Learn how to make comparisons
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Simone:Hi everyone and welcome back to HungarianPod101.com, This is Upper Beginner season 1 lesson 11 A Tall Hungarian Order. I’m Simone. |
| Gergő:And I am Gergő. Sziasztok. |
| Simone:In this lesson you’ll learn how to make comparisons in Hungarian. |
| Gergő:The conversation takes place at Jenny's steakhouse. |
| Simone:It’s between Jenny and Kristóf. |
| Gergő:They use informal language. |
| Simone:Let’s listen to the conversation. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Simone:So gimnázium in Hungarian is high-school, right? |
| Gergő:And this is one of the many words that mislead the learner. Such words, which sound very similar in two languages, but mean something completely different, are called “false friends.” |
| Simone:Can you give us another example? |
| Gergő:Szolid is also a common one. In Hungarian, it’s “shy, moderate.” When a Hungarian says that “the results are solid,” there is a chance he is saying the exact opposite of what you think he’s saying. |
| Simone:That does sound confusing! All right, one more and then we're off to vocab. |
| Gergő:If you are looking for a “physician,” you may get taken to a physicist. In Hungary, many people think that “physician” is fizikus, or “physicist.” |
| Simone:They’re not really going to help with your sore stomach, are they? |
| Gergő:Not unless they’re really talented! By the way, ‘physician’ in Hungarian is orvos, just for the record. |
| Simone:Good to know. Let's move on to the vocab now. |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Simone:Let’s take a closer look at some of the words and phrases from this lesson. Gergo, what’s the first expression? |
| Gergő:Normális vagy? |
| Simone:This question with the proper tone means “Are you out of your mind?” |
| Gergő:Normális vagy? The original meaning of normális is of course “normal” or “standard.” As in normál méretet kérek. |
| Simone:“I want the standard size.” |
| Gergő:Normál méretet kérek. But it is often used as an adjective referring to someone's mental capacity. Nem vagy normális. |
| Simone:“You are crazy/stupid.” This is quite insulting, if you are saying it to someone other than a friend. |
| Gergő:Right. But why would you?! Now, mázli means “luck.” Hungarians often say, Mázlid van! |
| Simone:“You got lucky!” or “This is your lucky day.” |
| Gergő:Mázlid van. |
| Simone:Whereas “bad luck” is? |
| Gergő:Pech. In a sentence, peched van. |
| Simone:“You got unlucky.” Say it again, please. |
| Gergő:Peched van. |
| Simone:What is the next expression? |
| Gergő:Tornaterem means “gym.” |
| Simone:This normally refers to the huge basketball court-size rooms where schools do their gym classes. |
| Gergő:For the regular neighborhood gyms, you say edzőterem. |
| Simone:Use this is a sentence, please. |
| Gergő:Leugrom az edzőterembe. |
| Simone:“I'll go downstairs to the gym.” |
| Gergő:Leugrom az edzőterembe. |
| Simone:You don't say that very often,huh? |
| Gergő:(sarcastic laugh) Mind you, I don't need to, because this is an audio recording, not a TV one! |
| Simone:Makes sense. All right, now onto the grammar. |
| GRAMMAR POINT |
| Simone:In this lesson you’ll learn how to make comparisons in more detail. |
| Gergő:Az több, mint amennyi vendégünk valaha volt. |
| Simone:“That's more than all the guests we've ever had.” |
| Gergő:Az több, mint amennyi vendégünk valaha volt. In this sentence, we made a comparison. |
| Simone:We're going to explain the more complicated points of making comparison step-by-step. |
| Gergő:First, a simple sentence. Az kevesebb, mint 25. |
| Simone:“That is less than 25.” |
| Gergő:Az kevesebb, mint 25. |
| Simone:Comparisons are often made by putting a comma, and the right intonation, with the word mint in the sentence. The adjective is in the comparative. This sentence Gergő just said is simpler than the one from the dialogue, and we have covered these before. |
| Gergő:Right. So listeners, it may be time for you to review our earlier seasons if you don’t remember. In this lesson, we saw több, mint amennyi. This means something like “more, than as much” or “more, than the following amount.” |
| Simone:This is then not followed by an exact number, but a rough estimate-explanation. An example, please. |
| Gergő:Több barátom van, mint amennyi Péternek. |
| Simone:“I have more friends than Peter.” |
| Gergő:Több barátom van, mint amennyi Péternek. We don't really know how many friends Peter has, but we know that I have more than that amount. You don't need amennyi if you have an exact number. Listen to this, Több barátom van, mint 25. |
| Simone:“I have more than 25 friends.” |
| Gergő:Több barátom van, mint 25. See? It’s an exact amount, so there’s no amennyi in the sentence. How did I come up with amennyi? What happens is that you put an ‘a’ sound at the beginning of the question word that refers to amounts. |
| Simone:Listeners, you should know that there are two of those. Mennyi and hány both mean “how much or how many?” These become amennyi or ahány in comparative sentences, and they are interchangeable. |
| Gergő:And you can do the same trick with the question word hol. It becomes ahol in the comparative sentences. One example, Ez jobb hely, mint ahol tegnap voltunk. |
| Simone:“This is a better place than where we were yesterday.” |
| Gergő:Ez jobb hely, mint ahol tegnap voltunk. Again, if there is an actual, precise, definite location, you don't need ahol. |
| Simone:One example for that too, please. |
| Gergő:Ez jobb hely, mint a Gödör. |
| Simone:“This is a better place than Gödör.” Which is a popular spot in Budapest. |
Outro |
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| Simone:Okay, that’s it for this lesson. Make sure to check the lesson notes to reinforce what you’ve learned in this lesson. Thanks for listening, bye! |
| Gergő:See you next time everyone. Sziasztok! |
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