Kap, vesz or szerez: how do you say "to get" in Hungarian?

There is no one Hungarian verb for "get". If someone gives it to you, use kap: Kaptam egy levelet, "I got a letter". If you buy it or take it, use vesz: Vettem kenyeret, "I got some bread". If you obtain it yourself, use szerez. The other kinds of "get" (become, arrive, understand, catch) each take a verb of their own, and the table below sorts all of them.

Three verbs, defined

English "get" is a single word that covers many different events. Hungarian names the event instead, so ask what happened. Did a thing come to you, did you take it, or did you go out and find it?

Kap means "receive". Wiktionary glosses it "to get, to receive", with the giver in -tól/-től and the role in -ul/-ül ("as something"). The elon.io verb reference puts it this way: kap means "get" or "receive" "when something comes to the subject, often from another person or institution". The subject does not cause the getting. Someone else hands it over.

Vesz means "take" and "buy". Wiktionary lists "to take, grab", then "to get, take, obtain", then "to buy". Here the subject acts. You reach for the apple or you pay for the bread.

Szerez means "obtain". Wiktionary glosses it "to obtain, get, acquire, procure, earn". Those are words for getting something through your own doing, usually something that was not simply on a shelf. Its prefixed form megszerez is glossed "to obtain, to acquire, to get".

• A kollégáimtól kaptam egy képeslapot. I got a postcard from my colleagues. (they sent it)
• Útközben veszek friss kenyeret. I'll get some fresh bread on the way. (I'll buy it)
• Végül szereztem két jegyet. In the end I got hold of two tickets.

The elon.io kap page, source of the first two examples, warns: "Do not translate every English get as kap." It says other verbs cover "become", "understand", "fetch" and "arrive", and stops there. This page maps each of them.

One day, seven "gets"

Take a student called Bence. Suppose this is his Friday, told in English, and you want to say each line in Hungarian. Here is how each "get" sorts.

1. He gets a parcel he was waiting for. It came to him, and it was expected, so megkap: Bence végre megkapta a csomagot.
2. He gets milk at the shop. He pays for it, so vesz: Tejet vett a boltban. Tejet kapott would mean someone gave him the milk.
3. He gets tickets for a sold-out concert. He had to find them himself, so szerez: Szerzett két jegyet a koncertre.
4. He gets the 6 o'clock train. That is "manage to catch", which is elér: Elérte a hatórás vonatot. Wiktionary's own example is Elérte a vonatot, "He was able to catch the train".
5. He gets home at eight. Arriving is hazaér, "to get home": Nyolcra hazaért.
6. He gets tired. A change of state is lesz, "become": Nagyon fáradt lett. elon.io marks kap as wrong here.
7. He doesn't get the joke. Understanding is ért: Nem értette a viccet.

Seven "gets", six different verbs. Only the first line uses kap. Translating every "get" as kap would have made six of the seven sentences wrong.

Decision table: which verb for which "get"

Each row is explained in the sections below, with its source. Read the English column for the meaning, not the word.

Kap and megkap: when it is given to you

The frame is valaki kap valakitől valamit: someone gets something from someone. The thing is the accusative object. The giver, a person or an institution, takes -tól/-től, the "from a person" case on the page about -nál, -hoz and -tól. The occasion takes -ra/-re, per elon.io.

• A születésnapomra kaptam egy könyvet. I got a book for my birthday.
• Ajándékul kapta a nagymamájától. She got it as a present from her grandmother.

The object decides the conjugation, not the giver: A főnöktől kapok egy feladatot is indefinite because egy feladatot is. The rule is on the definite and indefinite conjugation page.

Megkap: it finally arrived

Plain kap can already describe a finished receipt. elon.io says megkap "highlights successful arrival or acquisition of an expected item". So it is the verb for the thing you were waiting for: the letter, the results, the money. Wiktionary's example is Megkaptad a levelemet?, "Have you received my letter?"

Like any verbal prefix, meg- moves behind the verb after nem or a focused word. elon.io lists *Nem megkaptuk as a mistake: the correct form is Nem kaptuk meg.

Other kap verbs

elon.io gives visszakap as "get back" and informal kikap as "lose" a match or "get told off". It also lists idioms that must be learned whole, such as engedélyt kap, "get permission".

Vesz: when you take it or buy it

Vesz is the verb when you are the one who acts. Wiktionary's first sense is "take", with the food or the supply in -ból/-ből: Vegyél egy almát!, "Take an apple", and Vehetek még a tortából?, "May I take some more cake?"

Its third sense is "buy". The seller takes -tól/-től and, per elon.io, the price takes -ért. The person you buy for takes -nak/-nek.

• Vegyél nekem kenyeret, légy szíves. Please get me some bread. (Wiktionary)
• Ezt a bögrét a fazekastól vettem. I got this mug from the potter. (elon.io)
• Ötezer forintért vettem. I got it for five thousand forints.

elon.io describes megvesz as a completed purchase: Nem vettem meg az első telefont, "I didn't buy the first phone".

"Where did you get that?"

Wiktionary's second sense of vesz is "to get, take, obtain", and its example is the everyday question Honnan vetted ezt a könyvet?, "Where did you get this book from?" Honnan kaptad? instead asks who gave it to you. If you do not know whether it was a gift, ask with vesz.

Wiktionary's synonyms for this sense are szerez, beszerez, megszerez, szert tesz and kerít. Kap is not among them.

Felvesz: "they took me"

Some English "gets" are, in Hungarian, someone else taking you. Wiktionary gives felvesz as "admit to a place or a group", with the place in -ra/-re or -ba/-be. "I got into university" is said as "they admitted me":

• Felvettek az egyetemre. I got into university. (literally: they admitted me)
• Két új dolgozót vettek fel. They took on two new employees.

Vesz is irregular (vesz, vett, venni, vegyél, vedd), like tesz; the forms are on the irregular verbs page, and tesz itself is on csinál or tesz.

Szerez and megszerez: when you obtain it

Use szerez for getting something that you had to find, arrange or earn: tickets, a flat, information, money. Wiktionary lists vesz, kerít, szert tesz, hozzájut and jut as synonyms. Fixed phrases include tudomást szerez, "learn of, get wind of", and pénzt szerez, "raise money".

• Honnan szereztél ilyen jó jegyeket? How did you get such good tickets?
• Megszerezte a jogosítványt. She got her driving licence.
• Be kell szereznem egy új laptopot. I need to get a new laptop.

Beszerez is glossed "to get, obtain, procure, collect, purchase". Watch for one sense that looks nothing like "get": with an emotion as the object, szerez means "give, cause", as in örömet szerez, "give pleasure". It can also mean "compose" music.

"Get" meaning become: lesz and válik

"Get tired", "get angry", "get better" are changes of state, and kap cannot say them. elon.io lists *A vizsga után boldogot kaptam as a mistake and corrects it to A sikeres vizsga után nagyon boldog lettem, "I got very happy after the exam".

Wiktionary gives lesz as "to become, get, turn into". The new state is normally in the nominative, less often in -vá/-vé, and the starting point is in -ból/-ből: Az ebihalból béka lesz, "The tadpole turns into a frog". Lesz is also the future of "to be", covered on the van page.

Válik in the sense "to become, to turn into" puts the result in -vá/-vé: A vér nem válik vízzé, "Blood is thicker than water" (literally, "blood does not turn into water"). Wiktionary names tesz as its active partner: lehetővé tesz, "makes possible", against lehetővé válik, "becomes possible".

"We got a dog": lesz again

Wiktionary gives lesz one more "get" sense: "come to be, get (to have)", "as if due to external circumstances". Its examples are Lett egy kutyánk, "We got a dog", and Lett egy új állásom, "I got a new job". The owner is shown by a possessive ending, as with van for "have". It says you now have something, not who gave it or how.

