# Passive with "to get"



## FRENFR

Right,

Here is a hard one for you.  In English, 'to get' has 7 meanings generally speaking (meaning; to become, obtain, catch, find, understand, etc...)

I do not want _all _of these translations for now.  I am interested in how you use _get _in the "To get + past participle", i.e. the passive/be, and in the sense of _receive_.

Some examples:

1.  I got/was caught out by the rain (I went out with no umbrella thinking it wouldn't rain, but it did)

2.  I hope that my friend will not get/be dumped by her boyfriend.

3.  It's not amusing, getting/receiving a call at 4am.

Perhaps you have some words of wisdom re. your own linguistic understanding of 'to get' when you were learning English.  Was it hard to _get used to?_ 

Thanks again!


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## Zsanna

Hello FRENFR,

It is not a hard one from the point of view that there is simply not a verb in Hungarian that could have exactly those meanings in one. (No "7 in one" with those meanings at least).  
In consequence, there is not much use in trying to find a correspondance between the examples, apart from what can be said generally about the Passive: you try to avoid it in Hungarian. How? Let's see your examples:

1. I got/was caught out by the rain - Elkapott az eső.

2. I hope that my friend will not get/be dumped by her boyfriend. - Remélem, hogy a barátnőmet nem dobja a barátja.

3. It's not amusing, getting/receiving a call at 4am. - Nem valami vicces, amikor reggel négykor megszólal a telefon.

So, no Passive and no translation of the _get* _in consequence, either. It is difficult to explain how because Passive is not a structure you'd use naturally in Hungarian. 

* It would be: (el)kap, (be/meg)szerez, hozzájut stb.


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## francisgranada

When the verb _*to get*_ is used in its original meaning (to receive, obtain, catch ...) then the simplest Hungarian equivalent is generally _*kapni*_ (eventually with various preffixes)_._ 



FRENFR said:


> ... how you use _get _in the "To get + past participle", i.e. the passive/be, and in the sense of _receive _... 3. It's not amusing, getting/receiving a call at 4am.


 
This example is not passive neither in English ... It could be translated in Hungarian also like "_Nem szórakoztató reggel négykor *kapni* egy hívást_" (litterally _"it's not amusing *to get* a call at four in the morning_"), though stilistically it's better to say like Zsanna has suggested, or alternatively e.g. "_Nem szórakoztató, ha reggel négykor felhívnak (valakit)"_



> 2. I hope that my friend will not get/be dumped by her boyfriend.


 Here, the verb _get_ is used rather instead of _become_ (or something like this ...) and not in its original meaning.



> Perhaps you have some words of wisdom re. your own linguistic understanding of 'to get' when you were learning English. Was it hard to _get used to?_


 
As "words of wisdom ", I can say that the English verb _to get_ has _today_ a plenty of phraseological meanings (I think more than 7), even substituting other verbs (like _to have,_ for example), so you can hardly find an other language where it could be translated generally with one or two verbs (regardless if it's in passive or in active form ...) 

The English_ to get_, is not so hard _to understand_ (by my personal oppinion), because there can be found a "common denominator" for the meanings of this verb. It's an other problem to be able _to use_ this verb correctly, when you are not a native English speaker ... But your problem is "inverse": you have to _get used_ _to_ (or to "find out" the logic of) the different meanings of the Hungarian verbs ...


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## Ateesh6800

One of the greatest difficulties of English for me has been its disposition _to use the same simple verb in so many distinct meanings_ (*get* is in this category; and phrasal verbs in general are the same nightmare).

I do understand the frustration though: when you'd use the verb *get* in English, and you need a Hungarian solution, _it would be sweet to have just maybe one or two that always work_.

Won't happen.

