"Az étterembe megyünk vagy a szállodába?"
Translation:Are we going into the restaurant or the hotel?
4 Comments
Is this really the translation? Doesn't the "ba" ending mean "into" ? So shouldn't the second "to" either be omitted or also "into"?
This is actually a very good translation. You are right, "-ba", and also "-be", means "into".
But different languages have different logics, too.
English says "going to a restaurant" and probably means entering (going into) that restaurant? Correct?
Hungarian actually matches the action with the text. It says "into" and it means "into".
But we can't translate everything literally. The sentences need to mean the same thing and they need to adhere to the logic of their own languages. This translation actually does a very good job at that.
Thanks, as always a great explanation. I think there is still a distinction between into and to though. For example, if we are standing in front of the restaurant and the hotel, we might talk about going "into" the hotel or the restaurant. If we are at home, we would talk about going "to" the hotel or the restaurant. So, I would argue, the translation of this sentence depends on where the speakers are.
Yes, of course, you are right. It all depends on the situation. I only wrote the most common understanding. You can also "enter" the restaurant, and you can also ask "Az étterembe megyünk BE vagy a szállodába?" - for one of those situations. There are so many options, we could write a book... :)
