Asking questions in Hungarian

Hungarian has no "do" auxiliary and no subject-verb inversion. Instead, questions rely on a precise slot in the sentence (directly before the verb) and on a distinctive melody. Master those two things, plus a set of question words that mirror the case system, and you can ask anything.

The question words

Many Hungarian question words are simply ki ("who") or mi ("what") with a case ending, so they line up with the case system. That makes the list long but logical.

A few pairs need care:

• hány vs mennyi. Hány counts separate items and takes a singular noun (hány alma?). Mennyi measures amounts (mennyi víz?, mennyi pénz?) and is also used colloquially for countables (mennyi ember?). The fixed phrase Mennyi az idő? means "What time is it?".
• hogy vs hogyan. Both mean "how". Hogy is shorter and conversational (Hogy vagy?), and it is also the conjunction "that", so in longer or written sentences hogyan is clearer.
• hová vs hova. Both are standard; hova is more colloquial.
• kinek is both the dative "to whom" and the possessor "whose": Kinek a kocsija ez? See the dative -nak/-nek.

Hol, hová, honnan: the three-way "where"

English "where" covers location and direction; Hungarian splits it three ways, exactly like the local cases. If you choose the question word correctly, the answer's case follows automatically.

The same three-way pattern runs through the language: itt / ide / innen (here), ott / oda / onnan (there), otthon / haza / otthonról (at home / home / from home). *Hol mész? is one of the most frequent learner errors; with a verb of motion you need Hová mész? For the cases themselves, see local cases.

Word order: the question word goes right before the verb

A Hungarian sentence has a focus slot immediately in front of the finite verb (see word order and focus). A question word always occupies that slot. Two consequences follow.

1. Nothing comes between the question word and the verb

• Mikor érkezik a vonat? When does the train arrive?
• A vonat mikor érkezik? And the train, when does it arrive? (topic before the question word: fine)
• *Mikor a vonat érkezik? wrong: the subject cannot separate mikor from the verb

2. Verbal prefixes move behind the verb

Because the question word takes the slot before the verb, a separable prefix such as el-, meg- or haza- is pushed out and follows the verb (see verbal prefixes).

Yes/no questions: melody does the work

A yes/no question has exactly the same words in the same order as the statement. Only the melody changes.

• Péter itthon van. Péter is at home. (falling)
• Péter itthon van? Is Péter at home? (rise-fall)

The Hungarian question melody is not the steady English rise. The pitch rises on the second-to-last syllable and falls on the last one. In Péter itthon van? the high point is -thon, and the voice drops on van. Some more examples, with the high syllable in capitals:

• Beszélsz angoLUL? wrong melody (English-style rise at the end)
• Beszélsz anGOlul? correct: high on "go", falling on "lul"
• Kérsz KÁvét? Would you like coffee? (high on "ká", down on "vét")

If the question ends in a single syllable after the stressed word, the rise and the fall both happen on that last syllable: Jössz? goes up and comes down within the one word. English speakers who use their native rising tone are usually understood, but they sound foreign, and a plain rise can also sound like surprise or an echo question.

What the question is about

Because word order signals focus, you can shift the question's target without changing any word, simply by moving the focused element in front of the verb:

• Eljött Péter? Did Péter come?
• Péter jött el? Was it Péter who came? (focus on Péter; the prefix moves behind the verb)
• Tegnap jött el Péter? Was it yesterday that Péter came?

The -e particle

The clitic -e marks a yes/no question explicitly. It attaches to the finite verb with a hyphen and never changes for vowel harmony.

In indirect questions: standard everywhere

"Whether" in reported questions is -e, and this is normal in speech and writing alike:

• Nem tudom, hogy jön-e. I don't know whether he's coming.
• Megkérdezte, hogy van-e szabad szoba. She asked whether there was a free room.
• Kíváncsi vagyok, hogy eljön-e. I wonder whether he'll come.

In direct questions: formal or emphatic

In a direct question, -e sounds official, written or insistent: Beszél-e angolul? on a form, Érti-e a kérdést? in a formal interview. With -e, the question can be said with a falling melody, since the particle already marks it.

When the verb has a prefix, -e goes on the verb stem and the prefix stays in front: eljön-e, megcsinálta-e. With the negative, it attaches to the verb too: nem jön-e. See also formal and informal "you" for -e as a politeness device.

Tag questions: ugye and nem?

• Ugye jössz? You're coming, aren't you?
• Szép idő van, nem? Nice weather, isn't it?
• Vajon itthon van? I wonder if he's at home.

Answering: igen, nem, de, and echoing the verb

Igen ("yes") and nem ("no") exist, but Hungarians very often answer by repeating the verb, or just its prefix.

• Láttad a filmet? Láttam. Did you see the film? Yes (I did).
• Megcsináltad a leckét? Meg. Have you done your homework? Yes. (just the prefix)
• Eljössz? El. Are you coming? Yes.
• Van kenyér? Van. / Nincs. Is there bread? Yes. / No.

The prefix-only answer (Meg., El., Fel.) is a genuinely Hungarian feature and sounds very natural. A negative short answer uses nem plus the verb: Nem láttam., Még nem. ("Not yet").

De: contradicting a negative question

When a question is negative and you want to answer positively, use de (often with igen or the verb). It works like French si or German doch.

• Nem jössz? De, jövök. Aren't you coming? Yes, I am.
• Nem voltál ott? De igen. Weren't you there? Yes, I was.
• Nem jössz? Nem. Aren't you coming? No (I'm not).

Answering a negative question with igen alone is ambiguous; use de to say "yes, I am" and nem to agree with the negative. Dehogy! means "Of course not!" or "Not at all!". For more on negation, see nem, ne and sem.

Which conjugation after a question word?

Object question words split in a way that surprises learners:

• Mit látsz? What do you see? (mit: indefinite)
• Kit keresel? Who are you looking for? (kit: indefinite)
• Hány könyvet olvastál? How many books did you read? (indefinite)
• Melyik könyvet olvasod? Which book are you reading? (melyik: definite)

Melyik asks you to pick from a known set, so the object is already identifiable: definite. See definite and indefinite conjugation.

Sources and further reading

• Katalin É. Kiss, The Syntax of Hungarian (Cambridge University Press, 2002), on focus and question word position
• Péter Siptár and Miklós Törkenczy, The Phonology of Hungarian (Oxford University Press, 2000), on intonation
• Carol H. Rounds, Hungarian: An Essential Grammar (2nd ed., Routledge, 2009)

Frequently asked questions