Essential Common Verbs in Hungarian

In Brief

Seven verbs unlock a large amount of everyday Hungarian: megy “go,” jön “come,” ad “give,” lát “see,” hall “hear,” eszik “eat,” and iszik “drink.” Their present forms often differ from the simplest verb patterns, so learn them as complete, useful phrases: megyek haza “I’m going home,” jössz velem? “are you coming with me?” and eszem egy almát “I’m eating an apple.”

Overview

These verbs describe movement, perception, giving, and two basic daily activities. You will hear them from your first A1 conversations onward: when arranging where to go, welcoming somebody, ordering food, or saying what you can see and hear. Hungarian has no separate present continuous form like English “I am going.” The ordinary present tense can mean either “I go” or “I am going,” depending on context.

Hungarian verbs change to show the subject (the person or thing doing the action). As a result, subject pronouns such as én “I” and te “you” are usually omitted unless they add emphasis or contrast. Several forms in this group are irregular or have stem changes: compare jön with jössz, or eszik with eszem.

There is one further difference from English. A transitive verb—a verb that can act on a direct object (the person or thing directly affected)—usually has two present-tense conjugations in Hungarian. The indefinite conjugation is used with no object or a nonspecific object; the definite conjugation is normally used with a specific, definite object. Beginners should first master the common indefinite forms, then add the definite forms of ad, lát, hall, eszik, and iszik.

How It Works

The core present-tense forms

The table below gives the indefinite present. Use these forms for megy and jön, which are normally intransitive here (they do not take a direct object), and for the other verbs when there is no direct object or the object is indefinite.

Person	megy (go)	jön (come)	ad (give)	lát (see)	hall (hear)	eszik (eat)	iszik (drink)
én (I)	megyek	jövök	adok	látok	hallok	eszem	iszom
te (you, singular)	mész	jössz	adsz	látsz	hallasz	eszel	iszol
ő (he/she)	megy	jön	ad	lát	hall	eszik	iszik
mi (we)	megyünk	jövünk	adunk	látunk	hallunk	eszünk	iszunk
ti (you, plural)	mentek	jöttök	adtok	láttok	hallotok	esztek	isztok
ők (they)	mennek	jönnek	adnak	látnak	hallanak	esznek	isznak

Do not try to derive every form from a single unchanged stem. In particular, notice mész, mentek, mennek beside megy, and jöv-, jössz, jött- beside jön. The doubled consonants in jössz, jöttök, láttok, and jönnek are part of the spelling and pronunciation.

The first-person forms eszem and iszom reflect the traditional -ik verb pattern. In everyday speech you may also encounter iszok, but iszom is the safest standard form for learners. Learn eszem and iszom as whole forms rather than forcing them into the more common -ok/-ek/-ök pattern.

Hungarian present tense versus English

A present form can describe an action happening now, a habit, or a near-future arrangement:

• Most eszem. — “I’m eating now.”
• Minden reggel teát iszom. — “I drink tea every morning.”
• Holnap Budapestre megyünk. — “We’re going to Budapest tomorrow.”

Words such as most “now,” minden reggel “every morning,” and holnap “tomorrow” supply the time frame. Hungarian does not need an equivalent of English “do” in questions: Látsz valamit? literally uses only “see-you something?”

Indefinite and definite objects

Use the indefinite conjugation when there is no direct object, when the object is introduced by egy “a/an, one,” or with many indefinite words such as valamit “something”:

• Eszem. — “I’m eating.”
• Látok egy kutyát. — “I see a dog.”
• Hallasz valamit? — “Do you hear anything?”

Use the definite conjugation when the object is identifiable: for example, it has the definite article a/az “the,” it is a named or possessed object, or it is a third-person object such as “him,” “her,” or “it.”

Person	ad (give)	lát (see)	hall (hear)	eszik (eat)	iszik (drink)
én	adom	látom	hallom	eszem	iszom
te	adod	látod	hallod	eszed	iszod
ő	adja	látja	hallja	eszi	issza
mi	adjuk	látjuk	halljuk	esszük	isszuk
ti	adjátok	látjátok	halljátok	eszitek	isszátok
ők	adják	látják	hallják	eszik	isszák

Compare Látok egy filmet “I see/watch a film” with Látom a filmet “I see/watch the film.” English leaves “see” unchanged, but Hungarian marks definiteness both on the noun phrase and in the verb ending.

Some forms look identical across the two conjugations: eszem can mean “I eat/am eating” or “I eat it/the …,” and eszik can mean either “he/she eats” (indefinite) or “they eat it” (definite). The surrounding words and context remove the ambiguity.

Objects and other complements

A Hungarian direct object normally takes -t, called the accusative ending (the ending marking what is directly affected): alma → almát, kenyér → kenyeret, film → filmet. This is why the concept example says Eszem egy almát, not egy alma.

Not every noun after a verb is a direct object. In Megyek haza, haza means “homeward/home,” not “home” as an object. In Jössz velem?, velem means “with me.” With ad, the recipient is commonly expressed with -nak/-nek or a matching pronoun form: neked “to you,” Péternek “to Péter.” The thing given is the direct object:

• Adok neked egy könyvet. — “I give you a book.”
• Odaadom neked a könyvet. — “I give/hand the book to you.”

