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- "Lányok, odaülünk az asztalho…
17 Comments
The English version doesn't fit the Hungarian one, be cause - either the Hungarian should use the imperative - or the English should use the "shall"
"Girls, are we sitting over there at the table?" -- In other words, "Where are we sitting? Over there by the table?"
757
It's more like "What are we to do? Sit over there?" There is no focus on the location in the Hungarian sentence, just on the action of sitting.
It's a bit of a stretch to get "shall" out of a sentence like that, even with Word Bank. I was looking for a "there" in the selection.
- 2593
This English is incorrect (people do not sit "to" tables), and it's not clear what the "there" means. Does this sentence maybe mean "Girls, do we sit at that spot at the table?" Or what?
- 757
Maybe it becomes a bit clearer with a little rearrangement of the words: "Girls, do [shall] we sit down at the table over there?"
- 757
It would almost be good, but the speaker says odaülünk, so she includes herself: "Girls, could we...?"
- 757
"Sit" doesn't go well with "to" in English. If you "ül az asztalhoz" in Hungarian, you usually "sit down at the table" in English.
- 757
That would be a quirky sentence in English, because how can "we" be sitting "there"? "There" is, by definition, a place where the speaker currently isn't.
The Hungarian sentence would usually be interpreted as a suggestion, which you would translate with "Shall we...?" in English.
- 420
how can "we" be sitting "there"? "There" is, by definition, a place where the speaker currently isn't.
We are standing just inside the door, confused, and I say "do we sit over there?". Acceptable.
what is the Hungarian word for shall? - kell? where is it in the sentence?
- 420
Here "shall" is just being used for the future - and the present is used to express this.
"kell" is "must".
