Telling the time in Hungarian

Telling the time in Hungarian is easy once one idea clicks: the quarter words negyed, fél and háromnegyed describe how much of the coming hour has already passed. That single idea is behind nearly every mistake English speakers make, so this page starts with it and then builds up the full system, including minutes, the 24-hour clock and the suffix -kor.

Asking the time: Hány óra van? and Hány órakor?

There are two different questions, and they need different answers.

• Elnézést, hány óra van? Mindjárt öt. Excuse me, what time is it? Almost five.
• Hány órakor kezdődik a film? Nyolckor. What time does the film start? At eight.
• Mikor indul a vonat? Tíz óra húszkor. When does the train leave? At 10:20.

The word óra means "hour", "o'clock", "clock", "watch" and "lesson". Hány ("how many") takes a singular noun, as every counting word does (see Hungarian numbers), so it is hány óra, never *hány órák. For more question words, see asking questions.

The quarter system: negyed, fél, háromnegyed

Here is the rule in one sentence: the hour you name is the one you are moving toward. Hungarian looks at the clock face and says how much of the next hour has been "filled".

The same logic works around midday and midnight: fél egy is 12:30, and negyed egy is 12:15 (day or night). Notice that fél here is the same word as "half" in fél kiló, and that no word for "past" or "to" is needed.

Minutes in between: múlt and múlva

For times that are not on a quarter, Hungarian anchors to the nearest quarter point and counts minutes forward with múlt ("past") or backward with múlva ("in", literally "after the passing of").

• Öt perccel múlt három. It's five past three. (3:05)
• Tíz perc múlva négy. It's ten to four. (3:50; literally "in ten minutes, four")
• Öt perc múlva fél négy. It's 3:25. (in five minutes it will be half past three)
• Öt perccel múlt fél négy. It's 3:35.

Grammar notes: múlt takes the instrumental perccel ("by five minutes"; see the instrumental -val/-vel), while múlva is a postposition that follows a bare noun (tíz perc múlva; see postpositions). The word order három óra múlt öt perccel is also correct. Outside clock times, múlva is the everyday way to say "in" a period of time: Két hét múlva nyaralni megyek. ("I'm going on holiday in two weeks.")

In practice, many speakers simply read the digits, which is always correct: három óra öt perc or just három öt (3:05), három ötven (3:50). Understanding the quarter system is essential for listening; producing it is optional at first.

Full table of example times

This table walks through one full hour and adds the key special times. The first column is the traditional spoken form, the second the digital reading that is always acceptable.

In casual digital readings óra and perc are usually dropped: hét húsz, tizenkilenc negyvenöt. The Hungarian time tool converts any clock time into both styles if you want to practise more.

Saying "at": the suffix -kor

"At" a point in time is the suffix -kor. It is one of the very few Hungarian suffixes that does not change with vowel harmony: háromkor, négykor, ötkor, tízkor (see the minor cases).

• Hatkor kelek. I get up at six.
• Negyed kilenckor kezdődik az óra. The lesson starts at 8:15.
• Fél egykor ebédelünk. We have lunch at 12:30.
• Éjfélkor koccintunk. We clink glasses at midnight.

Three points to remember:

1. -kor attaches to the last word of the time expression: fél nyolckor, hét óra húszkor.
2. With two it is kettőkor; with the word óra it is két órakor.
3. Noon is the exception: "at noon" is délben (not *délkor), while midnight is regular: éjfélkor.

From, until and for

• Kilenctől ötig dolgozom. I work from nine to five.
• Fél hattól nyolcig vagyok itthon. I'm at home from 5:30 until 8.
• Két órája várok. I've been waiting for two hours.
• Egy óra alatt odaérünk. We'll get there within an hour.

The 24-hour clock and parts of the day

Timetables, shops, cinemas, official notices and broadcasters all use the 24-hour clock. You will read shop signs such as Nyitva: 8-tól 20-ig ("Open from 8 to 20") and hear station announcements such as tizennégy óra tizenöt perckor. In writing, hours and minutes are separated by a colon or a full stop: 14:15 or 14.15.

In everyday conversation, most people switch to the 12-hour clock and add a part of the day when needed. There is no "a.m." or "p.m.".

Notice that reggel, délelőtt, délután and este work as time adverbs with no suffix, while dél and hajnal take -ban/-ben. The adjective form with -i is used before a time: a reggeli vonat (the morning train), hajnali négykor.

Why learners get Hungarian times wrong

1. Reading fél backward. English "half past" looks back to the previous hour; Hungarian fél looks forward. Always name the next hour.
2. Forgetting that háromnegyed is one word. Háromnegyed hat is 5:45; három negyed as two words is not a clock time.
3. Mixing múlt and múlva. Múlt (past) needs -val/-vel: öt perccel múlt. Múlva (in, before) takes the bare noun: öt perc múlva.
4. Answering Hány órakor? without -kor. The answer to "at what time?" needs the suffix: Nyolckor.
5. Saying *délkor. "At noon" is délben.
6. Using the plural. Három óra, not *három órák, for both "three o'clock" and "three hours".

Sources and further reading

• Carol H. Rounds, Hungarian: An Essential Grammar (2nd ed., Routledge, 2009), sections on time expressions
• Miklós Törkenczy, Hungarian Verbs and Essentials of Grammar (2nd ed., McGraw-Hill, 2008)
• Magyar Tudományos Akadémia, A magyar helyesírás szabályai (12th ed., Akadémiai Kiadó, 2015), on writing times of day

Frequently asked questions