Nekem is fáj a torkom, és este lázam volt.

My throat hurts too, and I had a fever in the evening.

Breakdown of Nekem is fáj a torkom, és este lázam volt.

• lenni: to be
• én: I
• is: too
• és: and
• este: the evening
• -om: my
• -nak/-nek: to/for
• fájni: to hurt
• torok: the throat
• láz: the fever
• -am: my

Questions & Answers about Nekem is fáj a torkom, és este lázam volt.

Why does it start with Nekem? Isn’t that just én (I)?

Nekem is the dative form of én and literally means to me / for me. With feelings, physical sensations, and some “involuntary” states (like something hurting), Hungarian commonly uses this dative experiencer structure:

• (Nekem) fáj a torkom. = My throat hurts (to me).
  You can omit nekem if it’s obvious who you’re talking about, but adding it can give emphasis or contrast.

What does is mean here, and why is it after nekem?

is means also / too.

• Nekem is… = Me too… / My … as well…
  Hungarian is typically follows the word/phrase it “attaches” to. So Nekem is emphasizes that I’m included too (in addition to someone else).

Can I move is somewhere else? Would it change the meaning?

Yes—moving is changes what is being emphasized as “also.”

• Nekem is fáj a torkom. = My throat hurts too (me as well).
• Nekem fáj a torkom is. = My throat hurts too (in addition to something else that hurts). (less common, but possible)
• Nekem is fáj a torkom is = Both me too, and my throat too (usually only in very specific contrastive contexts)

What is fáj grammatically? Why not a form that matches “my throat” as the subject?

fáj is the 3rd person singular present tense of fájni (to hurt / ache). Hungarian often keeps this verb in 3rd person singular in these constructions:

• Fáj a fejem. (My head hurts.)
• Fájnak a lábaim. (My legs hurt.) — here it becomes plural because lábaim is plural.
  So agreement is normal: torkom is singular → fáj.

Why is it a torkom and not just torkom? What is the a doing?

a is the definite article (the). Hungarian often uses the definite article even with possessed body parts:

• fáj a torkom = literally hurts the my-throat
  It’s a very common, natural pattern. Omitting a can sound less idiomatic in many everyday sentences.

What does the ending -om in torkom mean?

-om is the 1st person singular possessive suffix: my.

• torok = throat
• torkom = my throat
  The vowel can change slightly because of spelling/phonology (you don’t say torokom; it contracts to torkom).

Why is the second clause este lázam volt instead of something like “I had a fever” with a verb meaning “have”?

Hungarian usually expresses “having” illnesses like fever with a possessed noun + van/volt (there is/was):

• lázam van = I have a fever (literally my-fever exists)
• lázam volt = I had a fever
  There is a verb van (is/there is), and in past tense it becomes volt (was).

Why is it volt and not van?

Because este indicates a completed past time (in the evening / last night), so Hungarian uses past tense:

• present: (most) lázam van = I have a fever (now)
• past: (tegnap) lázam volt = I had a fever (yesterday)

Does este mean “in the evening” or “at night”? And where does it normally go?

este generally means in the evening (and can overlap with at night depending on context). It commonly appears near the beginning of the clause, but word order is flexible:

• Este lázam volt. (neutral, very common)
• Lázam volt este. (more emphasis on “I had a fever,” adding “in the evening” as extra info)

What’s the role of és here? Is it always used like English “and”?

és means and and links two clauses:

• Nekem is fáj a torkom, és este lázam volt.
  It works much like English and, though Hungarian punctuation and rhythm often allow (or prefer) shorter clauses, and you may also see a semicolon or separate sentences in writing depending on style.

How would I pronounce this sentence (roughly)?

A practical approximation:

• Nekem: NEH-kehm (stress on NEH)
• is: ish
• fáj: like figh (rhymes with sky, long á)
• a: uh (short)
• torkom: TOR-kom (stress on TOR)
• és: aysh (long é)
• este: ESH-teh (stress on ESH)
• lázam: LAA-zahm (stress on LAA, long á)
• volt: volt (like English “volt”)
  Rule of thumb: Hungarian stress is almost always on the first syllable of each word.