# To Declare Someone/Something as Someone/Something



## 123xyz

How do you say "to proclaim/declare as" in Hungarian?

For example (context):
- The experiment was declared to be officially over.
- The information was declared to be unimportant.
- He was declared an invalid.

Thank you in advance


----------



## Zsanna

123, do they have to be in the Passive? 
You know that the Passive Voice makes life a bit difficult in Hungarian, so if you are interested in the verbs _only_, it would be more practical to find examples in the Active Voice...


----------



## 123xyz

No, they don't have to be passive, I just accidentally provided only passive examples .
I was looking for a translation to the verb, not those particular sentences. I just assumed that the third person plural without a subject would be used in the translation, like "they declared the experiment to be officially over..." and so on.


----------



## tomtombp

My vote is for nyilvánít.


----------



## 123xyz

Thank you for the answer,

So is this how that verb would work:
1. A kísérletet befejezetté nyilvánították?
2. Az adatot jelentéktelenné nyilvánították?
3. Fogyatékossá nyilvánították?


----------



## francisgranada

123xyz said:


> ...So is this how that verb would work:
> 1. A kísérletet befejezetté nyilvánították?
> 2. Az adatot jelentéktelenné nyilvánították?
> 3. Fogyatékossá nyilvánították?


 Yes, exactly.


----------



## Zsanna

Not exactly, francis. Apart from the suffixes, I would say it sounds much too "official" to be good Hungarian. (Although it does exist in some cases. Even in a joking expression like "vkit hülyének nyilvánítani" somebody who is "officially" crazy/silly/stupid - meaning e.g. "here is the proof that he is totally barmy, now he can be declared to be - really - crazy".)



123xyz said:


> 1. A kísérletet befejezetté nyilvánították? I wouldn't say it like this. I cannot even suggest an alternative without knowing about a context.
> 2. Az adatot jelentéktelenné nyilvánították? ...jelentéktelen*nek* ... but again, I wouldn't say it like this. (Maybe: _elégtelenennek nyilvánították_? Depends on the context.)
> 3. Fogyatékossá nyilvánították? ... fogyatékos*nak*... this could go in an official text.


----------



## francisgranada

Szia, Zsanna. You are right, _jelentéktelen*nek* _and _fogyatékos*nak* _would be the correct forms. (I was concentrating only to the verb _nyilvánítani_).


----------



## 123xyz

So does the verb "nyilvánít" take the translative or the dative case? How come you changed "jelentéktelenné" and "fogyatékossá" to "jelentéktelennek" and "fogyatékosnak" but not "befejezetté" to "befejezettnek"? I've found examples on the internet with the translative case too: "szentté nyilvánították" and "életveszélyessé nyilvánították", "gyásznappá nyilvánították", "várossá nyilvánították", "természetvédelmi területté nyilvánították", besides many other with the dative: "eltűntnek nyilvánították", "alkalmasnak nyilvánították", "megfelelőnek nyilvánították", etc...


----------



## francisgranada

Perhaps in some cases both the alternatives are possible, but as far as I "feel" the logic of these expressions, the difference is _grosso modo_ the following: 

fogyatékossá válni - to become invalid (handicapped)
fogyatékossá nyilvánítani - this would suggest something like "to make him invalid by declaration", which is not the case because he is _de facto_ invalid (regardless of any declaration)
fogyatékosnak nyilvánítani - to declare his invalidness officially (give him an "official status")

befejezetté nyilvánítani - to consider/to make (the experiment) finished by an officcial declaration
befejezettnek nyilvánítani - could work as well, according to the context


----------



## 123xyz

So, it appears that the translative case indicated a change of state as a consequence to the declaration while the dative indicates a simple declaration.

Thank you for the replies


----------

