26 Comments
I answered; What is in between the apple and the lamp
How would you write that in Hungarian? Because now the anwser gives only; What is between...
I'd say the two sentences are synonymous in English, so I would expect them to be identical in Hungarian.
Next time you come across this sentence, please use your variant and report it as an additional translation to be accepted. Thank you :)
I also wrote that as an answer the other day and I reported it so hopefully it gets marked correct soon.
I am not a native English speaker and I thought that it was not correct to say "what is IN between A and B" but only "what is between A and B". On the other hand, according to my knowledge, we could say for instance: "There were two houses with a narrow path IN between." Please correct me if I am wrong.
You have more or less got it. Use 'in between' when the two objects are fairly close together, eg two houses separated by a narrow path; just 'between' when the distance is much larger, eg Germany lies between France and Poland.
Because here you are asking about the subject (the thing you are asking about is the thing which is doing the "being somewhere").
In Mit csinálsz?, you are asking about the object -- the subject (the person doing the "doing") is "you", and mit is the object, the thing being done, so it takes the accusative ending -t.
Since the equivalent of "van" in english is "there is", why is it reported as wrong to translate the sentence as "what is there between the apple and the lamp?
I mean, "what is between the apple and the lamp?" sounds a bit weird to me, like if I would be asking what is the meaning of "between the apple and the lamp".
Or maybe I am wrong with the english?
I think both English sentences are fine, and mean the same thing.
Be careful with statements such as the equivalent of '...' -- very often, there is not just one single equivalent for a Hungarian word in English :)
yeah i know hungarian is a flexible language, indeed the question was about the english translation, not about the hungarian sentence to be translated. Thanks for your answer! so I should report my answer as correct
Just wondering, how would you write, "What is the apple and the lamp in between?"
It would have to be What ARE the apple and the lamp in between?, I think -- you can't say "the apple and the lamp is ...".
Oh right yeah, soz thats my bad english :) so do you know how to say that in hungarian?
Not sure as I'm still learning myself, but I'd guess Mi között vannak az alma és a lámpa?
Almost. "Mi között van az alma és a lámpa?" Both nouns are singular, so the verb singular as well. :)
On this one, I totally support the usage of the singular verb, but maybe we should mention that the plural usage is also spreading on a list of singular subjects.
To be clear, "Mi(k) között van az alma és a lámpa?" - should be singular, period.
But in this case:
"Az óvónő és a katona repül",
the
"Az óvónő és a katona repülnek"
is also acceptable at least.
So, I am talking specifically about a group of singular subjects followed by a verb.
I do not like this, but the plural usage is spreading. Maybe it was always in use. I don't know. (I remember an old joke from my childhood with a plural verb.... never mind.) But it is becoming widespread. Maybe it is the influence of the English language. Many many more people study English these days than a couple of decades ago. And some rules of languages can "jump hosts". I see a lot of it happening to English, as well.
Back to Hungarian.
At least in descriptive linguistics, they make a distinction between matching the subject and the verb by format/syntax and by meaning (semantics?). In Hungarian this is called "alaki és értelmi egyeztetés".
For a group of singular subjects, the verb is usually singular but it can occasionally be plural, as well.
It would take another essay to describe this, but this topic can be looked up in many grammar books.
Yes, they are correct. This is not much different from when you use a numeral with a noun.
- "Két madár ül a fán." ("Two birds are sitting in the tree.")
- "A veréb és a varjú ül a fán." ("The sparrow and the crow are sitting in the tree.")
But as soon there's at least one plural noun, the verb has to be plural as well.
Edit: but if a numeral acts as a subject instead of simply modifying a noun, the verb is plural:
- "Hárman mentek el a moziba."
- "János és Pál mindketten férfiak."
- "Az óvónő, a katona és az orvos valamennyien repülnek." (yes, "valamennyi" here means all, and not some of them. It was a surprise to me as a child, and I still can't imagine how that's possible.)
Ah! Hungarian doesn't use a plural verb if the subject is multiple singular nouns joined with "and"?
Are these correct?
- Az autó és a busz drága.
- Az óvónő és a katona repül.
- János és Pál férfi.
Um okay, thanks for your time. Perhaps i'll ask a hungarian friend to check and i'll let you know. Cheers :)
Wow, vv sey thank you. This is very helpful. I mean, a vein popped in my forhead when i read the sing vs plural, but thank you.
In this sentence, is it possible to say this also "Mi az alma es a lampa között van?" Or would it be completety bad hungarian?
