Learn the difference between the Hungarian endings that mean "for you" and "on you"
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Simone:Hi everyone and welcome back to HungarianPod101.com, this is Upper Beginner season 1 lesson 12 - Do You Want the Good News or the Bad News in Hungary? I’m Simone. |
| Gergő:And I am Gergő. Sziasztok. |
| Simone:In this lesson we're going to learn to express the difference between “for you” and “on you” in Hungarian. |
| Gergő:The conversation takes place at the steakhouse. |
| Simone:It’s between Jenny and uncle Béla. |
| Gergő:There is a big age difference between them, which means that normally uncle Béla uses informal language and Jenny uses formal. |
| Simone:In this conversation, however, it is irrelevant. Let’s listen to the conversation. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Simone:Let's hope that we're not going to lose uncle Béla mid-season. |
| Gergő:I don't want to spoil anything for our listeners, but I am going to say that the rest of the season is going to be dark and edgy. |
| Simone:Well, another reason to keep listening. Poor uncle Béla can't enjoy his retirement years in peace. |
| Gergő:No, he can't, and neither can most of Hungary's population over 60. The pensions are not particularly good. Actually, most people work until they can. |
| Simone:Which I imagine hinders the advancement of younger employees. |
| Gergő:It often does. It also doesn't help the terrible unemployment statistics among young people in Europe. Governments have been trying to force-retire the elderly, which is another source of social unrest. |
| Simone:Well, we can't contribute to all that by losing one of the main characters, right? |
| Gergő:...Or can we? |
| Simone:(laughs) All right, let’s move onto the vocab. |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Simone:Let’s take a closer look at some of the words and phrases from this lesson. What is the first vocabulary item you want to discuss? |
| Gergő:Aranyom is a term that's usually used by the elderly to address younger people. |
| Simone:Can you put it in a sentence? |
| Gergő:Aranyom, szabad az a szék? |
| Simone:“Darling, is that seat taken?” It is a sort of endearment. |
| Gergő:Yes. Normally elderly men say this to younger women. |
| Simone:Please repeat the sentence again. |
| Gergő:Aranyom, szabad az a szék? The literal translation of the phrase is “my gold,” or “my treasure.” |
| Simone:All right, aranyom, let's move on. |
| Gergő:See, since we’re around the same age, it is just creepy. But anyways, the next term is ellenőrzés. |
| Simone:It means “inspection” or “check-up.” |
| Gergő:Here is a sentence everyone is scared stiff by, Ellenőrzést tart a NAV. |
| Simone:“The tax department is doing an inspection.” I take it NAV is short for tax department, right? |
| Gergő:Yes, tax and customs actually. I'll repeat the sentence again. Ellenőrzést tart a NAV. Ellenőrizni is “to inspect, to check.” This is the base word which was turned into a noun earlier. |
| Simone:One more sentence, please. |
| Gergő:Ellenőrzöm az olajat. |
| Simone:“I'll check the oil.” In the car, that is. |
| Gergő:Ellenőrzöm az olajat. |
| Simone:Anything else for vocab? |
| Gergő:Egészségügy means “health care” and/or “public health/sanitation.” |
| Simone:Let's use it in a sentence. |
| Gergő:Az egészségügyben nincs pénz. |
| Simone:“There is no money in health care.” |
| Gergő:This is an awkwardly spelled compound of egészség and ügy. Egészség, or “health” is egész and -ség, or “whole -ness.” Ügy means “thing, cause, case.” |
| Simone:Make sure you check the PDF lesson notes for the spelling. Once you learn to say it right, you will be able to avoid the patronizing smiles of locals watching you try to struggle through it. |
| Gergő:I never thought of it that way. But if you say it right, that will be appreciated. It is essentially the same thing in “cheers”... |
| Simone:Egészségedre! |
| Gergő:...right, and you'll also see a lot of objects at the drugstore or chemist with the word egészségügyi attached to the name. |
| Simone:This just means “sanitation(al).” Napkins, wet wipes, toilet paper and all sorts of hygiene-related objects have the word in their name. All right, now onto the grammar. |
| GRAMMAR POINT |
| Simone:In this lesson, you’ll learn the difference between “for you” and “on you.” Gergő, what is our key sentence? |
| Gergő:Két hét múlva 100 emberre kell főzni. |
| Simone:“In two weeks’ time, we have to cook for a 100 people.” |
| Gergő:Két hét múlva 100 emberre kell főzni. The endings that express “on, onto” and “for” may have very similar meanings in Hungarian in certain contexts. |
| Simone:We're going to cover some of these meanings, learn to conjugate the nouns with the relevant endings and compare the two constructions. Can you first say the two types of endings that are attached to the noun in the sentence? |
| Gergő:-ra, -re, both of which mean “on, onto.” The other one is, -nak, -nek, or “for.” |
| Simone:As usual, there are more forms for one meaning to follow vowel harmony rules. We're going to repeat the relevant part of the first sentence here. Again with the sentence “We have to cook for 100 people.” |
| Gergő:100 emberre kell főzni. 100 emberre kell főzni. |
| Simone:This sentence would have a very similar meaning if we said... |
| Gergő:100 embernek kell főzni. |
| Simone:In this second sentence, we changed the ending to -nek. One of the differences between the two constructions is that using -ra, and -re implies a more formal tone and it also implies that the people for whom, or in Hungarian “on whom,” you cook are somewhat below you in social/family ranks. |
| Gergő:The ending -ra also often implies that there is a sense of regularity in the action. |
| Simone:Can you give us another example? |
| Gergő:Otthon én főzök a gyerekekre. |
| Simone:“At home, I'm the one that does the cooking for the kids.” |
| Gergő:Otthon én főzök a gyerekekre. This example is both regular, and implies that you’re doing an action that the recipients would not be able to do for themselves. |
| Simone:This is fine when you are talking about your kids, but you probably wouldn't use it for your wife or husband, who is fully capable of getting food for her or himself. The next example is more appropriate and it also communicates a gentler tone in this context. |
| Gergő:Főzök a férjemnek. |
| Simone:“I cook for my husband.” Let's find another similar example. |
| Gergő:Két emberre keresek. |
| Simone:“I make money for two people.” - literally ‘on two people’ |
| Gergő:Két emberre keresek. Keresni has the meaning of “to make money.” |
| Simone:If you “earn on two people,” like this sentence implies, it means that you are also supporting someone else, who otherwise cannot or will not do it for themselves. Now, what happens if I change the ending again? Can you say an example like that and explain? |
| Gergő:A páromnak keresek. |
| Simone:“I make money for my partner.” |
| Gergő:A páromnak keresek. This sentence communicates that you are making money to make your partner happy, and so it sounds nicer. |
Outro |
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| Simone:Okay, that’s it for this lesson. |
| Gergő:See you next time everyone. Sziasztok! |
| Simone:Thanks for listening, bye! |
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