# nem



## Denitsa.Br

A question about the word order: 

Which is correct: 

_Én nem vagyok férfi._ or _Én nem férfi vagyok_. 
_Te nem vagy férfi._ or _Te nem férfi vagy._

Is it the same when I use adjectives? 

_Én nem vagyok fiatal._ or _Én nem fiatal vagyok._

What if I don't put "Én" or "Te"? Which is correct then:

_Nem vagyok férfi._ or _Nem férfi vagyok._
_Nem vagy férfi._ or _Nem férfi vagy._
_Nem vagyok fiatal._ or _Nem fiatal vagyok._
_Nem vagy fiatal._ or _Nem fiatal vagy._

I learned the both variants as correct in one site but I was said later that only one of them is correct so I am really confused.


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## MSZ

Denitsa.Br said:


> A question about the word order:
> 
> Which is correct:
> 
> _Én nem vagyok férfi._ or _Én nem férfi vagyok_.
> _Te nem vagy férfi._ or _Te nem férfi vagy._
> 
> Is it the same when I use adjectives?
> 
> _Én nem vagyok fiatal._ or _Én nem fiatal vagyok._
> 
> What if I don't put "Én" or "Te"? Which is correct then:
> 
> _Nem vagyok férfi._ or _Nem férfi vagyok._
> _Nem vagy férfi._ or _Nem férfi vagy._
> _Nem vagyok fiatal._ or _Nem fiatal vagyok._
> _Nem vagy fiatal._ or _Nem fiatal vagy._
> 
> I learned the both variants as correct in one site but I was said later that only one of them is correct so I am really confused.


You might get a better answer from a more authoritative source, but here goes:



Though there is a difference between using and omitting the pronouns _en_ (I) or _te_ (you), it is pretty much independent of the word-order question. If time permits, I might get back to this.
Pre-verbal/pre-copula position is special in many ways in Hungarian, and at least three of these "ways" are relevant to figuring out what's going on here:
One way is that normal, unemphasized, anarthrous (article-less) objects or predicates come before the verb:
_Férfi vagyok._ (I am a man. Lit: man am)
_Fiatal vagyok_. (I am young. Lit: young am)
 
Another way that the position is special is that negation words (among some others) very much prefer that position, and will displace a word that would otherwise sit there. In the following two sentences the predicates *man* and *young* are displaced. (This is how you get the first of each pair of your sentences. Compare these with the neutral sentences in 3, above)
_Nem vagyok *férfi*. _(I am not a man. Lit: not am man)
_Nem vagyok *fiatal*.

_
 
The third point is that an element of a sentence that is being emphasized (usually by way of contrast) also gets to sit before the verb. When we have a neutral statement describing someone coming into a room, the particle _be_ (in) comes before the verb _jott_ (came), as in the first sentence below; in the second set of sentences we're emphasizing an unusual entry method of coming through the window, (possibly contrasting it with more usual ways), or explicitly denying  the usual way so the phrases _az ablakon _(through the window) or _nem az ajton _(not through the door) end up in preverbal position and boot the particle _be_ past the verb:
_J bejött az ajton _(J came in through the door - _"be_ (in) _jött  _ (came)  _az_ (the) _ajton_ (door-through)")

_J az ablakon jött be! _as well as: _J nem az ajton jött be!_
(J came in through the window! - glossing word for word:"J the window-through came in" or: J did not come in through the door! - "J not door-through came in").  In English, you sometimes might want to gloss these as: "It's through the window that J came" or "It's not through the door that J came".
 
Now, putting this together:
Standard, neutral word order: _F__iatal vagyok_ (not given in your examples)
Negated: _Nem vagyok fiatal_
Contrastively emphasizing the negation of the predicate _fiatal _as in 5, above: _Nem fiatal vagyok _( - a contrastive or contradicting emphasis that would make sense in the context:  _Nem *fiatal* vagyok, hanem *szép*!  _"I'm not *young*; I'm *pretty*!" _Nem *férfi* vagyok, hanem *nő*! _"I'm not a *man*; I'm a *woman*!".
 
Whew! 

So, for anyone still reading , it's not that _Nem fiatal/__férfi __ vagyok_ is incorrect - rather, it has a special, contrastive meaning that would probably sound most natural in a statement contradicting a previous assertion.

Hope this helps ...


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## Zsanna

I cannot add much to MSZ's thorough answer but just to be on the safe side, I'd like to provide a short answer after the original questions (to reinforce understanding).



Denitsa.Br said:


> Which is correct:
> 
> _Én nem vagyok férfi._ or _Én nem férfi vagyok_.
> _Te nem vagy férfi._ or _Te nem férfi vagy._


 
All are correct sentences (in themselves). 
But as they don't mean the same, the "correctness" depends on what you mean to say. (Just a "normal" negation or putting the accent on a certain aspect you wish to negate.)




Denitsa.Br said:


> Is it the same when I use adjectives?
> 
> _Én nem vagyok fiatal._ or _Én nem fiatal vagyok._


 
Yes, it is. 
(Normal negation/ Putting the accent on negating the "youth aspect" of the previous affirmation, indicating the existence of a better fitting term for the occasion which a native speaker expects to hear, as well! Like: Nem fiatal vagyok, hanem szép! - according to MSZ's example. )



Denitsa.Br said:


> What if I don't put "Én" or "Te"? Which is correct then: ...


 
If you don't put them, the sentences sound immediately more natural in Hungarian. 
I would even risk to say that they are _really_ correct only without the personal pronouns. (See below why.)



Denitsa.Br said:


> I learned the both variants as correct in one site but I was said later that only one of them is correct so I am really confused.


The contradictory verdicts are due to the fact that it is not easy to give a short answer that is correct at the same time.
In a "neutral" (or "average"/"normal") sentence, personal pronouns are not used in Hungarian. (The reason for that is that the verb conjugation is enough to indicate the subject of the sentence: if you hear "vagyok", you can be sure that the subject is "I", not "you", "he", etc. so it is redundant to use them just to indicate the subject.)

However, you cannot avoid using them when there is a logical accent on them.
E.g.:
Nem _én_ mondom, hanem _te_! (= It is not _me_ who is saying that but _you_!)

However, even some native Hungarians are forgetting the proper use of their language on foreign influence and bad translations, so one hears more and more sentences like "Én nem beszélek ilyesmiről." without intending to continue to tell us who does (if not you).

P.S.
I have just realised that your final question can be interpreted in another way, as well. 
What you call "both variants" can also refer to the pair of sentences of the different word order... but if it is the case, hopefully you have already found the answer to that above.


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## MSZ

Nice points, thanks!

A quibble:
_"so much about being short"_

 the English idiom is _so much* for* ..._

(for what it's worth ; I am sure you won't mind)


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## Zsanna

Thanks, MSZ! 
I was absolutely convinced ... probably because in Hungarian it would be: "ennyit a rövidségről"!


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