Learn how to use formal Hungarian with elderly people
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Simone: Hi everyone and welcome back to HungarianPod101.com. This is Lower Beginner, season 2, lesson 23, Respecting Your Elders in Hungarian. This is Simone. |
| Csaba: And this is Csaba, sziasztok. |
| Simone: In this lesson you’re going to learn about using polite language with the elderly. |
| Csaba: The conversation takes place on the tram. |
| Simone: It's between Anne and an old lady. |
| Csaba: They use formal language. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Simone: How is it that old women are always going to the market? |
| Csaba: Haha, I think that’s just your perception. And that was not the point of this lesson anyway. |
| Simone: What was it then? |
| Csaba: Being polite in Hungarian. Most kids learn this at the age of six, when they start elementary school. Before that, it is all tegezés, which is... |
| Simone: using the informal language. I see. So do I sound rude if I don’t find the right form? |
| Csaba: I’d say that as a foreigner who is clearly making an effort to speak correctly, you already deserve – and will probably receive – hero awards from all Hungarians. Besides, the informal language is gaining territory slowly. |
| Simone: Yes, but because it's good to know, we'll cover speaking formal Hungarian as well. |
| So let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| The first word we shall see is? |
| Csókolom. |
| Good afternoon. |
| Formal. |
| Csó-co-lom. |
| Csókolom. |
| Next? |
| Tetszik. |
| Like. |
| Tetszik. |
| Tetszik. |
| Next? |
| Ideül. |
| Sit over here. |
| I-de-ül. |
| Ideül. |
| Next? |
| Kedveském. |
| My dear. |
| Ked-ves-kém. |
| Kedveském. |
| Next? |
| Udvarias. |
| Polite. |
| Ud-va-ri-as. |
| Udvarias. |
| Next? |
| Kedves. |
| Kind. |
| Ked-ves. |
| Kedves. |
| Next? |
| Pihen. |
| Rest. |
| Pihen. |
| Pihen. |
| Next? |
| Bárcsak. |
| If only. |
| Bárcsak. |
| Bárcsak. |
| Next? |
| Fiatal. |
| Young. |
| Youngster. |
| Fiatal. |
| Fiatal. |
| And last? |
| Piac. |
| Market. |
| Piac. |
| Piac. |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Simone: Let's have a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| Csaba: The first phrase we learn is csókolom. This greeting is reserved for elderly ladies. Normally, guys of any age can use this. |
| Simone: Can I use it? |
| Csaba: Sure, girls say this to old ladies too, but when women get out of their thirties, they stop using it and start receiving it more. |
| Simone: But guys? |
| Csaba: Men can use this even when they themselves get older. Csókolom. It literally means “I kiss” and “your hand” is implied. |
| Simone: Say it again, like I was the old lady from your floor. |
| Csaba: Csókolom. Guys can also say kezit csókolom. This is even nicer, very old-school, very gentlemanly. It means “I kiss your hand.” |
| Simone: Repeat again. |
| Csaba: Kezit csókolom. |
| Simone: Alright, and what else do we have for vocab? |
| Csaba: The old lady says kedveském. |
| Simone: “My dear.” |
| Csaba: Kedveském. The root word is kedves, to which we add -ke. Kedveske means “little dear.” |
| Simone: And one more step for the possessive... |
| Csaba: Kedveském. “My little dear.” Usually old ladies use this. |
| Simone: We also had “I wish” in there somewhere. |
| Csaba: Bárcsak is like “I wish” or “if only.” Conditionals are still a mystery at this point, but a couple of ready-made sentences should be handy. |
| Simone: Ok, so how do you say: “Wish you were here...” |
| Csaba: Bárcsak itt lennél! |
| Simone: Very romantic... Again, please. |
| Csaba: Bárcsak itt lennél! |
| Simone: All right, one last example and then we will go to grammar. |
| Csaba: Bárcsak ne esne! |
| Simone: “If only it wasn't raining.” |
| Csaba: Bárcsak ne esne! |
| Simone: Okay, let's go to the grammar. |
| GRAMMAR POINT |
| Simone: In this lesson, you're going to learn how to talk politely to the elderly. |
| Csaba: Well, at least we’ll learn the grammar for that. |
| Simone: What is the key sentence we start from? |
| Csaba: A piacra tetszik menni? |
| Simone: “Are you going to the market?” |
| Csaba: A piacra tetszik menni? |
| Simone: And how is this different from the ones we have covered before? |
| Csaba: We have inserted the word tetszik which means “like,” but here it is used as an auxiliary verb. This is a special case of formality, which is only used when talking to older people. Basically, you use tetszik and then add an infinitive. |
| Simone: Infinitives end in -ni, as you may remember. Let’s hear one more and explain. |
| Csaba: Mit tetszik kérni? |
| Simone: “What would you like to have?” |
| Csaba: Mit tetszik kérni? Mit is of course “what” in the accusative. Tetszik is the new auxiliary word used for this formal construction. Kérni is not a new word, it means “to want, to ask for.” |
| Simone: All right. Anne also used another construction. |
| Csaba: Right, the imperative: Tessék ideülni. |
| Simone: “Please take this seat.” |
| Csaba: Tessék ideülni. Tessék is the imperative form of tetszik, used in requests. Ideülni means “sit over here.” |
| Simone: Oh, so she is giving up her seat. |
| Csaba: Exactly. If you can’t really decide whether the person you’re addressing is old enough for the tetszik construction, don’t use it. |
| Simone: Yes, it could convey the message that you think they are old. |
| Csaba: Consequently, the first time you hear it from kids, you go NOOOOO! |
| Simone: (laughs) I can see that. |
| Csaba: Oh, well. Another expression that contains tessék is tessék parancsolni. |
| Simone: What does this mean? |
| Csaba: It means “’I’m at your service.” Literally it means “please give orders.” |
| Simone: So when an elderly person approaches you, you say... |
| Csaba: Tessék parancsolni. |
| Simone: All right. This all looks easy to use, you just have to remember a few verbs. |
| Csaba: Right. We may as well throw out the plural “you” in this construction. |
| Simone: When you are talking to more than one elderly person. |
| Csaba: Tessenek parancsolni. |
| Simone: Repeat again, please. |
| Csaba: Tessenek parancsolni. |
| Simone: Well, that does it for now. What are we going to talk about next time? |
| Csaba: One last lesson on being polite and after that, on to different material. |
| Simone: Sounds good! |
Outro |
|---|
| Simone: Okay, that's it for this lesson. Make sure you check the lesson notes and we'll see you next time. |
| Csaba: Sziasztok! |
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