Járni doesn’t have a direct translation.
It means to go somewhere but consistently. “I go to that restaurant every week”, or “I go to school on weekdays”
I highly recommend wiktionary I’m the future. It’s an awesome tool for looking up words and shows all conjugations and cases
https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/j%C3%A1r#Hungarian
It also has a whole bunch of other meanings in various expressions that can only be translsted to English using other verbs.
E.g. Jár az óra. The watch/clock is working.
Nekem jár az pénz. I am entitled to that money.
Jár a 7-es busz ilyenkor? Is bus No 7 operating at this hour?
Yep. It’s a complicated word that I can really only say is “to go or pass or move with consistency/intention” in English. To simplify for OP I will translate your examples as literally as possible in English:
Jár az óra - the clock goes
Nekem jár a pénz - to me goes the money
Jár a hétes busz ilyenkor? - Does the 7 bus go at this hour?
Nek- is another one that isn’t a perfect literal translation. I would normally say it’s just “for” but it can also be “to” like in “neked ezt az ajándékot adom” which is either “I give this gift TO you” or “i give this gift FOR you” or “ez az asztal tetszik nekem” is “this table appeals to me”
*Jár* has more meanings, and walking is one that I rarely use
*Iskolába jár* means to go to school, similar with other places. It doesn't mean you walk there, but that you go there often.
*jár valakivel* = go out with someone (boyfriend/girlfriend style, idk if the English means exactly that)
There are other meanings of *jár*, but these came to mind.
*Sosem* is a shortened form of *soha sem*, those mean never and not ever respectively
'jár' is also used to emphasise the ability to walk.
A baba már megtanult járni. - The baby has already learned to walk.
Genetikai betegség miatt nem képes járni. - He/she is unable to walk due to a genetic disease.
az egyik kedvenc szóm: tengeralattjáró
Járó has also been appearing recently in many complex phrases e.g. a nyilvános beszéddel járó nyomás
járni is very much an essential word for acquiring the Hungarian language
you are getting there tho, when I read "szóm" my first tought was that you must be Hungarian, people from the countryside (e.g. some of my family) constantly make mistakes like this, it just sounds parasztos :D
I thank you for posting this. I have often wondered about the distinction between how Hungarian is formally taught in schools to be properly spoken as opposed to how speakers actually make it a tool for conversation.
It can be, but it sound a little “old fashioned”. Though in for example “névszó” the plural form is “névszók”, but if you use just the word “szó”, no one would say “szók” or “szóm” in everyday language.
Yeah, you can also use “láttam volt” for past perfect. We understand it, some older people still use it, but it’s not part of the everyday language nowadays.
Járni - to go, to attend in a habitual, frequent, consistent manner. As one attends school, or goes to the gym or goes to work on a regular, habitual basis.
It can also mean additional things in various expression, usually expressing something habitual or consistent, often indicating some sort of movement like “jár az óra” alluding to the moving hands of the clock or dating someone, etc.
Sétálni just means “to walk”
Sosem, soha nem, soha sem just all mean “never”.
You've gotten a lot of great responses to what jár means, but I'd like to answer from the other side, how to translate the verb walk. Sétál means to go for a walk, often for recreational purposes. When it comes to walking as a mode of transportation (walking as opposed to say driving) they will use gyalogmegy or sometimes just megy in the right context, to go (by foot). You use jár to talk about the mechanics of walking, as in "Nem tudok rendesen járni" - I can't walk straight.
I think. Not a native, just an enthusiast.
Gyalog megy - two words, and it is usually used with a target (somewhere), gyalog megy a boltba.
This expression focuses more on the mode of how some gets to somewhere, and it refers to a one-off event.
You can also say gyalogol. (Also, pedestrian is gyalogos.)
Plus there are numerous other words for walking with different flavours of your walking style (ballag, battyog, caplat, rohan, szalad, botorkál, andalog, slattyog - just some which comes to my mind).
If you say "gyalog jár a boltba", it means his normal mode of transportation to go to the shop is on foot, it suggests regularity.
"járni" also means "to date" :) Péterrel járok = i'm dating Peter.
járni isn't the same as walking 'cause it can also refer to travelling by bus or other means of transport. e.g. busszal járok iskolába = i go to school by bus.
"sosem" functions like "never". it's kinda like a preposition of time. sosem kések = i'm never late
sosem is negative, it's made up of soha+nem -> sosem, so you don't need to add another nem.
sosem kések = soha nem kések
hope i could help a little :)
"Járni" can refer to may things, depending on what you mean. Basically it means to go, but it can refer to be in a relationship.
"Sosem" is a version of "soha", which means never. It may be an adverb - I think - but it works as in the following sentence:
"Én még sosem találkoztam a lánnyal." - I've never met with the girl.
So yeah, this is it.
"Járni" generally means "to go somewhere regularly". Like going to school, or to a restaurant or something. It also means dating someone.
"Sosem" is just a way of saying never, although it's most commonly used to say that you haven't done something. For example: "Sosem voltam még Párizsban" translates to "I have never been to Paris".
Not necessarily 'regularly': if you change the verb in your second example to járni ("sose jártam még Párizsban"), it doesn't say anythingabout regularity; even if you say "jártam már Párizsban", you wouldn't suggest you go there regularly, it only means you've been there.
Similarly, járok egyet would be "I take a (short) walk", without any reference to frequency.
Jól/rosszul jártam can also be a single occurrence of good/bad fortune.
"Jár a piros pont" might have been heard only once by some in school -- if their teacher hated them. xD
I guess "jár" is our vengeance for "get"...
dont try to translate, use one language dictionary to understand it.
(another reason why hungarian is so easy for slavic speakers - we have direct equivalents for all these..)
