Akar or szeretne: how do you say "I want" in Hungarian?

Akarok means "I want". It is the plain way to state a plan or a firm intention: Orvos akarok lenni, "I want to be a doctor". Szeretnék means "I would like", and it is the softer choice for wishes and requests. When you ask a stranger for something, in a shop, café or office, do not use akarok at all. Say Kérek, Kérnék or Szeretnék kérni.

Akar and szeretne, defined

Akar means "to want". Wiktionary lists it as a verb that works either with an infinitive or with a direct object. Its example is Egyetemre akart menni, "She wanted to go to university". The elon.io verb reference calls it the "firmer" verb, used "for an actual intention or will". So akar states what you have decided you want.

Szeretne means "would like". It is not a separate verb. It is szeret, "like, love", plus the ending -ne. That ending makes the conditional, the Hungarian "would" form. So word for word, szeretnék is "I would like".

Wiktionary gives szeretne two uses. The first is the plain conditional of "like": Biztos szeretne, ha figyelnél az óráján, "She would surely like you if you paid attention in her class". The second is the idiom learners need. With an infinitive it means "would like to, wish to": Segíteni szeretne, "She would like to help". With a noun it means "would like (to have)": Új autót szeretne, "He would like a new car". Wiktionary lists akar as a synonym of both senses.

elon.io describes this as a "highly frequent polite meaning". Its softening is a matter of use, not of grammar. The grammar of szeretnék is the grammar of any conditional verb.

• Idén ősszel szeretnék költözni, de előbb biztos állást akarok találni. I'd like to move this autumn, but first I want to find a secure job. (elon.io)

That one sentence shows the split. The move is a wish, so szeretnék. The job is the firm plan, so akarok.

One afternoon, five "wants"

Take a learner called Anna, spending a day in Budapest. Suppose she needs to say "I want" five times. Here is how each one sorts.

1. She tells a friend her plan for tomorrow. A plan is what akar is for: Holnap otthon akarok maradni, mert pihenésre van szükségem, "I want to stay home tomorrow because I need to rest". elon.io gives this sentence as neutral.
2. She orders a coffee from a waiter she does not know. Now "I want" is a request. elon.io lists Egy kávét akarok under its common mistakes and corrects it to Egy kávét szeretnék kérni, "I would like to order a coffee". Kérek egy kávét also works.
3. She books an appointment at a reception desk. The same rule applies. elon.io prefers A jövő hónapra szeretnék időpontot kérni to Időpontot akarok "at an unfamiliar reception desk".
4. She asks for the bill. The bill is a definite thing, so the verb takes its definite form: Kérném a számlát or Kérem a számlát. Kérnék a számlát would be the wrong form, as elon.io notes.
5. In the evening she plays chess and means to win. Determination is akar again: Ma akarok nyerni, "Today I want to win". An elon.io card calls this "more direct, stronger, more forceful" than Ma szeretnék nyerni, which is "softer, more polite, less blunt".

Five "wants", two kinds. The plan and the will to win take akar. The three requests to strangers take kér or szeretnék.

The request scale: from akarok to legyen szíves

These six forms are the ones you meet when asking for something. Akarok is the most direct, and legyen szíves is the most formal. The sources do not rank the four in the middle against each other. Each row is explained further down, with its source.

Akar: plans, intentions and the will to win

elon.io puts the rule in one line: "Akarok is neutral when reporting one's genuine plan." Its example is Orvos akarok lenni, "I want to be a doctor". Nothing about that sentence is impolite. You are telling someone what you intend.

The trouble starts only when "I want" becomes a request. In a service encounter, elon.io says, "I want... can foreground entitlement". In other words, it can sound as if you are owed the thing. That is why Egy kávét akarok is grammatical but lands badly with a waiter you do not know.

It is easy to jump from there to "akar is rude". elon.io rules that out in the same section: "That is a register choice, not a claim that akar is inherently rude." Register means the level of formality a situation calls for. So keep akar for plans, and switch verbs when you are asking.

