When you start learning a new language, one of the very first things that you learn is “I am.” With this knowledge, you are able to describe a lot of things about yourself, such as your name, nationality, profession, age, how you feel and where you are from. In essence, one simple phrase can be used to create a lot of different sentences. And isn’t that something that would make any student happy?

 

So, let's have a closer look at this verb in Hungarian! However, before we start, you should know that it is typical of Hungarian that verbs have different forms for each subject, and this also holds true for the verb “to be.”

 

Thus, in this article, I will present three singular grammatical subjects and show you how the verb “to be” changes with each person. In particular, I will pay special attention to the third person singular, being that the verb behaves in a special way in this case. I will also provide you with a table with all six grammatical subjects.

 

I am

 

The first person form of “to be” (I am) is (én) vagyok. The pronoun (én) is in parentheses because it is not necessary to include it in the sentence. This is because the verb form clearly shows us which grammatical person we are talking about. After we have learned vagyok, we can then describe several details about ourselves.

 

Name:

 

  • Mark vagyok. I am Mark.
  • John Adams vagyok. I am John Adams.

 

Nationality:

 

  • Amerikai vagyok. I am American.
  • Magyar vagyok. I am Hungarian.

 

Profession:

 

  • Tanár vagyok. I am a teacher.
  • Asszisztens vagyok. I am an assistant.

 

City:

 

  • Washingtoni vagyok. I am from Washington. (I am “Washingtonian.”)
  • Budapesti vagyok. I am from Budapest. (I am “Budapestian.”)

 

Age:

 

  • 30 éves vagyok. I am 30 years old.
  • 62 éves vagyok. I am 62 years old.

 

Characteristics:

 

  • Optimista vagyok. I am optimistic.
  • Magas vagyok. I am tall.

 

State, condition:

 

  • Jól vagyok. I am fine.

 

Place:

 

  • A múzeumban vagyok. I am in the museum.
  • Otthon vagyok. I am at home.

 

When you meet somebody and you would like to know a few things about him or her, just describe yourself and then ask, És te? (And you?).

 

  • Mark vagyok. És te?
  • Amerikai vagyok. És te?
  • Tanár vagyok. És te?

 

Now, we know how to say a few things about ourselves and how to get information about someone else. Let's continue on to the second person!

 

You are

 

“You are” is (te) vagy in Hungarian. We can easily transform the previous sentences into the second person.

 

Name:

 

  • Mark vagy. You are Mark.
  • John Adams vagy. You are John Adams.

 

Nationality:

 

  • Amerikai vagy. You are American.
  • Magyar vagy. You are Hungarian.

 

Profession:

 

  • Tanár vagy. You are a teacher.
  • Asszisztens vagy. You are an assistant.

 

City:

 

  • Washingtoni vagy. You are from Washington. (You are “Washingtonian.”)
  • Budapesti vagy. You are from Budapest. (You are “Budapestian.”)

 

Age:

 

  • 30 éves vagy. You are 30 years old.
  • 62 éves vagy. You are 62 years old.

 

Characteristics:

 

  • Optimista vagy. You are optimistic.
  • Magas vagy. You are tall.

 

State, condition:

 

  • Jól vagy. You are fine.

 

Place:

 

  • A múzeumban vagy. You are in the museum.
  • Otthon vagy. You are at home.

 

In real-life conversations, the second person form is very often used in questions where you address another person and ask details. So, let’s have a look at some simple yes or no questions.

 

With yes or no questions, the word order and structure of the sentence remain the same as they were in the declarative sentence. For example:

 

Declarative sentence:

 

  • Amerikai vagy. You are American.

 

Question:

 

  • Amerikai vagy? Are you American?