Examples in Context

Hungarian	English	Note
Megyek haza.	I’m going home.	Present with a current or planned action
Holnap moziba megyünk.	We’re going to the cinema tomorrow.	Future time supplied by holnap
Jössz velem?	Are you coming with me?	No separate question auxiliary
A busz öt perc múlva jön.	The bus is coming in five minutes.	Third-person singular
Adok neked egyet.	I’ll give you one.	Indefinite object egyet
Anna adja nekem a kulcsot.	Anna is giving me the key.	Definite object a kulcsot
Látok egy taxit.	I see a taxi.	Indefinite conjugation
Látod a hegyet?	Can you see the mountain?	Definite conjugation
Nem hallok semmit.	I can’t hear anything.	Indefinite negative expression
Halljuk a zenét.	We hear the music.	Definite object
Eszem egy almát.	I’m eating an apple.	The object has accusative -t
A gyerekek eszik a levest.	The children are eating the soup.	Third-person plural definite form
Reggel kávét iszom.	I drink coffee in the morning.	A substance used nonspecifically
Megissza a vizet.	He/She drinks the water.	Definite form with verbal prefix meg-
Nem megyek, mert itthon eszem.	I’m not going because I’m eating at home.	Two common verbs in one sentence

Common Mistakes

Keeping the infinitive-like dictionary form for every subject

• Wrong: Én megy haza.
• Right: Én megyek haza. / Megyek haza.
• Why: The verb ending must agree with the subject. The pronoun én is usually unnecessary because -ek already signals “I.”

Copying English “am/is/are” into the present

• Wrong: Én vagyok megyek haza.
• Right: Megyek haza.
• Why: Hungarian does not build a continuous tense with van “be.” One conjugated present verb is enough.

Using an indefinite form with a definite object

• Wrong: Látok a buszt.
• Right: Látom a buszt.
• Why: A buszt means “the bus,” so lát normally takes its definite ending. With “a bus,” say Látok egy buszt.

Forgetting the object ending

• Wrong: Eszem egy alma.
• Right: Eszem egy almát.
• Why: A direct object is normally marked with accusative -t. The vowel may also change or lengthen, as in alma → almát.

Treating the recipient of ad as the direct object

• Wrong: Adok te egy könyvet.
• Right: Adok neked egy könyvet.
• Why: Hungarian expresses “to you” as neked. The thing given, egy könyvet, is the direct object.

Regularizing the irregular stems

• Wrong: Te jönsz velem? / Ti megytek haza?
• Right: Te jössz velem? / Ti mentek haza?
• Why: The standard forms are jössz and mentek. High-frequency irregular forms are best learned by repetition.

Usage Notes

Hungarian normally omits subject pronouns: Jövök is more natural than Én jövök when the subject is already clear. State the pronoun for contrast—Én megyek, te maradsz “I’m going; you’re staying”—or to correct an assumption.

English often distinguishes “go” and “come” according to movement away from or toward the speaker. Hungarian broadly makes the same distinction, but the chosen viewpoint matters. A person answering an invitation may say Megyek! (“I’m going/on my way!”), where English naturally says “I’m coming!” Learn the expression in its situation rather than translating one verb mechanically.

The bare verb ad means “give,” but spoken Hungarian frequently adds a verbal prefix (a short element that modifies the verb), especially oda- “over/away to someone”: Odaadom a könyvet “I hand over/give the book.” The unprefixed ad remains fully normal, especially when the focus is on what or how much is given.

For polite requests, a bare present-tense question can sound direct. At an A1 level, Adsz egy pohár vizet? is fine among friends (“Will you give me a glass of water?”). In formal situations, learners will later use conditional forms such as Adna…? (“Would you give…?”).

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

You do not need to master the following details yet, but they explain forms you will soon encounter.

Hungarian often combines these verbs with verbal prefixes. The prefix may add direction or completion: bemegy “go in,” kijön “come out,” meglát “catch sight of,” meghall “hear/find out by hearing,” megeszik “eat up,” and megiszik “drink up.” In a neutral affirmative sentence the prefix usually stands before the verb, but negation and focus can separate it: Megeszem az almát “I’ll eat the apple up,” but Nem eszem meg az almát “I won’t eat the apple.” This word-order system deserves separate study.

Definite conjugation has an important special case when the subject is “I” and the object is “you” (singular or plural): Hungarian uses -lak/-lek. Thus Látlak means “I see you,” and Hallak means “I hear you.” This is neither the ordinary látok nor látom pattern.

The present tense can refer to a scheduled or intended future when a time phrase makes that clear, but Hungarian also has an explicit future built with fog plus the infinitive: Holnap el fogok menni “I will leave tomorrow.” In everyday plans, the simple present is often enough.

Finally, hall means physical hearing, while hallgat can mean “listen to” (and also “be silent,” depending on its construction). Compare Hallom a zenét “I hear the music” with Zenét hallgatok “I’m listening to music.” Likewise, lát is ordinary “see,” while prefixed and derived verbs can express noticing, visiting, or watching in more specific ways.

Practice Tips

1. Learn contrasting mini-pairs. Say Látok egy kutyát and then Látom a kutyát. Changing only “a dog” to “the dog” makes the conjugation difference memorable.
2. Build a seven-verb daily routine. Make one true sentence with each verb, using time words such as most, ma, holnap, and minden reggel. Say the sentences without subject pronouns.
3. Drill the difficult persons aloud. Practise short chains such as megyek–mész–megy–megyünk–mentek–mennek and jövök–jössz–jön–jövünk–jöttök–jönnek. Then put each form into a two- or three-word phrase.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Subject Pronouns — learn the Hungarian words for “I,” “you,” “he/she,” “we,” and “they,” even though they are often omitted.