Wondering how to say ‘hello’ in Hungarian?
This post covers how to greet people in Hungarian and teaches you some essential phrases including ‘hello’, ‘good morning’, ‘good evening’ and ‘good night’.
It also covers some other greeting etiquette such as handshakes and how to greet in both formal and informal situations.
Hopefully you’ll leave this page knowing some essential Hungarian greetings.
Table of Contents
How Do You Say ‘Hello’ In Hungarian?
If you want to say ‘hello’ to someone in Hungarian then you can do so with the following phrase:
- Hi/Hello – Szia See-yah
- Hi/Hello guys (plural) – Sziasztok See-as-tok
- Hello/good day (more formal) – Jó napot Yo na-pot
If you’re saying hello to one person then use ‘szia’, but if you’re saying hello to multiple people at once, use ‘sziasztok’.
The first 2 words (szia/sziasztok) are informal, friendly words that you can use with friends, family or in any other casual situation. You can also use them to say bye to someone.
In Hungarian, there isn’t a specific phrase for ‘good afternoon’ so you can use ‘jó napot’ for this purpose too.
How To Say Other Greetings In Hungarian e.g. ‘Good Morning’
You may want to use some other greetings in Hungarian such as ‘good morning’, ‘good evening’ and ‘good night’. Check out these other Hungarian greetings below:
How To Say ‘Good Morning’ In Hungarian
To say ‘good morning’ in Hungarian, you can say:
- Good morning (formal) – Jó reggelt kívánok Yo reg-elt kee-vaa-nok
- Good morning (less formal) – Jó reggelt Yo reg-elt
The first phrase ‘jó reggelt kívánok’ is a very formal and polite way to say ‘good morning’ to someone.
You can drop the word ‘kívánok’ which means ‘I wish you’ to sound a little less formal.
In general, this phrase is used until around 10am.
How To Say ‘Good Evening’ In Hungarian
To say ‘good evening’ in Hungarian, you can say:
- Good evening (formal) – Jó estét kívánok Yo esh-taet kee-vaa-nok
- Good evening (less formal) – Jó estét Yo esh-taet
The first phrase ‘jó estét kívánok’ is a very formal and polite way to say ‘good evening’ to someone.
You can drop the word ‘kívánok’ which means ‘I wish you’ to sound a little less formal.
In general, this phrase can be used from around 6pm.
How To Say ‘Good Night’ In Hungarian
To say ‘good night’ in Hungarian, you can say:
- Good night (formal) – Jó éjszakát kívánok Yo es-a-kaat kee-vaa-nok
- Good night (less formal) – Jó éjszakát Yo es-a-kaat
- Good night (informal) – Jó éjt Yo eyt
The first phrase ‘jó éjszakát kívánok’ is a very formal and polite way to say ‘good night’ to someone.
You can drop the word ‘kívánok’ which means ‘I wish you’ to sound a little less formal.
To sound even more informal you can shorten the word ‘éjszakát’ to ‘éjt’.
How To Greet Someone In Hungarian
In formal situations, it’s common to greet someone with a handshake.
If you’re meeting someone in a business context then you should address them with their title and surname (not first names).
In informal situations, such as with friends and family, it’s common to greet with a gentle hug and a kiss on each cheek. Kisses should be reserved for family and close friends (e.g. people you’ve known for a long time).
If you’re greeting an elderly woman, it is polite to say ‘kezét csókolom’ (pronounced ke-zet choh-kolum). This translates to ‘I kiss your hand’ but you’re not expected to actually kiss the woman’s hand.
This old expression was used a long time ago when men still greeted women with hand-kisses – this gesture isn’t used anymore but the phrase still is.
Thanks for reading this post on how to greet someone in Hungarian. Hopefully you now know how to say ‘hello’ in Hungarian and also how to say ‘good morning’, ‘good evening’ and ‘good night’ in Hungarian.
If the person you’re talking with is someone you love then why not also learn how to tell them ‘I love you’ in Hungarian.
If you haven’t already then make sure to learn the numbers in Hungarian. Everyone should know this essential vocabulary.
You can find out more about the Hungarian language here.
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