doing amazing. Every small step is progress towards fluency!

Speak greetings to a mirror

Schnelle Übung (10)

Correct the sentence.

Find and fix the mistake:

Légy szíves, üljön le.

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: Légy szíves, ülj le.
Informal particle + informal verb.

frontend.learn_grammar.from_rule: Polite Particles (Légy szíves, Kérem)

Fix the sentence.

Find and fix the mistake:

Szereted-e a kávét-e?

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: Szereted-e a kávét?
Only one -e.

frontend.learn_grammar.from_rule: The Question Particle '-e'

Choose the correct sentence.

Which is correct?

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: Kérem, jöjjön!
Formal particle + formal verb.

frontend.learn_grammar.from_rule: Polite Particles (Légy szíves, Kérem)

Fill in the blank for a group of friends.

___, srácok!

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: Sziasztok
Sziasztok is the plural form.

frontend.learn_grammar.from_rule: Basic Greetings (Szia, Jó napot)

Fix the sentence.

Find and fix the mistake:

Nem tudom.

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: Nem, nem tudom.
Double negation is required.

frontend.learn_grammar.from_rule: Yes and No (Igen, Nem)

Which is the polite way to say no?

How to decline coffee?

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: Nem, köszönöm.
Adding köszönöm is polite.

frontend.learn_grammar.from_rule: Yes and No (Igen, Nem)

Which greeting is appropriate for a friend?

Szia or Jó napot?

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: Szia
Szia is the standard informal greeting.

frontend.learn_grammar.from_rule: Basic Greetings (Szia, Jó napot)

Choose the correct negative.

Kérem, ___ ne beszéljen!

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: ne
Negative particle.

frontend.learn_grammar.from_rule: Polite Particles (Légy szíves, Kérem)

Correct the following sentence.

Find and fix the mistake:

Szia, tanár úr.

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: Jó napot, tanár úr
Formal address requires formal greeting.

frontend.learn_grammar.from_rule: Basic Greetings (Szia, Jó napot)

Fill in the blank with the correct particle.

___, gyere ide! (friend)

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: Légy szíves
Informal context requires Légy szíves.

frontend.learn_grammar.from_rule: Polite Particles (Légy szíves, Kérem)

Score: /10

Häufige Fragen (6)

Only if you have a very close, informal relationship. Otherwise, use 'Jó napot'.
It means 'I wish'. It makes the greeting more polite.
No, it's too informal. Use 'Kérem'.
The sentence won't make sense. Always include the verb.
No, you can use rising intonation, but -e is more formal and clear.
No, never use -e with question words like 'mi', 'ki', 'hol'.