Wanting someone else to do something

If the person who wants and the person who acts are the same, use the infinitive. If they differ, use azt akarja, hogy plus the subjunctive. elon.io lists *A főnök akar minket befejezni a jelentést as a mistake.

• Korábban akarunk indulni. We want to leave earlier. (same subject)
• A főnök azt akarja, hogy fejezzük be a jelentést. The boss wants us to finish the report. (elon.io)

Akarna and akartam: "would want" and "wanted"

Akar has its own conditional, akarna, "would want"; the "I" forms are akarnék and definite akarnám. Wiktionary's table gives these forms. elon.io's examples use them to soften a statement, not to order anything:

• Nem akarnék dönteni, amíg nem ismerjük a pontos költségeket. I wouldn't want to decide until we know the exact costs.
• Ezt a lehetőséget semmiképp sem akarnám elszalasztani. I definitely wouldn't want to miss this opportunity.

So akarnék is not a second polite "I'd like". For that, use szeretnék. For the past, akartam is "I wanted". The past of szeretnék is szerettem volna: Wiktionary's example is Szeretett volna otthon maradni, "She wanted to stay at home".

Szeretnék: "I would like", with a verb or a noun

Szeretnék takes the same two kinds of complement as akarok. With an infinitive it is "I would like to": Szeretnék fizetni, "I'd like to pay". With a noun it is "I would like (to have)". elon.io's hotel example is Szeretnék egy csendes szobát két éjszakára, "I would like a quiet room for two nights".

Do not confuse it with the present tense. elon.io notes that the present describes a habit or taste, while the conditional describes a wish now. Szeretek úszni is "I like swimming". Szeretnék úszni is "I'd like to go for a swim". The full contrast with liking is on szeret or tetszik.

Akarok or akarom, szeretnék or szeretném

Hungarian verbs have two sets of endings. The indefinite set is used with no object or with "a" thing. The definite set is used with "the" thing, "this" thing or a name. The rule is on the definite and indefinite conjugation page.

With akar and szeretne, the object of the infinitive decides. elon.io: "Look past the infinitive when choosing agreement." So:

• Akarok olvasni egy cikket. I want to read an article. (indefinite)
• Akarom olvasni ezt a cikket. I want to read this article. (definite)
• Szeretnék egy csendes szobát. I would like a quiet room. (indefinite)
• Szeretném a holnapi időpontot péntekre módosítani. I would like to move tomorrow's appointment to Friday. (definite, elon.io)

elon.io stresses that politeness does not switch this off. Its own common mistake is *Meg akarok venni ezt a fényképezőgépet. The camera is definite, so it must be Meg akarom venni ezt a fényképezőgépet, "I want to buy this camera".

Akarlak and szeretnélek: "I ... you"

When "I" acts on informal "you", Hungarian uses the ending -lak/-lek. With an infinitive, that ending goes on akar or szeretne, never on the infinitive. elon.io's example is Tegnap fel akartalak hívni, de estig tartott az értekezlet, "I wanted to call you yesterday, but the meeting lasted until evening". With szeretne it is szeretnélek: Szeretnélek meghívni vacsorára, "I'd like to invite you to dinner". More forms are on the -lak/-lek page.

Meg akarom nézni: where the prefix goes

Many Hungarian verbs carry a prefix such as meg-, el- or fel-. With akar, elon.io says the prefix "normally belongs semantically to the infinitive" but stands in front of akar. Its examples are el akar menni, meg akarja írni and fel akar hívni. "Neutral affirmative order favors climbing", it says. Climbing means the prefix moving up in front of the auxiliary.

• Meg akarok nézni egy rövid dokumentumfilmet. I want to watch a short documentary.
• Meg akarom nézni az új dokumentumfilmet. I want to watch the new documentary.

"Negation or narrow focus commonly leaves the prefix attached to the infinitive." Narrow focus means one stressed word placed just before the verb, such as csak hétvégén, "only at the weekend":

• Nem akarom elolvasni mások személyes üzeneteit. I don't want to read other people's private messages.
• Csak hétvégén akarom átnézni a régi fényképeket. I want to look through the old photos only at the weekend.

