Hungarian builds meaning with endings rather than separate little words, so its most common vocabulary looks different from a Romance or Germanic list. Even so, a compact set of pronouns, particles, and everyday verbs does most of the work, and this hundred is where to start.
How to use this list
Do not work through this list top to bottom. Read down it and mark only the words you could not have produced yourself. Those are your list. The rest are already yours, and reviewing them is wasted effort better spent on words you actually meet in reading, conversation, or subtitles.
The 100 words
| # | Hungarian | English | In use |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | a / az | the | A könyv az asztalon van.The book is on the table. |
| 2 | és | and | Szeretem a teát és a kávét.I like tea and coffee. |
| 3 | van | is / there is | Van egy kutyám.I have a dog. |
| 4 | nem | not / no | Ez nem igaz.This is not true. |
| 5 | hogy | that / how | Tudom, hogy igazad van.I know that you are right. |
| 6 | egy | a / an / one | Kérek egy pohár vizet.I'd like a glass of water. |
| 7 | ez | this | Ez az én házam.This is my house. |
| 8 | az | that | Az a ház nagyon régi.That house is very old. |
| 9 | ki | who | Ki vagy te?Who are you? |
| 10 | mi | what | Mi ez a könyv?What is this book? |
| 11 | de | but | Fáradt vagyok, de boldog.I'm tired, but happy. |
| 12 | is | also / too | Én is szeretem a zenét.I also like music. |
| 13 | mint | as / than | Ő magasabb, mint én.He is taller than me. |
| 14 | csak | only | Csak egy percem van.I only have one minute. |
| 15 | mert | because | Otthon maradtam, mert esett az eső.I stayed home because it was raining. |
| 16 | ha | if | Ha van időd, hívj fel.If you have time, call me. |
| 17 | vagy | or | Kérsz teát vagy kávét?Do you want tea or coffee? |
| 18 | nagyon | very | Ez a film nagyon jó.This movie is very good. |
| 19 | már | already | Ő már elment.He has already left. |
| 20 | még | still / yet | Még nem végeztem.I haven't finished yet. |
| 21 | itt | here | Itt lakom Budapesten.I live here in Budapest. |
| 22 | ott | there | A kulcs ott van az asztalon.The key is there on the table. |
| 23 | most | now | Most nincs időm.I don't have time now. |
| 24 | ma | today | Ma szép idő van.Today the weather is nice. |
| 25 | holnap | tomorrow | Holnap reggel találkozunk.We'll meet tomorrow morning. |
| 26 | tegnap | yesterday | Tegnap moziba mentünk.Yesterday we went to the cinema. |
| 27 | mikor | when | Mikor érkezel haza?When do you arrive home? |
| 28 | hol | where | Hol van a vasútállomás?Where is the train station? |
| 29 | hogyan | how | Hogyan csinálod ezt?How do you do this? |
| 30 | miért | why | Miért vagy szomorú?Why are you sad? |
| 31 | minden | every / all | Minden rendben van.Everything is fine. |
| 32 | valami | something | Mondanom kell neked valamit.I need to tell you something. |
| 33 | sok | many / much | Sok munkám van ma.I have a lot of work today. |
| 34 | kevés | few / little | Kevés időnk maradt.We have little time left. |
| 35 | jó | good | Ő nagyon jó ember.He is a very good person. |
| 36 | rossz | bad | Ez egy rossz ötlet.This is a bad idea. |
| 37 | nagy | big | Budapest egy nagy város.Budapest is a big city. |
| 38 | kicsi | small | A lakásunk elég kicsi.Our apartment is quite small. |
| 39 | új | new | Vettem egy új telefont.I bought a new phone. |
| 40 | régi | old | Ez egy nagyon régi templom.This is a very old church. |
| 41 | én | I | Én szeretek olvasni.I like to read. |
| 42 | te | you (sg. informal) | Te hova mész?Where are you going? |
| 43 | ő | he / she | Ő egy jó orvos.He is a good doctor. |
| 44 | valaki | somebody | Valaki kopog az ajtón.Somebody is knocking on the door. |
| 45 | ti | you (pl. informal) | Ti magyarok vagytok?Are you (all) Hungarian? |
| 46 | ők | they | Ők a barátaim.They are my friends. |
| 47 | lenni | to be | Boldognak lenni fontos.Being happy is important. |
| 48 | lesz | will be | Holnap szép idő lesz.Tomorrow the weather will be nice. |
| 49 | csinál | to do / make | Mit csinálsz ma este?What are you doing tonight? |
| 50 | megy | to go | Anya boltba megy.Mom is going to the shop. |
| 51 | jön | to come | Ő holnap jön hozzánk.He is coming to us tomorrow. |
| 52 | ad | to give | Add ide a könyvet!Give me the book! |
| 53 | vesz | to take / buy | Új cipőt vesz magának.He is buying himself new shoes. |
| 54 | mond | to say | Mondd el az igazat.Tell the truth. |
| 55 | lát | to see | Látom a hegyeket innen.I can see the mountains from here. |
| 56 | hall | to hear | Nem hallak jól.I can't hear you well. |
| 57 | tud | to know / can | Tudsz jól úszni?Can you swim well? |
| 58 | ért | to understand | Nem értem a kérdést.I don't understand the question. |
| 59 | akar | to want | Mit akarsz csinálni?What do you want to do? |
| 60 | szeret | to like / love | Szeretem a családomat.I love my family. |
