# Miss out



## Lazar_Bgd

Dear all,

This is my first question on this forum about vocabulary. This is normally not rocket science with all the online dictionaries, however I’ve been struggling with how to express appropriately ’to miss out on something’, like when you should take part in something but for some reason you don’t. In German the word is: verpassen. In my language we also have just one word for it but in Hungarian there seems to be a lot and I never know which one is good in which context. The options the dictionary gives are mainly these: lemarad valamiről, elszalaszt, elmulaszt, lekésik valamit.

However, in a recent online article I could see two other verbs: kihagy and kimarad, like in:

’Neked kimarad pár hónap, valaki más meg elveszti benne az életét’ (I guess this could mean ’you lose a few months’ but maybe also ’you miss a few months’...?)
Or:
’Nagyon sokat hagytunk ki’, in the sense of ’we have missed out on a lot of things’ (while the bars were closed)

So, what would be a common way of saying this ’miss out on something’, like in:
’If you haven't tried this recipe, you're really missing out’
Or how would you say: ’Don’t miss out on it!’ (In Spanish: ’No te lo pierdas’.)?

Thank you!


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## AndrasBP

Hi Lazar,

I'm not sure if all the uses of the English phrase translate well into idiomatic Hungarian, but I would say the most common options are "lemarad valamiről" and "kihagy valamit".



Lazar_Bgd said:


> However, in a recent online article I could see two other verbs: kihagy and kimarad, like in:
> 
> ’Neked kimarad pár hónap, valaki más meg elveszti benne az életét’


I just saw the same video yesterday.  
"Kimarad" is more like "to be left out" or "to be not included":

_Ebből a könyvből kimaradt húsz oldal.
A videóból kimaradtak a legviccesebb részek.
A legszegényebb gyerekek kimaradtak a digitális oktatásból._



Lazar_Bgd said:


> ’Neked kimarad pár hónap, valaki más meg elveszti benne az életét’ (I guess this could mean ’you lose a few months’ but maybe also ’you miss a few months’...?)


 Yes, I think it can mean both.



Lazar_Bgd said:


> ’If you haven't tried this recipe, you're really missing out’


Maybe: _Nem tudod, mit hagysz ki, ha nem próbálod ki ezt a receptet!_



Lazar_Bgd said:


> ’Don’t miss out on it!’


_Ezt ne hagyd ki! (_...or to make it more emphatic:_ Ezt *ki* ne hagyd!)
Erről ne maradj le!_

I think both phrases are quite common.


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## Lazar_Bgd

Dear Andras,

Great, thanks a lot! And just one last question about ‘kihagy’: the above examples are with the noun as an object, but what about ’kihagy’ + verb? I guess the verb should be in infinitive...

For example, (in this case the English equivalent would be ’to fail to do something’):

I failed to take the right turn and now I have to drive through half the city to get back.

My try: Kihagytam befordulni ahol kellett volna, és most keresztül kell hajtanom a város felén, hogy visszatérjek.

Or would you rather say: ’Elmulasztottam...’ (that’s what the dictionary offers as translation for ’fail’)?


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## AndrasBP

Lazar_Bgd said:


> but what about ’kihagy’ + verb? I guess the verb should be in infinitive...


Unfortunately the construction 'kihagy' + verb is not possible.

The English phrase 'to fail to do something' doesn't translate easily into Hungarian.



Lazar_Bgd said:


> My try: Kihagytam befordulni ahol kellett volna,


Maybe: 
Nem fordultam be, ahol kellett volna...
Elfelejtettem befordulni, ahol kellett volna...
Elmulasztottam a jobbra kanyarodást...

I'm trying to come up with something better but I'm _failing _miserably...


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## Lazar_Bgd

AndrasBP said:


> Unfortunately the construction 'kihagy' + verb is not possible.


Oh well, and I was so proud of my Hungarian sentence!  

OK, thanks, good to know. I'll use the good old 'elfelejt' for 'fail to do something'.


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## francisgranada

Lazar_Bgd said:


> .... In German the word is: verpassen. In my language we also have just one word for it ....


What is corresponding word in Serbian?


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## Lazar_Bgd

francisgranada said:


> What is corresponding word in Serbian?


