Dialogue

Vocabulary

Learn New Words FAST with this Lesson’s Vocab Review List

Get this lesson’s key vocab, their translations and pronunciations. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.

Or sign up using Facebook
Already a Member?

Lesson Notes

Unlock In-Depth Explanations & Exclusive Takeaways with Printable Lesson Notes

Unlock Lesson Notes and Transcripts for every single lesson. Sign Up for a Free Lifetime Account and Get 7 Days of Premium Access.

Or sign up using Facebook
Already a Member?

Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
Simone:Hi everyone and welcome to HungarianPod101.com, This is Upper Beginner season 1 lesson 1 - A Thousand Apologies in Hungarian. I’m Simone.
Gergo:And I am Gergő, sziasztok.
Simone: In this lesson you’ll learn how to apologize in several ways.
Gergo:The conversation takes place at Jenny's workplace.
Simone:Jenny is our new character this season. And she is talking to Mr. Gál, her boss.
Gergo:They are using formal Hungarian.
Simone: Let’s listen to the conversation.
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
Simone:There is a lot of apologizing going on in this lesson!
Gergo:And we’re going to cover the grammar for each. But for now, we’ll teach you how to accept apologies.
Simone:How would you do that in Hungarian?
Gergo:You sort of have to decide whether the apology was in fact completely unnecessary, and that whatever the other person is apologizing for, was not their fault anyway.
Simone:And what do I say then?
Gergo:Just say: Nincs miért, which means something like “there is no reason for it.” Nincs miért.
Simone:There are other forms, of course, and you can check the lesson notes as well. All right, let’s move onto the vocab.
KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES
Simone:Let’s take a closer look at some of the words and phrases from this lesson.
Gergo:The first word we’re going to teach our listeners is lenyűgöz, which means “impress.”
Simone:Can you say it again?
Gergo:Lenyűgöz.
Simone:You should remember, that this is the third person form, which is the one you normally find in dictionaries. Let’s use it in a sentence.
Gergo:A munkája teljesen lenyűgözött.
Simone:“His work has impressed me completely.” Say again, please.
Gergo:A munkája teljesen lenyűgözött.
Simone:Let's steer away from these ones for a moment. What else did we hear?
Gergo:Haláli means something like “deadly.” Ironically, you can't use this word to actually refer to “deadly” things even though it has the stem for “death” in it.
Simone:Instead we're describing “extremely good/bad” things with it. Can you give us an example?
Gergo:Ez a könyv haláli vicces.
Simone:“This book is extremely funny.”
Gergo:Ez a könyv haláli vicces. You can also say this, Haláli rossz az időjárás.
Simone:“The weather is terrible.”
Gergo:Haláli rossz az időjárás. Now, if you want to say that something can actually kill you, you say halálos.
Simone:Let's say this, “This poison is deadly.”
Gergo:Ez a méreg halálos. 2X
Simone:Ok, is there anything else for this section?
Gergo:Finally, szám, or the plural form számok, can mean “numbers” and “figures” as well. A számok az új jelöltet igazolják.
Simone:“The figures support the new candidate's position.”
Gergo:A számok az új jelöltet igazolják.
Simone:Okay, now let’s move onto the grammar.
GRAMMAR POINT
Simone:In this lesson we're going to learn a couple of aspects of apologizing, feeling sorry about and for someone, and regretting things.
Gergo:Now, most of these phrases translate as “I'm sorry.”
Simone:The key is the context in which you use them. We'll try to explain and give you a background.
Gergo:The first one of course is, Bocsánatot (kérek).
Simone:This sentence should be reserved for when you are really feeling sorry. The literal translation is “I ask for forgiveness.” Say that again please Gergő.
Gergo:Bocsánatot (kérek). Bocsánat can also be conjugated into imperative sentences. Listen to this one now: Bocsáss meg!
Simone:“Forgive me!”
Gergo:Once more, Bocsáss meg!
Simone:More often than not, these are used when something bigger has happened than just stepping on somebody's foot. Can you also say the formal version?
Gergo:Bocsásson meg! Actually, the choice of words themselves are quite formal.
Simone:So the formal version sounds more natural and can be heard more often, simply because formal words go better with formal conjugation. Now, if we want to tone it down a bit for mildly annoying small accidents?
Gergo:What you normally hear when someone steps on your foot on the bus is, Elnézést (kérek)!
Simone:And this is also the word for “excuse me.”
Gergo:That’s right. I'll repeat the phrase again. Elnézést kérek! These phrases are normally used when you yourself feel guilty about something.
Simone:Ok. What else is there?
Gergo:Well you may also want to express compassion with “sorry.”
Simone:Just like the old adage says, “I'm sorry” and “I apologize” mean the same. Except at a funeral.
Gergo:And the joke works in Hungarian too. Sajnálom is “sorry”and bocsánat is “I apologize” in this context. I'll say the new one again. Nagyon sajnálom! This also appeared in the dialogue.
Simone:“I'm sorry.” ….“For your loss” for example.
Gergo:We can also start longer sentences with this, Sajnálom, hogy...
Simone:“I'm sorry, that...”
Gergo:Sajnálom, hogy... A full sentence is Sajnálom, hogy nem tudsz jönni.
Simone:“I'm sorry you can't come.”
Gergo:Sajnálom, hogy nem tudsz jönni. All right. If you want to dial down the formality level even more than we had before, you can also used the shorter, cuter variant.
Simone:Bocs!
Gergo:Exactly. Bocs! Interestingly, this word also means “bear cub.”
Simone:So when you feel sorry about something, you give your friends a verbal bear cub! And if you want to go even cuter, you can say, Bocsi!
Gergo:These last ones are very informal, but you'll hear them often. Bocsi!

Outro

Simone:Okay, that’s it for this lesson. Thanks for listening, bye!
Gergo: See you next time everyone. Sziasztok!

Comments

Hide