18 Comments
A play with word order:
"Menni akarok" - "I want to go"
"Akarok menni" - "I do want to go"
Important things first.
@JewishPolyglot: yes it does. hungarian in general is not strict with word order. depends on what you want to emphasize
I am not sure what you are asking. Whether it is an accepted answer here, I have no idea.
I think J-P is just exclaiming at how interesting is this aspect of word order in Magyar. It occurs to me that the examples may have other nuance(s) depending on context, such as where "akarni" could, would, or should be interpreted to mean "to demand", rather than "to want". Or, as BeaTth notes (below): "'. . . akarok menni' is 'I want to go (THERE)'"( which invokes a different "emphasis" than "I do want . . . .") [I hope that my comment encompasses J-P's probable inquiry.]
1624
akarok translates to want - with this verb you express your desires. when asking others for something, e.g. when ordering at a restaurant, you might prefer using kérek, which would translate more to wish or wish for. E.g. "Vizet akarok" means "I want water.", "Vizet kérek" means something like "Please give me / bring me water". In this sentence, however, you are not ordering anything, so it wouldn't make any sense to say anything else than "akarok".
The meaning is like 'i want to leave (this place)' or 'i want to go (there)?
i would say "menni akarok" can mean both, but "akarok menni" is "i want to go (there)"
I am just beginning to study Hungarian and am no expert by any means. But I believe that the infinitive form in Hungarian does end in "-i" from everything that I have seen.
If someone more familiar with Hungarian would like to correct me, I am curious to know if that is correct as well
Hungarian here...
So yes, the infinitive is always "-ni" like: menni (to go), enni (to eat), inni (to drink)
The n is rather confusingly doubles here, because the root is so short :)
It is not the case with longer verbs though: aludni (to sleep), gondolni (to think), tanulni (to study)
Can it also mean I am going, while you are going towards the door or something like that?
No, this is the most simple form :) Hungarian also uses adverbs for such things (like english).
