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- "A tükörhöz állok."
33 Comments
Mentioned this on another thread once, and I've already reported it ... but does anyone know what this sentence actually translates to in English? The given English translation is gibberish.
Yes, it is. It tries to say "stand over there" implying the action of moving over to the mirror and stopping there to stand there. That's what the Hungarian sentence means. I am standing somewhere or sitting somewhere or whatever, and now I am going to walk to the mirror and stand there.
So in this case állok implies the first person is standing upright, and the allative hoz implies motion towards i.e. motion towards the mirror in an upright manner. In that case I think the best translation into English is either
"I go and stand at the mirror" / "I go and stand by the mirror"
or
"I go up to the mirror" (no need to mention stand here because to go, it is assumed you are upright in order to go)
I think it is confusing for an English speaker because "to stand" is only ever used to indicate "motion up from a seated position" or "the state of being upright yet otherwise motionless".
From my understanding from other threads, "állni" can be used with co-verbs to indicate motion followed by a stationary phase e.g. driving up, pulling up in a car, parking etc , is this correct ?
Yes, it is mostly correct. But it does not indicate the method, or the manner, in which I am moving to the mirror. It only says that I am moving to the mirror and, when I get there, I will be standing upright (as a person). I could also sit or lie to the mirror. Again, moving there (practically walking) and then assuming the specified position. And yes, you can "stand with your car into the garage", i.e. move it to the specified target location and place it in its regular stationary position.
Ok so in that case "I go and stand at the mirror" is probably the best English translation because it doesn't imply anything about how I go there (e.g. I could go up in a wheelchair and then stand once I get to the mirror). Whereas "I go up to the mirror" could imply I go there on my hands and knees and remain there once I reach it!
You don't even need the "and": "I go stand at the mirror." This is obviously something very subtle that Hungarian can do by combining a preposition that implies motion/direction with a verb that implies position/stasis.
Wow, that is a very different way of expressing the same idea. The word "áll" seems to have some idiomatic usages.
Thanks for the explanation, very helpful. This is one of the things that make it fun learning Hungarian - getting to know aspects that don't exist in English. But without a descriptive explanation it would be pretty difficult.
no you can't "stand with your car into.." anywhere since stand means that you don't move, you stay. This is Hunglish, bro. Sorry! You move your car in the garage.
That was me trying to explain the Hungarian logic with a literal translation into English, "bro".
"I stand at the mirror" is a lot better than "I stand to the mirror," but it doesn't capture the motion toward the mirror first. What would be wrong with "I go stand at the mirror." ?
"Go stand" may be acceptable in U.S. English but in British English we would say "go and stand".
"Go stand" is more imperative - you're telling someone to go stand at the mirror. But for this sentence I would also say "I go and stand at the mirror," because there are two actions, going, and standing. I'm in the US, btw.
Heh, I just noticed that I did say "I go stand..." in the comment that you were responding to. Well, I guess it depends on what mood I'm in that day. :) I agree with you that "go and stand" is better.
Why is this sentence not fixed yet? It's still rejecting things like "I go and stand at the mirror," in favor of "I stand to the mirror." I know progress can be slow, but it's been 4 months and this sentence is particularly bad. I am reporting it again.
Sometimes when I am standing in front of the mirror I might just say "I am standing in the mirror", or "I am in the mirror". This doesn't make literal sense but the reasoning here is that my reflection itself is positioned within the frame of the mirror. I recall telling my son to "go stand in the mirror and see if your shirt fits". Any other English speakers here say it this way?
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There was some consensus, I think, in other discussions that English phrase "walk up to" does the job. Could it be "I walk up to the mirror" then? "I go and stand" sounds rather awkward, although what do I, a foreigner, know x)
I stand at the mirror=A tükörhöz állok Bastette54 /You were right, it took a while, but then you have a lot of experience. You get a point from me. Excellent job! Keep it up!
I wonder if "I stand at the mirror" would be "A tükörnél állok"? Because the höz ending implies movement, but nél is static.
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- A tükörnél állok. - I am standing by the mirror, no movement indicated.
- A tükörhöz állok. - I move to the mirror and end up standing by it.
Respected Ryagon Roman four, Shall we stay with the hard facts? I. Hungarian language is different from English. II. The most important, answer is accepted by Duolingo. III. I respect that you know both languages a lot! IV What I wrote is correct Greetings
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I. Sure, but they are translatable into each other.
II. I think more important than Duo's acceptance of your translation is that you understand what the exact choice of words is doing to the meaning of the sentence. I tried to address that in my recent reply.
III. Thanks, I appreciate that.
IV. I'm fine with your translation, I just added some explanation. My comment wasn't even addressed to you.
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There is no word indicating (go) or other movements in this sentence .those who translated to ( I go and stand ) should bring a reasonable reason.thanks alot.
There is no word indicating (go) or other movements in this sentence .
No full word, but the -höz ending indicates movement to a place.
In English, we can't "stand to the mirror", so the natural translation is "go [to the mirror] and stand by the mirror".
German has something similar: Ich stelle mich vor den Spiegel, which indicates movement to and standing in front of the mirror. The verbatim translation would be: I place myself in front of the mirror (standing).
