Animals

1. Kutya

   Dog

   Usage

   Megharapott egy kutya — a dog bit me. Dogs ride the tram and sit on cafe terraces here as a matter of course

2. Macska

   Cat

   Usage

   Point at it with Allergiás vagyok a macskára, I am allergic to cats, when checking into a guesthouse

3. Madár

   Bird

   Usage

   Birds in general. Hortobágy and the Tisza are prime birding country; a hide is a madárles

4. Hal

   Fish

   Usage

   Both the animal and the food. The famous paprika fish soup is halászlé

5. Ló

   Horse

   Usage

   Riding is lovaglás; the Hortobágy and Bakony studs run rides for visitors

   Grammar Note

   The stem becomes lov- before endings: lovak, horses; lovas, rider

6. Tehén

   Cow

   Usage

   Cow milk is tehéntej. The grey longhorn cattle grazing the Great Plain are szürkemarha

7. Disznó

   Pig

   Usage

   The everyday word; menus use sertés for the meat, as in sertéshús. Show this card to check a dish if you avoid pork

8. Csirke

   Chicken

   Usage

   The chicken you eat; a live hen is tyúk. The paprika stew paprikás csirke uses this word

9. Kacsa

   Duck

   Usage

   Both the duck on the pond and the one on the plate; kacsacomb is a roast duck leg

10. Liba

    Goose

    Usage

    A big deal in Hungarian cooking — roast goose is the dish for Márton-nap, Saint Martin's Day on 11 November

11. Kecske

    Goat

    Usage

    Goat cheese is kecskesajt — useful at a market cheese counter

12. Juh

    Sheep

    Usage

    juh is the formal word and birka the everyday one. juhtúró, sheep curd cheese, is a staple of Hungarian cooking

13. Nyúl

    Rabbit

    Usage

    Covers both the pet and the wild one; a hare is specifically mezei nyúl

14. Egér

    Mouse

    Usage

    The small one. If you spot one in your room: Egér van a szobában, there is a mouse in the room

15. Patkány

    Rat

    Usage

    The big one, kept distinct from egér. Only ever use it about the animal — aimed at a person it is an insult

16. Róka

    Fox

    Usage

    Common in woods and on city edges; Hungary has run oral rabies vaccination for foxes for decades

17. Szarvas

    Deer

    Usage

    Red deer. They step onto forest roads after dark in Gemenc and Zselic — worth knowing if you drive

18. Őz

    Roe deer

    Usage

    Smaller than szarvas and the one you actually see at field edges. On a menu, őzgerinc is saddle of roe deer

19. Vaddisznó

    Wild boar

    Usage

    vad, wild, plus disznó, pig. They come down into the Buda hills suburbs; never approach a sow with young

20. Medve

    Bear

    Usage

    Almost unheard of inside Hungary, but brown bears live in the Transylvanian and Slovak mountains where Hungarian is also spoken — you will see the word on trail signs there

21. Gólya

    Stork

    Usage

    The white stork nesting on village power poles from spring to summer — a signature sight of rural Hungary

22. Sün

    Hedgehog

    Usage

    Also sündisznó. They come out into parks and gardens at night; look, do not handle

23. Denevér

    Bat

    Usage

    It comes up on cave tours at Aggtelek and in the Buda hills, and you see them over rivers at dusk

24. Kígyó

    Snake

    Usage

    Nearly all Hungarian snakes are harmless; the only venomous one, the adder, is keresztes vipera and it is rare

25. Gyík

    Lizard

    Usage

    The small lizards sunning on stone walls and rocks in summer; harmless

26. Béka

    Frog

    Usage

    The night chorus by Lake Balaton and the Tisza wetlands. A frog is béka; a toad is a separate word, varangy

27. Szúnyog

    Mosquito

    Usage

    They swarm along the Tisza and Danube and around Balaton in summer; repellent is szúnyogriasztó

28. Kullancs

    Tick

    Usage

    The insect to take seriously here — it carries tick-borne encephalitis and Lyme disease. Check your skin after a walk in the woods; Kullancs csípett meg tells a doctor a tick bit you

29. Darázs

    Wasp

    Usage

    They crowd terrace tables and vineyards in late summer. Megcsípett egy darázs, a wasp stung me — say it at once if you are allergic

30. Méh

    Bee

    Usage

    Hungarian acacia honey, akácméz, is a market staple. The honey itself is méz

31. Hangya

    Ant

    Usage

    For reporting them in a rental kitchen: Hangyák vannak a konyhában, there are ants in the kitchen

32. Légy

    Fly

    Usage

    Summer market stalls and food trucks; a fly swatter is a légycsapó

33. Pók

    Spider

    Usage

    House spiders here are harmless; point at it if you would rather someone else removed it

34. Csótány

    Cockroach

    Usage

    Csótány van a szobában, there is a cockroach in the room — grounds for asking to change rooms

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