I am your servant and other greetings in Hungarian

Do you know how much the expression “I wish” can change a sentence in Hungarian? Did you know that saying “hello” is more formal than saying “szia”? The Hungarian language has a lot of greetings, and their usage is depending on numerous things, such as the time, the sex, social status and age of the greeted party, your relationship with him/her and other circumstances a Hungarian doesn’t even notice.

So here are the most common Hungarian verbal greetings and their usage, listed according to their formalness or politeness. (In writing we use totally different greetings, just to make it more complicated.)

Jó napot – Good afternoon.

“Jó napot” and its variants, such as “jó reggelt”, “jó estét” and “jó éjszakát” are equivalent to the English terms “good morning”, “good afternoon”, etc. “Jó napot” is something you say to the postman whom you met in the staircase or to the neighbour who is a little bit older than you and you are not close to each other. It is the basic Hungarian greeting, usually used in formal conversations and with ‘magázódás’, but with adding or changing this and that it can be made into more formal or semi-formal as well.

By adding “kívánok” – making it “jó napot kívánok”, literally “I wish you a good afternoon” – it is more formal and polite. When greeting someone who is older than you and has a higher rank, it is simply rude if you don’t add “kívánok” at the end. (I think it can be said that by adding “I wish”, everything becomes more polite, even Happy Birthday, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.)

By changing the “jó” to something else, for example to “szép napot” (literally “have a nice day”), it can be less formal, so it can be said when one is not sure about whether ‘magázódás’ or ‘tegeződés’ should be used.

Another, archaic and old-fashioned form of “jó napot” is “adj’ Isten” (“may God...”), a shortened version of “adjon Isten jó napot” (lit. “may God give you a nice day”).

Viszontlátásra – Good bye, See you later.

“Viszontlátásra” is the polite and formal farewell greeting. It can be used to everyone regardless their social status, age and gender. “Viszlát” is its shortened form, still formal, but less polite.

A variant of “viszontlátásra” is “viszonthallásra” (lit. “Hear you later”), a word said when ending telephone conversations.

Kezét csókolom – [None].

“Kezét csókolom” literally means “I kiss your hand”, and it depicts the old tradition that men kissed the women’s hand as a greeting – therefore, obviously, this greeting can be used to only women, and usually older women. It is formal and polite, and when an older man says it to a younger woman, it’s extremely polite. Sometimes it is shortened as “csókolom”, what we use to greet old woman, still formally, but not that much (for example to an old lady with whom you take the elevator). When we want to be really polite, we can say “csókolom” to elders of both gender (in old times children used to greet their parents with “csókolom”).

Helló – Hello.

“Helló” came from the English language, but it has changed its meaning a little. “Helló” is an informal greeting, and you can use it when you either don’t know the other person or the two of you are not close. Basically, “helló” is for situations when you do use ‘tegeződés’ because of the age difference, etc., but you would like to keep the distance.

“Hali”, on the other hand, a Magyarised form of “helló”, can be used between close friends and it’s strange to say it to a completely stranger.

Szia/Sziasztok – Hi.

“Szia” and its plural form, “sziasztok” are the informal greetings in Hungarian. It’s interesting that their origin is the Latin “servus” (‘servant’), and originally the whole expression meant that “I am your servant” or “at your service”, and thus it was formal and polite. Nowadays both “szia” and “szervusz” are used in informal context, though “szervusz” is a little bit more polite – and old-fashioned, but still OK to use. “Szia” and “szervusz” are both appropriate to greet elders with whom you use ‘tegeződés’ (for example, your aunt or your mom’s best friend or rarely your boss).

Other forms: szevasz, szió, szióka. These are used between friends; one can never ever say “szióka” to an elder, that would be really disrespectful.

Cső/Csá – [None].

I have no idea about the origins of these. They are informal, even more than “szia”, and sometimes impolite. They’re mostly used by and between boys (it’s a really strange feeling to hear “cső” from a girl – there are a few Hungarian words similar to these, like they would have a rule that they can be used by only one of the two genders).

Thank you for reading.

by Alla