FinnHun Finnish-Hungarian-English on-line dictionary and thesaurus

Well, the longest Hungarian word is considered to be:

MEGSZENTSÉGTELENÍTHETETLENSÉGESKEDÉSEITEKÉRT

but it actually cannot be translated really, 'coz it doesn't really make sense. It's something like 'for your pretending to be unsanctifiable'.
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Because the Hungarian language lacks the complex system of verb tenses (simple, continuous, perfect, etc.), it compensates by using prefixes.
The prefix 'meg-' indicates completion of the action - in contrast with the suffixless verb, either expressing a continuous or repeated action.
(It's similar to the greek and slavic aorist, if this means anything to anyone.)
Therefore a more acurate translation would be 'to be writing' for ír and 'to write, to be done with writing' for megír.
Unfortunately it's not that simple: sometimes other prefixes are used to indicate completion, e.g.: elintéz 'get something done', elver=megver 'beat someone up', leáll=megáll 'stop, become still' but leáll can also mean 'to quit doing something', meghal 'to die, to pass away', elhal 'vanish, to become imperceptible (e.g. a sound)'.

The prefix 'meg-', used with verbs of existence, usually indicates that the sucject has a good health or lasts 'till an indicated duration.
E.g.: megér 'manage to be alive until an event', megvan 'to be well'.

Does anybody know anything about Uly? I'm a bit worried not having heard about him for a long time. Hope he's well...

Thank you very much. I am comfortable for the moment and just waiting to see when they will let us go back to the city to check on my apartment and my things. I hope i don't have to move - I love new orleans. Unfortunately right now it's more like baghdad.
uly

yooooouuuw! Holy crap! I'm pretty sorry. I saw it on tv. There are marauders, and the policemen can shoot them, but they are in fear of their lives. Be careful.

Thank you all so much for your information. As always it's very helpful. Unfortunately I lived in New Orleans, which was recently devastated by Hurricane Katrina and I lost everything. I left the city with two shirts and two pants and am living like a refugee in Lafayette, Louisiana. Please pray for me and for my friends and neighbors. Luckily I brought some of my Hungarian books so I have plenty to read.
Thank you all again,
Uly

Uly,
To that leírja-megírja question: You may find understandable in English the sentence 'write it down on the paper'. (Although i looked up in a dictionary and 'write down' means others too. Just what in Hungarian) Leírja means the same. But we say megírja for whole documents.
Maybe I helped a little.
Tomi

Just a moment, there's something like exception: megolvadni doesn't mean "=to melt and melt completely". It means: begin to melt.
It's ELolvadni, what means "to melt and melt completely".

Hei,

That's right, little bit screwed up in the middle, but actually I forgot -köhän ending myself Very long confusing word, which nobody would even use...

terveisin
Noora

Hi ulymarrero!
I'll give you some answers. Proceeding form down to up:

The sentences "Itt egy térkép" and "Ez egy térkép" are correct. It's true that the first is a shorter form.
Your paragraph above that: your thoughts are correct about Ez könyv. and Ez egy könyv.
And when you talk about uncountable things: -Ez víz. Ez meg coca-cola. (this is another "meg"! Means 'and'. Put befor the predicate. Whole word. A bit vulgar tongue. Important.
-Az pedig tej.(this "pedig" means the same as that "meg" (this case))
So, then "egy" can't be put in, of course.

About the verb pályáz: it is composed of pálya(orbit ,ground,career +z (this is an example that the meaning changed totally.The verb was invented very long ago)
and -tat,-tet,-at,-et is the formative(képző) of causative - that you make somebody to do something.
Example: He had his hair cut.= Le_vág_at_ta a haját. I never used the word pályáztat, anyway, but it has got a meaning.
to make someone put in/compete for a tender/application.

MEG is perfectivizing (but doesn't feel like that)
hovever,it can also mean that the action happens once. (megérint,megérinteni=to touch, megütni=to beat,hit,punch once)
and also that the action is complete or succeeded.

I would need some examples about what you say. Generally, one puts "meg" where he thinks about a verb beginning with "meg". It's important:
There are verbs that you have to learn with "meg-", as an individual verb.
somewhere it perfectivizes, somewhere gives another meaning or changes it x: megegyezni(get accordance with sy)I'm not so sure.

But don't you think we should go to the 'I'm learning Hungarian' topic?

Very good, Noora, the way I heard it was:
epäjärjestelmällistyttämättömyydelläänsäkäänköhän

but I probably screwed it up in the middle

Thank you all for your wonderful answers. I'm thrilled that you are so keen on helping me.

Imre your English IS excellent. A dictionary can only get you so far, but you express yourself perfectly - even in linguistic terms. Very admirable.

Cililii - Your examples really illuminated things in terms of how I was viewing this process. Obviously meg is purely a perfectivizing prefix. I have noticed in written texts that there are forms which are obviously perfective, but occur with no prefix at all. Are there situations in which a perfectivizing prefix is obligatory, or one where it is not? I'm curious.

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Also, I found the verb pályáz, but I saw the form pályáztat and could not find it in any dictionary.

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I'm also having issue with the use of the indefinite article in Hungarian. I notice that statements such as Ez könyv do not contain one. Would it be incorrect to say: Ez egy könyv. Do statements of this type refer to the class and not the individual object? The way I see it, Ez könyv is interpretable as "This is an object in the class -book-." Is this correct?

Similarly, I read that after itt and ott and hol, one can drop van. I saw the example Itt van egy térkép. If I dropped the van, would I also drop the egy? E.g. Itt térkép. The sentence: Itt egy térkép now sounds funny by analogy with Ez egy térkép, which I now consider incorrect.

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I know my questions are long and complicated, but I love the attention you've given them. I guess this is the purpose of a forum. You're all wonderful. Let me know if you have any questions I can help with.
Thanks,
Uly

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dani

As far as i know/ and have heard (and finnish is my mothertongue) the longest word in finnish is:

epäjärjestelmällistättömyttömyydellänsäkään

It's a bit hard to translate, because of those addings in the word, but means something like: even without his/her unordering skills.

Noora