Review: Lessons One to Four
Lesson One
Review
Lesson Two
Review
Lesson Three
Review
Lesson Four
Review
Exercises
There was a lot of material covered in Lessons One to Four, so this review is
just to help clarify things and get some practice using the grammar and
vocabulary. Also some minor details will be given that were left out of the
previous grammar lessons. The vocabulary in each section will be from all four
lessons, plus maybe a few new words.
Lesson One Review
In Lesson One, you learned about the definite article A/Az, equational sentences, omission of the personal pronoun, and the
verb Lenni 'to be'. These are all pretty easy grammar points, but perhaps
the general sentence structure was a little confusing. So the following
sentences are just for you to see more examples of Hungarian sentence structure
in order to improve your understanding of how the language works. Remember
though, that word order is very flexible and there is almost always more than
one way to form the same sentence.
Amerikai vagyok.
I am an American.
Note: this is the correct word order, if you said 'Vagyok amerikai' you would be understood, but it's incorrect. Don't sweat about word order at the beginning, you will get it right in time. Just realize that the order of many Hungarian sentences will seem the exact opposite of English, especially in longer sentences.
Ez a pincér magyar, de az a pincér angol.
This waiter is Hungarian,
but that waiter is English.
Note the lack of 'is' in this and
the following two sentences.
Az étterem nagyon nagy (big).
The restaurant is very big.
A nyelv szép.
The language is pretty
BUT, van is used when describing
WHERE or HOW someone is:
Laci a házban van.
Laci is in the house.
Hogy van Kati?
How is Kati
Remember, with the first and second persons, the verb 'to be' is
needed. Also remember that the personal pronoun (I, you...) can be omitted. Here
are a few sentences, with the optional personal pronoun in parentheses:
A nevem John. (Én) Egyetemista vagyok.
My name is John. I am a
student.
(Ti) Hogy vagytok? -(Mi) Jól vagyunk.
How are you (plural)? We are
well.
(Te) Az autóban vagy. (Én) A házban vagyok.
You are in the car. I am
in the house.
You can ask me any questions by E-mail.
Go To Lesson
One
Lesson Two Review
In Lesson Two, you learned about the indefinite
article egy, the demonstrative pronouns ez and az, basic
greetings, the concept of vowel harmony. The lesson shouls seem pretty
easy now, after having seen lessons three and four. The following sentences are
just for you to see more examples of word usage and order.
Ez az autó nagy. Ez a nagy autó. Ez a nagy autó szép.
This car is
big. This is the big car. This big car is pretty.
Note the differences in the use of ez in these three
sentences. Also note that in the first sentence 'nagy' is a predicate adjective
and therefore follows the noun, while in the second and third sentences 'nagy'
modifies 'autó' and therefore precedes it.
John pincér Londonban.
John is a waiter in London.
Remember
that egy is used less than in English, especially in equational
sentences.
Látok egy pincért.
I see a waiter.
(Egy) városban lakom.
I live in a city
Here are two short dialogues using the greetings you learned:
Gabi and Kati are good friends from college.
Gabi: Szia Kati! Hogy
vagy?
Kati: Köszi (short for köszönöm), nagyon jól vagyok. És te, hogy vagy?
Gabi: Jól, köszönöm. Dolgozol?
Kati: Igen, sokat (sok - 'a lot')
dolgozom. Szia!
Gabi: Szia Kati!
Translation:
G: Hi Kati! How are you?
K: I'm very good thanks. And
you, how are you?
G: Good thank you. Are you working?
K: Yes, I am
working a lot (Note use of accusative suffix -t on 'sok'). Bye!
G: Bye
Kati!
Péter and Mária are colleagues at work.
Péter: Jó napot Mária. Hogy
van?
Mária: Köszönöm, jól vagyok. És maga, hogy van?
Péter: Jól vagyok,
köszönöm. A viszontlátásra.
Mária: Viszontlátásra.
Translation:
P: Hello, Maria. How are you?
M: I am well thank you.
And you, how are you?
P: I'm well thank you. Goodbye.
M: Goodbye.
Notes: The A is optional before
'viszontlátásra'. And if you want to express more gratitude for something you
can say 'Köszönöm szépen' or 'Nagyon szépen köszönöm', which both mean 'thank
you very much' in ascending order of niceness.
