"I know some children."
Translation:Én ismerek néhány gyereket.
20 Comments
217
If there is any word indicating that there are multiple things involved, like 'many' (sok), 'some' (néhány), or numbers (két, három and so on), you use the singular noun.
I remembered this right after I asked the question, but i had to go through the whole lesson again to get to that question so I could access this discussion. Thank you!
Does "Én ismerek néhány gyereket" sound more natural than "Néhány gyereket ismerek"?
- 1323
Now I am confused. Why ismerek and not ismerem in this case? Can somebody help me?
It's the indefinite conjugation because there's nothing to indicate definiteness, like "The" or "These" or "Those". It's simply "Some children".
- 1323
Thank you :-) It is difficult, if I know them already and they are still not defined.
This is indefinite conjugation, (some children, not the children). See here http://www.hungarianreference.com/Verbs/Verbs-Definite-Conjugation.aspx and here http://www.hungarianreference.com/Verbs/Verbs-Indefinite-Conjugation.aspx.
- 217
No, you can only tud facts. Ismer is describing a familiarity with people or settings, something you've seen before.
Plus, tudom is definite conjugation which doesn't apply here since the children are not defined. You'd need tudok or ismerek, respectively.
- 597
Could you use "kevés" instead of "néhány", so "Kevés gyereket ismerek" or “Ismerek kevés gyereket" are "kevés" and "néhány" interchangeable or is there a rule for when you use each one?
- 217
Kevés is usually translated as "few" or "a few" (or "little / a little" for uncountable nouns), while néhány is "some". In practical terms they are pretty interchangeable, though, like "a few" and "some" in English.
Why "Pár" is the right answer if there is no any "few or pair" in English?
- 217
Pár is "a couple of", which is pretty equivalent to "some".
The preferred translation here is "Én ismerek néhány gyereket."
- 217
The age of the speaker. :)
They are synonyms and/or writing variants of the same word. Gyerek is the more modern variant and more popular nowadays, but some derived words are more common with gyermek, like gyermektelen - childless.
- 217
pár = a pair, a couple (kettő), vagy "a couple of" (néhány), amelyik hasonló "some"-nak.
