4 ms·

In English, you can say "I'm going to Budapest tonight" or "Tonight, I'm going to Budapest" and it means almost the exact same thing. In Hungarian, you can say

by yosito 3y ago

In English, you can say "I'm going to Budapest tonight" or "Tonight, I'm going to Budapest" and it means almost the exact same thing. In Hungarian, you can say "Ma este Budapestre megyek", "Budapestre megyek ma este" or "Megyek Budapestre ma este" and each one carries a different meaning, while the English translation remains the same. In this case, the grammar is conveying information that we don't usually think about conveying in English. "Ma este Budapestre megyek" implies "I'm going to Budapest tonight, and not tomorrow night", "Budapestre megyek ma este" implies "I'm going to Budapest tonight, and not to Vienna" and "Megyek Budapestre ma este" might be a bit more neutral or might imply "I'm going to Budapest tonight, while you are doing something different.

kaba0 3y ago
You are generally right, though the example may not be the best. > In English, you can say "I'm going to Budapest tonight" or "Tonight, I'm going to Budapest" and it means almost the exact same thing The second English form I feel does have more emphasis on the ‘tonight’ part - in fact elevating a part before the sentence is the way to do so in English - and thus roughly translates to “ma megyek Budapestre”. In Hungarian, the part right before the main verb is the most emphasized (though in speech, how we stress each word also matters), so in this particular regard Hungarian is more flexible in encoding emphasis then English.
Tor3 3y ago
The second sentence, "Tonight, I'm going to Budapest" is different from the first example, even though the net result is the same - you're definitely ending up in Budapest. The second example introduces a topic (to be slightly Japanese-ish here): "Tonight". Let's talk about "tonight" and what's going to happen tonight. Well, I'm going to Budapest, that's what happens tonight. Oh, and maybe I'll do these other things too (e.g. A, B, and C). The first sentence focuses on "going to Budapest", and "tonight" is when it happens. Nothing else about "tonight" is interesting, it's not the topic.
- yosito 3y ago
  But you're inferring things that would be implied in Japanese or Hungarian, but aren't at all implied by word order in English.
  - Tor3 3y ago
    I'm not inferring anything, in my opinion. Those sentences _are_ different in English too. That's why people will decide on one more than the other, depending on circumstances - not depending on a random roll of the die.

by yosito 3y ago

kaba0 3y ago

You are generally right, though the example may not be the best. > In English, you can say "I'm going to Budapest tonight" or "Tonight, I'm going to Budapest" and it means almost the exact same thing The second English form I feel does have more emphasis on the ‘tonight’ part - in fact elevating a part before the sentence is the way to do so in English - and thus roughly translates to “ma megyek Budapestre”. In Hungarian, the part right before the main verb is the most emphasized (though in speech, how we stress each word also matters), so in this particular regard Hungarian is more flexible in encoding emphasis then English.

Tor3 3y ago

The second sentence, "Tonight, I'm going to Budapest" is different from the first example, even though the net result is the same - you're definitely ending up in Budapest. The second example introduces a topic (to be slightly Japanese-ish here): "Tonight". Let's talk about "tonight" and what's going to happen tonight. Well, I'm going to Budapest, that's what happens tonight. Oh, and maybe I'll do these other things too (e.g. A, B, and C). The first sentence focuses on "going to Budapest", and "tonight" is when it happens. Nothing else about "tonight" is interesting, it's not the topic.

yosito 3y ago
But you're inferring things that would be implied in Japanese or Hungarian, but aren't at all implied by word order in English.
- Tor3 3y ago
  I'm not inferring anything, in my opinion. Those sentences _are_ different in English too. That's why people will decide on one more than the other, depending on circumstances - not depending on a random roll of the die.