# Akarok magyart tanulni



## Gerry905

If I want to say _I want to learn your language _it would be _Akarok ezt nyelvet tanulni _meaning I would have to use the Accusative case. However, when I try to translate _I want to learn Hungarian, _it gives me_ Akarok magyarul tanulni, _instead of the Accusative _magyart. _What's the logic or grammar rule behind this?


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## jazyk

Akarok ezt nyelvet tanulni doesn't mean "your language". The closest it means is "this language", you'd have to place "a" before "nyelvet". Your language in the accusative would be "a nyelvedet". 

Magyarul ends in the adverbial suffix ul. It equates more or less to saying "the Hungarian way" , "à la hongroise" , or "po-russki", if it helps at all. You simply have to use it after verbs like study, speak, or understand.


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## Gerry905

jazyk said:


> Akarok ezt nyelvet tanulni doesn't mean "your language". The closest it means is "this language", you'd have to place "a" before "nyelvet". Your language in the accusative would be "a nyelvedet".
> 
> Magyarul ends in the adverbial suffix ul. It equates more or less to saying "the Hungarian way" , "à la hongroise" , or "po-russki", if it helps at all. You simply have to use it after verbs like study, speak, or understand.



Oh, yeah I was wondering which phrase to use and ended up using “I want to learn this language” and didn't go back to change the English sentence, my bad. 

I know what magyarul/angolul etc. mean on their own or used in other contexts but here it still confuses me. So if the suffix -ul is to be used with nouns after study, understand, would the following be correct:
Akarok rajzolásul tanulni. 
Akarok fizikul felfogni.


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## francisgranada

Gerry905 said:


> So if the suffix -ul is to be used with nouns after study, understand, would the following be correct:
> Akarok rajzolásul tanulni.
> Akarok fizikul felfogni.


No, because -ul is not used with nouns but with adjectives. For example _rossz _(bad) > _rossz*ul* _(bad*ly*).  In case of _magyarul _the word _magyar _is an adjective, thus _magyar*ul* _is as if we said *_Hungarian*ly* _in English. (Of course,  _Hungarianly _does not exist in English, I've invented this word only for illustration ....)

The endig -ul has nothing to do with the accusative -t. So _Akarok rajzolás*ul* tanulni _has no sense, but _Akarok rajzolás*t *tanulni_ is grammatically ok (_rajzolás _is a noun).


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## Gerry905

francisgranada said:


> No, because -ul is not used with nouns but with adjectives. For example _rossz _(bad) > _rossz*ul* _(bad*ly*).  In case of _magyarul _the word _magyar _is an adjective, thus _magyar*ul* _is as if we said *_Hungarian*ly* _in English. Of course,  _Hungarianly _does not exist in English, I've invented this word only for illustration ....




Hmm, I see. So any word that means a language in Hungarian is not a noun but an adjective? How would you say “I want to learn the Hungarian language” then?


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## francisgranada

Gerry905 said:


> Hmm, I see. So any word that means a language in Hungarian is not a noun but an adjective?


No, it is exactly like in English. The words magyar, angol, francia ... can be either nouns or adjectives the same way as the words Hungarian, English, French can be both nouns and adjectives in English. However, in case of _magyarul_ _tanulni _the word _magyar _is perceived as an adjective (consequently _magyarul _is an adverb) while in case of _magyart tanulni_ it is a noun.


> How would you say “I want to learn the Hungarian language” then?


A magyar nyelvet akarom tanulni. (Here _magyar _is an adjective, _nyelvet _is a noun in accusative)
Magyart akarok tanulni. (Here _magyar _is a noun, meaning "Hungarian language")
Nem ismerek egy magyart se. (= I don't know any Hungarian, i.e. "no Hungarian person". Here _magyar _is a noun)


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## Gerry905

francisgranada said:


> No, it is exactly like in English. The words magyar, angol, francia ... can be either nouns or adjectives the same way as the words Hungarian, English, French can be both nouns and adjectives in English. However, in case of _magyarul_ _tanulni _the word _magyar _is perceived as an adjective (consequently _magyarul _is an adverb) while in case of _magyart tanulni_ it is a noun.
> 
> A magyar nyelvet akarom tanulni. (Here _magyar _is an adjective, _nyelvet _is a noun in accusative)
> Magyart akarok tanulni. (Here _magyar _is a noun, meaning "Hungarian language")
> Nem ismerek egy magyart se. (= I don't know any Hungarian, i.e. "no Hungarian person". Here _magyar _is a noun)



Wait, so _Magyar*t* akarok tanulni _is correct? I was under the impression that it was wrong and the correct sentence was _Magyar*ul* akarok tanulni. _What is the difference between the two?


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## francisgranada

Gerry905 said:


> Wait, so _Magyar*t* akarok tanulni _is correct? I was under the impression that it was wrong and the correct sentence was _Magyar*ul* akarok tanulni. _What is the difference between the two?


Both are correct and as to the meaning they may be equivalent. However, it depends on the context which one is better (to say so). In Hungarian also the word order is important, more over the verb _akarni _can be conjugated in two ways (_akaro*k* _and _akaro*m*_) .... In other words, there are combinations that in English cannot be rendered quite exactly without a concrete context.

All in all, without any context, I'd say that "Magyarul akarok tanulni" means "I want to learn Hungarian" and "Magyart akarok tanulni" is more or less  "The Hungarian is what I want to learn". But these are  only approximative translations.


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## AndrasBP

francisgranada said:


> No, because -ul is not used with nouns but with adjectives.


To complicate things even further  , the suffix -ul/-ül *is* sometimes used with nouns, too, but this use of the suffix is mostly restricted to literary or archaic language.
However, there are a few fixed phrases in modern Hungarian where _the suffix follows a noun_, and means something like "as a ...":

példá*ul* = for example (lit. "as an example")
feleség*ül* vesz = to marry a woman (lit. to take "as a wife")
emlék*ül* = in memory (of)
hálám jelé*ül* = as a sign of my gratitude


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