"János shows me something."
Translation:János mutat valamit.
12 Comments
"János mutat engem valamit" isn't correct? Is "engem" assumed from the indefinite verb? But then howndo you know that it isn't "minket"?
"Show something to somebody" is mutat valamit valakinek. So if you want to include yourself or someone else as the recipient of the action, you'll have to put them in the dative (an indirect object), not the accusative. Thus:
János mutat valamit nekem.
So is it clear from the Hungarian sentence that János is showing it to ME? or could he just as easily be showing it to anyone? i.e does the original Hungarian just mean "John is showing something"?
Yes, "János mutat valamit" says nothing else but "János is showing something". And the "to me/us" is as much implied as it is in this English sentence.
No, it's not unambiguous from the Hungarian sentence itself (although somehow I would say that the given translation seems to me to be the most likely one).
Ordinarily, it would be clear from context. If it weren't, then you could ask, Kinek?, meaning "to whom?"
"Engem" is me in the accusative. So then I am the object being shown. As opposed to "nekem", when the object is being shown to me.
But the sentence does not say anything about the person that János is showing something to.
Yes. There's no word in the Hungarian sentence that means "to me". It's just understood from context.
81
so if i wanted to say janos shows him something that would have to be specially accented?
