Learn how to use the auxiliary verb "may/allowed to"
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Simone:Welcome to HungarianPod101.com. This is Lower Beginner Season 1, lesson 9, Kicking a Bad Habit in Hungary. I’m Simone. |
| Csaba:And I am Csaba. Sziasztok. |
| Simone:In this lesson we’re going to learn how to smoke a cigarette and how to say “may” and “may not.” |
| Csaba:The conversation is still taking place in Anne’s apartment. |
| Simone:And it is between Anne and Balázs. |
| Csaba:Who of course use the informal language. |
| Simone:Let’s listen to the conversation. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Simone:Ok, that’s our dialogue for this lesson. |
| Csaba:And what an important one too. |
| Simone:Well, I’ve noticed that you have to ask about smoking more and more in Hungary. |
| Csaba:Yes, compared to before, when you could smoke everywhere, we have a lot of restrictions nowadays. |
| Simone:Are the restaurants still smoky? |
| Csaba:No, and soon the pubs won’t be either. You’ll find smoking sections in most restaurants. Clubs and discos make their own rules. |
| Simone:Can I, er... can someone smoke on the street. |
| Csaba:These rules are getting stricter by the month, but at the moment you can smoke on the street, unless you’re waiting at a bus stop or passing a school. |
| Simone:Good to know. Shall we go to vocab? |
| Csaba:Let’s. |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Simone:What’s the first one? |
| Csaba:First we want to talk about rágyújt. This verb doesn’t actually mean “smoke,” but “light up” instead. |
| Simone:All right, so if you want to ask me to smoke with you, you’d say... |
| Csaba:Please repeat. Rágyújtunk? 2X |
| Simone:All right. We also might want to ask: “Do you smoke?” A more general question that doesn’t refer to the next few minutes. |
| Csaba:Then the correct question is this: Dohányzol? |
| Simone:“Do you smoke?” |
| Csaba:Dohányzol? |
| Simone:All right. Let’s say I don’t. |
| Csaba:Than you have to say: Nem dohányzom. 2X |
| Simone:“I don’t smoke.” |
| Csaba:One last word that is a bit less official, but also very often heard. Cigizik. This also means “smoke,” but you sound less serious when saying that. |
| Simone:How do you say “do you smoke?” using that? |
| Csaba:Cigizel? 2X |
| Simone:“Do you smoke.” But enough of smoking. There was a sentence with “since” in it. |
| Csaba:Yes. A múlt hét óta. This sentence means “since last week.” Múlt hét is “last week” and óta is “since.” |
| Simone:So apparently time comes first and then the word óta. |
| Csaba:Right. |
| Simone:Can you give us some more examples? |
| Csaba:Karácsony óta nem ittam. |
| Simone:“I haven’t drunk since Christmas.” |
| Csaba:Karácsony óta nem ittam. |
| Simone:One more, maybe a bit less depressing. |
| Csaba:OK. By the way, the previous sentence used past tense, but in present tense also works with this structure. So, please repeat: Január óta tanulok kínaiul. |
| Simone:“I have been studying Chinese since January.” |
| Csaba:Január óta tanulok kínaiul. |
| Simone:All right. If there’s no extra stuff to explain from the vocab section, let’s go to grammar. |
| Csaba:All right. |
| GRAMMAR POINT |
| Simone:In this lesson we’re going to talk about szabad, an auxiliary verb. What is the key sentence for this grammar point Csaba? |
| Csaba:Itt nem szabad rágyújtani. |
| Simone:“It’s not allowed to smoke here.” |
| Csaba:Right. The keyword is szabad, which means “may, allowed to.” After this, you add an infinitive. |
| Simone:How do find the infinitives? |
| Csaba:It is easy to find them in dictionaries. They end in -ni. Like rágyújtani. |
| Simone:“To smoke.” Let’s say a negative example too. How do you say “you may not park here”? |
| Csaba:Itt nem szabad parkolni. |
| Simone:Repeat again! |
| Csaba:Itt nem szabad parkolni. |
| Simone:Ok, so I take it parkolni means “to park.” |
| Csaba:Yep. Now, nem szabad carries the same meaning as another word, tilos. Tilos is a more official sounding expression, that means more like “mustn’t, prohibited.” |
| Simone:Yes, you don’t really see nem szabad on signs on the street and conversely you don’t hear tilos from people, unless they are quoting one of those signs. |
| Csaba:I’ll say an example. Tilos a dohányzás. |
| Simone:“Smoking is prohibited.” |
| Csaba:Tilos a dohányzás. |
| Simone:All right, let’s move on. If you can’t really say this previous sentence to other people, how would you ask them politely not to smoke? Be super-polite this time. |
| Csaba:Easy. You say: Elnézést, itt nem szabad dohányozni. |
| Simone:You just added one word, elnézést. |
| Csaba:Right. “Excuse me, it is not allowed to smoke here.” |
| Simone:Say that again please. |
| Csaba:Elnézést, itt nem szabad dohányozni. |
| Simone:Let’s hear a couple more examples with szabad. |
| Csaba:Szabad kutyát behozni? |
| Simone:“Can I bring my dog in here?” |
| Csaba:Szabad kutyát behozni? |
| Simone:Ok, we had szabad, now let’s hear two more sentences, one with nem szabad and one with tilos. |
| Csaba:A repülőre nem szabad üdítöt vinni. |
| Simone:“It is not allowed to take beverages on the plane.” This is less formal, right? |
| Csaba:Yes. Please repeat the next one too: A repülőre tilos üdítőt vinni. |
| Simone:“Carrying beverages onto the plane is prohibited.” And this is what you would see on a sign at the airport. |
| Csaba:Exactly. |
Outro |
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| Simone:All right, I hope you guys enjoyed this lesson. I sure did. |
| Csaba:I’m glad to hear that. See you next time. Sziasztok. |
| Simone:Bye! |
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