Kérek egy nagy pohár vizet.

Kérek is the 1st person singular form of the verb kér, which means to ask for / to request.

So kérek literally means I ask for or I would like in this kind of situation.

In everyday Hungarian, kérek is very commonly used when ordering or asking for something:

• Kérek egy kávét. = I’d like a coffee.
• Kérek egy jegyet. = I’d like a ticket.

It is often more natural in context than translating it word-for-word as I ask.

Hungarian usually does not need subject pronouns like I, you, he, because the verb ending already shows who the subject is.

Here:

• kérek = I ask for / I would like

The ending -ek tells you it is I.

You could say Én kérek..., but that would usually add emphasis, something like:

• I’m the one who wants...
• As for me, I’d like...

So in a normal sentence, leaving out én is completely natural.

Because vizet is the accusative form of víz (water).

Hungarian marks the direct object with an accusative ending, usually -t.

So:

• víz = water
• vizet = water, as the thing being requested

A very common learner question is why the word changes so much instead of just becoming vízt. Hungarian often changes the form a bit when endings are added.

Here:

• víz → vizet

Notice two things:

1. the long í becomes short i
2. an extra vowel appears before -t

This is just part of the normal inflection pattern of this noun.

Egy can mean either a/an or one, depending on context.

In this sentence, it works like a/an:

• egy nagy pohár vizet = a big glass of water

It can also sound a little like one if the speaker wants to be specific:

• one big glass of water

Hungarian uses egy in many places where English uses a/an.

Hungarian usually does not use a separate word like English of in this kind of phrase.

So English:

• a big glass of water

Hungarian:

• egy nagy pohár vizet

Literally, this is something like:

• a big glass water-ACC

This is a normal Hungarian structure for quantities, containers, and measures:

• egy csésze teát = a cup of tea
• egy üveg bort = a bottle of wine
• egy kiló almát = a kilo of apples

So the lack of a separate of is completely normal.

This is one of the most important things to notice in the sentence.

Even though the whole phrase is the object, Hungarian often uses this pattern with containers or measures:

• egy pohár vizet
• egy üveg tejet
• egy tál levest

In these expressions, the substance/item being measured often takes the accusative:

• vizet
• tejet
• levest

while the container/measure word stays unmarked:

• pohár
• üveg
• tál

So egy nagy pohár vizet is the normal Hungarian way to say a big glass of water.

Because nagy describes pohár (glass), not water.

So:

• nagy pohár = big glass

The idea is:

• a big glass of water not
• water that is big

In Hungarian, adjectives usually come before the noun they describe, just like in English:

• nagy pohár = big glass
• hideg víz = cold water
• kis ház = small house

No. In Hungarian, adjectives usually do not agree with the noun the way they do in some other languages.

So you simply say:

• nagy pohár
• nagy ház
• nagy könyv

The adjective itself stays the same.

That is different from languages where adjectives change for gender, number, or case. Hungarian adjectives are much simpler in this respect.

Kérek... is already a normal and polite way to ask for something in many everyday situations, especially in shops, cafés, or restaurants.

You can make it even more polite by adding:

• Kérek szépen...
• Egy nagy pohár vizet kérek, legyen szíves.

But just:

• Kérek egy nagy pohár vizet.

is perfectly normal and not rude in many contexts.

Hungarian often sounds more direct than English, but that does not automatically mean it is impolite.

Yes. Hungarian word order is flexible, and different orders can change the focus or emphasis.

All of these are possible:

• Kérek egy nagy pohár vizet.
• Egy nagy pohár vizet kérek.
• Vizet kérek.

Very roughly:

• Kérek egy nagy pohár vizet. = neutral
• Egy nagy pohár vizet kérek. = emphasis on a big glass of water
• Vizet kérek. = emphasis on water

So the sentence can move around depending on what the speaker wants to highlight.

Yes.

• Kérek vizet. = I’d like some water.
• Kérek egy nagy pohár vizet. = I’d like a big glass of water.

The shorter version is less specific. It just asks for water in general.

The longer version tells the listener the amount/container you want.

They are similar in meaning in this context, but not exactly the same.

• Kérek... = I ask for / I’d like
• Szeretnék... = I would like

For example:

• Kérek egy nagy pohár vizet.
• Szeretnék egy nagy pohár vizet.

Both are natural.
Szeretnék can sound a bit softer or more explicitly like would like, while kérek is extremely common when directly ordering or requesting something.

A few helpful points:

• é is a long vowel, roughly like ay in say, but cleaner and longer
• gy is a single Hungarian consonant, somewhat like the d in British duke or the dy in did you, but softer
• á is a long open vowel
• zs would sound like s in measure, but it does not appear here
• stress in Hungarian is always on the first syllable of each word

So the stress pattern is:

• KÉ-rek
• Egy
• NAGY
• PO-hár
• VI-zet

A rough English-friendly approximation might be:

• KAY-rek edj nodj PO-haar VEE-zet

But it is best to listen to native audio, especially for egy and gy.

In English, water is uncountable, and in Hungarian víz works similarly in meaning. You normally do not count waters in this sense.

What you are counting here is not the water itself, but the container/portion:

• egy pohár víz / vizet = one glass of water

So the sentence is not treating water as a countable thing. It is treating glass as the countable unit.

A useful breakdown is:

• Kérek = I would like / I ask for
• egy = a / one
• nagy = big
• pohár = glass
• vizet = water in the accusative

So the structure is:

verb + quantity/container phrase + thing requested

or more literally:

I ask for + a big glass + water-ACC

That is why the sentence may look unusual to an English speaker, but it is completely normal Hungarian.