Basic Requests and Commands in Hungarian

In Brief

Hungarian uses imperative verb forms for both commands and requests. With someone you address informally, learn useful forms as whole phrases: gyere ide (“come here”), add ide (“give it here”), and nézd meg (“look at it”). For a polite request, use a formal third-person form such as adja ide, often softened with kérem (“please”).

Overview

Requests and commands appear in Hungarian from the first everyday conversation: a friend asks you to come in, someone tells you to wait, or a customer politely asks for an item. The verb form used for these purposes is called the imperative (the form that tells or asks someone to do something). Hungarian also uses this form for wishes and suggestions, but the A1 goal is simpler: recognise and use a small set of common informal and polite requests.

English often uses the bare verb for everyone: “Come in,” “Wait,” “Please give me the book.” Hungarian marks whom you are addressing and, with many verbs, whether the object is definite. A definite object means a specific thing already identified, such as a könyvet (“the book”) or ezt (“this”). That is why “Look!” can be Nézz!, but “Look at this!” is Nézd meg ezt!

At beginner level, do not try to generate every possible imperative ending at once. Memorise high-frequency chunks, especially gyere, menj, várj, add ide, and nézd meg. The patterns below explain what is inside those chunks and help you expand beyond them safely.

How It Works

Informal commands to one person

Use second-person singular forms with a friend, family member, child, or anyone you normally address as te (“you,” singular informal). Hungarian often adds a form containing -j-, although spelling and sound changes can make the result less obvious.

Function	Hungarian	Meaning
Come here	Gyere ide!	Come here!
Go in	Menj be!	Go in!
Wait	Várj!	Wait!
Ask	Kérj!	Ask!
Read	Olvass!	Read!
Help	Segíts!	Help!

The endings do not always look like a simple -j. For example, olvas + j is written olvass, and segít + j becomes segíts. These are regular sound-and-spelling patterns, but beginners can treat the common forms as vocabulary.

Some frequent verbs have forms worth learning separately:

Dictionary form	Informal command	Meaning
jön	gyere! / jöjj!	come!
megy	menj!	go!
eszik	egyél!	eat!
iszik	igyál!	drink!
tesz	tegyél!	put/do!
vesz	vegyél!	take/buy!
visz	vigyél!	take/carry!

Gyere! is the ordinary conversational form of “Come!”; jöjj! is also correct and occurs in fixed phrases and more elevated or emphatic language.

When a specific object changes the verb

Hungarian has an indefinite and a definite conjugation. A conjugation is a set of verb endings. In informal singular commands, use the indefinite form when there is no object or when the object is not specific; use the definite form when asking someone to act on a specific object.

Object	Indefinite command	Definite command
none / nonspecific	Olvass! — Read!	—
an unspecified book	Olvass egy könyvet! — Read a book!	—
the book	—	Olvasd el a könyvet! — Read the book!
something unspecified	Adj egy tollat! — Give me a pen!	—
this / it / the item	—	Add ide ezt! — Give this here!

The contrast is especially visible in these useful pairs:

• nézz (“look”) → nézd (“look at it/the specified thing”)
• adj (“give something”) → add (“give it/the specified thing”)
• olvass (“read”) → olvasd (“read it/the specified text”)

English speakers tend to miss this distinction because English “read” and “give” do not change according to the object. In Hungarian, the article a/az (“the”), a demonstrative such as ez/az (“this/that”), or an already known object normally calls for the definite form.

Verb prefixes move in ordinary commands

Many Hungarian verbs contain a verb prefix (a short element such as meg-, be-, or el- that helps express direction or completion). In a neutral positive command, the prefix commonly follows the imperative verb:

• megnéz (“look at/check”) → Nézd meg! (“Look at it!”)
• bemegy (“go in”) → Menj be! (“Go in!”)
• elolvas (“read through”) → Olvasd el! (“Read it!”)
• idead (“hand over here”) → Add ide! (“Give it here!”)

This word order is not optional beginner decoration: Nézd meg ezt! is the natural command, not neutral Megnézd ezt!

Making the request polite

Hungarian distinguishes informal and formal address more strongly than English. Three useful strategies cover many A1 situations.

Strategy	Example	Typical use
informal command + kérlek	Kérlek, várj itt.	Please wait here. To one person addressed as te
formal third-person command	Várjon itt.	Please wait here. To one person addressed formally
kérem + formal command	Kérem, adja ide a könyvet.	Please give me the book. Polite, formal request

Kérlek literally has the sense “I ask you” and agrees with informal singular address. Kérem can function as “please” in service encounters and formal requests; it also means “I would like/I ask for” in phrases such as Egy kávét kérek (“I’d like a coffee”). Do not assume that adding kérem makes an informal verb form formally addressed: match the verb to the person and situation.

Formal singular requests use third-person forms because Hungarian polite address behaves grammatically like “he/she” rather than informal “you.” Compare Várj! (informal) with Várjon! (formal), and Add ide! (informal, definite) with Adja ide! (formal, definite).

Negative commands

Put ne before an imperative form to say “do not.” A verb prefix normally remains after the verb:

• Ne menj el! — Don’t go away!
• Ne nézd meg! — Don’t look at it!
• Ne várjon itt! — Please don’t wait here. (formal)
• Ne add ide! — Don’t give it here!

Hungarian does not use ordinary nem (“not”) for a direct negative command. Use ne.

