[Hungarian] Personal Pronouns (basic, reflexive, possessive)

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In this post, we will be covering personal pronouns in Hungarian, including informal and formal (polite) manners of address.


Basic Pronouns

PronounsEnglishReflexive PronounsEnglish
énImagammyself
teyou (informal singular)magadyourself (informal singular)
miwemagunkourselves
tiyou (informal plural)magatokyourselves (informal plural)
őhe/she1magahimself/herself/themself
őktheymagukthemselves/theirselves
Önyou (formal singular)
Önökyou (formal plural)

1The pronoun “ő” does not specify gender. For simplicity and inclusion’s sake, I’ll be using “xe” rather than he/she in my posts. For the reflexive version, I will generally default to ‘themself’ as well.

Keep in mind that, depending on the case, these pronouns will decline into different versions. I will not be providing a comprehensive list in this post, but the declensions are available on Wiktionary.

In most sentences in Hungarian, the pronoun will be omitted because the subject is evident through conjugation or other means (Spanish and Japanese do the same). The pronoun will usually only be present if there is a need for emphasis or other clarification.


Polite Forms of Address

Ön / Önök

These are the most formal pronouns for addressing others, typically used with strangers, elders, or other people you do not know very well and wish to remain formal with. It’s similar to how one would use ‘vous’ in French, or ‘Sie’ in German.

(Ön) nagyon kedves. (You are very nice)

(Önök) nagyon kedvesek. (You all are very nice)

Nem láttam önt ma. (I didn’t see you today)

(Önök) mit keresnek? (What are you all looking for?)


Maga / Maguk

These are another option for polite speech, but not quite as formal as ön / önök. My Hungarian friend described the difference as “I personally use [maga/maguk] when I want the distance of formality but none of the respect.” This is, of course, an individual choice. Some people think maga is ‘less polite’, and others just consider it less formal. When in doubt, I would suggest using ‘ön / önök’ to be safe.

Tudom, hogy maga volt. (I know it was you)

Kerestem magát. (I was looking for you)

(Maguk) miról beszélnek? (What are you all talking about?)

Nem néztem magukat. (I wasn’t watching you all)


Possessive Pronouns

PronounSingular PossessivePlural PossessiveEnglish
énaz enyémaz enyéimmine
tea tied/tiéda tieidyours (informal singular)
mia mienk/miénka mieinkours
tia tietek/tiéteka tieitekyours (informal plural)
őaz övéaz övéitheirs (singular)
őkaz övékaz övéiktheirs (plural)
Önaz önéaz önéiyours (formal singular)
Önökaz önökéaz önökéiyours (formal plural)
magaa magáéa magáéiyours (polite singular)
maguka magukéa magukéiyours (polite plural)

Ez a ház az enyém. (This house is mine)

Az a szék a tied. (That chair is yours)

A macskák az övéi. (The cats are theirs)

A mienk jobb, mint a tietek. (Ours is better than yours)

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