# I've been learning Hungarian!



## Redfandango

Hi everybody

I have recently started learning Hungarian and had been planning to try out what I have learned to say with someone next week. I now know, however, that there will be an entire group of Hungarian friends there. They don't know I've been studying the language and I wanted to start by saying "I've got a surprise for you all... I've been learning Hungarian!" 

Is anyone able to help me translate that?

I've made an attempt to do it myself but don't know if it's correct. I have translated the sentence as "van egy meglepetésem mindannyiótoknak... Tanulok magyarul!"

Is that completely wrong? I really would appreciate any help you can offer!


Red


----------



## Zsanna

Welcome Red to the forum,

Your translation is faltless but let me develop a bit...

"Mindannyiótoknak" is good but "számotokra" could also be used. (Has the advantage of being a bit shorter.)
Alternatively, nothing at all. You can just say: Van egy meglepetésem. 
The other words (equivalent of "for you") are not necessary (without sounding superfluous, though).

_Tanulok magyarul_ is not a translation of your original sentence (strictly speaking) but fits the situation perfectly.
(Your sentence in English would be something like "Elkezdtem magyarul tanulni" but also taking into consideration what you intend to express.)


----------



## Redfandango

Zsanna said:


> Welcome Red to the forum,
> 
> Your translation is faltless but let me develop a bit...
> 
> "Mindannyiótoknak" is good but "számotokra" could also be used. (Has the advantage of being a bit shorter.)
> Alternatively, nothing at all. You can just say: Van egy meglepetésem.
> The other words (equivalent of "for you") are not necessary (without sounding superfluous, though).
> 
> _Tanulok magyarul_ is not a translation of your original sentence (strictly speaking) but fits the situation perfectly.
> (Your sentence in English would be something like "Elkezdtem magyarul tanulni" but also taking into consideration what you intend to express.)


Wow, thanks Zsanna. That's such a thorough, interesting and helpful answer 😃 It's also taught me some new aspects of Hungarian and how to express the kinds of meanings I want to in the language. I really do love Hungarian. It is truly special! Thank you for helping me with it!

Red


----------



## Zsanna

You are welcome.* Looking forward to the questions to come. 

Edit: * What I really meant was: Szívesen. (You _would_ say it in Hungarian in such a case.  )


----------



## francisgranada

Agreeing with Zsanna, in my opinion this _mindannyiótok _accentuates the idea of "you all". I.e. as if we said in English "for all of you", "for everyone of you", or something like this ... 

(Perhaps it won't help you too much, but  the Italian "a tutti quanti voi" is a quite good translation of _mindannyiótoknak_)


----------



## Redfandango

Thank you so much for all your help!


----------



## River_Eniko

Hey Redfandango,

I agree with Zsanna, I would also say: "Elkezdtem magyarul tanulni" in this context. However, "Tanulok magyarul" is not correct. You can only say "magyarul tanulok". You need to use negate in the sentence to make it correct: "Nem tanulok magyarul" but in this case you should not say it.


----------



## Zsanna

River_Eniko said:


> "Tanulok magyarul" is not correct. You can only say "magyarul tanulok".


Eniko, welcome to our forum.  (Better late than never...)
However, I have to contradict you here. "Tanulok magyarul."_ is_ a correct sentence in itself. (Maybe with an exclamation mark you could imagine it easier. 'Ta-da! Surprise everybody: I'm learning Hungarian!') The accent is on "tanulok".
Or would you think "Tanulok vezetni!" (as a big event announced) is incorrect as well?

I agree that the other forms suggested sound "smoother" but don't forget that it is not a simple fact that is stated in the OP*.

*OP (in our WR terms)= original (first) post (in the thread).


----------



## River_Eniko

Zsanna said:


> Eniko, welcome to our forum.  (Better late than never...)
> However, I have to contradict you here. "Tanulok magyarul."_ is_ a correct sentence in itself. (Maybe with an exclamation mark you could imagine it easier. 'Ta-da! Surprise everybody: I'm learning Hungarian!') The accent is on "tanulok".
> Or would you think "Tanulok vezetni!" (as a big event announced) is incorrect as well?
> 
> I agree that the other forms suggested sound "smoother" but don't forget that it is not a simple fact that is stated in the OP*.
> 
> *OP (in our WR terms)= original (first) post (in the thread).


