Introduction to Hungarian Pronouns for English Speakers

What Are Pronouns in Hungarian?

Pronouns are words that replace nouns in sentences. In Hungarian, pronouns are essential for avoiding repetition and making sentences clearer. They function similarly to English pronouns but have unique forms and uses.

Personal Pronouns in Hungarian

Personal pronouns refer to specific people or things. Hungarian personal pronouns change depending on the grammatical person and number, and sometimes case.

• én – I
• te – you (singular, informal)
• ő – he/she/it
• mi – we
• ti – you (plural, informal)
• ők – they

Examples of Personal Pronouns in Sentences

Én tanulok magyarul. (I am learning Hungarian.)
Ő orvos. (He/She is a doctor.)

Possessive Pronouns in Hungarian

Possessive pronouns indicate ownership. In Hungarian, possessive pronouns are often formed by adding suffixes to the noun, but there are also independent possessive pronouns.

• enyém – mine
• tiéd – yours (singular)
• övé – his/hers/its
• miénk – ours
• tiétek – yours (plural)
• övéik – theirs

Example Sentences with Possessive Pronouns

Ez a könyv enyém. (This book is mine.)
Az autó tiéd. (The car is yours.)

Demonstrative Pronouns in Hungarian

Demonstrative pronouns point to specific things or people. The most common are ez (this) and az (that).

• ez – this
• az – that

Example Sentences with Demonstrative Pronouns

Ez a ház szép. (This house is beautiful.)
Az az autó gyors. (That car is fast.)

Reflexive Pronouns in Hungarian

Reflexive pronouns refer back to the subject of the sentence. Hungarian uses magam, magad, maga, etc., to express reflexivity.

• magam – myself
• magad – yourself (singular)
• maga – yourself (formal)
• magunk – ourselves
• magatok – yourselves
• maguk – themselves/yourselves (formal)

Example Sentences with Reflexive Pronouns

Szeretem magam. (I love myself.)
Ő magát nézi a tükörben. (He/She looks at himself/herself in the mirror.)

Tips for English Speakers Learning Hungarian Pronouns

Hungarian pronouns can be quite different from English, especially because of suffixes and cases. Practice using pronouns in context and pay attention to formal and informal forms.