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HUNGARIAN-ENGLISH LINGUISTIC CONTRASTS. A PRACTICAL APPROACH Bythetime learners reach advanced level, they will know that words denoting 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 Britannica Dictionary: +70 +
