Megint, ismét or újra: how do you say "again" in Hungarian?

All three words mean "again", and dictionaries list them as synonyms. Use újra if you want one word that works everywhere. Megint is everyday speech, but it can sound annoyed, above all in már megint, "not again!" Ismét is formal or literary. They split in one place that no phrasebook mentions: only megint and újra can say that a state has come back.

What "again" can mean: repeat or restore

An "again" word always points back to something earlier. In a 2015 study of these words, the linguist Aniko Csirmaz shows that it can point back to two different things. English has the same split, and her first example is English.

• Fred closed the door again. (1) Fred had closed the door before. (2) The door had been closed before.

In the first reading, the whole action happens a second time. Csirmaz calls this the repetitive reading. On this page it is simply repeat. In the second reading, nobody has to have closed the door before. The door was shut once, someone opened it, and now it is shut again. Only the end state comes back. Csirmaz calls this the restitutive reading, from "restore". Here it is restore.

English "again" covers both. Hungarian splits them across its words. That is the whole reason the choice matters.

The words, one by one

Wiktionary's thesaurus entry for újra lists a dozen synonyms for "again, afresh, anew". These are the ones you will meet most:

• megint = again. Wiktionary glosses it "having already happened before". Its usage note says that, unlike its synonyms, megint "may easily have the connotation of annoyance". Historically it is meg plus an adverb ending, though speakers Csirmaz asked feel it as one simple word.
• ismét = again, in a formal style. Wiktionary labels it "formal or literary". The thesaurus is milder: "slightly formal". The verb ismétel, "to repeat", is built on it: A történelem ismétli önmagát, "History repeats itself." Csirmaz notes dialect forms such as esmeg and ismég. They show what is inside it: is ("too") plus meg.
• újra = again. It is új, "new", plus -ra, "onto": literally "onto new". The thesaurus uses it as the headword and gives it no style label. It is also a verbal prefix, újra-, "re-".
• újból = again, anew. It is új plus -ból, "out of": "out of new". Wiktionary glosses it "again, once again, anew, afresh, re-" and marks it "slightly formal". Its example is újból megkísérel, "reattempt".
• újfent = again, in old or bookish style. Wiktionary labels it "archaic, literary". It is also built on új.
• még egyszer = once more, one more time. It is még ("more") plus egyszer ("once"). The már or még page covers that "more" sense of még.
• már megint = not again, there you go again. The thesaurus glosses it "there you go again" and adds "expressing annoyance".

Worked example: one window, two scenes

This is the case Csirmaz uses to show the split. Walk through it scene by scene. In each one, ask a single question: did Feri do this exact thing before?

Scene 1: the window comes back to closed

Suppose the window is closed when Feri walks into the room. He opens it. Then he notices it is too cold outside, so he closes it again.

1. Did Feri close this window before? No. When he walked in, it was already closed.
2. So what is happening "again"? Only the state. The window was closed, and now it is closed once more. This is the restore reading.
3. Which words fit? Csirmaz's examples give megint and újra, and rule out the rest.

• Feri megint becsukta az ablakot. Feri closed the window again. (fine)
• Feri újra becsukta az ablakot. Feri closed the window again. (fine)
• *Feri ismét becsukta az ablakot. (wrong for this scene)
• *Feri újfent becsukta az ablakot. (wrong for this scene)
• *Feri még egyszer becsukta az ablakot. (wrong for this scene)

Scene 2: Feri closes it a second time

Now change the story. Feri closes the window. Mari opens it. Feri decides the room is too cold, walks over and closes it again.

1. Did Feri close this window before? Yes, at the start.
2. So what is happening "again"? The whole action. This is the repeat reading.
3. Which words fit? All five. In Csirmaz's second set of examples, megint, újra, ismét, újfent and még egyszer are all fine.

The test that comes out of the two scenes: if the same person did the same thing before, any "again" word works. If only the result is back, use megint or újra. Since újra works in both scenes and has no tone, it is the safe default.