You can ask me any questions by E-mail.
Go To Lesson
Two
Lesson Three Review
In Lesson Three you learned the indefinite verb conjugation, negation, and
the ban/ben suffix. The ban/ben suffix and negation are very
straightforward and you have already seen many sentences in which they appear.
As for the indefinite conjugation, you should memorize the basic pattern and
remember the exceptions. The -ik verbs are very common, but also very
easy since the only two things to remember is that the -ik drops off in all
forms but the 3rd person singular and the the first person singular always
ends with -m. The next group of exceptions are the verb stems ending in s, z, sz. Just remember that the second person singular ends in -ol/-el/-öl, as opposed to -sz. The last group of exceptions
includes verb stems ending in -ít (notice the í has an accent) or
ending in two consonants. These verbs require a link vowel before several of
the suffixes, see Lesson Three for details.
In the following sentences, pay attention to the conjugation of the
verb as well as the usage:
Londonban tanulok.
I study in London.
Látok egy asztalt.
I see a table.
Eszem (egy) gulyást
I am eating (a) goulash.
Jól beszélsz magyarul.
You speak Hungarian well.
Egy könyvet olvasol?
Are you reading a book?
Szeretek Dolgozni.
I love to work.
Egy nagy, szép házban lakom.
I live in a big, pretty house.
Mit mondasz (mondani 'to say')?
What are you saying? (Remember
that 'what' is the object, so it takes the accusative suffix)
Én ismerem (definite) Pétert, de ő nem ismer (indef.).
I know Peter,
but he doesn't know me.
You can ask me any questions by E-mail.
Go To Lesson
Three
Lesson Four Review
Lesson Four covered the accusative suffix -t,
and the definite vs. indefinite conjugations.
There are a few details left to mention about the accusative before reviewing
the definite conjugation. Look at the following sentences:
Egy nagy, szép autót látok.
I see a big, pretty car.
Notice
that the object 'autó' is preceded by two adjectives, but only 'autó' get the
suffix -t. So the rule is, only the last word in the cluster gets the
accusative marker. Following is another example sentences, this time with two
objects. Only the last word in each cluster is marked with the -t.
Egy nagy házat és egy szép autót kérek.
I'd like a big house and a
pretty car.
BUT:
Ezt a nagy autót szeretem.
I like this big car
Azt a könyvet olvasom.
I am reading that book.
If the
noun is preceded by one of the demonstratives ez or az, the
demonstrative suffix mirrors that of the noun. In other words, if the suffix -t appears on ez/az as well as the object. As for the other
modifying words in the cluster, they remain untouched as in the sentences
above.
It should also be mentioned that some words
like étterem drop the final vowel when adding the -t suffix. So 'I see
the restaurant' would be: Látom az éttermet. You don't yet know any
other words that follow this pattern, and if any come up in the vocabulary,
the accusative form will be given.
Re-read the explanation given in Lesson Four about when to use the
definite conjugation. You really just need to practise. Here are some sample
sentences to help you:
Egy autót akarok.
I want a car.
Az autót akarom.
I want the car.
Nem ismered Pétert?
You don't know Peter?
Akarok angolul tanulni.
I want to study English.
Szeretem a magyar nyelvet.
I love the Hungarian language.
You can ask me any questions by E-mail.
Go To Lesson
Four
Additional Exercises
Translate the following sentences into English:
1. Hol laknak? - Kanadában.
2. Éva ismeri Pétert?
3. Szeretnék magyarul tudni.
4. Nem látom az éttermet. Te látod?
5. Szeretem ezt a könyvet.
Translate the following into Hungarian:
6. Do you understand that woman?
7. Where is Béla? - He is in the city.
8. This car is very big.
9. I like this big house.
10. I'd like
a goulash.
In the following sentences, give the appropriate Hungarian
translation of the English in parentheses:
11. (Are you eating) azt a gulyást?
12. (I speak) magyarul.
13. (We
don't see) a pincért.
14. Akarok angolul (to know)
15. (He likes) ezt a
könyvet.
Conjugate the verbs tudni, érteni, and olvasni
along with the personal pronouns in the indefinite and definite forms.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AFS is a non-profit, volunteer organization
© Copyright - AFS Hungary Intercultural Programs Foundation 2002
Go back to the Alphabet and Pronunciation Page