Jun 27, 2006 15:48
17 yrs ago
angol term

conditional

angol - magyar Egyéb Nyelvészet
How would you translate the following conditional sentence? I am particularly interested in clause order. (The context is clearly ad hoc)

(Under what circumstances are you coming to the party?)
I am coming to the party if it's sunny.

Do I *have* to use "akkor", like: "Akkor...., ha...."? Or can you say this with just "ha"? (don't forget the context)

Thanks!

Proposed translations

+1
8 perc
Selected

"Akkor...., ha...."

If the sentence is an answer to this question, you have to use akkor. If you omit this word, you don’t say whether you go to the party if it isn’t sunny.



--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 55 mins (2006-06-27 16:43:19 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

ha napos idő lesz, jövök:
__it's sunny --> I come
__it isn't sunny --> ?

akkor jövök, ha napos idő lesz:
__it's sunny --> I come
__it isn't sunny --> I don't come

That's why the structure "if and only if", which is widely used in math, is redundant in Hungarian. (It [akkor és csak akkor] is still used, but its usage is the influence of other languages.)
Peer comment(s):

agree Eva Ballentine (X) : The explanation is terrific. (Also, first right answer in.)
3 óra
Kösz.
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "thanks a million, your answer is exactly what I was looking for :)"
+3
9 perc

ha napos idő lesz, jövök

or: akkor jövök, ha napos lesz az idő (the conditionality is a bit more stressed)
Peer comment(s):

agree Andrea Nemeth-Newhauser : Nem feltétlenül szükséges az "akkor".
5 perc
agree László Zsák : ez a jó. "Vasárnap este buli lesz, ha eső nem lesz, ha lesz, nem lesz."
1 óra
agree Attila Hajdu
2 óra
Something went wrong...
9 perc

ha

sounds better than akkor, ha.

However, if you wish to emphasize ONLY if, then CSAK AKKOR, HA ... sounds perfect.
Something went wrong...
+2
4 óra

Ha napos lesz az idő, eljövök a bulira.

While the other answers are all acceptable they lack the importance of stressing the verb tense. This is a conditional sentence where the action will take place only upon meeting a condition. Therefore the action has to have a definite form expressed with perfect tense. In the above example in colloquial Hungarian you may hear jövök instead of eljövök and everyone will understand it, but it sounds exactly the same and as erroneous as the original English: I am coming to the party if it's sunny, which should be: I will come to the party if it's sunny. This should not discredit the other answers, but since this was a linguistic question from someone who is trying to learn a language I needed to elaborate on this minor, but important detail. For practical use other colloquial forms are also acceptable, but not for learning proper Hungarian. These may inlcude: Jövök a bulira, ha süt a nap. Akkor jövök a bulira, ha süt a nap. Ha süt a nap, jövök. Csak napos időben jövök a bulira. etc.
Peer comment(s):

agree juvera : You forgot the simplest, but equally valid answer: Ha süt a nap. :-)
2 óra
Köszönöm. Nem, nem felejtettem el, csak nem akartam több példát adni, ezért tettem oda az etc-t
agree Erzsébet Czopyk : simply excellent
2 nap 49 perc
Something went wrong...
Term search
  • All of ProZ.com
  • Terminológiai keresés
  • Munkák
  • Fórumok
  • Multiple search