52 Comments
I typed "very sick I am", as I'm channeling my inner Yoda, and it marked me wrong bc they want me to say it the boring way in English :'(
The small green creature from the Star Wars movies. :)
No, it is an introduction to Hungarian culture. Be prepared for lengthy lectures on personal problems, the state of Hungarian politics and football if you ask this simple question in Hungary: "How are you?" :)
Is it really like that or is that more of a clichée? I'm really interested in the cultures behind the languages I'm learning, that's why I'm asking. :)
Thank you very much for your answer. That's really different from the culture I'm from, in which most people tend to say "oh, fine" and many people don't really seem to care about an honest answer. The Hungarian way is very likeable to me.
That is because this statement only means I am very sick, if you wanted to say I am feeling you would have to use a different verb than vagyok, which is simply I am.
To my ear, it sounds like she's saying "nagyon" as "nagyo", or something... Am I just not hearing it? Do you pronounce the n? Is this just a product of the n being followed by an r?
As a general rule, everything is pronounced in Hungarian. So, most of the time the case will be that you are just not hearing it.
I don't know, it sounds fine to me. We pronounce the "n", though thinking about it you're probably right, it may sound a bit vague because of the "r", but it's definitely there.
Because it's not an SVO language like English is. I believe this sentence is actually Object-Verb-Subject or Object-Subject-Verb
Because Hungarian word order works differently. It has a precise logic to it, but it's not like English.
I think the 'bad' and 'badly' words is not same! In the hungarian sentence means I'm badly (I do not feel myself well...because I'm ill) and not an thief (i.e.)
is it usually backwards when trying to speak Hungarian so for e.g if i wanted to say i am very happy i would write in hungarian 'very, happy i am'?
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In that special case you'd be well off with "Nagyon boldog vagyok", but generally it isn't as simple as that. Why would it be? It's Hungarian, after all. :´)
Hungarian word order is much less restricted than the word order in English, where you pretty strictly go for subject-verb-object-adverbials. "Peter sees a bird in the tree." That's the usual structure. Now, Hungarian is a languge where the focus plays a big role. The thing you want to emphasise in the sentence gets put right in front of the verb. Let's play with a few variants of "Peter sees a bird in the tree" (Péter - Peter; lát - he sees; egy madarat - a bird (acc.); a fán - on/in the tree):
- Péter egy madarat lát a fán. - This would be the most natural for me. You're talking about what Peter is doing, and that it's a bird he sees.
- Péter lát egy madarat a fán. - Peter is in the focus here. It's Peter who happens to see a bird in the tree.
- A fán egy madarat lát Péter. - Now what, it's backwards? No problem for Hungarian. It would be around the lines of "In the tree, it's a bird that Peter sees."
- Péter a fán lát egy madarat. - Where does he see a bird? In the tree.
Lots of possibilities here. :)
With Nagyon rosszul vagyok you're a bit more restricted in forming the sentence, since both nagyon and rosszul are adverbs, and they usually need to be put in front of what they refer to. But in any case you can see the focus at work here, emphasising how you feel ("very bad/ill") by placing it right in front of the verb.
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there was that other word that meant sick/ill (i cant remember it now, it is similar to the word for patient). What is yhe difference between the two?
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Beteg would be the word you're looking for. :)
The main difference is that rosszul is an adverb and refers to feeling ill, while beteg is an adjective and is used when you actually have an illness. But there's a large gray area between them.
- Az az ember rosszul van. - That man feels sick.
- Az az ember beteg. - That man is ill/is a patient.
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Yes, adverbs need a verb to attach to, so the van stays. (Given that the adverb is modifying the verb and not something else.)
I would never say I am quite sick. - Either I feel quite sick OR I am very ill.!! With a difference in meaning, of course.
I think that Duolingo should accept answers that are literal translations in the word order of the language being learned. I answered "very sick am I" which I consider a correct translation. English word order is actually pretty flexible, even if "I am very sick" would be the more common form in English. I think that it would make learning other languages feel more natural if I could provide translations in the word order of the language that I am learning unless if it would result in an ambiguous translation in English.
i can't quite get the hang of how 'g' is supposed to be pronounced in hungarian, they go too quickly. it sounds like the english 'd'?
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The letter 'g' sound just like the hard 'g' in English, like in "good". But 'gy' is a different Hungarian letter. It sounds a bit like 'dy'; think "good year".
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Unless you let autocorrect interfere and replace the adjective "ill" with the contraction "I'll". :)
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Word orders shall be free! (^ °o° )^
As a general rule, the most important things that you want to say appear in the front of the sentence. You can also say "Vagyok nagyon rosszul" That would sound in English like "I am very sick right now."
Just to play with these three words:
"Nagyon rosszul vagyok" - good, most general "Vagyok nagyon rosszul" - as said very weird, only in very specific context "Rosszul vagyok nagyon" - also good, more emphasized on feeling sick. "Rosszul nagyon vagyok" wrong "Vagyok rosszul nagyon" - wrong "Vagyok nagyon rosszul" - wrong
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Thank you for your input. I still have to get used to that language a bit but at least it wasn't totally off. :)
You have mentioned "Vagyok nagyon rosszul" twice there. I guess the very last item was meant to be "Nagyon vagyok rosszul", which... doesn't work.
Sorry... Yes, you are right and confirmed :) "Nagyon vagyok rosszul" does not work either.
