"Átfutunk az épületen, kiugrunk az ablakon és átúszunk a folyón."
Translation:We run through the building, jump out the window and swim across the river.
16 Comments
I think the use of "through" before "the window" is redundant (although not incorrect) and that "jump out of the window" and "jump out the window" are more natural sounding to my ear (or at least more commonly used where I'm from!)
Could anyone tell me why Superessive (-n-suffix) is used everywhere in this phrase? You use Superessive for "through" as well then?
220
The problem is the way Hungarians and English see spaces.
Átfutunk az épületen - the "through" is the át in átfutunk (more literally across but we don't say that so much in English). Where do you run through? the building. Now I would have thought "in" the building - Átfutunk az épületben - but it is big enough to be seen as a unenclosed space - like a square - or a bus - and uses the superessive instead.
kiugrunk az ablakon - clue to this is when you look (in English) through a window, in Hungarian you use the superessive. Just memorize it :-( But the motion is in the KIugrunk - OUT jump.
átúszunk a folyón - the át is across. But when you are swimming you are on top of the water so the superessive is clear.
- 215
Basically, whenever there's a medium through which you're going or which you're using on your way, you use the -n suffix. Especially when using át-:
- átmegyek az utcán - I go across the street
- elmegyek az utcán - I go along the street
- felmegyek a lépcsőn - I go up the stairs
- lejön a kéményen - he comes down the chimney
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What about if you were a submarine under the water? •átmegyek a tengerben - or átmegyek a tengeren
- 215
As far as I'm aware it would be "átmegy a tengeren", or better "a vízen", no matter if it were surfacing or .. is it called "diving"?
You can make a difference by using more appropriate verbs.
- átúszik a tengeren - swims across the sea
- átmerül a tengeren - dives through the sea
Or just say "a víz alatt".
- 220
Thank you. I think we'd just say "cross the sea by submarine" (diving is usually reserved for the act of going down into the water rather than across - ie dive down then travel across).
An excellent question and it builds on the earlier ones. The preverb "at" can obviously mean through or across or over and it all depends on the context. The first time it came up as through was strange for me but, like many English words, it has its variations and this is helping.
Valaki tudna segiteni a mondat végén az "across" helyett nem fogadta el a "through" (vagyis én mind három "átkeléshez" a "through" szót irtam) mikor melyik szót kell használni ha jól tudom mind kettő hasonló jelentésű.
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"Through" is okay in all three parts of the sentence. It's just not accepted with the river yet, but we'll get there. :)
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"Across", to my understanding, is reserved for more flat, unenclosed spaces. Particularly where I don't have a roof over me. "Across the house" sounds to me like I'm on the roof. (Which would also be a good translation for the Hungarian sentence, were it not for the general lack of windows there to jump out of.)
What sort of English are we translating into? Many of these translations are a sort of English-Magyar hybrid.
