Negation

Negation is basically putting don’t or did not into the sentence, making it negative (hence the name).

Negating with nem & sem

You can negate most sentences with nem, it means no, or not. As a rule, nem comes directly before the part of the phrase you are negating, in most cases the verb.

• Nem tudom - (I don’t know)
• Nem értem - (I don’t understand)
• Nem vagyok tökéletes - (I’m not perfect)
• Ezt nem mondod komolyan! - (You can’t be serious! lit. You aren’t saying this seriously!)
• Köszönöm, nem kérek - (No thanks lit. Thanks I don’t ask for it)

If the same subject negates more verbs in a sentence, sem is used instead. The use of sem can also be used with pronouns for emphasis.

Consider this scenario:

• Alex: Szeretitek a klasszikus zenét? - (Do you like classical music?)
  • Barnabás: Nem.
  • Éva: Én sem. - (I don’t either.)

It should be noted that English treats the sentence as one whole value whereas Hungarian treats the sentence as a series of values. If you want to negate the sentence, every part of the sentence is negated.

• English: I don’t know anybody. (Negated once)
• Hungarian: Nem ismerek senkit. - (I don’t know nobody.)

Quick note: ismer and tud are both verbs that can be used as the equivalent to know. ismer has connotations of possesing knowledge whereas tud has connotations of possessing skills and skillsets (hence, why tud also means can, in the sense of ability).

Useful negations

• valami (something) semmi (nothing)
• mindenki (everyone) senki (nobody)

Negating with nincs & sincs

Recall that van is the verb for existence. In Hungarian, nem van nincs/nincsen is used to negate a noun’s existence (and nincsenek for negating multiple nouns). Likewise with sem, sincs is used as a further negation to really emphasise the lack of existence.

Although nincs is used for the present tense, nem volt and nem lesz are used for the past and future respectively.

• Nem igaz, hogy nincsen semmi baj. - (Lyric: It isn’t true that there is nothing wrong).
• Kávé van? Nincs. Tea van? Az sincs. - (Is there coffee? There is none. Is there tea? None of that either.)
• Gőzöm sincs. - (I haven’t the foggiest idea. lit. I don’t even have any steam).
• Nincs mit. - (Don’t mention it. lit. There is no what.)

Challenge!

Ha van Balrog, miért nincsen Jobbrog? (Free image by Yukatan, fetched from Wikimedia Commons)

If there is a Balrog/Leftrog, why is there no Rightrog?

• Bal - left

• Jobb - right

• Credit to HungarianProject

Negating with ne & se

With the imperative and subjunctive mood, the negation becomes ne and se. Sometimes ne is is used instead of se. This concept will be expanded upon in later sections.

• Ne aggódj! - (Don’t worry!)
• Ne félj, menni fog! - (Don’t be afraid, it will go!)
• Ne szólj! ne is kérdezz! Nézz reám! Akit itt látsz férfi már. - (Lyric: Don’t speak! Don’t even question! Look at me! Who you see here is already a man.)

Challenge!

Tedd, vagy ne tedd, de ne próbáld! - Yoda, Star Wars V (Original Image)

Do or do not, but do not try!

Negative questions

It isn’t uncommon to ask questions in the negative, especially if they are yes or no questions.

Consider these situations, Barnabás could respond with the following:

• Alex: Nem láttad a nyelvtan könyvet? - (Have you (not) seen the grammar book?)
  • Barnabás: Sajnos nem, nincs itt. - (No unfortunately, it isn’t here.)
  • Barnabás: De, az asztal mellett van! - (Yes, it is next to the table!)

Notice how igen de (but) is used to counter a negative question.

• Alex: Szia, nem tudunk most beszélni? - (Hi, are you free to talk? lit. are we not able to speak now?)
  • Barnabás: Dehogynem! Mi a baj? - (Quite the contrary! What’s the matter?)
  • Barnabás: De (zavarsz), kicsit elfoglalt vagyok. - (But you are, I’m a little busy.)
• Alex: Te nem szereted az AWS-t, igaz? (You don’t like AWS, right?)
  • Barnabás: Nem, szerintem, hogy (ők) túl zajosak. (No, I think they are too noisy. lit. No, according to me they are too noisy.)
  • Barnabás: Dehogynem! Imádom őket! (Of course I do! I love (adore) them!)

  Dehogy is used to counter a positive question whereas dehogynem/dehogynincs counters a negative question. They can be used for more passion in a reply. An is is added if it is used as a follow up for more emphasis.

Listening

Jani and Pisti are talking, try to work out what they are saying! Source:

Transcript Translation Clear

Yet to Learn

• el- is a coverb
• the ending -j as well as the -s in segíts mark the imperative mood
• -n seen in ezen is a locative

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