"The worker has an old faulty radio."

Translation:A munkásnak van egy régi rossz rádiója.

October 13, 2016

16 Comments
This discussion is locked.


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/BariskaElise

when is it necessary to include "egy"? I wrote "a munkásnak van régi rossz rádiója", without "egy"


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/GregWood15

It's generally optional but does emphasise the singleness of the object. If you were to ask someone whether they had a pen, you would probably not use "egy", since you wouldn't expect them to reply in the negative, if they had two.


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/Patricia460976

Similarly, how do I know if "van" comes before or after the object?


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/GregWood15

From my understanding, it can be before or after. After would put focus on what is owned rather than who is owning it.


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/David236909

Why is the "egy" necessary here? ("A munkásnak van régi rossz rádiója" was marked wrong)


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/GregWood15

While you're waiting for someone more knowledgeable to answer this, a rule of thumb seems to be that if the object is countable (like radios, unlike molasses) and has adjectives (and, of course, has no definite article and is not a general statement), then "egy" is likely to be required.

Another suggestion that has been made is that if you are expecting to refer to it later in the conversation, then "egy" should be used. If you were to say, "The other day, a woman came into the store.", chances are that you are about to tell something about what that woman did, so you'd use an "egy".


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/SedatKlc

i think 'a munkásnak egy régi rossz rádiója van' should also be accepted


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/dun867176

why is "A munkásnak egy régi rossz rádiója van." not accepted, when in another exercise "Jánosnak öt gyűrűje van." with the "van" at the end is?


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/jzsuzsi

Are you sure? As I see, "A munkásnak egy régi rossz rádiója van" is accepted here.


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/dun867176

Thank you, maybe I had another spelling mistake. Though I thought, I had a thorough look before posting my question.


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/AndrewNeNe

I'm not quite sure that is right... I omitted "egy" for at least three previous sentences in this lesson that were seemingly completely equivalent (the possessed objects being kutya, ruha, ház, etc.) How is this different?!


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/AndrewNeNe

That was meant to be a reply to Greg Wood. Please, someone help with this question! Why is "a munkasnak van régi rossz rádioja" incorrect??


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/GregWood15

In many instances, Mr. D. allows you to include an "egy" or omit it at your discretion. What I wrote was to help people to decide when to and when not to include an "egy", and, hopefully, stay in Mr. D's good books. Had you included an "egy" on those previous occasions, you might still have been marked correct. Did those other "equivalent" sentences also include adjectives before the noun in question? I don't think possession plays much of a part in determining whether or not an "egy" is required.


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/JereArmen

Again the "van" placement question. Isn't the emphasis on what the worker has, the "old, faulty radio," and shouldn't therefore that precede "van"?


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/GregWood15

Elsewhere on this page, jzsuzsi asserts that "A munkásnak egy régi rossz rádiója van" is accepted. Could you have made a typo somewhere?


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/JereArmen

Lord knows I could have.

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