Thanks Zsanna! 

I can only imagine using it in one case: En nem [valamit csinalok - egy ige, de nem tudnek peldat], hanem tanulok magyarul.

In this case, the emphasize is indeed on tanulok.

However, I'm not a Hungarian teacher so I'm happy to hear their opinion on this. (Or if you're one then of course you're probably right. )

I've asked some friends and family members about this and the answers were mixed.  - which was surprising.
I guess it depends on where you grew up.

"Or would you think "Tanulok vezetni!" (as a big event announced) is incorrect as well?" - Well, this one made me think a little bit. I think I've heard others saying this and this is why it sounds familiar but I would say "Vezetni tanulok!" in
this case as well.

I just remembered the case of "de viszont". When I went to school, saying it was a sin.  But now, if I'm right, they changed the rules because a lot of people used the two together.


----------



## francisgranada

Zsanna said:


> "Tanulok magyarul."_ is_ a correct sentence in itself.


I fully agree.

In my opinion  "Tanulok magyarul" is perfectly OK (even without any explicit context).  Of course, in this case  "tanulok" is  emphasized more then  "magyarul", for _whatever _reason.


----------



## River_Eniko

francisgranada said:


> I fully agree.
> 
> In my opinion  "Tanulok magyarul" is perfectly OK (even without any explicit context).  Of course, in this case  "tanulok" is  emphasized more then  "magyarul", for _whatever _reason.


Would you mind providing me with a context? I think I know what you mean but I can't think of any example. As I mentioned in my previous comment: "En nem [valamit csinalok - egy ige, de nem tudnek peldat], hanem tanulok magyarul." Yes, you can say "Tanulok magyarul." in this case instead of this longer sentence emphasizing the fact that you study Hungarian and not eat it or whatever. But I can't think of a situation where I would say it in this particular case.


----------



## francisgranada

River_Eniko said:


> Would you mind providing me with a context?  ....



No context:
Question: Nem jösz velem egy sörre?
Answer 1: Nem megyek, mert (éppen) tanulok  spanyolul.
Answer 2: Nem megyek, mert (éppen) spanyolul tanulok.

Both the answers are correct and adequate in my opinion.  It depends on what the "answerer" wants to emphasize or accentuate more.

Context 1:
Question: Mit csinálsz? Megint nézed a tévét?
Possible answer: Nem, nem nézem a tévét, hanem tanulok spanyolul. 

Context 2:
Question: Mit csinálsz? Megint olaszul tanulsz?
Supposed answer: Nem, most spanyolul tanulok.


----------



## River_Eniko

francisgranada said:


> No context:
> Question: Nem jösz velem egy sörre?
> Answer 1: Nem megyek, mert (éppen) tanulok  spanyolul.
> Answer 2: Nem megyek, mert (éppen) spanyolul tanulok.
> 
> Both the answers are correct and adequate in my opinion.  It depends on what the "answerer" wants to emphasize or accentuate more.
> 
> Context 1:
> Question: Mit csinálsz? Megint nézed a tévét?
> Possible answer: Nem, nem nézem a tévét, hanem tanulok spanyolul.
> 
> Context 2:
> Question: Mit csinálsz? Megint olaszul tanulsz?
> Supposed answer: Nem, most spanyolul tanulok.


Thanks francisgranada!

I think, context 2 is perfect.

For context 1, this makes sense to me:

Question: Mit csinálsz? Megint nézed a tévét?
Answer: Nem, most javítom a tévét. - in this case, you can emphasize that now you do something else with the tévé

In your example, nézem a tévét és spanyolul tanulok are two different things.

I suggest that we let it go now.  I accept that you have a different opinion and there is nothing wrong with it.


----------

