# ugye?



## elemika

Szervusztok,

how do you usually answer the questions with "ugye" at the end?
-Ez  ház, ugye?

-"Igen, ugye"   (?)  
- "Igaz"           (?)

Köszönöm


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## Encolpius

Hello, the word *ugye *comes from *úgy *[so, Russian: так] + *-e* [no English equivalent; Russian -ли], so ugye is the same as the Russian: так ли? / да?  ....

- Ez ház, ugye? 
- Az. 

- Ez ház, ugye? 
- Igen. 

- Ez ház, ugye? 
- Igen, az.


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## Zsanna

There is another, typical (albeit a bit special) alternative:

- Ez ház, ugye?
- Ház.


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## Encolpius

I think there are many alternatives. You can use any positive answer...like: Persze. Természetesen. Hogyne. Mi az hogy. Naná. Bizony, etc...
And since ugye can follow a negative sentence, then you can use any negative answer. 

- Ez még *nem *az a ház, ugye? [this is not that house yet, right]
- Nem, ez még nem az.


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## elemika

Thank you, Encolpius and Zsanna!
Now it's  more clear to me.

Have a nice week!

@Encolpius: many thanks for your comment in Russian


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## tomtombp

Zsanna said:


> There is another, typical (albeit a bit special) alternative:
> 
> - Ez ház, ugye?
> - Ház.



I woldn't use this. I'd say "igen" and -if I wanted to be a bit more funny or add a special extra flavor to my reply- all the other suggestions of Encolpius in his post#4 in.


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## Encolpius

Zsanna said:


> There is another, typical (albeit a bit special) alternative:
> 
> - Ez ház, ugye?
> - Ház.



To be honest, I have been a little bit perplexed with that alternative, too. Then started to imagine a real conversation, saying it loudly and: 

3-year old grandson asking his grandfather: Ez ház, ugye? 
Grandfather: Ház, ház, fiam, ez az. Ügyes vagy.

But I am not sure what Zsanna meant by "typical (albeit a bit special) alternative"...


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## tomtombp

Encolpius said:


> To be honest, I have been a little bit perplexed with that alternative, too. Then started to imagine a real conversation, saying it loudly and:
> 
> 3-year old grandson asking his grandfather: Ez ház, ugye?
> Grandfather: Ház, ház, fiam, ez az. Ügyes vagy.
> 
> But I am not sure what Zsanna meant by "typical (albeit a bit special) alternative"...



Yes, your made-up dialogue makes that usage more natural to me. I just can't imagine replying "ház" only. Maybe if someone gets pissed off by being asked the same question (Ez ház, ugye?) the fifth time, he/she might shout at the other: "HÁZ!!!!"


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## Zsanna

I can imagine a lot of different situations where it could be said but I didn't want to go into long explanations about it before the OP actually asked for it. For me the point was that in Hungarian we tend to vary our answers in such a case (= positive answer to a Yes or No Question), instead of using the classical "yes" (igen). 
It is another question (with quite a long answer) why we use and which in a particular case.


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## francisgranada

Szerintem ne komplikáljuk túlságosan a válaszainkat, mert elvész a lényeg. Végtére más nyelvekben is lehet mindenféleképpen válaszolni, helyzettől függően. Például olaszul is el tudok képzelni ilyeneket hogy:
- E' questa una casa? (Ez egy ház?)
- Casa, casa ... cos'altro potrebbe essere ?  (Ház, ház ... mi más lehetne?) 
stb ...

Szerintem a "normális" (vagy általános) válasz az eredeti kérdésre "_Igen_".


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## tomtombp

francisgranada said:


> Szerintem a "normális" (vagy általános) válasz az eredeti kérdésre "_Igen_".


Szerintem is.


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## Zsanna

Francis, it is a _speciality in Hungarian_ I am talking about, not a statistically most given answer - which we don't know. (In Italian it is not as typical as in Hungarian, although you are right, they don't always say "si", there is also "ecco" and others... still.) 
For a language learner it is useful to see things "globally" as well as in its details.


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## francisgranada

Zsanna said:


> ... For a language learner it is useful to see things "globally" as well as in its details.



Szia Zsanna! You are right (a hozzászólásom nem kritika akart lenni ...). What I wanted to say is that the general answer to questions with "ugye" is "igen". The other possibilities like "az/ház/igen, az" are rather alternatives for answering questions in Hungarian, not necessarily with "ugye", and they do not work automatically: 

- Hárman vagytok, ugye?
- Az  (absolutely wrong)

- Ez ház? 
- Az (possible, even if no _ugye _is in the question)

As the original question is about answering "ugye", I think the other options may be misleading for a begginner, if they were understood as "universal" alternatives to "igen". 



> ... it is a _speciality in Hungarian_ I am talking about ...


I agree, though it works also in some other languages, e.g. in Slovak (but this is not about "ugye").


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## tomtombp

francisgranada said:


> Szia Zsanna! You are right (a hozzászólásom nem kritika akart lenni ...). What I wanted to say is that the general answer to questions with "ugye" is "igen". The other possibilities like "az/ház/igen, az" are rather alternatives for answering questions in Hungarian, not necessarily with "ugye", and they do not work automatically:
> 
> - Hárman vagytok, ugye?
> - Az  (absolutely wrong)
> 
> - Ez ház?
> - Az (possible, even if no _ugye _is in the question)
> 
> As the original question is about answering "ugye", I think the other options may be misleading for a begginner, if they were understood as "universal" alternatives to "igen".
> 
> 
> I agree, though it works also in some other languages, e.g. in Slovak (but this is not about "ugye").



Ismét tökéletesen egyetértek. Javaslom, fogadjuk el ezt a választ a végsőnek.
I can't agree more again, I suggest taking this reply as the ultimate one. It has everything.


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## Zsanna

@ francis: There is no problem, we all have our own sensibility for languages. 
However


francisgranada said:


> - Ez ház?
> - Az (possible, even if no _ugye _is in the question)


I would think that "Az." would be just as good if the "ugye" were in the sentence.


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## Zsanna

Little note from your moderator:
Please, let us respect the original poster by sticking to the language s/he used when starting the thread.


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## francisgranada

Zsanna said:


> ... I would think that "Az." would be just as good as an answer if the "ugye" were in the sentence.


 Of course. I only wanted to point out that this kind of answer does not depend on the presence/absence of "ugye" (as the original question is about "ugye").


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## Zsanna

francisgranada said:


> Of course. I only wanted to point out that this kind of answer does not depend on the presence/absence of "ugye" (as the original question is about "ugye").


OK. But the question remains whether it is right/necessary to make a distinction between Y/N questions with and without ugye. I can't really see much reason for that linguistically.


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## francisgranada

In case of yes/no probably not. From the point of view of Elemika's question/dilemma is important to underline that "ugye" cannot be repeated in the answer, because ugye [< úgy-e?) is a question itself. 

So e.g. the following Italian construction
- Questa è una casa, vero?
- (Sì,) vero.
doesn't work with _ugye_. We cannot answer "(Igen,) ugye."


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