Learn how to use the imperative
Now Playing: Lesson Audio
Get a breakdown of the dialogue and translations instantly with the Premium line-by-line Audio. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Get this lesson’s key vocab, their translations and pronunciations. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Unlock Lesson Notes and Transcripts for every single lesson. Sign Up for a Free Lifetime Account and Get 7 Days of Premium Access.
| INTRODUCTION |
| Simone:Hi everyone and welcome back to HungarianPod101.com. This is Upper Beginner, season 1, lesson 21 - A Persistent Hungarian. I am Simone. |
| Gergő:And I am Gergő. Sziasztok. |
| Simone:In this lesson you'll learn some uses of the imperative. |
| Gergő:This conversation takes place at the steakhouse. |
| Simone:It’s between Jenny and Tamás, her ex-boyfriend. |
| Gergő:The speakers know each other, so they’re using informal language. |
| Simone:Let’s listen to the conversation. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Simone:What is csajszi? |
| Gergő:This is a cute way to refer to girls. Csajszi is actually the diminutive form of csaj, or “girl.” Csaj is a slang word but it is very commonplace now. |
| Simone:Sounds foreign. |
| Gergő:It is a loanword from the Romany language, actually. Like many Romany loanwords, this is used in slang in Hungary. If you say csajszi, you essentially say “chick.” |
| Simoen: I don't think we've had many Romany loanwords yet in our lessons. |
| Gergő:There are tons of them though. Csávó is the male counterpart, “dude” or “guy.” People also say csóró. |
| Simone:I know that one, “poor.” |
| Gergő:Lóvé? |
| Simone:That means “money.” |
| Gergő:Good job! These are all informal, slang expressions in Hungarian. |
| Simone:Okay, now let’s take a look at the vocab. |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Simone:Let’s take a closer look at some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| Gergő:Kihasznál is the prefix-verb compound that means “make use of” or “exploit.” |
| Simone:Can you say an example? |
| Gergő:Használd ki az időt! |
| Simone:“Make (a good) use of your time.” |
| Gergő:Használd ki az időt! If the object is a person, the meaning of the verb is “exploit.” |
| Simone:Can you say an example to that too? |
| Gergő:Kihasznált engem. |
| Simone:“He/She used/exploited me.” Well, before they can exploit you, they have to conquer you, right? |
| Gergő:Wow. The return of the forced segues. Meghódít means “conquer.” |
| Simone:It worked though. What example sentence can you give us? |
| Gergő:Meghódítom a Mount Everestet. |
| Simone:“I'll conquer Mount Everest.” |
| Gergő:Meghódítom a Mount Everestet. Just like Simone suggested, if the object is a person, the meaning of the word will be “seduce.” |
| Simone:An example, please. |
| Gergő:A fodrász meghódította a barátnőmet. |
| Simone:“The hairdresser has seduced my girlfriend.” |
| Gergő:A fodrász meghódította a barátnőmet. |
| Simone:Do I detect some sort of biographical reference. |
| Gergő:No. Not at all. Why? No. Definitely not. Let's move on. Leráz means “get rid of,” but it is only used with people. |
| Simone:Please translate this, “I have gotten rid of this guy.” |
| Gergő:Leráztam ezt a fickót! The original meaning of ráz is “to shake” and the prefix le- is attached to it. |
| Simone:Okay, now onto the grammar. |
| GRAMMAR POINT |
| Simone:In this lesson, you’ll learn about the uses of the imperative. |
| Gergő:Besides giving orders and making requests, the imperative is used in indirect requests and reported speech as well. |
| Simone:In this lesson, we'll be taking a look at such sentences as well as other functions of the imperative. What is the first example from the dialogue? |
| Gergő:Azért jöttem, hogy meghódítsalak. |
| Simone:“I came here to seduce you.” |
| Gergő:Azért jöttem, hogy meghódítsalak. |
| Simone:Oh, everyone, dig up your lesson notes with the conjugation table now! The example sentence has what is called a clause of purpose. |
| Gergő:These sentences in Hungarian contain the word azért and the clause-connecting hogy, that you’ll see everywhere. |
| Simone:This is the important part - clauses of purpose normally have a verb in imperative in Hungarian. |
| Gergő:Just like meghódítsalak. |
| Simone:So let's analyze this. |
| Gergő:The base verb is meghódít. This is in the clause of purpose. To make it imperative, we have to take the -jalak ending from the table; the subject is “I” and the object is “you.” This would get you meghódítjalak, which is an incorrect form. |
| Simone:After attaching the -jalak ending, also process this through the rule for -t verbs. The rule says that if the verb ends in -ít, you have to change the -j sound of the ending to a -s. |
| Gergő:Which gets us Meghódítsalak. |
| Simone:This is now the correct form. The clauses of purpose use the imperative. Some ready made examples, please Gergő. |
| Gergő:Azért jöttem, hogy megkeressem Sanyit. |
| Simone:“I came here to find Sanyi.” |
| Gergő:The base verb is keres. Azért jöttem, hogy megkeressem Sanyit. |
| Simone:What we have learned is that clauses of purpose have imperative verbs. Anything else? |
| Gergő:Sure. A pszichológusom mondta, hogy legyek kitartó! |
| Simone:“My psychologist told me to be persevering.” |
| Gergő:A pszichológusom mondta, hogy legyek kitartó! When we are reporting someone else's words... |
| Simone:...which means we start our sentence with “he said, he asked, he suggested, etc, the original imperative remains in imperative in the reported sentence too. |
| Gergő:So you'll have Légy kitartó! |
| Simone:“Be persevering.” |
| Gergő:Azt mondta, hogy legyek kitartó. |
| Simone:“He said I should be persevering.” The person changed, of course. First it is second person singular, then it is first person singular. One more example like this, and we can wrap it up. |
| Gergő:Az orvos azt mondta, hogy ne egyek húst. |
| Simone:“The doctor said I shouldn't eat meat.” |
| Gergő:Az orvos azt mondta, hogy ne egyek húst. |
Outro |
|---|
| Simone:All right, let's finish this here. |
| Gergő:Everyone, until next time, sziasztok! |
| Simone:Thanks for listening, bye! |
Comments
Hide