A0 · Zero Point Chapter 3

First Contact: Greetings and Basics

4 Total Rules
1 min
Rules in This Chapter Quick Practice

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.

What You'll Learn

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.

Tips & Tricks (4)

💡

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)
💡

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)
💡

Use the hyphen

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

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)

Key Vocabulary (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

Common Mistakes

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

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

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

Wrong: Szia napot
Correct: Jó napot

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

Wrong: Kérem-e?
Correct: Kérem.

Next Steps

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

Speak greetings to a mirror

Continue to: Who and What: Basic Pronouns

Quick Practice (10)

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'

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)

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)

Fill in the blank.

___, ne dohányozz! (friend)

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: Légy szíves
Informal negative request.

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

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)

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)

Fill in the correct particle.

___, magyar vagyok.

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: Igen
Igen is for affirmation.

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

Which is correct?

Select the correct question.

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: Hol vagy?
No -e with question words.

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

Add the correct particle.

Tudod___ a választ?

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: -e
The particle is -e.

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

Score: /10

Common Questions (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'.
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The Magic of Vowel Harmony
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Who and What: Basic Pronouns
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