The fastest words to learn are the ones you see most. This deck lists the 60 most common Hungarian words, each with a clear English meaning and a real example sentence. Study them below, or download the deck for Anki or Quizlet.
The best Hungarian flashcards to learn first are the words you meet most often. This free deck pairs the 60 most common Hungarian words, like ház, víz, kenyér, with a plain English meaning and a real example sentence for each. Download it as a CSV for Anki or Quizlet, or learn the words in context by reading.
CSV columns are word, translation, example (with a header row). Ready to import into Anki, Quizlet, or any spaced-repetition app.
60 most common Hungarian words · Updated July 2026
| Hungarian | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| ház | house | Ez a ház nagyon szép. |
| víz | water | A víz hideg. |
| kenyér | bread | Veszek egy kenyeret. |
| ember | person, human being | Ő egy jó ember. |
| gyerek | child | A gyerek az iskolában van. |
| barát | friend | Ő a legjobb barátom. |
| munka | work, job | Sok munkám van ma. |
| idő | time; weather | Milyen az idő ma? |
| nap | day; sun | Süt a nap. |
| év | year | Ez egy jó év volt. |
| könyv | book | Olvasok egy könyvet. |
| asztal | table | A könyv az asztalon van. |
| autó | car | Van egy piros autóm. |
| iskola | school | A gyerekek iskolába mennek. |
| pénz | money | Nincs elég pénzem. |
| ajtó | door | Zárd be az ajtót! |
| ablak | window | Nyisd ki az ablakot! |
| macska | cat | A macska alszik. |
| kutya | dog | A kutya a kertben van. |
| város | city, town | Budapest egy nagy város. |
| van | is; there is, there are | A macska a széken van. |
| lenni | to be | Orvos szeretnék lenni. |
| menni | to go | Moziba szeretnék menni. |
| jönni | to come | Szeretnél velünk jönni? |
| enni | to eat | Szeretek almát enni. |
| inni | to drink | Szeretnék vizet inni. |
| látni | to see | Szeretnélek látni. |
| tudni | to know; to be able to | Ezt fontos tudni. |
| csinálni | to do, to make | Mit szeretnél csinálni ma? |
| mondani | to say, to tell | Szeretnék valamit mondani. |
| kérni | to ask for | Szeretnék segítséget kérni. |
| szeretni | to love, to like | Szeretni akarlak. |
| venni | to buy; to take | Autót szeretnék venni. |
| adni | to give | Szeretnék neked valamit adni. |
| beszélni | to speak, to talk | Tudok magyarul beszélni. |
| dolgozni | to work | Szeretek keményen dolgozni. |
| akarni | to want | Csak akarni kell. |
| élni | to live | Szeretek itt élni. |
| jó | good | Ez egy jó könyv. |
| rossz | bad | Ma rossz napom volt. |
| nagy | big, large | A ház nagyon nagy. |
| kicsi | small, little | A macska kicsi. |
| szép | beautiful, nice | Milyen szép ez a virág! |
| új | new | Vettem egy új autót. |
| régi | old (things) | Ez egy régi ház. |
| fiatal | young | A tanár még fiatal. |
| gyors | fast, quick | Ez egy nagyon gyors autó. |
| lassú | slow | A teknős lassú. |
| boldog | happy | Nagyon boldog vagyok. |
| hideg | cold | Kint nagyon hideg van. |
| és | and | Kenyeret és vajat veszek. |
| de | but | Szeretném, de nincs időm. |
| vagy | or | Teát vagy kávét kérsz? |
| nem | no; not | Nem értem. |
| igen | yes | Igen, ez jó ötlet. |
| mert | because | Otthon maradok, mert fáradt vagyok. |
| ha | if | Ha esik az eső, otthon maradok. |
| is | also, too | Én is szeretem a kávét. |
| nagyon | very | Nagyon szeretlek. |
| itt | here | Itt lakom. |
Flashcards fix words in memory; reading teaches you to use them. Lingo7 lets you read real books in Hungarian with sentence-aligned translation and native-narrated audio, and save any word to review later. Free to start.
The deck is built from high-frequency words, the ones that make up most of everyday Hungarian. Learning them first gives you the biggest return per card, because you will meet them again and again the moment you start reading or listening.
Flashcards work best with spaced repetition: review a card, and if you knew it, wait longer before seeing it again. Anki and Quizlet both do this automatically. Download the CSV, import it, and review a few minutes a day. Keep the example sentence on the card so you learn how the word actually behaves, not just its dictionary gloss.
One honest limit: flashcards build recognition, but you learn to use a word by meeting it in real context. Pair this deck with reading. When a word you drilled shows up in a story, it stops being a flashcard and becomes part of the language. That pairing is what reading in Lingo7 is built for.
Best Hungarian books for your level (A1 to C1) →
Not sure of your level? Take the Hungarian CEFR test (A1 to C2) →
How long does it take to learn Hungarian? See the timeline →
Start with the most frequent words. A few thousand high-frequency Hungarian words cover the majority of everyday text, so each of those cards pays off far more than a rare one. This deck gives you the top 60 to begin with, each with a meaning and an example sentence, so you learn the word in context rather than in isolation. When a card sticks, meet the word again in a real book to lock it in.
Click Download CSV to save the deck, then in Anki choose File, Import and select the file. Map the first column to the front (the Hungarian word) and the second to the back (the meaning); the third column holds an example sentence you can add to the back too. The first row is a header, so tell Anki to ignore it or delete that one card. For Quizlet, use Copy for Quizlet and paste into the import box with Tab between term and definition.
Flashcards are excellent for building recognition and drilling the first few thousand words, but on their own they teach words out of context. You learn to use Hungarian, not just recognize it, by reading and hearing the words in real sentences. The efficient combination is flashcards for raw vocabulary plus reading for context, collocation and grammar. That is exactly what Lingo7 is built around.
Roughly 2,000 to 3,000 common words cover most everyday Hungarian text, and around 5,000 gets you comfortably through many novels. You do not need all of them before you start: with sentence-aligned translation you can begin reading real Hungarian at a couple of thousand words and pick up the rest from context. This deck is a fast way to front-load the most useful 60.