Kérdőszók
Hungarian question words and yes/no question intonation
I can ask basic questions about people, places and things.
Look at these examples. Can you spot the grammar pattern?
Ki ez a férfi?
Who is this man?
Hol van a posta?
Where is the post office?
Ez a te autód?
Is this your car?
Pay attention to the highlighted parts. What do they have in common?
Question Words
| Hungarian | English |
|---|---|
| mi? | what? |
| ki? | who? |
| hol? | where? (location) |
| honnan? | where from? |
| hova/hová? | where to? |
| hogyan/hogy? | how? |
| mikor? | when? |
| miért? | why? |
Yes/No questions: NO word order change — only rising intonation! Ez egy könyv. → Ez egy könyv?
Don't invert word order for yes/no questions like in English. Use hol for location, hova for direction.
Ki ez a férfi?
Who is this man?
Ki asks about a person.
Hol van a posta?
Where is the post office?
Hol asks about location. Word order: question word first.
Ez a te autód?
Is this your car?
Yes/no question: same word order as statement, just rising intonation.
Practice in course
Apply this grammar in A1 course exercises