| 61 | kell | must / need | Mennem kell dolgozni.I have to go to work. |
| 62 | lehet | may / can be | Lehet, hogy esni fog.It may rain. |
| 63 | talál | to find | Nem találom a kulcsomat.I can't find my keys. |
| 64 | gondol | to think | Mit gondolsz erről?What do you think about this? |
| 65 | kap | to get / receive | Ajándékot kapott a születésnapjára.He received a gift for his birthday. |
| 66 | marad | to stay / remain | Ma otthon maradok.Today I'm staying home. |
| 67 | él | to live | A nagyszüleim vidéken élnek.My grandparents live in the countryside. |
| 68 | dolgozik | to work | Apám bankban dolgozik.My father works at a bank. |
| 69 | néz | to look / watch | Esténként filmet nézünk.In the evenings we watch a movie. |
| 70 | eszik | to eat | A gyerekek almát esznek.The children are eating apples. |
| 71 | iszik | to drink | Reggel kávét iszom.In the morning I drink coffee. |
| 72 | idő | time / weather | Nincs sok időm.I don't have much time. |
| 73 | nap | day / sun | Ma gyönyörű nap van.Today is a beautiful day. |
| 74 | éjszaka | night | Az éjszaka nagyon hideg volt.The night was very cold. |
| 75 | év | year | Ebben az évben sokat utaztunk.This year we traveled a lot. |
| 76 | ház | house | A házunk kertje nagyon szép.Our house's garden is very beautiful. |
| 77 | ember | person / man | Az az ember nagyon kedves.That man is very kind. |
| 78 | nő | woman | Egy fiatal nő ült a padon.A young woman sat on the bench. |
| 79 | férfi | man | Az a férfi az édesapám.That man is my father. |
| 80 | gyerek | child | A gyerek a parkban játszik.The child is playing in the park. |
| 81 | anya | mother | Az anyám nagyon jól főz.My mother cooks very well. |
| 82 | apa | father | Az apám orvos.My father is a doctor. |
| 83 | barát | friend | Ő a legjobb barátom.He is my best friend. |
| 84 | víz | water | A víz nagyon hideg volt.The water was very cold. |
| 85 | könyv | book | Ez a könyv nagyon érdekes.This book is very interesting. |
| 86 | iskola | school | A gyerekek iskolába mennek.The children are going to school. |
| 87 | város | city | Budapest gyönyörű város.Budapest is a beautiful city. |
| 88 | ország | country | Magyarország egy kis ország.Hungary is a small country. |
| 89 | világ | world | Szeretnék körbeutazni a világot.I'd like to travel around the world. |
| 90 | dolog | thing | Ez egy fontos dolog.This is an important matter. |
| 91 | hely | place | Ez a kedvenc helyem.This is my favorite place. |
| 92 | út | road / way | Ez az út a tengerhez vezet.This road leads to the sea. |
| 93 | pénz | money | Nincs elég pénzem.I don't have enough money. |
| 94 | név | name | Mi a neved?What is your name? |
| 95 | kérdés | question | Van egy kérdésem hozzád.I have a question for you. |
| 96 | válasz | answer | A válasza helyes volt.His answer was correct. |
| 97 | boldog | happy | Nagyon boldog vagyok ma.I am very happy today. |
| 98 | szomorú | sad | A film vége nagyon szomorú volt.The end of the movie was very sad. |
| 99 | szép | beautiful | Ez egy nagyon szép kilátás.This is a very beautiful view. |
| 100 | gyorsan | quickly | A vonat nagyon gyorsan haladt.The train was moving very fast. |
The ones English speakers get wrong
Definite vs. indefinite verb conjugation
Hungarian verbs conjugate differently depending on whether their object is definite or indefinite. Látok egy kutyát (I see a dog) uses the indefinite form, while Látom a kutyát (I see the dog) uses the definite form of the same verb. English marks this with 'a' or 'the'; Hungarian marks it on the verb itself.
Vowel harmony
Suffixes change their vowels to match the vowels already in the word: -ban/-ben (in) or -ba/-be (into) depending on whether the word is back-voweled or front-voweled, like házban (in the house) versus kertben (in the garden). Attaching the wrong version of a suffix sounds immediately foreign to a native speaker.
van is dropped with noun predicates, but not with location
Saying what someone is doesn't use van in the present tense: Ő orvos (He is a doctor), no van needed. But saying where something is requires it: A könyv az asztalon van (The book is on the table). Learners often either add van where it's wrong or drop it where it's required.
Cases instead of prepositions
Hungarian has around eighteen noun cases, expressed as suffixes rather than separate words. Where English uses 'in', 'to', 'from', or 'with', Hungarian attaches an ending directly to the noun, so prepositions as English speakers know them barely exist.
mi means both 'what' and 'we'
It's a genuine homonym, not a typo you'll see twice in this list. Mi ez a könyv? asks 'What is this book?', while Mi Budapesten lakunk means 'We live in Budapest.' Context, not spelling, tells them apart, so pay attention to what surrounds the word rather than the word alone.
What to do next
A list this size is about two weeks of light daily review, and it is the difference between decoding Hungarian and following it.