Examples in Context

Hungarian	English	Note
Gyere ide!	Come here!	Informal singular
Menj be, kérlek.	Go inside, please.	kérlek softens an informal command
Várj egy percet!	Wait a minute!	No definite object
Adj egy pohár vizet, kérlek.	Give me a glass of water, please.	Indefinite adj with egy
Add ide a kulcsot!	Give me the key!	Definite add with a kulcsot
Nézz ide!	Look here!	Informal, no direct object
Nézd meg ezt!	Look at this!	Definite form plus separated meg
Olvasd el az üzenetet!	Read the message!	Specific object; el follows the verb
Kérem, adja ide a könyvet.	Please give me the book.	Formal singular, definite object
Jöjjön be!	Come in!	Formal singular invitation or instruction
Legyen szíves, várjon itt.	Please wait here.	Courteous formal formula
Ne menj el!	Don’t go away!	Negative informal command
Ne nyissa ki az ajtót!	Please don’t open the door!	Formal, definite; ki remains after the verb
Egy kávét kérek.	I’d like a coffee.	A request without a command form

Common Mistakes

Using an indefinite form with a definite object

• Wrong: Nézz meg ezt!
• Right: Nézd meg ezt!
• Why: ezt means “this” and identifies a specific object, so the informal singular verb takes the definite form nézd.

Keeping the prefix before the verb

• Wrong: Megnézd ezt!
• Right: Nézd meg ezt!
• Why: In a neutral positive command, the prefix meg follows the imperative verb.

Using nem for “don’t”

• Wrong: Nem menj el!
• Right: Ne menj el!
• Why: Direct negative commands use ne, followed by an imperative form.

Mixing informal and formal address

• Wrong: Kérlek, várjon itt. (unless deliberately changing whom you address)
• Right: Kérlek, várj itt. / Kérem, várjon itt.
• Why: kérlek normally goes with informal singular address; várjon addresses one person formally. Keep the register consistent.

Translating English “please” too mechanically

• Awkward in many contexts: Kérem, gyere ide.
• Natural informal request: Kérlek, gyere ide.
• Natural formal request: Kérem, jöjjön ide.
• Why: Hungarian chooses the politeness expression together with the form of address. kérem is not a universal word that can simply be inserted into every command.

Usage Notes

An exclamation mark does not automatically make a Hungarian sentence angry. It is common after short commands and invitations, including friendly Gyere be! (“Come in!”). Tone of voice, relationship, and added words such as kérlek matter more. In writing, a full stop can make a request look calmer: Kérlek, várj itt.

Bare imperatives can sound brisk, just as “Wait” can in English. Among friends, context may make them completely natural. With strangers, customers, officials, or older people whom you address formally, use the formal form and often a softener: Kérem, várjon egy kicsit or Legyen szíves, várjon egy kicsit (“Please wait a little”). Legyen szíves literally means “be so kind” and is a common polite formula.

Hungarian can also avoid an imperative altogether. In a café, Egy teát kérek (“I’d like a tea”) is usually more natural than commanding someone to give you tea. Similarly, Tudna segíteni? (“Could you help?”) is a very polite request, but its conditional verb form belongs beyond the A1 core.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

You do not need to master the full imperative system yet, but the same Hungarian forms extend well beyond direct commands. They can express suggestions, wishes, purpose-like meanings, and instructions addressed to several people.

The first-person plural gives a “let’s” meaning: Menjünk! (“Let’s go!”), Nézzük meg! (“Let’s look at it!”). Plural informal commands address ti (“you all”): Gyertek be! (“Come in!”) and Várjatok itt! (“Wait here!”). Formal plural address has other forms, such as Jöjjenek be! (“Come in,” to several people or formal addressees).

Hungarian grammar traditionally calls this the felszólító mód, often translated as the imperative mood. A mood is a set of verb forms showing how the speaker presents an action—as a fact, command, wish, possibility, and so on. The same forms therefore occur in sentences that English would not translate as commands, for example Azt akarom, hogy jöjjön el (“I want him/her to come”). The word hogy introduces the additional clause, and person, definiteness, prefixes, and word order all continue to matter.

There are also shorter and longer variants in some informal forms, such as egyél and colloquial egy, or tegyél and tégy. Frequency, style, and meaning can differ by verb. For reliable everyday speech, the forms presented in the main tables—egyél, tegyél, vegyél, vigyél—are safe starting points.

Finally, prefix placement depends on focus and sentence structure, not merely on the label “imperative.” The beginner rule “put the prefix after the verb in a command” handles neutral examples such as Menj be! and negatives such as Ne menj be! Advanced Hungarian may place another focused element before the verb or use marked contrast, so later study should connect imperatives with Hungarian focus and word order.

Practice Tips

1. Learn requests in contrasting pairs: Adj egy tollat! / Add ide a tollat!, Nézz ide! / Nézd meg ezt! This trains the indefinite–definite difference without requiring a large paradigm.
2. Build three versions of each useful request: informal (Várj!), softened informal (Kérlek, várj!), and formal (Kérem, várjon!). Say each aloud and imagine a suitable listener.
3. Practise prefixes physically: write megnéz → nézd meg, bemegy → menj be, and elolvas → olvasd el on cards. Then add ne to make the negative versions.

Related Concepts

• Definite vs Indefinite Conjugation — explains why adj and add, or nézz and nézd, are used with different objects.
• Basic Word Order — provides the foundation for focus and verb-prefix placement.
• Greetings and Basic Phrases — adds kérem, thanks, greetings, and other expressions needed for polite interaction.
• Accusative Case (-t) — explains object forms such as könyvet, kulcsot, and ezt.