The verb "to be": van, nincs, lesz

The Hungarian verb "to be" does more than its English counterpart: it expresses location, existence and possession ("to have"). Yet in its most common English use, "X is Y", it often disappears completely. Learning exactly when van appears, disappears or turns into nincs removes a whole class of beginner errors.

All the forms of lenni

The infinitive is lenni. The verb is irregular, drawing on several stems (vagy-/van-, vol-, lesz-/len-/legy-); see irregular verbs.

The conditional also has an older variant based on vol-: volnék, volnál, volna. It survives mainly in the past conditional, lettem volna / lett volna ("would have been"), and in polite phrases like Volna szíves...? ("Would you be so kind...?"). Note that the future is leszek, not the fog + infinitive pattern used for other verbs; fogok lenni is heard but generally considered clumsy (see the future tense).

When van disappears: Péter tanár

In the third person present (van, vannak), the verb is omitted when the sentence says what or what kind something is, that is, when the predicate is a noun or adjective.

• Péter tanár. Péter is a teacher.
• Ő magas. He/She is tall.
• A leves forró. The soup is hot.
• Ezek a könyvek érdekesek. These books are interesting. (plural adjective)
• Ez a táska az enyém. This bag is mine.
• Anna és Kati testvérek. Anna and Kati are sisters.

In every other person, and in every other tense, the verb is required:

• Tanár vagyok. I am a teacher.
• Magasak vagytok. You (pl) are tall.
• Péter tanár volt. Péter was a teacher.
• A leves forró lesz. The soup will be hot.

Note the agreement: a predicate adjective takes the plural -k with a plural subject (a könyvek érdekesek, magasak vagytok). A predicate noun has no article: Péter tanár, not *Péter egy tanár (see articles).

When van stays: location, state, existence

With adverbs and place expressions, van must be present even in the third person.

The minimal pair Péter beteg. (adjective, no van) versus Péter jól van. (adverb, van) shows that it is the word class of the predicate, not the meaning, that decides. Similarly Hogy van? ("How is he? / How are you?" formal) keeps van because hogy is an adverb.

Location: Hol van?

• Hol van a posta? Where is the post office?
• A posta a sarkon van. The post office is on the corner.
• Hol vagy? A buszon vagyok. Where are you? I'm on the bus.
• A gyerekek az iskolában vannak. The children are at school.

Because van expresses static location, it combines with the "where" cases (-ban/-ben, -n, -nál/-nél), never the "where to" cases. *A házba vagyok is a classic error; it must be A házban vagyok (see local cases).

"There is / there are"

Hungarian has no dummy "there": van alone means "there is", usually placed early in the sentence.

• Van tej a hűtőben? Is there any milk in the fridge?
• Van. / Nincs. Yes, there is. / No, there isn't.
• Vannak itt jó éttermek. There are good restaurants here.
• Van itt két szabad hely. There are two free seats here. (singular after a number)
• Van valaki itt? Is anybody here?

Compare the order: A tej a hűtőben van. ("The milk is in the fridge": a known item, location) versus Van tej a hűtőben. ("There is milk in the fridge": existence of an indefinite item). The first is about where something is; the second is about whether something is there. After a number the noun and verb stay singular: van két hely, not *vannak két helyek (see numbers).

"To have": Van egy kutyám

Hungarian has no everyday verb meaning "to have". Possession is expressed as existence: literally "to me there is a dog-of-mine". The structure is:

(possessor + -nak/-nek) + van/nincs + possessed noun with possessive suffix

• Van egy kutyám. I have a dog.
• Van testvéred? Do you have any brothers or sisters?
• Péternek új autója van. Péter has a new car.
• Két gyerekünk van. We have two children.
• Nincs időm. I don't have time.
• Volt egy macskám. I had a cat.
• Holnap lesz egy vizsgám. I'll have an exam tomorrow.

The possessive suffix on the noun (kutyám "my dog", testvéred "your sibling") already identifies the owner, so the dative pronoun (nekem, neked) is added only for emphasis or contrast: Nekem van kutyám, neki nincs. ("I have a dog; he doesn't.") With a noun possessor, the dative is needed: Péternek. See possessive suffixes and possession with -nak and -é.

The negative: nincs, nincsenek

The third-person present negative of van is nincs (singular) and nincsenek (plural), used for location, existence and possession. Other persons use nem normally.

• Péter nincs itthon. Péter isn't at home.
• Nincsenek jegyek. There are no tickets.
• Nem vagyok itthon. I'm not at home.
• Péter nem tanár. Péter isn't a teacher. (noun predicate: just nem)

The full story, including sincs and the rare correct nem ... van, is on the negation page.

Lesz: "will be" and "become"

Lesz is both the future of "to be" and the verb "to become". Its past form lett means "became" or "got".

• Holnap hideg lesz. It will be cold tomorrow.
• Orvos akarok lenni. I want to be a doctor.
• Anna orvos lett. Anna became a doctor.
• Mi lett vele? What became of him?
• Mi lesz a vacsora? What's for dinner? (literally "What will dinner be?")

A useful minimal pair: Beteg voltam. ("I was ill": a state) versus Beteg lettem. ("I got ill": a change). English "get" + adjective often translates as lett: Ideges lett. ("She got nervous.")

Everyday expressions with van

• Hogy vagy? Jól vagyok. / Megvagyok. How are you? I'm fine. / I'm getting by.
• Rendben van. That's all right. / OK.
• Ez van. That's how it is. (resigned)
• Mi van? What's up? / What? (casual, can sound abrupt)
• Van, aki szereti. Some people like it. (literally "there is who likes it")

These fixed phrases follow the same rules as everything above: jól is an adverb, so vagyok is required; rendben is a place-like case form, so van stays.

Sources and further reading

• Carol H. Rounds, Hungarian: An Essential Grammar (2nd ed., Routledge, 2009), sections on the copula and possession
• István Kenesei, Robert M. Vago and Anna Fenyvesi, Hungarian (Descriptive Grammars series, Routledge, 1998)
• Miklós Törkenczy, Hungarian Verbs and Essentials of Grammar (2nd ed., McGraw-Hill, 2008)

Frequently asked questions