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HUNGARIAN-ENGLISH LINGUISTIC CONTRASTS. A PRACTICAL APPROACH If you translate these sentences into Hungarian, you will find that the subject of the English sentence is best expressed as an adverbial, while the verb changes from transitive to intransitive: A balesetben négyen haltak meg. A hóesés miatt megbénult a közlekedés. A 19. század végén Anglia ipari termelése kezdett elmaradni Németországétól. 4.2.2 Contrasts in the use of intransitive and transitive verbs As described above, Hungarian often uses intransitive verbs where English has a preference for external causer subjects and transitive verbs. In addition, Hungarian intransitive verbs often correspond to English transitive verbs in the passive: Új utak épültek. — New roads have been built. Sokan meghaltak a balesetben. — Many people were killed in the crash. Sometimes English offers an active and a passive option: Az ajtó kinyílt. — The door opened. The door was opened. In some cases, we may choose between a transitive and an intransitive verb in English, with a clear preference for the former: Az előadásból kiderült, hogy Ádám apánk is magyarul beszélt. From the lecture we learned that even our father Adam spoke Hungarian. A konferencián a magyar nyelv eredetéről lesz szó. The conference will discuss the origin of the Hungarian language. 4.3 THE PASSIVE As there is practically no Passive Voice in Hungarian, Hungarian learners of English have to learn a new grammatical category. The contrast works out as a divergent phenomenon: learners have to choose between the Active and the Passive where the only choice in their L1 is the Active: Ezt a képet Diirer festette. — Diirer painted this picture. — This picture was painted by Dürer. Megitták az összes bort. — They drank all the wine. — All the wine was drunk. +54 »