The table: which word, for which reading

Each cell below is a ruling made in the sections above or below, with its source. "Not tested" means no source used here rules on it, so this page does not either.

The "Repeat" and "Restore" columns come from the window scenes. Style labels are Wiktionary's. The prefix column is from Csirmaz: of the words she studies, only újra (and vissza, "back") can act as a verbal prefix. The doubled forms are her example (12), covered next. Újból is not in her study, so three of its cells stay empty.

"Again and again": which words can be doubled

English doubles "again" for an action that keeps happening. Hungarian joins two copies with és, "and". Csirmaz marks how acceptable each doubled form is:

• újra és újra again and again (fine)
• megint és megint again and again (fine)
• ??ismét és ismét (marked doubtful)
• ?még egyszer és még egyszer (marked marginal)
• ?*újfent és újfent (marked as nearly or fully wrong)

So for "again and again", say újra és újra or megint és megint. A question mark in a linguist's example means speakers hesitate. An asterisk means they reject it.

Megint and már megint: the annoyed "again"

Wiktionary's usage note on megint is about tone, not style. Megint "may easily" sound annoyed, "especially in the phrase már megint". The már here is the impatient már of Gyere már!, "Come on!", which the már or még page explains. Put the two together and you get "there you go again".

• Már megint késik a busz. The bus is late again. (and I'm fed up)
• Átok reád, hiú ábrándvilág, / Megint elrontád legszebb percemet. A curse on you, O world of vain illusions, / Once again you've ruined my finest moment. (Madách, 1861, Wiktionary's quotation, translated by George Szirtes)

Csirmaz adds a detail about már megint. In Feri alszik. Nézd, már megint alszik, "Feri is sleeping. Look, he's sleeping again", the speaker is not saying that Feri woke up in between. The phrase comments on a habit, not on a count of events.

The note says "may", not "always". Megint on its own is also the plain spoken "again", and it allows both readings in the window scenes. If you want to be sure of a neutral tone, choose újra.

Újra as a prefix: újraolvas, újraír, újrakezd

A verbal prefix is a small word that sits in front of a verb, carries the stress, and is written as one word with it. Wiktionary lists újra- as a verbal prefix meaning "re-, again, anew", with újrakezd, "restart". Two more from its list are újrahasznosít, "recycle", and újrafelhasznál, "reuse".

• Feri újraolvasta a könyvet. Feri reread the book.
• Feri újramelegítette a kávét. Feri reheated the coffee.
• Feri újraírta a levelet. Feri rewrote the letter.

Like other prefixes, it moves behind the verb in negatives and after a focused word. Csirmaz's example is Pontosan egy ember írta újra a levelet, "Exactly one person rewrote the letter." The separation rules are the same as for any prefix.

Prefix újra means "from scratch"

The prefix adds a meaning the separate word does not have. Csirmaz says Feri újraírta a levelet is false if Feri only revised the first version. He has to write it again from the start. The free-standing újra does not carry this "from scratch" sense. Prefix újra also allows the restore reading: in Feri újraírta a levelet, Feri does not have to have written the letter before.

Where the prefix cannot go

English "re-" is picky, and so is újra-, in its own way. Csirmaz's tests give four limits:

1. It needs an object. *Feri újradohányzott is wrong, like English "*Feri resmoked". As a separate word it is fine: Feri újra dohányzott, "Feri smoked again."
2. The action needs an end point. Reading a book ends at the last page. Heating coffee ends when it is hot. Pushing a car has no such end, so *Feri újratolta a kocsit is wrong. This is also why *Feri újraadott Marinak pénzt, "Feri re-gave Mari money", fails. A "to someone" word on its own is not the problem: Feri újramelegítette Marinak a kávét, "Feri reheated the coffee for Mari", is fine.
3. No second prefix. *Feri újraolvasta el a könyvet is wrong. No second prefix fits beside újra-.
4. It has to be the same thing. #Feri újraevett egy szendvicset is odd, because you cannot eat the same sandwich twice.