* * *

There are strategies though. But let's see what we start out from _in English_.
*to get + participle* (*get drunk, get fired, get caught in flagranti*) is a structure in English that is indeed similar to the passive structure *be + participle* (be drunk, be fired, be caught). Now, _Hungarian as a rule does not like the passive voice very much_. It is grammatical but used sparingly and often frowned upon by the erudite.​ So, what do we do? Check this:

* Can you replace the active subject and the direct object?*

(1) I got hit by a car. TRANSFORM:
(2) A car hit me. TRANSLATE:
(3) Autó; elütni valakit; én. => *Elütött egy autó (engem).*

(1) I got caught by my wife.  TRANSFORM:
(2) My wife caught me. TRANSLATE:
(3) A feleségem; elkap; én. => Elkapott a feleségem.

*What if there is no active subject?*

(1) I got drunk (by whom????).

In these cases, you just need to learn the vocabulary item: *to get drunk = berúgni*.

(2) Berúgtam.

* * *

So, with your examples:

(1)  I got/was caught out by the rain. TRANSFORM:
(2) The rain got me / caught me out. TRANSLATE:
(2) Az eső; elkap; én. => *Elkapott az eső.*

(1)  I hope that Sue will not get/be dumped by Joe. TRANSFORM:
(2)  I hope that Joe will not dump Sue. TRANSLATE:
(3) Remélem, hogy...; kirúgni valakit. => *Remélem, Joe nem rúgja ki Sue-t.*
Or:
(3) Remélem, hogy...; szakít valakivel. => *Remélem, Joe nem szakít Sue-val.*

When you do _not_ have an active subject:

(1) It's not amusing getting/receiving a call at 4am.
... then you use the third person plural without a subject. This is the "general subject" like "they say..." (meaning "it is often said") or like "Mann..." in German or "Se dice..." in Spanish. So:

(2) It's not amusing when *one gets a call* at 4am.
With a verb in the 3rd person plural without naming a subject:
(3) Nem vicces, amikor hajnal 4-kor *hívják fel *az embert.
Or:
(3) Nem vicces, amikor hajnal 4-kor *hívnak fel*.

* * *

*Message to take home:*

*(1)* Break away from _word-level equivalences_. For good.  Instead, express _ideas_ and _look for ways to express ideas_. But use these techniques:

*(2)* When a *get + participle* or *be + participle* structure has a specific active subject as well as a specific direct object, convert it mentally into an active sentence and it'll be easier to match that with a Hungarian sentence.

*(3)* When a *get + participle* or *be + participle* structure is used _without an active subject_, find a "general subject" solution in Hungarian. Third person plural without a noun is one way.

*(4)* When you deal with set phrases that include the verb get like *to get drunk*, simply look up the Hungarian verb (*berúgni*) and learn it (forget about trying to find a generic solution that reflects the _structure _of the English).

* Bonus track:*

*To get used to*, *to get accustomed to*"is easy (solution No 4 above, look it up in the dictionary): "hozzá*szokik* valami*hez*".

Now, Hungarian is agglutinative, so it's a good idea to also learn "hozzászok*tat* valaki*t* valami*hez*": "to make someone get used to something". _Por ejemplo_:

"Hozzászoktattam a feleségemet ahhoz, hogy minden reggel a fórum az első, és csak utána reggelizünk."
"I have made my wife get used to the idea that first thing in the  morning I check the forum and we only have breakfast after that."

Hungarian also operates with _prefixes_, so we also have "*meg*szokni valamit". It is the same as "*hozzá*szokni", except that "meg-" is more the fact while "hozzá-" is more the process.

Hungarian also loves _puns _at the level of colloquial wisdom, so we have a saying:
*"Megszoksz vagy megszöksz."
*(_"You either get used to things or you escape/hit the road."_)

It is used in situations when _"you take it or leave it"_: either you get used to the idea that you have to get up early or you quit your job as a mailman and start working as a barman instead.

Give me feedback if this helps at all.

*A.*


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## FRENFR

Priceless responses by all, as always.  Ateesh can receive notable thanks for the extensive response, as always.

As always for me, all examples from all are all noted!  That's all my all's for today.

I'm off to England on Tuesday, tomorrow at the time of writing, until Monday and I've said no more translations for June; I simply need more time to memorise all these long and strange (to me) words, so expect some more questions!

Thanks again.  I wish I had this help with French when I started, but it's ok now


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