Days, Months, and Time in Hungarian

Overview

Telling time, naming days, and referring to months are essential A1 skills. Hungarian has a logical system for all three, with a few important differences from English. Days and months are written in lowercase (unlike English), days of the week take specific suffixes for "on Monday" type expressions, and time-telling uses a 24-hour system in formal contexts.

At the CEFR A1 level, learners should memorize the seven days, twelve months, and the basic time-telling formula Hány óra van? (What time is it?). The suffixes used with days and months (-n, -ban/-ben) are early examples of case usage in practice.

The Hungarian week starts on Monday (hétfő), not Sunday, which is reflected in calendars and scheduling.

How It Works

Days of the Week

Hungarian	English	"On ..."
hétfő	Monday	hétfőn
kedd	Tuesday	kedden
szerda	Wednesday	szerdán
csütörtök	Thursday	csütörtökön
péntek	Friday	pénteken
szombat	Saturday	szombaton
vasárnap	Sunday	vasárnap (no suffix!)

Note: All days use the superessive (-n/-on/-en/-ön) for "on," except vasárnap, which has no suffix.

Months

Hungarian	English	"In ..."
január	January	januárban
február	February	februárban
március	March	márciusban
április	April	áprilisban
május	May	májusban
június	June	júniusban
július	July	júliusban
augusztus	August	augusztusban
szeptember	September	szeptemberben
október	October	októberben
november	November	novemberben
december	December	decemberben

Months use the inessive (-ban/-ben) for "in."

Telling Time

Hungarian	English
Hány óra van?	What time is it?
Egy óra van.	It's one o'clock.
Öt óra van.	It's five o'clock.
Fél hat.	Half past five. (lit: half six)
Negyed hat.	Quarter past five. (lit: quarter six)
Háromnegyed hat.	Quarter to six. (lit: three-quarters six)

Important: Hungarian counts halves and quarters toward the next hour: fél hat = 5:30 (halfway to six), not 6:30.

Examples in Context

Hungarian	English	Note
hétfőn	on Monday	superessive
januárban	in January	inessive
Hány óra van?	What time is it?	time question
Öt óra van.	It's five o'clock.	whole hour
Fél három.	It's 2:30.	half toward three
Ma szerda van.	Today is Wednesday.	stating the day
Mikor jössz? — Pénteken.	When are you coming? — On Friday.	day with suffix
Augusztusban megyek.	I'm going in August.	month with inessive
Reggel nyolckor.	At eight in the morning.	-kor for "at" time
Délután három órakor.	At three in the afternoon.	specific time
Tavaly decemberben.	Last December.	time expression

Common Mistakes

Capitalizing days and months

• Wrong: Hétfő, Január
• Right: hétfő, január
• Why: Unlike English, Hungarian writes days of the week and months in lowercase.

Getting fél wrong

• Wrong: Thinking fél hat = 6:30
• Right: fél hat = 5:30 (half toward six)
• Why: Hungarian counts toward the next hour. Half six means halfway to six, which is 5:30.

Adding suffix to vasárnap

• Wrong: vasárnapon
• Right: vasárnap (no suffix)
• Why: Vasárnap already functions as an adverb and takes no additional suffix for "on Sunday."

Using -ban for days

• Wrong: hétfőben
• Right: hétfőn
• Why: Days take the superessive (-n/-on/-en/-ön), not the inessive (-ban/-ben). Months take -ban/-ben.

Usage Notes

In everyday conversation, Hungarians commonly use the 12-hour clock with context words: reggel (morning), délelőtt (before noon), délután (afternoon), este (evening). Official schedules (trains, TV, appointments) use the 24-hour clock.

Dates in Hungarian go from largest to smallest: year, month, day — 2024. január 15. This matches the logical order and ISO standard.

Practice Tips

• Practice saying today's date in Hungarian every morning: Ma [day] van, [month] [number].
• Set phone alarms and practice telling the time in Hungarian when they ring.
• Learn the quarter-hour system by drilling: negyed, fél, háromnegyed with each hour.

Related Concepts

• Next steps: Time Expressions — complex temporal phrases and constructions