Learn how to tegez-that is, switch from the formal language to the informal with somebody
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Simone: Hi everyone and welcome back to HungarianPod101.com. This is Lower Beginner, season 1, lesson 16, Let’s Dispense with the Hungarian Formalities. I’m Simone. |
| Csaba: And I’m Csaba. |
| Simone: In this lesson you're going to learn how to ask someone if they’d like to switch to the informal language. |
| Csaba: The conversation takes place at Anne’s workplace. |
| Simone: And it’s between Anne and Mr. Szabó, her boss. |
| Csaba: This is a special lesson. They start formal and then change into informal. |
| Simone: Ok, let’s listen to the conversation. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Simone: All right, so what exactly is going on here? |
| Csaba: Mr. Szabó is asking for Anne’s permission to use informal language. Normally, it is the older or higher-ranking person at the workplace who can initiate that. |
| Simone: So Mr. Szabó is asking for permission... |
| Csaba: Because he is polite and Anne is a woman. It is polite to ask, even if you’re above the other person in age and rank. |
| Simone: And then Anne agrees and thanks him. |
| Csaba: Yes. Whenever you are offered to use the informal language, it is polite to thank the other person. |
| Simone: I see. Can I initiate it too? |
| Csaba: Sure. Teachers and other people who interact with others do that all the time. The age difference doesn’t matter there because everyone recognizes the need for simpler language in a classroom or similar environment. |
| Simone: OK, I see. Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. The first word we shall see is? |
| Év. |
| Year. |
| Év. |
| Év. |
| Next? |
| Igaz. |
| True. |
| Igaz. |
| Igaz. |
| Next? |
| Tegez. |
| To use the informal language. |
| Te-gez. |
| Tegez. |
| Next? |
| Megenged. |
| Allow. |
| Meg-en-ged. |
| Megenged. |
| Next? |
| Szervusz. |
| Hi, formal. |
| Szervusz. |
| Szervusz. |
| Next? |
| Majd. |
| Will, then. |
| Majd. |
| Majd. |
| Next? |
| Pertu. |
| A drink. |
| Pertu. |
| Pertu. |
| Next? |
| Megiszik. |
| Drink. Drink up. |
| Megiszik. |
| Megiszik. |
| And last? |
| Üdvözlöm. |
| Greetings. |
| Üd-vöz-löm. |
| Üdvözlöm. |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Simone: All right, what is the first thing we'll discuss from this lesson? |
| Csaba: First, a word from the last sentence: majd. |
| Simone: "Will" or "then." |
| Csaba: Majd. |
| Simone: This word means that whatever I say is going to happen in the future. |
| Csaba: For example: Majd hívlak! |
| Simone: "I'll call you." Repeat again. |
| Csaba: Majd hívlak. The second word is hívlak, which means "I call you." Majd just adds the future element to the sentence. |
| Simone: All right, and what else? |
| Csaba: We had the sentence: már egy éve itt van. |
| Simone: "You have been here for a year." It is still formal here, by the way. Can we hear it again? |
| Csaba: Már egy éve itt van. Egy éve is "for a year." These sentences are present tense in Hungarian, since of course there is no present perfect. |
| Simone: How do you say: "I haven’t eaten for a day." |
| Csaba: Egy napja nem eszem. Egy napja is "for a day." |
| Simone: Actually, you can check a lot more of these time words in our lesson notes, right? |
| Csaba: Oh yes, that's right. All the ready-made conjugated time words are there with examples. |
| Simone: Alright, and on to the grammar. |
| GRAMMAR POINT |
| Simone: In this lesson, we're going to talk about how to ask if it's okay to switch to informal language in Hungarian. |
| Csaba: Yes. Not only will there be examples, but also a guide on politeness - when and how to use them. |
| Simone: Where do we start? |
| Csaba: With Mr. Szabó's sentence: Tegeződjünk. Megengedi? The first half is the verb tegezni, or "to use the informal language with someone." In the dialogue, it is already conjugated first-person plural and imperative. |
| Simone: Repeat again. |
| Csaba: Tegeződjünk. |
| Simone: When do I say this? |
| Csaba: You only utter this if you are older and you rank higher at a workplace. See, even Mr. Szabó added megengedi? or "may I/do you allow?" |
| Simone: I see. So this may not work all the time. |
| Csaba: The question is a little bit more polite. Tegeződhetünk? |
| Simone: "Can we use the informal tegez with each other?" |
| Csaba: Tegeződhetünk? Starting with "can we" instead of "let's" makes this more polite. Teachers very often start a course saying this. |
| Simone: All right, what else do we have? |
| Csaba: Tegezz nyugodtan! |
| Simone: "You can use the informal tegez with me." |
| Csaba: Tegezz nyugodtan! This is directed towards younger people, maybe teens, or if the age difference is big. The elderly might say this one. Literally: "I allow you to tegez me." |
| Simone: And then I thank them. |
| Csaba: Very good manners, yes. |
| Simone: What if I don't want them to tegez? |
| Csaba: Honestly, I've never heard an offer refused in my life. On the other hand, in heated arguments on the train or somewhere public, you may hear: Ne tegezzen! |
| Simone: "Don't tegez me!" |
| Csaba: Ne tegezzen! This really is for arguments only. People also say ne tegezz, which means the same, ironically in the informal language. This is more of a joke, really. |
| Simone: Say it one more time. |
| Csaba: Ne tegezz. If you ever get in an argument with a Hungarian friend, throw this in for comedic purposes. |
| Simone: Ok, thanks for the tip! |
| Csaba: Well, we've had words, expressions, and culture as well. One last thing for now. |
| Simone: What's that? |
| Csaba: I just want to remind everyone that the conjugation for the formal language is the same as the third-person conjugation. |
| Simone: Which means "formal you" equals "he, she or it" |
| Csaba: Right. Keep this in mind when you are going through the conjugation tables. |
Outro |
|---|
| Simone: OK, that's it for this lesson. Make sure you check the lesson notes and we'll see you next time. |
| Csaba: Sziasztok. |
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