Mondd utánam: egyszerű magyar mondatok kezdőknek

What do “van,” “volt,” and “lesz” mean in Hungarian?

Hungarian has exactly one truly irregular verb, “lenni” (to be), and it hands you the whole timeline in three short words: van (is), volt (was), lesz (will be). Swap just that one word and the same sentence travels through time: Ma péntek van (today is Friday), Tegnap csütörtök volt (yesterday was Thursday), Holnap szombat lesz (tomorrow will be Saturday). Learn these three and you can place almost anything in past, present, or future.

They look unrelated because the verb is suppletive — each tense borrows a different stem rather than adding regular endings, which is why “lenni” is famous as Hungarian’s one fully irregular verb. “Van” also means “there is” and marks location: Egy régi könyv van az asztalon (there’s an old book on the table), A buszmegálló a ház előtt van (the bus stop is in front of the house). Its negative is a special merged form, nincs (“there isn’t”): Nincs víz a pohárban — “there’s no water in the glass.” (Note: in plain “X is Y” sentences like A virág szép, “the flower is beautiful,” Hungarian simply drops the present-tense “van” — but it stays for existence, location, and time, exactly as drilled here.)