So I know I’ve posted some translations I’ve done before, and I was thinking about adding more that I’ve done and including a vocabulary list with them. This would be for advanced beginner or intermediate+ learners who already have a decent grasp of basic grammar. I have personally advanced a lot just by translating songs, as I pick up new vocabulary and sentence structures along the way, so I think (hope) that this could be a help to you all as well. I’ll try it out for a bit and see. I’m also happy to answer any questions you have in the comments about the lyrics or parts you don’t understand/would like clarification on. I am not a professional translator, but all my translations have been checked and discussed with a native Hungarian speaker and I think between the two of us we do a pretty good job.

The problem with translation sometimes is that a good translation is not just a copy of the text word-for-word in another language – it needs to sound good and natural in the language you’re translating to as well. This can be a problem if you’re trying to learn a language from songs, so I’ll try to pick fairly simple songs that don’t need a whole lot of explanation. I might also include other more ‘difficult’ songs and give a more ‘literal’ translation just so you guys can see the comparison.

For now, I am starting with the first Hungarian song I ever heard. 10 years ago I didn’t know a word of this, and now here I am translating it 🙂

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Tűz (Fire) – Bencsik Tamara

You can also see this translation on lyricstranslate.

Van egy álmom, csak terád vár. Úgy vágyom, hogy ölelj már. Hogy az érintésedtől, forrjon a vérem a véredtől.	I have a dream that’s just waiting for you1 I long for you to embrace me For your touch to boil my blood with your blood2
Gyere ég és föld között eltévedhetnénk	Come on, we could get lost between heaven and earth
[Refrén] Leszek a tűz, mi megperzseli szíved. Leszek az eredben a dobbanás. Leszek a fény, a mindent elnyelő. Leszek a bűn és a feloldozás.	[Chorus] I’ll be the fire that scorches your heart I’ll be the pulsing in your veins I’ll be the light engulfing everything3 I’ll be your sin and your absolution
Az a rózsa csak terád vár, az árát azt ne sajnáld. Engem az fizetséged fűt, forrjon a vérem a véredtől.	That rose is just waiting for you, don’t bemoan the price Your paycheck fires me up, I want my blood to boil with your blood

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Vocabulary

álom (n.) – a dream
note: the stem changes and removes the o in all possessive declensions (álmom, álmod, etc) and in plural (álmok) and accusative (álmot)

vár (v.) – to wait (for sth/sby: -ra/-re)

vágyik (v.) – to yearn, desire, long for something/someone
related: vágy (n.) – a wish, desire, longing

ölel (v.) – to hug, embrace

érintés (n.) – touch, the act of touching
related: érint (v.) – to touch

forr (v.) – to boil

vér (n.) – blood

ég (n.) – sky, heaven (not to be confused with the verb ég, which means “to burn”)

föld (n.) – the Earth, ground, land

eltéved (v.) – to stray, get lost, lose one’s way

tűz (n.) – fire, passion (can also be used to mean “match” or “lighter”, as in: van tüzed? (do you have a light?))
note: the stem changes and the ű becomes ü in all possessive declensions (tüzem, tüzed, etc), as well as plural (tüzek) and accusative (tüzet)

megperzsel (v.) – to scorch, singe

szív (n.) – heart

ér (n.) – vein, blood vessel (not to be confused with the verb ér, which means “to arrive”)
note: the stem changes upon declension (plural: erek, accusative: eret – it will also change the stem to er for all possessive declensions – erem, ered, etc.)

dobbanás (n.) – pulsating, beating
related: dobban (v.) – to thud, boom, throb, pound

fény (n.) – light

elnyel (v.) – to absorb, engulf, swallow up

bűn (n.) – crime, sin

feloldozás (n.) – absolution
related: feloldoz (v.) – to absolve

ár (n.) – price (of goods – for the price of services, you use díj)

sajnál (v.) – to regret

fizetség (n.) – payment – used to refer to paychecks

fűt (v.) – to heat up (literally or figuratively)

1. literally “(it’s) just waiting for you” – terád is the same meaning as rád, but the pronoun te is added for emphasis ↩︎
2. literally “my blood to boil from your blood“, as in ‘our bloods will mix and boil together, your blood will cause mine to boil’ and so on ↩︎
3. no need to worry about it too much, but for more advanced learners or those otherwise interested, the ő on the end of elnyel is basically a modifier that turns it into a present participle (-ing in English) ↩︎