Julia
word order Is there a difference between : Szép idő van ma és Ma szép idő van. ???? Can someone explain me some rules about word order in sentences?
Feb 11, 2015 4:35 AM
Corrections · 9
1

I think I gave You already suggestions on this topic in You'r earlier conversation. Just dig in:D

"Just a short comment though all the answers are perfect! :)
In hungarian as well as in some other languages You can change the order of the words. In some cases the change effects the interpretation of the sentence but in some cases it does not.
So let's take the last sentences:
It also could be said: "Kérek egy sört" which considerably doesn't change the meaning but if You take the last sentence and put it in this order: "Ülünk az autóban" this sentence puts emphasis rather on the ongoing process of sitting (being) in the car compared to the original which one puts more emphasis on the place (in this case in the car), Hope was understandable ;)" 

February 12, 2015
1

In Hungarian, word order is generally very flexible, as suffixes clearly determine the grammatical function of each word in a sentence. However, as a rule of thumb, the most important part of a sentence always comes first. By important I mean you can imagine it as a new piece of information added to a conversation.

 

Let me give a few examples.

 

Ma szép idő van. - Today the weather is nice. [It is today when the weather is nice.]

Szép idő van ma. - Nice is the weather today. (Although this kind of word order is only used in poetry in English.) [It can be rephrased as: The weather today is nice.]

 

A boltban tejet és kenyeret vettem. - I bought milk and bread in the shop. / In the shop I bought milk and bread.

Tejet és kenyeret vettem a boltban. - The same word order, emphasis on "milk and bread", meaning: "It is milk and bread that I bought in the shop."

A boltban vettem a tejet és a kenyeret. - The same word order, emphasis on "the shop", meaning: "It was in the shop where I bought milk and bread."

February 11, 2015
1

The difference is not very big. But if you say "Szép idő van ma", you emphasize that the weather is nice.

If you say "Ma szép idő van", you emphasize that the weather is nice TODAY. (But tomorrow it can bleaken.)

February 11, 2015
1

Both "Szép idő van ma" and "Ma szép idő van" are correct and used. In Hungarian, word order can be changed in several ways and the sentence is still meaningful; the role of a word within a sentence is often determined by suffixes. However, by changing the word order, we can stress different parts of the sentence. For example: "Szeretem az angol nyelvet" means "I like the English language", while "Az angol nyelvet szeretem" means "It is the English language that I like." - both mean the same, but the emphasis is on different parts of the sentence.

 

There are also cases when you can't change the order of words the way you like - for example you can say "Megszületett János gyereke" / "János gyereke megszületett" (John's child was born), "János gyereke született meg" (It is John's child who was born), and both versions can be used as questions. But you can't say sentences like "Gyereke János megszületett" - well, you can, but people will give you a strange look. :)

 

Hope this helps.

February 22, 2015
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