There are 14 vowels. They stand in short–long pairs. Long sounds are indicated by the acute accent (stroke above the letter).

• a – as o in not (Brit.)
• á – as a in father (here the accent marks not only the length, but also a different sound quality: while a is back rounded and short, á is front unrounded and long)
• e – as e in let
• é – as a in say (here the accent marks not only the length, but also a different sound quality: while e is open and short, é is closed and long)
• i – as i in trip
• í – as ee in see
• o – as o in on (Brit.)
• ó – as o in so (Am.)
• ö – as ö in German schön, but shorter
• ő – as ö in German schön
• u – as u in look
• ú – as oo in moon
• ü – as ü in German über, but shorter
• ű – as ü in German über

Note for pronunciation: stress always falls on the first syllable of words. Accent marks do not alter stress in any way.

The examples above only provide rough equivalents. You can listen to the Hungarian vowels in this video.

• apa
• alma
• bab
• bal

• ág
• báb
• bál
• tál

The accent makes the sound longer.

The á sound is not only longer, but also much more open than the sound a.

• bába
• talál
• tálal

• el
• fel
• de
• teve

• él
• fél
• tévé

The accent makes the sound longer.

The é sound is not only longer, but also more closed than the e sound.

• elé
• felé
• féle
• élet

• Imi
• ti
• hit

• ív
• hív
• híd
• pí

The accent makes the sound longer.

• kihív

• ont
• fog

• ól
• ló
• tó
• gól

The accent makes the sound longer.

• öt
• öl
• föl

• őt
• lő
• dől

The accent makes the sound longer.

• un
• hun
• uhu

• út
• kút
• bú

The accent makes the sound longer.

• üt
• ül

• fű
• tű

The accent makes the sound longer.

Many consonants in Hungarian are the same as in English. Only a few of them are pronounced differently. Here they are:

• c – as ts in its
• j – as y in yes
• r – as r in Spanish Maria (always rolled as in Spanish or Finnish, not guttural as in Dutch)
• s – as s in sugar

There are 8 consonants that are two letters but one sound:

• cs – as ch in chocolate
• dzs – as dg in fudge
• gy – as d in duty (Brit.) or de y in made your (when pronounced fast)
• zs – as g in genre or as s in pleasure
• sz – as s in see
• ty – as t in tube (Brit.)
• ly – same as j (used to be different, but no difference today)
• ny – as in canyon or as n in Spanish señor

• cigi
• pici

• csak
• kicsi
• nincs

• dzseki
• menedzsment

• gyalog
• magyar
• nagy

• nyelv
• anyag
• lány

• tyúk
• kutya

• jó
• hajó
• baj
• lyuk
• olyan

• rom
• aroma
• bor

• sok
• most
• kis

• szép
• ország
• lesz

• Zsolt
• Józsi
• Balázs