Page 72 [72]
HUNGARIAN-ENGLISH LINGUISTIC CONTRASTS. A PRACTICAL APPROACH
Bythetime learners reach advanced level, they will know that words denot¬
ing groups of people are singular in form but may take a singular or plural
verb, depending on their meaning. Nouns of this type include, among others,
crew, team, staff, board, crowd (= a nézők), livestock (- gazdasági állatok, jószág)
and family:
A családom örül, hogy megismerhet. — My family are glad to meet you.
The L1-L2 contrasts lead to interference when the learner has no time to think:
in such cases, the default solution is the singular, as in Hungarian:
A családom örül, hogy megismerhet. — "My family is glad to see you.
5.2 CONCORD
After coordinated subjects Hungarian uses a singular verb, while English a
plural one:
Jön Jancsi és Juliska. — Jack and Jill are coming.
This, despite the difference, is again relatively easily learnt and mistakes are
made only under pressure. A more complicated problem arises in the following
cases:
Hetvenezer forintot fizettek ki neki. -— Seventy thousand forints
was paid to him.
The situation is ironic: learners are told to use a plural verb after a plural noun,
and when they have acquired this ‘habit’, they are told that seventy thousand
forints is regarded as an indivisible sum, and it will take a singular verb — just
like in Hungarian.
Subject-verb concord may be a problem in sentences beginning with there
is/are, followed by mixed singular and plural nouns. In such cases, the verb
will agree with whichever noun is closer to it:
In the corner there was a table and four chairs.
In the corner there were four chairs and a table.
Some English nouns, although they have both a singular anda plural form,
tend to be used more often in the plural:
Novekedett az élelmiszerimport. Food imports have increased.
To understand the use of import, study the entry for this word in The Britan¬
nica Dictionary:
+70 +