9 Comments
"Are the windows broken?" is what we would say in American English. Is that an acceptable translation?
"Are the windows broken" would certainly be a good translation, although I guess this implies that they were working at some time. (Which I don't think the Hungarian sentence does.)
I rather think "Are the windows bad" should also be accepted. You'd be more likely to say "bad" for food than a window, but it's certainly possible to imagine saying it this way.
I also thought "are the windows broken?" should be accepted, since if I'm correct I recalled seeing toilets in Budapest with a notice "rossz" attached and I'd always assumed it as "broken".
You're right in the sense that these windows were bad from the beginning. No matter if they do open and close. Just bad work :)
58
In English, a 'broken window' usually means (1) a window in which the glass has been shattered; but it can also mean (2) a window that does not function well (e.g., it does not open and close smoothly). The Hungarian here seems to mean (2). How do you say (1)?
- 224
"To break" is tör in Hungarian, so it would be expressed with a form of tört, with a verbal prefix. I'm not entirely sure which one to use, but a short Google search yields that "Betört az ablak" is popular.
So we want to know how to say "The window glass is cracked." I want to know how to say: "How does one [do I/do you/do they] say 'X' in Hungarian/magyarul?" Is the word "ember" or "az ember" used to mean "one" or "you" or "they" or "I"?
- 224
For impersonal pronouns or the passive voice, Hungarians usually use a conjugation of "they" to express it. If you remember, "What's your name?" is "Hogy hívnak?" in Hungarian, literally "How do they call you?" or "How are you called?"
"How do they say 'X' in Hungarian?" - "Hogy mondják magyarul 'X'?" Usually you'd add a -t suffix to 'X', but in case of quotations it's okay to leave it out.
