vagy

Vagy is a Hungarian conjunction meaning "or." It is a coordinating conjunction used to present alternatives or choices and to connect elements that share the same grammatical role. It can join nouns (alma vagy körte), noun phrases, adjectives (nagy vagy kicsi), verbs (megy vagy jön), or whole clauses (Elmegyünk vagy maradunk). In questions or proposals, vagy sits between the options; in spoken Hungarian the single-word tag Vagy? can function as a brief question meaning "Or?" to invite confirmation or choice.

Vagy contrasts with és, which means "and," by signaling separation rather than combination of options. The word is typically placed directly between the alternatives, and Hungarian word order remains relatively flexible, allowing emphasis to shift through intonation or punctuation rather than morphological changes. The conjunction can appear in both formal and informal registers.

Etymology and cognates: Vagy is cognate with the Finnish vai and the Estonian või, all tracing back to Proto-Ugric roots. This cross‑language correspondence reflects a shared Uralic heritage for marking choice and alternatives.

See also: Hungarian grammar; conjunctions; Uralic languages.