# To be + adjective (+/ noun)



## FRENFR

It would be nice to have a list of words or expressions using the 'adjective + noun' form, minus this 'to be' principle.  Or perhaps with 'to be' + adjective, whatever you suggest is more beneficial/special.

What do you think?


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## francisgranada

There does not exist a list of expressions or words, because it is a general rule. In the 3rd person, you never use the verb to be (_van_, _vannak_) with an adjective (or with an other noun), that directly *qualifies* the subject in question. 

Examples:

_Ez szép_ - This is nice
_Ez a lány szép -_ This girl is beautiful
_Ez a lány nem szép -_ This girl is not beautiful
_Ezek a lányok szépek_ - These girls are beautiful
_Ezek a lányok nem szépek_ - These girls are not beautiful

_Eszter jó szakács -_ Eszter is a good cook
_Eszter egy szép nő -_ Eszter is a beautiful woman
_Eszter a feleségem -_ Eszter is my wife
_Eszter az enyém -_ Eszter is mine
_Eszter magyar -_ Eszter is Hungarian
_Eszter nem londoni -_ Eszter is not from London (not a "londoner")

_Az jó_ - It (that) is good
_Az nem jó -_ It (that) is not good
_Ő jó_ - He/she is good
_Ő nem jó -_ He/she is not good
_Ők jók -_ They are good
_Ők nem jók -_ They are not good
_Ők jó emberek -_ They are good people
_Ők nem jó emberek -_ They are not good people

In other cases, when you express *state/condition*, *quantity*, *place** , time *... etc, the verb to be (_van_ and _vannak)_ is not omitted:

Examples:

_Ez itt van -_ This is here
_Az nem ott van -_ It (that) is not there
_Ez a lány nincs itt -_ This girl is not here
_Ezek a lányok a házban vannak -_ These girls are in the house
_Az asztalon van egy citrom -_ There is a lemon on the table
_Az asztalon nincs citrom -_ There is no lemon on the table
_Az városban nincsenek emberek -_ There are no people in the town 

_Eszter az iskolában van -_ Eszter is at school
_Eszter itthon van -_ Eszter is at home
_Eszter szépen van felöltözve -_ Eszter is dressed "nicely"_ (I don't know a good English translation )_
_Eszter meg van elégedve -_ Eszter is content ("contented")

_Ő jól van -_ He/she is well (it is not a quality but a "state" or condition)
_Ők jól vannak -_ They are well
_Ők öten vannak -_ They are (in) five
_Holnap van a születésnapom_ - Tomorrow (it) is my birthday

P.S. _nincs, nincsenek_ is used instead of "nem van" and "nem vannak"


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## FRENFR

*dressed nicely/well-dressed is fine 

A wonderful list.  The developmental/progressive nature is helpful, too

So, 'Eszter (nice that you remember her name - it's as if I use it a lot! ) nincs itthon, would be the negative, for example.

I do wonder, however, why sometimes van is at the end of the sentence, and sometimes not.  I know word order is important.

Compare your:

_Ezek a lányok a házban vannak -_ These girls are in the house

and
_
Az astalon van egy citrom -_ There is a lemon on the table.

I can't say, (I'm guessing):  _Ezek a lányok vannak a házban _or _Az astalon egy citrom_ van
?


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## francisgranada

FRENFR said:


> ... I can't say, (I'm guessing): _Ezek a lányok vannak a házban _or _Az astalon egy citrom_ van ?


 
You _can_ perfectly say also _this_ way... Your "problem" is, that in the modern English the word order is very fixed (it was not already so in the Old English) while in Hungarian and in some other languages it's more or less free. 

Try to open a new thead about the word order in Hungarian so we can discuss it in details...


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## FRENFR

Yes, I have seen 'many an example' (do you know this form?) of how word order changes depending on what is more important; that you can almost have as many versions as there are words in the sentence!

I'll do a word-order thread once I can start writing sentences with words in them


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## francisgranada

FRENFR said:


> ... I have seen 'many an example' (do you know this form?) ....


 
I think yes (as far as I remember ... )



> I'll do a word-order thread once I can start writing sentences with words in them


 
You can use the examples with the "lemon on the table" and the "girls in the house"  ...


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## Zsanna

To come back to the original question, the pattern is roughly this: whether it is an adjective or a noun after "to be", the infinitive (see below) will indicate that the 3rd person Singular (of the conjugation - i.e. the one without van!) is considered to be the starting point for the entire conjugation. 
You only indicate (by suffixes) when the person or the number (or both) changes. 
So the 3rd person _Plural_ is only different from the 3rd person _Singular_ by its "number" - it indicates more than one -, so the _plural_ is expressed after the 3rd person Singular form and there you have the 3rd person Plural. 

e.g. to be + adjective=> to be free = *szabad* /
to be + noun => to be a man = *férfi*

I am free. - Szabad vagyok. / I am man.- Férfi vagyok.
You are free. - Szabad vagy./ You are a man. - Férfi vagy.
He/she/it is free. - *Szabad*. / He is a man. - *Férfi*.
We are free. - Szabadok vagyunk./We are men. - Férfiak vagyunk.
You are free. - Szabadok vagytok./You are men. - Férfiak vagytok.
They are free. - *Szabadok*./ They are men. - *Férfiak*.​ 
The next step is to know _when_ to use the _van(/nak)_ in the 3rd persons. 
I would say that, statistically, we probably miss them out more often than not, so it may be easier to learn a list of the cases when they are used.​ 
Alternatively, we could give examples of particular cases when both forms (with and without _van_) are possible and explain the difference.​ 
E.g. "Kedd." (a) or "Kedd van." (b)
a) 
-You could say that as an answer to the question "What day is it?"
-You could also say it as a title, for yourself "Let us see, what that word indicates to me - not necessairily philosophically, maybe just by going through mentally the days of the week to remember what you are supposed to do on the different days... (Monday - go to the Post Office, Tuesday - pay the gas bill, etc.)​ 
b) 
- as a surprise that it is already Tuesday and e.g. still no news about X or Y!
- as positioning yourself within the week, maybe speculating "Today is Tuesday, so I'll have three days to finish this, will it be enough?"
- you could say it as a threat/warning "Be careful, it is Tuesday and you'll have to give an answer by tomorrow."​ 
But even if it is fun for the native speakers, you'll tell us how useful such an execise could be for you...​


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