"Ő tűzoltó vagy katona?"

Translation: Is he a firefighter or a soldier?

[DoktorVirag]

"Is he a firefighter or soldier?" should be considered correct.

[IvanEb]

In English I think the correct way would be "Is he a firefighter or A soldier?"

[96314081311257]

Check Altató (Lullaby) by JÓZSEF Attila for this one. :)

http://www.mathstat.dal.ca/~lukacs/ja/poems2/jozsef-eng.htm#13

[GalvanTivadar]

egyik se, hanem vadakat terelő juhász.

[birdfishy]

Why is the initial "a" of "katona" not pronounced as "aw" in the audio (many Hungarians put their "cawr" in the "gawrage")?

[MrtonPolgr]

I don't get that "aw" and for me, both a's sound legit a's with no difference tbh

[androghost]

why can this not be translated as "Are you a firefighter or a soldier?"

[GalvanTivadar]

Because the personal pronoun (ő=he/she) shows that this is Sing/3rd person.
But: if the personal pronoun were Ön (= formal you), then you could translate it that way.

[androghost]

thanks!

[GalvanTivadar]

Welcome! ;)
Besides, this implies also that formal you is used with Sing/3rd person in Hungarian, much the same way as in Italian.

[emmax123]

How do you know the phrase is a question abd not a statement?

[GalvanTivadar]

Normally the intonation would show. Statements have a falling intonation, while questions rising-falling. In this sentence "ka" should be rising.