17 Comments
Can someone point out a site that explains sem (and all its derivatives)?
That site explains the use of negatives well, but I've found a lot of errors in the example sentences. This one has less explanation, but the examples are definitely correct.
Unfortunately I couldn't find a list of the derivatives of sem, but you basically create those words out of interrogative pronouns. The basic formula is se + pronoun. (se + hogy -> sehogy, se + melyik -> semelyik, etc.)
The ones with a little difference:
Mi? -> semmi
Ki? -> senki
Milyen? -> semmilyen
The derivatives of these (semmiért, senkitől, semmilyenre, etc.)
All of the sem-words are used with double negative.
I see some issues with the site you are referencing here. It takes "se" as just a variation on "sem". While it is frequently used that way colloquially, I think it is actually a pair of "ne", an imperative for "also do not" or "don't ... either".
Hungarian (at least Duolingo Hungarian) sometimes seems to use the singular forms of nouns in ways that are plural in English. Could "No cars come from anywhere" work here as a translation, for example?
Backtranslating it is: 'Sehonnan sem jönnek autók.'.
The distinction is the same between the English versions as between the Hungarian versions.
Would "a car doesnt come from anywhere" be very wrong? How would that be translated to Hungarian? Thanks :)
I am not sure I can figure out what that sentence actually means. :) It is probably one of those sentences that only a non-native would say. :)
Sem isn't "not either" or "neither" as say "tampoco" sort of is in Spanish?
Yes. Or "also not".
I do not like apples, and (I do not like) oranges, either:
"Nem szeretem az almát, és a narancsot sem."
"Nem szeretem az almát, és nem szeretem a narancsot sem."
It is only "bárhonnan" (or "akárhonnan") in a positive statement. In a negative statement, it is translated as sehonnan. I guess this is due to the fact that English does not like double negatives while Hungarian loves them.
"A car can come from anywhere." - "Bárhonnan jöhet egy autó."
"No car can come from anywhere." - "Sehonnan sem jöhet autó."
