8 ways to react to something surprising

8 ways to react to something surprising

In today's Mini Hungarian Lesson, we're going to show you some common expressions to react to surprising information. To make it more fun and practical, we'll share 8 surprising facts about ourselves while demonstrating these reactions. 😊

If you’d rather watch a video lesson in Hungarian—with both Hungarian and English subtitles—you can check it out here (it’s free!):

Video lesson (free)

One very common way to express surprise

“Nahát!” is one of the most common ways to express surprise in Hungarian. It's a versatile expression that can convey anything from mild amazement to complete astonishment. Let's see it in action in this START dialogue:

🇭🇺

  • Ráérsz pénteken munka után inni egy kávét?
  • Nem, bocsi, randim van.
  • Randid? Kivel?
  • Tibivel.
  • Ki az a Tibi?
  • Egy konditerembe járunk.
  • Ó, nahát! És hova mentek randizni? …

🇬🇧

  • Are you free for coffee after work on Friday?
  • No, sorry, I have a date.
  • A date? With who?
  • With Tibi.
  • Who's Tibi?
  • We go to the same gym.
  • Oh, wow! ...
Listen to the full dialogue

Further Expressions of Surprise

But of course, "Nahát!" isn't the only expression for showing surprise in Hungarian. Let's explore some other ways to react to surprising news! (In the video lesson you can listen to the full conversations.)

1. Komolyan? - Seriously?/Really?

  • 6 évig tanultam basszusgitározni. = I learned to play bass guitar for 6 years. (Barbi)
  • Komolyan? = Seriously?

2. Mi van? - What?! (informal, expressing disbelief)

  • Porcukorral szoktam enni a bundáskenyeret. = I eat eggy bread with powdered sugar. (Laci)
  • Mi van? = What?!

3. Nem mondod! - You don't say! / No way!

  • Egyáltalán nem szeretem a fagyit. = I don't like ice cream at all. (Barbi)
  • Nem mondod! = You don't say!

4. Tényleg? - Really?

  • Vörös-zöld színtévesztő vagyok. = I'm red-green colorblind. (Laci)
  • Tényleg? = Really?

5. Azta! - Wow!

  • Majdnem informatikus lettem. = I almost became an IT specialist. (Barbi)
  • Azta! = Wow!

6. Nahát! - Wow!

  • Egy igazi kocka vagyok. = I'm a real nerd. (Laci)
  • Nahát, tényleg? = Wow, really?

7. Ne már! - No way! Come on!

  • Nagyon szeretem a blues-rock zenét. = I really like blues-rock music.
  • Ne már! = No way!

8. Tyűha! - Whoa!

  • Már több mint 500 kilométert megtettem a Kéktúrán. = I've already walked more than 500 kilometers of the Blue Trail. (Laci)
  • Tyűha! = Whoa!

9. Te jó ég! - Oh my goodness!

  • Még a fele hátra van. = Half of it is still to go.
  • Ó, te jó ég! = Oh my goodness!


Study Tip

We love teaching Hungarian through dialogues because they're the best way to prepare for everyday conversations. While any text can help you learn useful words and sentence structures, you can only master natural reactions like the ones we shared above by listening to real dialogues.

This is exactly why we share daily conversations in our Daily Dose of Hungarian program. 💛

We've included many natural reactions in our free e-book "Speak Hungarian Like a Native.", too. You can get it here, in case you haven’t seen it yet: