# sziasztok mindenki



## NagyKiss

In Hungarian plural is represented by 3rd person conjugation. Peldául - Mindenki jár, három ember áll stb.

If I want to greet everybody can I say "Sziasztok mindenki", or should it be "Szia mindenki"?


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## bibax

Szervusz and szia (unlike zdravstvuj in Russian) are not verbs. So you can say "Szia/servusz, mindenki!" (= Hello, everybody!).


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## Olivier0

I think both are possible with "mindenki": singular form (szia, szervusz) or plural form (sziasztok, szervusztok).
Do native Hungarians see a difference, maybe in speech style?
-- Olivier


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## francisgranada

Olivier0 said:


> ... Do native Hungarians see a difference, maybe in speech style?


 I dont't think so, but I don't know ... I say automatically sziasztok, when there are more persons.

As to the origin of _-tok_, as far as I know, in this case it is a possessive ending, 2.pers. pl., so "szervusztok" meant originally "your servant" (szervusz < Latin servus). Szevasz and szia are from szervusz. See also the old fashioned greeting "Alázatos szolgája (az úrnak, Önnek ...)".


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## tomtombp

I'd say "Szia mindenki"  but not "Sziasztok mindenki" .


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## francisgranada

tomtombp said:


> I'd say "Szia mindenki"  but not "Sziasztok mindenki" .


Yes, with "mindenki" it sounds better also to me. The "problem" is that I usually don't say "mindenki" so I don't know how should I say it spontaneousely  ... Perhaps "Helló, mindenki" .


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## gorilla

You can not grammatically address (talk to) "mindenki" in Hungarian. You'd need to reformulate the sentence so that you don't address this "entity", but you talk about it. Like in a more formal context: "Üdvözlök mindenkit" (I greet everyone) or less formal "Üdv mindenkinek" (Greeting to everyone). In these cases we don't address "mindenki" but talk about it (on grammar level). By addressing, I mean like a vocative usage (comma and naming the entity).

So szia/sziasztok do not go with "mindenki" in any form. Simply "sziasztok".
"Szia, mindenki" sounds very much like a forced word-by-word translation made by a non-native speaker.


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## bibax

"Szia, mindenki" sounds unnatural in Czech as well. I wonder why a Russian wants to know how to say it in Hungarian. Maybe "Sziasztok, (minden) emberek!" would sound better?


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## NagyKiss

bibax said:


> I wonder why a Russian wants to know how to say it in Hungarian.


Well maybe because I am studying Hungarian, could that be a valid reason?)))
And for what it's worth in Russian it sounds pretty natural "Всем привет (Hello [to] everybody)".


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## tomtombp

gorilla said:


> You can not grammatically address (talk to) "mindenki" in Hungarian. You'd need to reformulate the sentence so that you don't address this "entity", but you talk about it. Like in a more formal context: "Üdvözlök mindenkit" (I greet everyone) or less formal "Üdv mindenkinek" (Greeting to everyone). In these cases we don't address "mindenki" but talk about it (on grammar level). By addressing, I mean like a vocative usage (comma and naming the entity).
> 
> So szia/sziasztok do not go with "mindenki" in any form. Simply "sziasztok".
> "Szia, mindenki" sounds very much like a forced word-by-word translation made by a non-native speaker.



I must agree. All your options sound better than "Szia mindenki", I just wanted to say that if I had to choose between the two original options: "Szia mindenki" and "Sziasztok mindenki", I would definitely prefer the first one.
Interesting however, that while your "Üdv mindenkinek" sounds good, "Szia mindenkinek" doesn't, although they seem to follow the same grammatical pattern. ("Greetings to everyone" and "Hi/hello to everyone.")


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## bibax

I wonder as "привет or здравствуй, каждый/всякий!" (roughly "szia, mindenki!") must sound unnaturally in Russian, too.

"Всем привет" translates as "Üdv mindenkinek" (more precisely it means "привет каждому́"), it has a different grammatical structure than "здравствуй, каждый!".


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## tomtombp

bibax said:


> "Szia, mindenki" sounds unnatural in Czech as well. I wonder why a Russian wants to know how to say it in Hungarian. Maybe "Sziasztok, (minden) emberek!" would sound better?



Yes, but instead of "Sziasztok emberek" you should narrow down to "Sziasztok srácok" (This only works in Hungarian if all of them are man) or "Sziasztok fiúk/lányok" or "Sziasztok barátaim" to address a mass of people. But this might be a different question because "mindenki" is not involved.


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## Zsanna

Gorilla has already given the main answer, just some additions:


NagyKiss said:


> In Hungarian plural is represented by 3rd person conjugation.


 I'm afraid it isn't very clear like that. 


NagyKiss said:


> Pe*é*ldául - Mindenki jár, három ember áll stb.


 Where is the plural in these examples? The point is exactly that the singular is used where the plural would be needed in some other languages. 
_Minden_ (like _every_ in English) and its derivatives (e.g. mindenki/everybody) goes with the singular (on all levels), like in English. But it cannot be used in every sentence as it is used in English. 
An example for this your suggestion:


NagyKiss said:


> If I want to greet everybody can I say "Sziasztok mindenki", or should it be "Szia mindenki"?


At least it doesn't sound natural. In such a case a simple Sziasztok!/Szervusztok! would be the normal form.

There is a tendency that I find quite unpleasant when I hear it on the radio. The leader of a program greets the guest speaker this way: Jó reggelt _Önnek_! This last word makes the whole thing so artificial, so false... But who knows? Maybe this is where our future lies.
But until then, please, don't bother with "mindenkinek" after a greeting.


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## NagyKiss

Zsanna said:


> Where is the plural in these examples?



Ehh, not the best example, but "3 people/persons" is plural (not in Hungarian, it is not)
But I get the point thank you and welcome back to the forums)))


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