 

Being that the sentence structure is the same, the difference between a declarative sentence and a question is marked only by the intonation. Intonation that falls or stays flat is used in declarative sentences, and rising/falling intonation is used in questions (it rises until the last syllable, and then it falls after that). For example:

 

 

(S)he is

 

We have now arrived at the verb form in the third person. The third person pronoun is ő (he, she) or ez, az (it). Let's have a look at the previous sentences, this time with “(s)he is.”

 

Name:

 

  • Ő Mark. He is Mark.
  • Ő John Adams. He is John Adams.

 

Nationality:

 

  • Amerikai. (S)he is American.
  • Magyar. (S)he is Hungarian.

 

Profession:

 

  • Tanár. (S)he is a teacher.
  • Asszisztens. (S)he is an assistant.

 

City:

 

  • Washingtoni. (S)he is from Washington. ((S)he is “Washingtonian.”)
  • Budapesti. (S)he is from Budapest. ((S)he is “Budapestian.”)

 

Age:

 

  • 30 éves. (S)he is 30 years old.
  • 62 éves. (S)he is 62 years old.

 

Characteristics:

 

  • Optimista. (S)he is optimistic.
  • Magas. (S)he is tall.

 

State, condition:

 

  • Jól van. (S)he is fine.

 

Place:

 

  • A múzeumban van. (S)he is in the museum.
  • Otthon van. (S)he is at home.

 

You may have noticed that in the first sentences, the verb disappears. However, it suddenly reappears in the last three sentences (van).

 

This is because when we talk about the third person (he, she or it), the verb “to be” is not always present in the sentence. We do not include it when we are talking about names, nationalities, professions, cities, ages, or chracteristics. A helpful test for determining whether to include van or not is adding a question before the sentence. If your sentence answers one of the following questions, do not use the verb “to be” in the third person:

 

  • Ki ő? Who is (s)he?
  • Mi ő / ez / az? What is (s)he / it?
  • Milyen ő / ez / az? What is (s)he / it like?

 

It was previously mentioned that the pronoun is not necessary in Hungarian sentences because the verb form shows which person we are talking about. However, in third person sentences, it often happens that there aren’t any verbs or pronouns in the sentence. So, how do we know which person we are talking about? In a real-life conversation, it is normally clear from the context. However, if it is not, we can still include the personal pronoun ő in the sentence.

 

However, the last two types (state / condition and place) include the verb van in the sentences. There are two basic types of sentences in which we include the verb “to be” in the third person. One of them is when we say “(s)he is fine” or jól van. The other type is when expressing location, such as “(s)he is somewhere.” If your sentence answers one of the following questions, you should include the verb “to be” in your sentence:

 

  • Hogy van ő? How is (s)he?
  • Hol van ő / ez / az? Where is (s)he / it?

 

Please note that the formal “you” ön refers to the second person. However, the verb form is the same as in the third person ő.

 

  • Ön amerikai? Are you American?
  • Ön tanár? Are you a teacher?
  • Otthon van? Are you at home?

 

A complete guide…

 

Here is a complete table with all forms of the verb “to be.”

 

 

Ki …? Mi …? Milyen …?

Hogy van …? Hol van …?

én

vagyok

Magyar vagyok.

vagyok

A múzeumban vagyok.

te

vagy

Magyar vagy.

vagy

A múzeumban vagy.

ő, ez, az

ön

-

Magyar.

van

A múzeumban van.

mi

vagyunk

Magyarok vagyunk.

vagyunk

A múzeumban vagyunk.

ti

vagytok

Magyarok vagytok.

vagytok

A múzeumban vagytok.

ők, ezek, azok

önök

-

Magyarok.

-

A múzeumban vannak.

 

Conclusion

 

If you have read this article carefully, you now know a lot about how to use the verb “to be.” In addition to examining the correct form of the verb for each singular subject, we also learned how to discuss and ask about personal information. Furthermore, we reviewed the types of sentences where the verb “to be” is used (or not used) in the third person.

 

I really hope that you were able to find something new in this article, even if you are not a beginner and are already familiar with the verb “to be.” Good luck!

 

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