"A sofőr nincs egyedül."
Translation:The driver is not alone.
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What is the difference in usage for nem and nincs? I've seen them both used for third person and can't figure out a pattern.
There's an omitted word "van" which means "is", when you negate it, you don't say "nem van", you say "nincs". That's also true for other forms of the verb lenni (to be).
But I'm just a learner and may be wrong.
You write it absolutely fine. ;) I am hungarian and I just answered the same question here: https://www.duolingo.com/comment/16445321 And I wrote exatly the same. :D Very good :)
But there are other times when you negate van and do not use nincs. Like "nem vogyok ott" Right? The use of "nincs" is confusing the heck out of me.
Answered my own question: there is no "nem" used with 3rd person of "lenni" (to be). So it's nincs for singular 3rd person and nincsenek for plural. Other forms of to be DO use nem.
Is it just a coincidence that "egyedül" has "egy-" in it, or is the word related to "one" in some way?
Is it possible to translate sofőr into English as "chauffeur?" I'm assuming Hungarian borrowed it from French too and I could easily be wrong.
1405
Yes, sofőr is of French origin. If "chauffeur" is used in English as well, feel free to suggest it as a translation.
Thank you!
Is 'egyedül' being an adverb the reason 'nincs' is used? I've noticed 'nem' was used more for adjectives and nouns.
No, these are unrelated. 'Nincs' simply means 'nem van' (the negation of being), which, in this very example, happens to be modified with the adverb 'egyedül' (alone). See krisz44g's post https://www.duolingo.com/comment/16445321
It's cool how Hungarian's vowels can make it a lot less likely that loanwords get butchered. Sofőr sounds almost exactly like the French chauffeur.
[2019/04/17]
- 786
On some other lessons, sofőr is translated as driver(honesty, this is the first time I saw chauffeur in user). I advise you to align it.