Csirmaz adds that the end point is needed but is not always enough. She marks *újrasúrolta a padlót ("re-scrubbed the floor") as wrong even so. So learn prefixed verbs as words, and use separate újra when you are not sure.

"Again" that means "back": vissza

Sometimes English "again" means "back", as in "give it back". Hungarian uses vissza for that, and Csirmaz treats it as a separate case. It needs an action that can be reversed:

• Feri visszaadta Marinak a pénzt. Feri gave the money back to Mari.
• Feri visszahívta Marit. Feri called Mari back.

Where the word goes in the sentence

Hungarian word order follows meaning, as the word order and focus page shows. Csirmaz finds three rules for the free-standing "again" words:

• After the topic. The topic is the person or thing the sentence is about, usually first. The "again" word comes after it: Feri megint becsukta az ablakot.
• After a time word. Feri szerdán megint kinyitotta az ablakot, "Feri opened the window again on Wednesday." Csirmaz marks *Feri megint szerdán kinyitotta as wrong.
• Before the verb. After the verb these words are "dispreferred and somewhat marked". The exception is még egyszer, which sits after the verb easily, like other "how many times" words: Mondd el még egyszer!, "Say it once more!"

Position also changes meaning. With a manner word such as óvatosan, "carefully", it matters which comes first. In Feri megint óvatosan kinyitotta az ablakot, only the repeat reading is possible: he opened it carefully before. In Feri óvatosan megint kinyitotta az ablakot, the restore reading is possible too. The same goes for "everyone". Megint mindenki megírta a házit can be about a different set of students each time. Mindenki megint megírta a házit means the same people wrote it again.

Other ways to say "again"

The thesaurus lists more words for the same idea. A few are worth knowing:

The többé row answers a common question. Once the sentence is negative, "again" is usually többé, so "never again" is soha többé. How negatives work is on the negation page.

What this page does not cover

The restore rule rests on one study and the speakers Csirmaz asked. Not every speaker agrees. Csirmaz reports that Horvath and Siloni (2011) found no restore reading with megint for the speakers they consulted, and for some speakers none with újra either. So treat the restore reading as normal for many speakers, not all. Style labels such as "formal" and "archaic" are a dictionary's judgment, not counts of use. Újból and már megint were not tested for the restore reading, and the table leaves those cells empty. The prefix limits are what Csirmaz found; she notes that some speakers accept újraküld, "resend", where her rule predicts they should not. This page also leaves out "again" with causative verbs (-tat/-tet), where her speakers' judgments varied.

Common learner errors

1. *Feri ismét becsukta az ablakot for a window he had just opened himself. Only the state is back, so use megint or újra.
2. Már megint as a neutral "again". It means "there you go again". For a plain report, say újra.
3. *újradohányzott. The prefix needs an object. Write the words apart: újra dohányzott.
4. *újraolvasta el. No second prefix fits beside újra-: say újraolvasta.
5. *újfent és újfent. For "again and again", use újra és újra or megint és megint.

More slips of this kind are on the common mistakes page.

Sources and further reading

• Aniko Csirmaz, "Re Hungarian again", Acta Linguistica Hungarica 62/3 (2015), 263 to 295, open-access PDF (repository record): repeat and restore readings (ex. 7), the window scenes (ex. 30 and 31), doubled forms (ex. 12), word order (§2.1, ex. 18, 20, 21), prefix újra and its limits (§2.4.1, ex. 42 to 50), "from scratch" (ex. 70), vissza (§2.4.2), már megint (ex. 66), word history (§5), and the report of Horvath and Siloni (2011)
• Wiktionary, "Thesaurus:újra": the synonym list and its labels (ismét slightly formal, már megint "there you go again", újfent literary or archaic, többé only with negation)
• Wiktionary, "megint": gloss, etymology, the usage note on annoyance and már megint, the Madách quotation
• Wiktionary, "ismét" (formal or literary) and "ismétel" (to repeat)
• Wiktionary, "újra", "újra-" (verbal prefix, újrakezd), "újból" and "újfent"

Frequently asked questions