Oldal 87 [87]
HUNGARIAN-ENGLISH GRAMMATICAL CONTRASTS: THE NOUN PHRASE
5.9 POSSESSIVE ATTRIBUTES
The Hungarian possessive attribute (‘birtokosjelzd’) may correspond to various
prepositional phrase postmodifiers in English:
az árak emelkedése — increase in prices
elhatározásom oka — the reason for my decision
a nyersanyagok árai — prices for raw materials
5.10 APPOSITIVES
Appositives (értelmező jelző") in English follow the head noun if they refer to
a less well-known person or entity or if they are long. In other cases, unlike in
Hungarian, they precede the head noun:
Timothy F. Geithner, a Federal Reserve Bank New York-i elnöke
— Timothy F. Geithner, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York
Boris Johnson miniszterelnok — Prime Minister Boris Johnson
Clinton volt amerikai elnök — former US President Clinton
Noam Chomsky, a MIT professzora — Professor Noam Chomsky of MIT
A Sheraton szálló — Hotel Sheraton
A B épület — Block B
C-vitamin — vitamin C
5.11 RELATIVE CLAUSES
Hungarian relative clauses usually correspond to English relative clauses, but
they may also correspond to postmodifying participle or infinitive clauses or
prepositional phrase postmodifiers. This contrast leads to the underuse of
participle and prepositional phrase postmodifiers by Hungarian learners.
az az ember, aki éppen most érkezett — the man who has just arrived
a tábornok, akit a hadsereg támogatott -— the general, (who was) supported
by the army
az a lány, aki az ablak mellett áll — the girl (who is) (standing) by the
window
nincs jel, ami arra utalna, hogy .... — there is nothing to suggest that ...
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