[#DuolingoForumGems originally posted on 2018-04-16 on the Duolingo Hungarian for English speakers forum by vvsey ]  https://archive.ph/gaNv2

How to say "Yes" in Hungarian

There are several ways to say "Yes" in Hungarian.

Obviously, "yes" = "igen", no need to talk more about that.

But there are other ways, along the lines of "I do", ie. when giving an affirmative answer to a question. Needless to say, talking about yes-no questions here.

It is relatively simple. When we get a question containing a verb, we can give an affirmative answer by simply repeating the verb. If the verb refers to us, then we adjust the conjugation to the first person.
The simplest case is, of course, when the verb is "van".
A few examples:

Q: "Van kutyád?" - Do you have (a) dog(s)?
A: "Van" - I do.

Q: "Hozott a postás levelet?" - Did the postman bring any letters?
A: "Hozott." - He did.

Q: "Kérsz palacsintát?" - Do you want palacsinta?
A: "Kérek." - I do.

Q: "Voltál fogorvosnál?" - Have you been to the dentist?
A: "Voltam." - I have.

Etc. We can always stick an "igen" in front of the answer, it is optional:
"Igen, van.", "Igen, hozott.", "Igen, kérek.", "Igen, voltam."

Now, the fun part is when the verb has a preverb. In that case, we can simply reply with only the preverb:

Q: "Megetted a vacsorát?" - Have you finished the dinner?
A: "Meg." - I have.

Q: "Eljössz velem moziba?" - Will you come with me to the movies?
A: "El." - Sure, I will.

Q: "Felhívsz?" - Will you call me?
A: "Fel." - Sure / I will.

Q: "Megkaptad a csomagot?" - Have you received the package?
A: "Meg." - I have.

Now, when there is no verb in the question, we can either say "Igen" or just repeat the predicate:

Q: "Piros az autód?" - Is your car red?
A: "Piros." / "Igen." / "Igen, piros."

Now I have to correct myself, because the "van" case above only applies when it is an "existential" question. That is, "Do you have..." or "Is there..."
When it is anything else, typically, a question about location, then we can answer by repeating the location:

Q: "Otthon vagy?" - Are you at home?
A: "Otthon." - Yes.

Q: "Nálad van az órám?" - Do you have my watch?
A: "Nálam." - I do.

Q: "Kint van a kutya?" - Is the dog outside?
A: "Kint." - Yes.

There are probably several more interesting ways of giving an affirmative answer, but these are what came to my mind just now. Feel free to add any others you know or encounter.

Oh, we can, quite informally, reinforce our positive answer, by adding a "hát" at the end:

Q: "Eljössz velem moziba?" - Will you come to the movies with me?
A: "El hát!" - But of course I will!

Q: "Megetted a vacsorát?" - Have you finished the dinner?
A: "Meg hát." - Of course I have.

More advanced learners can also stick "Naná, hogy ..." at the beginning of their answer:

Q: "Kérsz sört?" - Do you want beer?
A: "Naná, hogy kérek!" - Of course I do. I definitely do.

This is, coincidentally, how Rain Man talked in the Hungarian dubbed version:
"Definitely not." - "Naná, hogy nem."

Note: there is not much use trying to find out what "naná" or "hát" means. They may have an actual meaning, or they may not. Nobody really cares.