"Get" meaning arrive: ér, odaér, hazaér

Wiktionary gives ér as "to reach (a place), arrive, get somewhere", with a where-to case: Mikor ért a vonat az állomásra?, "When did the train get to the station?" Odaér is "get there", and hazaér is "get home".

• Hazaértél már? Have you got home yet?
• Tíz perc alatt odaérünk. We'll get there in ten minutes.

Wiktionary's synonyms are elér, érkezik, megérkezik, jut and eljut. Of these, elér takes an object. It means "reach, achieve, catch", and it is the verb for getting a train or bus in time: Elérte a vonatot, "He was able to catch the train". For "fetch", meaning "go and get something and bring it here", the verb is elhoz, and the reasoning is on jön or megy, hoz or visz.

"Get it" and "catch it": ért and elkap

When "get" means "understand", Hungarian uses ért. elon.io contrasts kap egy levelet, "receive a letter", with megérti a levelet, "understand the letter". So "I don't get it" is Nem értem, and "Do you get it?" is Érted? Both are definite, because the "it" is understood.

Elkap means "catch". elon.io calls it "a different lexical branch": you catch "a ball, person, illness, or moment". The Hungarian Wiktionary gives "catch" for an illness too.

• A kapus nem kapta el a vizes labdát. The goalkeeper didn't catch the wet ball. (elon.io)
• Elkaptam az influenzát. I got the flu.

Six mistakes learners make

1. Kaptam tejet a boltban for "I got milk at the shop". That says the shop gave it to you. Bought is Vettem tejet a boltban.
2. Honnan kaptad? when you mean "Where did you get it?" That asks who gave it to you. Ask Honnan vetted?
3. *Kaptam a tanár egy üzenetet. The giver needs -tól/-től: Kaptam a tanártól egy üzenetet.
4. *Fáradtat kaptam for "I got tired". A change of state is lesz: Fáradt lettem.
5. *Ezt a bögrét a fazekasból vettem. A seller who is a person takes -tól/-től, as with kap: a fazekastól vettem (elon.io).
6. *Nem megkaptuk. After nem the prefix follows the verb: Nem kaptuk meg.

What this page does not settle

The table covers the "gets" a learner meets first, not every English phrasal verb. Get on, get off, get over, get by and get away each need their own look-up. "Get up" is felkel, which Wiktionary glosses "to get up" from bed or from a seat; it is covered with the other posture verbs on ül or leül. "I've got a dog" is not about getting at all: it is possession, Van egy kutyám. "Get someone to do something" is rávesz, "persuade", which Wiktionary glosses but which this page does not develop. "Get" as a passive (get fired, get paid) is also left out. Borrowing a thing, kölcsönkér, is on kér or kérdez. Finally, the line between vesz and szerez is soft. Wiktionary lists each as a synonym of the other, so "I got a ticket" can be either. Choose vettem when you simply paid at the counter and szereztem when getting it took arranging.

Sources and further reading

• elon.io Hungarian verb reference, "kap: Complete Conjugation and Usage": the transfer frame with -tól/-től, megkap for an expected item, elkap, visszakap, kikap, idioms, the "do not translate every English get as kap" warning and the mistakes list
• elon.io Hungarian verb reference, "vesz: Complete Conjugation and Usage": buying frames (seller -tól, price -ért), megvesz, felvesz, and the examples marked above
• elon.io Hungarian verb reference, "ért: Complete Conjugation and Usage": ért as "understand"
• Wiktionary, "kap", "megkap", "vesz", "megvesz", "felvesz", "szerez", "megszerez", "beszerez" and "jut": senses, case frames, synonyms and examples
• Wiktionary, "lesz", "válik", "ér", "odaér", "hazaér", "elér", "ért", "megért", "felkel", "rávesz" and "get" (Hungarian translations): the become, arrive, understand and get-up senses
• Wiktionary (Hungarian edition), "elkap": "catch" for an illness

Frequently asked questions