A gyerek egy kis vizet kér.

The child asks for a little water.

Breakdown of A gyerek egy kis vizet kér.

• víz: the water
• egy: a
• kérni: to ask for
• gyerek: the child
• kis: little

Questions & Answers about A gyerek egy kis vizet kér.

Why are there two words that can both mean a: a and egy?

They do different jobs here.

• a = the
• egy = a / one

So:

• A gyerek = the child
• egy kis vizet = a little water

Hungarian uses a / az as the definite article, and egy as the indefinite article.
So this sentence is literally structured like:

• The child
• a little water
• asks for

Why is it A gyerek and not Az gyerek?

Hungarian has two forms of the definite article:

• a
• az

The choice depends on the next word:

• a before a consonant sound
• az before a vowel sound

Since gyerek begins with a consonant sound, you use a:

• a gyerek

If the next word began with a vowel, you would use az.

What exactly does gyerek mean?

Gyerek means child or kid.

In everyday Hungarian, gyerek is very common and natural. It is not especially formal.
A more formal or neutral word is gyermek, but gyerek is what learners will often hear in normal speech.

So A gyerek is simply The child or The kid.

Why is it vizet and not just víz?

Because víz is the object of the verb, and Hungarian marks direct objects with the accusative ending.

• base form: víz = water
• accusative: vizet = water as the thing being requested

So in this sentence, the child is asking for water, which makes water the direct object.

A native English speaker often expects no change, because English usually leaves the noun unchanged:

• water → water

But Hungarian often adds a case ending instead:

• víz → vizet

Also notice that the long í becomes short i in this form: víz → vizet. This is just part of how this word behaves.

Why is there no plural? In English we do not usually say a water, so how does egy kis vizet work?

Here egy kis means a little or some.

You should not interpret egy too literally as only one. In this expression, egy kis + noun is a very common way to mean:

• a little
• a bit of
• some

So:

• egy kis vizet = a little water / some water

This is perfectly natural in Hungarian, even though the English wording does not match word-for-word.

What does kis mean here?

Kis means small or little.

In this sentence, it does not really mean physically small water. Instead, it helps express a small amount:

• egy kis víz / vizet = a little water

So kis is often used in quantity expressions, not only to describe size.

Why is the adjective not changing? Shouldn't kis agree with vizet somehow?

Hungarian adjectives usually do not agree with nouns the way they do in many Indo-European languages.

That means the adjective stays the same:

• kis víz
• kis kenyér
• kis gyerek

Even when the noun gets a case ending, the adjective often remains unchanged in this kind of structure:

• kis vizet

So unlike in languages with adjective agreement, you do not need to change kis for gender, number, or case here.

Why is the verb kér and not something longer? Does Hungarian not need a word for for in ask for?

In Hungarian, kér already means ask for / request.

So English needs two words:

• ask for

But Hungarian can do it with one verb:

• kér

That is why the sentence does not need a separate word meaning for.

Examples:

• Kenyeret kérek. = I would like / I ask for bread.
• Vizet kér. = He/She asks for water.

What person is kér? How do we know who is doing the action?

Kér here is third person singular:

• (he/she/it) asks for

Hungarian verbs often show the subject in the verb ending, but in this sentence the noun subject is also stated:

• A gyerek ... kér. = The child asks for ...

So the subject is clear from A gyerek.

Why is it kér and not kéri?

This is a very common learner question. Hungarian has two main verb conjugation patterns:

• indefinite conjugation
• definite conjugation

Very roughly:

• use indefinite when there is no specific definite object
• use definite when the object is definite

Here the object is egy kis vizet, which is indefinite: some water / a little water.

So the verb is:

• kér

not

• kéri

Compare:

• A gyerek egy kis vizet kér. = The child asks for a little water.
• A gyerek a vizet kéri. = The child asks for the water / wants the water.

In the second sentence, a vizet is definite, so kéri is used.

Why is the word order A gyerek egy kis vizet kér? Could Hungarian put the words in a different order?

Yes, Hungarian word order is more flexible than English, but the order used here is very neutral and natural.

This sentence is basically:

• subject: A gyerek
• object: egy kis vizet
• verb: kér

A simple English-like description would be Subject + Object + Verb.

Hungarian often changes word order for focus, emphasis, or contrast. For example, moving something before the verb can emphasize it.

But A gyerek egy kis vizet kér is a good neutral sentence for a learner.

How is gy pronounced in gyerek?

gy is a single Hungarian consonant, not g + y separately.

It sounds somewhat like the d in British duke or the dy in during for many English speakers, but there is no perfect English equivalent.

So gyerek sounds roughly like:

• dye-rek

But that is only an approximation.

A few pronunciation notes:

• gy is one sound
• e is usually like e in bed
• stress in Hungarian is always on the first syllable

So gyerek is stressed like:

• GYE-rek

Why does Hungarian use egy kis vizet instead of just vizet?

Both are possible, but they mean slightly different things.

• vizet kér = asks for water
• egy kis vizet kér = asks for a little water / some water

Adding egy kis makes the request sound more specific in quantity and often a bit softer or more natural in everyday situations.

So the sentence suggests not just water in general, but a small amount of water.

Is A gyerek egy kis vizet kér the same as The child wants a little water?

It is very close in many contexts, but literally kér means asks for or requests.

So the most direct meaning is:

• The child asks for a little water.

Depending on context, English might naturally translate it as:

• The child wants a little water.
• The child is asking for a little water.

But if you want to stay close to the Hungarian verb itself, asks for is best.