"Nem mi telefonálunk, hanem ők."
Translation:We do not talk on the telephone but they do.
30 CommentsThis discussion is locked.
1404
Those contractions (and expansions) are made automatically by the computer, which sometimes makes for pretty awkward structures. "I've a car, do not you see it?" :)
A question: is 'telefonálni' also the verb you would use to say 'to call (someone on the phone)'? I guess I always thought it meant that, but here it means 'talking on the phone'. What is the best verb to say 'I am going to call him (on the phone)' and while we're at it, is it different from the verb you would use for 'I am going to call him (on Skype)'? Előre is köszönöm.
864
"We dont phone but they do."
"We dont telephone but they do."
Both answers were not accepted.
In my opinion "phone", and "telephone" are verbs for "speaking on the telephone"
1810
Strange, at first, Duo rejected a "natural" translation, the one given here: "We don't speak on the phone, but they do". Then it accepted a less natural one: "It is not us who speaks on the phone, but they "
1404
Sounds mighty weird, especially when reading it for the first time. The emphasis automatically falls on "phone". I can see two possibilities here: either you negate the pronoun (like the Hungarian sentence does), or - more naturally - you negate the verb, but have to add a verb in the second clause. "Them" also really wants to be an object is this construction, so I'd use the subject "they" instead.
- Not we phone, but they.
- We do not phone, but they do.
1404
The word puzzles give you the tiles for exactly one accepted answer, which might not be the answer you have in mind. It seems like it wanted "It is not us talking on the telephone, but them."
It usually helps if you start with the capitalised word and work from there.
In case anyone wonders, főigével means "with the main verb":
- fő - head, main
- ige - verb
- -val/-vel - with
It probably slipped in from one of the descriptions in the translation hints. :´)
1404
If you have the object form "us" in the first half of the sentence, you should also use the object form "them" in the second half.
3094
Accepted: "It is not us talking on the telephone, but them."
And this also: "We do not talk on the telephone but they do."