Kér or kérdez: which "ask" do you use in Hungarian?

Use kér when you want something, or want someone to do something: Kérek egy kávét, "I'd like a coffee". Use kérdez when you want information: Kérdezhetek valamit?, "Can I ask something?" English "ask" covers both, and so the mistake learners make is never the meaning but the choice of verb, and then the case of the person they are asking.

The rule: are you asking for something, or asking a question?

Wiktionary defines kér as "to ask (for), to make a request" and kérdez as "to ask (a question)". The test is what you expect back. If the answer is an object, a favour, an action or permission, the verb is kér. If the answer is words, a fact or a yes or no, the verb is kérdez.

• Kértem tőle egy tollat. I asked him for a pen. (I want a pen back.)
• Kérdeztem tőle valamit. I asked him something. (I want an answer back.)
• Megkértem, hogy nyissa ki az ablakot. I asked her to open the window. (an action)
• Megkérdeztem, hogy kinyissam-e az ablakot. I asked whether I should open the window. (information)

The two verbs are related. Kérdez is built from the archaic verb kérd plus -ez, and Wiktionary gives kérd as "likely" kér plus a frequentative -d. The noun kérdés, "question", comes from the same kérd. So the word for asking a question grew out of the word for asking for something, but in modern Hungarian they never swap.

Decision table: what are you asking for?

The rows a learner needs in the first year, with the verb and the case pattern each one takes.

The second row is where the English logic breaks. Advice is information, so learners reach for kérdez. But you are asking someone to give you advice, and Hungarian treats it as a request: Hungarian Wiktionary lists tanácsot kér and bocsánatot kér as set expressions of kér. The same goes for help (segítséget kér) and permission (engedélyt kér). If the accusative noun is something handed over, it is kér, even if what is handed over is words.

Who you ask: -t or -tól?

This is the part no phrasebook explains, and the part learners get wrong after they have chosen the right verb. Both verbs share one rule: a Hungarian verb has only one accusative slot. Whatever does not fit in it goes into another case.

Wiktionary gives exactly these two frames for kér ("person with -tól/-től, favor with -t" or "person with -t and favor with -ra/-re"), and gives both -t and -tól/-től for the person after megkérdez. The -tól is the ordinary "from" of the proximity cases: you get the thing or the answer from someone, as with kap valamit valakitől.

So the choice between a tanárt and a tanártól is not free. It depends on whether something else already holds the accusative:

• Kérdezd meg a tanárt! Ask the teacher! (nothing else is an object, so the person can be)
• Kérdezd meg a tanártól! Ask the teacher! (also correct: the question "it" is understood)
• Kérdezhetek tőled valamit? Can I ask you something? (valamit takes the slot, so tőled)
• Megkérdeztem a tanárt a vizsgáról. I asked the teacher about the exam. (topic in -ról)

*Kérdezek téged valamit is wrong for the same reason *Kérek téged egy tollat is: two accusatives. The topic sense of -ról/-ről ("about") is the one Wiktionary illustrates with Sokszor beszél a családjáról, "He often talks about his family".

Kér, megkér, kérdez, megkérdez

The prefix meg- changes these verbs more than it changes most. With kérdez it only adds completion, as verbal prefixes usually do. With kér it shifts the focus from the thing to the person.

Two uses of megkér are worth knowing because they look nothing like "ask": megkéri a kezét is "asks for her hand" (proposes), and megkéri az árát is "charges the price for it", said of a seller who asks a lot. Wiktionary records both.

Asking with a hogy clause: subjunctive or question

Both verbs take a hogy clause, and the verb inside it tells the listener which kind of asking happened.

• Azt kértem Jánostól, hogy menjen bevásárolni. I asked János to go shopping.
• Megkérdeztem Jánost, hogy elment-e bevásárolni. I asked János whether he had gone shopping.

After kér the clause is a request, so its verb is in the subjunctive: menjen, segítsen, várjon. After kérdez the clause is a reported question: a question word (hol, mikor, ki) or the -e particle for yes or no, with the verb in its ordinary tense, as described under questions. A subjunctive after megkérdez asks what someone should do: Megkérdeztem, hogy kinyissam-e az ablakot, "I asked whether I should open it".

Because the clause is the object, the main verb is definite: Megkérdezem, never *Megkérdezek, when a hogy clause or question word follows.

The forms you will say every day

Both verbs are regular. Kérdez ends in z, so its second person singular is -el, not -sz.

Ordering in a café follows definiteness: Kérek egy kávét (a coffee, indefinite) but Kérem a számlát (the bill, definite). The "I ask you" form is kérlek and kérdezlek, the -lak/-lek ending.

Watch the imperatives. Kérd meg! means "Ask him to (do it)!" and Kérdezd meg! means "Ask him (the question)!" One syllable apart, and the first is also the form Wiktionary lists under kérd as the subjunctive of kér. The indefinite imperatives are kérj and kérdezz (z + j becomes zz).

Kérem and kérlek as "please"

Two forms of kér have become words of their own. Kérem is the formal "please": Kérem, fáradjon be!, "Please come in". It also answers thanks ("you're welcome") and asks for repetition ("pardon?"). Kérlek is the informal "please" to one person. Pick between them the same way you pick Ön or te (see formal and informal you). On signs, Kérjük, "we ask", does the same job for an institution.

Six mistakes learners make

1. *Kérdezek egy kávét. Coffee is not a question. Say Kérek egy kávét.
2. *Tanácsot kérdeztem. Advice is asked for: Tanácsot kértem.
3. *Kérhetek egy kérdést? This asks someone to hand you a question. Say Kérdezhetek valamit? or Feltehetek egy kérdést?
4. *Megkérdeztem, hogy segítsen. Asking someone to help is a request: Megkértem, hogy segítsen.
5. *Kérdezek téged valamit. Two accusatives. Say Kérdezek tőled valamit.
6. *Megkérdezek, hol van. A question clause is a definite object: Megkérdezem, hol van.

Where the rule stops working

The "thing or information" test covers almost everything, but a few verbs of asking belong to neither. To inquire about someone or something politely, Hungarian uses érdeklődik, with felől, után or -ról/-ről: A barátaink az édesanyám egészsége felől érdeklődtek, "Our friends asked after my mother's health". And to pose a question, rather than ask one, the formal verb is feltesz, "put up": kérdést tesz fel. Neither replaces kérdez in speech, but both are what you will read in letters, news and official forms.

Sources and further reading

• Wiktionary, "kér": the senses "to ask (for), to make a request" and "would like to have", the two case frames, and the examples Egy pohár vizet kértem, Azt kértem Jánostól, hogy menjen bevásárolni and Kérsz még?
• Wiktionary, "kérdez", "kérd" and "kérdés": formation and senses
• Wiktionary, "megkérdez", "megkér", "kikérdez", "felkér", "kölcsönkér", "feltesz" and "érdeklődik": case frames and examples
• Wiktionary, "kérem" and "kérlek"; "-ról" for the "about" sense
• Wikiszótár (Hungarian Wiktionary), "kér" and "kérdez": set expressions (bocsánatot kér, tanácsot kér) and translations into German, Spanish and French

Frequently asked questions