# arra



## FRENFR

Hi,

What does this mean?  "out there", according to sztaki.

In this sentence:  nem emlékszem (I don't remember) *arra(??), hogy (that)* mit (what) csináltam (I did) tegnap (yesterday).

Do I _need_ arra?  How is it used otherwise?

Thank you


----------



## Olivier0

_Arra = az + -ra_.
_-Ra_ is primarily "on (with movement to a place)", and also "for (some purpose)" and is used with some verbs like emlékszik _valamire_ = remember _sth_. (a direct object in English but not in Hungarian, see also in French: se souvenir _de_ qch.).
_Az_ is 'that (sth. there)", and _arra/erre_ does have the special meaning of "about there/here", "(approximately) this way", which is what your dictionary showed.
But _az_ is also used as a  "cataphoric" ie. introducing a sentence, like _azt_ mondom, _hogy_ = I am saying _that_..., hence _emlékszem arra, hogy_ = I remember that... But in fact I feel it is more often used without _arra_, so in your sentence: _nem emlékszem, hogy mit csináltam tegnap_ - I leave the explanation for the lack of _arra_ to the natives, this seems to be again a difficult point of grammar you have found.


----------



## Ateesh6800

*emlékezni valamire:* this is simply the suffix that *emlékezni* requires when the thing remembered (what would be the direct ofbject in English) is a _noun_.
Literally and originally, *-ra, -re* is _onto_; it comes from the independent word *rá* (_onto it_).
In English, remember has a direct object, but there is an alternative that is similar to the Hungarian:
*remember something* is a bit like *think back to something*.
(Of course, the two do not exactly_mean_ the same thing, but it's good for mnemotechnics: in Hungarian, *'remember something'* works as though it were 'remember _to_ something, 'like think back _to_ something').

Now, when what would be the direct object in English is not a noun but a sentence, we need *az, hogy + S* to introduce the clause.
Of course, *az* needs to take the same suffix as a noun would take, _ergo_: *emlékezni arra, hogy + S*.

In this construction, *arra* is optional: *emlékezni (arra), hogy + S*.
This optionality is like the optionality of *that* in English; it's mostly a matter of style, rhythm, etc., without any difference in meaning:
*You know that I love you. You know (X) I love you.*

Options (syllables in *bold* have primary stress):

*Em*lékszem arra, hogy *meg*ittam *még* egy *vod*kát. / I remember (the fact that) I had another shot of vodka. =
*Em*lékszem, hogy *meg*ittam *még* egy *vod*kát. / I remember (the fact that) I had another shot of vodka.
*Em*lékszem, *meg*ittam *még* egy *vod*kát. / I remember I had another shot of vodka.

*Ar*ra emlékszem, hogy *meg*ittam *még* egy *vod*kát. / What I remember is (the fact that) I had another shot of vodka.
Arra *em*lékszem, hogy *meg*ittam *még* egy *vod*kát. / I do remember the fact that I had another shot of vodka (but I don't remember some other facts like how I got home).

When the object is simply replaced by the pronoun, the options are:

*Nem emlékszem erre. Erre nem emlékszem.* / I don't remember this. This, I don't remember.
*Nem emlékszem arra. Arra nem emlékszem.* /I don't remember that. That, I don't remember.

Of course, the pronoun is not mandatory:

*Nem emlékszem.* / I don't remember.


----------



## FRENFR

Wonderful responses.  Thank you kindly both.

Happy New Year! (or should I say buék)?


----------