The verbal prefixes page lists szeretne among the auxiliaries that work the same way. So the polite version follows the same pattern: Meg szeretném nézni, but Nem szeretném megnézni. The other auxiliaries are on the infinitive page.

In a shop or restaurant: kérek, kérnék, szeretnék kérni

For ordering, the main verb is not "want" at all. It is kér, "ask for". Wiktionary gives it a second sense, "would like to have (some)". Its example is the dinner table exchange Kérsz még? Igen, kérek, "Would you like some more? Yes, please". How kér differs from kérdez, "ask a question", is on kér or kérdez.

elon.io's kér page makes three rulings:

• Kérek is fine for a routine order. The present "can be perfectly polite with appropriate intonation and kérem". Its example: Kérek egy hosszú kávét és két pohár csapvizet, "I'd like a long coffee and two glasses of tap water".
• Kérnék softens a bigger ask. "Conditional forms soften a larger or less routine request." Kérnék and kérném are "conventional polite request forms".
• Definiteness still counts. "Use kérnék egy... for an indefinite order and kérném a... for an identified item."

Szeretnék kérni stacks both soft verbs: "I would like to ask for". elon.io uses it for the coffee and the appointment above. It is the fullest of the everyday forms.

Legyen szíves: the formal "please"

Wiktionary glosses legyen szíves as "please", formal, to one person: A nevét, legyen szíves, "Your name, please". To several people it is legyenek szívesek, and to a friend légy szíves. It can also take an infinitive, as in Legyen szíves az asztalhoz fáradni, "Be so kind as to proceed to the desk". It is a "please" to add, not a verb of wanting. Which "you" to use is on the formal and informal you page.

Five mistakes learners make

1. Egy kávét akarok to a waiter. Grammatical, but demanding. Say Kérek egy kávét or Egy kávét szeretnék kérni.
2. *Meg akarok venni ezt a fényképezőgépet. The object is definite: Meg akarom venni.
3. *Kérnék most a számlát. The bill is definite: Kérném most a számlát (elon.io).
4. *El akarok olvasom egy novellát. Only akar is conjugated. The other verb stays an infinitive: El akarok olvasni egy novellát (elon.io).
5. *A főnök akar minket befejezni a jelentést. A different subject needs azt akarja, hogy: A főnök azt akarja, hogy fejezzük be a jelentést.

What this page does not settle

The "sounds odd" column is about strangers and service settings, which is where elon.io places the problem. Among friends and family, akarok for something you want is ordinary, and no source here marks it as odd. Tone also rides on intonation. elon.io makes even plain kérek polite "with appropriate intonation", so a soft verb said curtly will not rescue a request. The table does not rank kérek, kérnék, szeretnék and szeretnék kérni against each other, because the sources do not. Other ways to ask, such as Tudna segíteni? or Kinyitnád az ablakot?, ask someone to act rather than say what you want; they are on the conditional page. Nearby verbs like kíván "wish", vágyik "long for" and igyekszik "strive", which Wiktionary lists beside szeretne, are left out.

Sources and further reading

• elon.io Hungarian verb reference, "akar: Complete Conjugation and Usage": "neutral when reporting one's genuine plan", the politeness and interpersonal force section, object agreement through the infinitive, prefix climbing, akarnék, akartalak and the common mistakes list
• elon.io Hungarian verb reference, "kér: Complete Conjugation and Usage": kérek with intonation, kérnék/kérném as conventional polite forms, the Kérném a számlát correction
• elon.io Hungarian verb reference, "szeret: Complete Conjugation and Usage": szeretnék/szeretném as polite "would like", object agreement, present vs conditional
• elon.io lexicon card, "Ma akarok nyerni": the akarok against szeretnék tone comparison
• Wiktionary, "akar" and "szeretne": senses, the -ne etymology, examples, synonyms and the conditional table
• Wiktionary, "kér" and "legyen szíves": "would like to have (some)", the formal singular "please" and its variants

Frequently asked questions