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- "There are some apples here."
"There are some apples here."
Translation:Van itt néhány alma.
32 Comments
Why isn't it: Van itt néhány almaT. ? Isn't apple the object of the sentence?
Néhány alma is the subject of the sentence (which could also be translated as, "Some apples are here," to make that a little more clear). It is not the object of any action that would require the accusative ending. Compare...
Van itt néhány alma (there are some apples here or "some apples are here"; nominative)
Tedd le az almát (put down the apple; accusative, the apple is the thing that is to be put down)
Az alma János előtt van. (The apple is in front of János: apple is the subject)
János megeszi az almát. (János eats the apple: apple is the object which is being eaten)
Hol van az alma? (Where is the apple? Subject)
Elfelejtettem az almát (I forgot the apple. Object.)
Since numerals already show that we're talking about more than one object, it's unnecessary to use the plural form of the noun (according to Hungarian logic). :)
1050
This is not even unique, cymraeg (welsh) works along the same logic. :) When a definite or indefinite number (like "two", "thousand" or "some", "few") informs you about the "more than one" quantity, the noun remains in singular.
Also Turkish, if one can mention it without turning into a Turanist. :D
Hungarian uses the singular form of nouns if they are modified by a number or most other quantity words, including néhány (some) and sok (many). The verb will match the singular form of the noun. So for example
Van itt néhány alma. (There are some apples here - but alma is singular, and we use van with it)
Van itt hat alma. (There are six apples here - but alma is still singular, and we use van)
Van itt sok alma. (There are a lot of apples here.)
but
Vannak itt almák. (There are apples here - plural apples, plural verb.)
Would "Itt van néhány alma" be a correct sentence and if so, what would be the difference in meaning with "Van itt..."?
It's correct but a bit difference. "Van itt ..." emphasizes that there are apples at all, in contrast to no apples. "Néhány alma van itt" is a fairly neutral sentence, with emphasis on what is there: some apples, not something else.
In the last question I put van and it was wrong, so this time I didn't put van and it is still wrong. WHY?
Nope, I don't think there is any reason to say the "normal word order" would be SOV. I'm not even sure whether we can talk about a "normal word order" in the first place.
why are verb and subject singular in Hungarian whereas they are plural in English ? Does the word néhány turns everything singular ?
Yes. In fact, everything regarding amount keeps the sentence singular. Maybe you can find some exceptions but that's the main rule.
By the way, you can look around here, there are discussions about this and then you don't need to write a question at all. :)
Yes, but the discussion is in Hungarian, a language I am learning because I dont speak it yet.
Hungarian doesn't duplicate words to express plurals. The volume expression, in this case "néhány" already expresses that one is talking about more than one item, so no need to indicate that fact again with the noun (alma/almák, the latter in this case would be incorrect.)
You're welcome. Not trying to confuse you but there's a bit more to the rule above, e.g. "azok az almák", or "vannak almák" (those apples/there are apples) would be correct but that's because said sentences don't contain counter words, so while "azok" is a plural (of 'az') and "vannak" is a plural (of 'van'), in those cases one would introduce the noun as plurals as well. Hope that makes sense (?)
It does. From now on I will be on the lookout for words expressing volume. THX