Propustiti.


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## francisgranada

Lazar_Bgd said:


> Propustiti.


Thank you   . The etymological equivalents of this verb exist both in Czech and Slovak (_propustit _resp. _prepustiť_), but they are not used in the sense you are asking for.


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## Zsanna

When "fail to do sg" surely works as a synonim, you can simply use a negative sentence:


Lazar_Bgd said:


> I _failed to take_ the right turn and now I have to drive through half the city to get back.


_Nem fordultam_ jobbra (ahol kellett volna), így most átvezethetek a fél városon, mire visszaérek (oda v. az elgazáshoz).

There is another useful colloquial verb you can use for "miss out (on sg)": *elszalaszt* (vmit). It usually refers to opportunities (that "run away without you being able to catch them in time"). 
E.g. Ezt az alkalmat elszalasztottam, de remélem, legközelebb sikerül időben észrevennem, ha lesz ilyen. -> I missed (out on) this opportunity but I hope I'll recognise it in time if/when it props up next.


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## Lazar_Bgd

Zsanna said:


> _Nem fordultam_ jobbra (ahol kellett volna), így most átvezethetek a fél városon, mire visszaérek (oda v. az elgazáshoz).


Dear Zsanna,

Thank you! I just have a follow-up question about your translation of my example. I fail to understand why you use the *-hat/-het* structure (which, as far as I know, expresses permission or a possibility) for ’_to have to do something_’ which is an external obligation... Could it be that I have missed out on one of its meanings? (Lehet, hogy kihagytam az egyik jelentését?)

And also, what does ’elgazás’ mean?


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## AndrasBP

Lazar_Bgd said:


> And also, what does ’elgazás’ mean?


I'll let Zsanna answer the main question but 'elgazás' is just a typo. It should be 'el*á*gazás' (forking, branching).


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## Zsanna

Thank you, AndrasBP, for the correction of the typo.

As to the use of -hat/-het: it may also express an emotional 'plus' (= the speaker's annoyance, dispair and/or his complainig mood) one may wish to convey (at least in Hungarian) in such a case, as opposed to describing the simple facts.
In this case, the use of -_hat/-het_ 'replaces' its principal use for expressing _may_ or _can_.
As the situation you described is likely to imply the speaker's annoyance, I used this form for the translation into Hungarian, even though it does not turn out from the words in your original sentence itself.

Another example expressing the speaker's (maybe more) obvious annoyance or moaning :
Három hónapot vártam a vízvezetékszerelőre mire kijött, de nem csinálta meg rendesen a munkát, és most hív*hat*om megint!
-> I waited for the plumber for 3 months before he came, but - as he didn't do the job properly - I have to call him again!


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## Lazar_Bgd

AndrasBP said:


> I'll let Zsanna answer the main question but 'elgazás' is just a typo. It should be 'el*á*gazás' (forking, branching).


Thank God it's not 'elgázolás'!


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## Lazar_Bgd

Dear Zsanna, thank you! Jó tudni, nagyon hasznos!


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## francisgranada

Lazar_Bgd said:


> .... I fail to understand why you use the *-hat/-het* structure (which, as far as I know, expresses permission or a possibility) for ’_to have to do something_’ which is an external obligation... Could it be that I have missed out on one of its meanings? (Lehet, hogy kihagytam az egyik jelentését?)


In my opinion this  *-hat/-het* it is not a Hungarian peculiarity.  In Zsanna's example a verb corresponding to _-hat/-het_  would be used in all the languages I know a bit (including the Slavic ones).


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## Zsanna

Francis, it is possible but I am not sure whether _can_ could really be used in English (or in French) _in this sense_. (Unless expressing dispair with the right intonation...?)


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## francisgranada

Zsanna said:


> Francis, it is possible but I am not sure whether _can_ could really be used in English (or in French) _in this sense_. (Unless expressing dispair with the right intonation...?)


When I wrote "a verb corresponding to _-hat/-het", _I  didn't mean necessarily the verb _can _(maybe _may _or _have to _or something else would be better, depending on the context). The same in Romance languages ...

(Practically, I wanted to say that this  _-hat/-het _is a different theme/topic, independent on the original question about "miss out" .....)


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