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HUNGARIAN-ENGLISH LINGUISTIC CONTRASTS. A PRACTICAL APPROACH
Hungarian English
barna- ferfi man in the brown
öltönyös suit
a baloldalt ajtó the on the left
levő door
az ablak lány the girl | standing by the
mellett álló window
művelésre föld land suitable for
alkalmas cultivation
egyezmény I erőfeszítés effort | (made) to reach
elérésére tett an agreement
az az aki éppen the who has just
ember, most man arrived
érkezett
These differences may cause fewer problems in oral communication, where
noun phrases are not very heavily modified. However, they tend to lead to dif¬
ficulties in written production and translating, particularly in the LI1-L2 direc¬
tion. For this reason, most of the following sections, as well as the exercises,
will focus on the problems that these structures may cause in Hungarian—Eng¬
lish translation.
5.6 ADJECTIVAL ATTRIBUTES
Adjectives precede the head noun both in English and Hungarian. However,
in Hungarian they always precede the noun, while in English they are postposed
in some cases:
tulajdonképpeni irodalom — literature proper
a jelenlevé tagok — the members present
a rendelkezésünkre álló információ — the information available
Adjectives will also be postposed in English if they have complements:
művelésre alkalmas föld — land suitable for cultivation
5.6.1 Comparative adjectives
Comparative adjectives are often used in Hungarian where there is no com¬
parison involved. In such cases, English uses positive degree adjectives:
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