"Are you a sales lady or a secretary?"

Translation: Ön eladó vagy titkárnő?

[EvaLschl]

How can I know if you is to translate with te or ön? In English it is the same word. So both possibilities should be accepted.

[Vinczeneanna]

I agree.

[GregWood15]

In this case, you appear to be addressing a stranger, so "ön" might be a good guess.

[Neco_Coneco]

Is eladónő okay for Sale's lady?

[clairelanc3]

Don't you add "nő" after eladó too if you want to insist on her being a woman?

[Skapata]

Can I add or remove the nő, for example, eladónő and titkár?

[jzsuzsi]

Yes. titkár is fine (male secretary)

eladónő is rarer than just eladó, but it is an existing word.

[DJJG7]

I typed:

Ön vagy eladó egy titkárnő?

Please, is the verb, "vagy," really in the wrong place that way?

Or does "vagy" mean "or" here, and I should have left out that "egy"? And deleted "vagy" as a verb?

[Hulk014]

Ön ( egy ) eladó vagy ( egy ) titkárnő? "Vagy" serves as a linking word in this case.

[mbgreen11]

So I am not sure why the egy is left out in one case and not in the other...and why in the sentence with the one "egy" there is no "egy" in the second part? How do I know when to use the "egy" for "a" and when to leave it out?

[DJJG7]

I see. Thank you!

[vvsey]

Yes, "vagy" can be "or" or "you are" (informal). Here, it is "or".

[DJJG7]

That clarifies. Danke schön!

[vvsey]

Bitte schön!
By the way, since "Ön" is formal, and uses the third person conjugation, and "vagy" is informal, and is second person conjugation, "vagy" must mean "or".

But we can make it more confusing:

"Te eladó vagy vagy titkárnő?"

If that is not enough:

"Te vagy eladó vagy vagy titkárnő vagy".
1st "vagy": either
2nd "vagy": (you) are
3rd "vagy": or
4th "vagy": (you) are

[DJJG7]

Dear vvsey:

Your reply has no "reply" button (?), so I'll just reply here: I've been seeing a few things like that here in Hungarian. My! Fun stuff! There is in English: Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo.

That is:

Buffalo [from the N.Y. city--adjective]

buffalo [the animal--noun, plural]

[that]

Buffalo [from the N.Y. city--adjective]

buffalo [the animal--noun, plural]

buffalo [fool, confuse--verb]

buffalo [fool, confuse--verb]

Buffalo [from the N.Y. city--adjective]

buffalo [the animal--noun, plural].

[Vinczeneanna]

Eladónő vagy titkárnő vagy? Why is not accepted?
In English it is the same word (You) a "te'" és az "ön".

[Judit294350]

It would be "Eladónő vagy, vagy titkárnő?" (you don't need the third "vagy".

[MrtonPolgr]

It should be accepted though. The last word can only be the verb and by this reasoning, it's valid and also used imo.

[Kathy979841]

I also put eladono to emphasize it is a woman but not accepted.

[MrtonPolgr]

It was accepted for me now.

[lazp]

why is 'Egy eladó vagy titkárnő vagy'? not correct?

[MrtonPolgr]

I think inconsistent use of articles doesn't help in this case.

[Judit294350]

You need another "vagy" - you have not included an "or".

[BrigitteLe179720]

Why is sometimes the sentences like : ëladó vagy, vagy titkárnö, right and now it is wrong, doesn't make any sense tot me

[Judit294350]

Both are right (with the correct spelling) "eladó vagy, vagy titkárnő?"

[eht_hung]

Te eladó nő vagy vagy egy titkárnő - is correct?

[dualinga15]

Should be written "eladónő", but yes, it should be correct.

[chiasthmatic]

Te eladó vagy titkárnő was marked wrong

[Judit294350]

If you use "te" you need two vagy's - one to mean "are you" and another to mean "or".

[MrtonPolgr]

And it really is wrong - the same kind of wrong "you salesperson or secretary" would be.

[jakobhavli]

"Sales Lady" is female, so instead of elado the solution should be eladonö.

[GregWood15]

This has been commented upon two or three times above. From those comments it appears that "eladónő" is now accepted, but jzsuzsi makes the point that it is a term that is rarely used.

[Marty10200]

Why do we not need to add "egy" before "elado" or "titkarno"?

[MrtonPolgr]

Because the amount (egy) is pretty obvious. It's the quality that matters here, not the quantity.

[GregWood15]

And, given your suggestion elsewhere, that "egy" would be used if the noun being "egy"ed is to be referred to later in the conversation, then that, too, would be an argument for not including an "egy" in such circumstances.

[MrtonPolgr]

Well, yes, "te" doesn't have to be introduced. :)

[gohys]

Where is the a i notice next level always has to be specific, when you see a must be translated

[Judit294350]

No - in fact "a" is rarely translated in Hungarian - and especially not for professions.