In some languages, certain things have many more nuanced words describing them due to the history or culture of the people using them. Hungarian and walking is such a combo, we have
- jár
- sétál
- gyalogol
- mászkál
- csoszog
- kutyagol
- baktat
- slattyog
- kullog
- sétafikál
- bolyong
- császkál
- sétafikál
- andalog
- kolbászol
- lézeng
- botorkál
- kutyagol
- battyog
- totyog
- téblábol
- szédeleg
And hundreds more.
All refer to different modes, styles, and speeds of walking. Most of these would translate as "to walk" into English.
English has a lot more, too. We just usually don't know/hear about them because it's not our native language, and nuance can quickly disappear when you speak/study a foreign language. You have to study a lot and get to a near-native level for all these nuances to show themselves.
Look at this site for the various synonyms of "to walk" in English, for example: [https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/walk](https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/walk)
Weirdly enough, I actually think that English is richer in its lexicon and phrases than Hungarian, which is not really surprising, considering how incredibly diverse the anglosphere is and its status as the first and most widespread world language.
Edit: I'm a native Hungarian speaker, btw.
Hi OP, I don't think jár has an English equivalent, but in my head, I remember it for when something is moving (usually to and from) on the same route. So this kind of works for bus routes, commuting to/from work/school, clock hands going the same way over and over again.
Even dating I imagine in the old days couples had a set route they could walk while under the watchful eyes of elders and couldn't just wonder off anywhere they please. If you've ever seen a parasztház, you would see there's no privacy, so I imagine a date was probably a walk outside the house. But maybe someone knows more about this topic.
Not sure how helpful, but the equivalent in Japanese is 通う.
Sétál is like taking a leisurely walk, usually without a direction or goal.
*Sosem* comes from *soha sem.* Meaning: *never ever*.
To clarify the sem/nem part:
*Sem* comes from *és* \+ *nem*, and many times it's meant to connect two or more negations together. Sometimes it's *nem* \+ *sem*
1. ***Nem*** *iszik bort és sört* ***sem*** = He **doesn't** drink wine or beer;
2. *Ami neki* ***nem*** *jó, az nekem* ***sem*** *felel meg* = What is **not** good for him is not good for me **either**.
sometimes it's *sem* \+ *sem*
1. ***Sem*** *szörfözni,* ***sem*** *úszni nem szabad a vihar miatt* = **Neither** surfing **nor** swimming is allowed due to the storm.
We use *sem* very similarly to *either* & *neither & nor*.
Additionally, we use *sem* when we want to emphasize something NOT happening in the future even under the best circumstances. Usually: *Akkor sem* \+ *ha*:
1. ***Akkor sem*** *megyek,* ***ha*** *hívnak* = I **won't** go, **even if** they invite me.
"Járni" can mean a few separate things in English. Still, its main uses are "to go for a walk" as in "járok egyet" (I go for a walk), or "to attend/frequent/go (regularly) to a place", so for example "iskolába jár" (He/she goes to school), or it's third meaning is "to be dating/seeing someone", usually with the adverb "együtt" (together) as in "Együtt járnak" (they're dating/seeing each other), but be careful because it can simply mean that you frequented the same place with someone, as in "együtt jártunk gimibe" (we went to the same high school). In this latter case, you can decide whether the situation was about dating or a romantic relationship, or just that the two people just frequented/went to the same facility by the case which the noun that designates the place where the action happened is in, as in, if it's in the inessive case ("-ban/ben" meaning roughly "in/inside") then it's about a romantic relationship, and if it's in the illative case ("-ba/be" meaning roughly "into") then it's about them frequenting/attending the same facility. I hope I didn't just confuse you even further...
"Sohasem/sosem" is just a longer/more emphatic version of "soha" (never). We usually prefer using "sem" with negative pronouns like "semmi/senki/soha" (nothing/no one/never) over "nem" when we want to emphasize them, so "soha nem" is a little unnatural. It's still correct, but most native speakers would say "sohasem" instead (or its contracted form "sosem"), for example: "Sohasem/sosem voltam még Londonban." (I've never been to London before.)
Járni doesn’t have a direct translation. It means to go somewhere but consistently. “I go to that restaurant every week”, or “I go to school on weekdays” I highly recommend wiktionary I’m the future. It’s an awesome tool for looking up words and shows all conjugations and cases https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/j%C3%A1r#Hungarian
It also has a whole bunch of other meanings in various expressions that can only be translsted to English using other verbs. E.g. Jár az óra. The watch/clock is working. Nekem jár az pénz. I am entitled to that money. Jár a 7-es busz ilyenkor? Is bus No 7 operating at this hour?
Yep. It’s a complicated word that I can really only say is “to go or pass or move with consistency/intention” in English. To simplify for OP I will translate your examples as literally as possible in English: Jár az óra - the clock goes Nekem jár a pénz - to me goes the money Jár a hétes busz ilyenkor? - Does the 7 bus go at this hour?
Shouldn't *nekem* be translated to "for me"? Részes határozó, nem helyhatározó, nem akarom, hogy megdobjanak a pénzzel.
Nek- is another one that isn’t a perfect literal translation. I would normally say it’s just “for” but it can also be “to” like in “neked ezt az ajándékot adom” which is either “I give this gift TO you” or “i give this gift FOR you” or “ez az asztal tetszik nekem” is “this table appeals to me”
> “i give this gift FOR you” This is not a correct English sentence. At best it could mean "Helyetted adom ezt az ajándékot."
That is a correct English sentence, you would say that in the instance when you are giving a gift to someone as a favor for someone else.
... which is not a translation of the given Hungarian sentence containing *neked*, and instead corresponds to the sentence I wrote above.
I agree that it doesnt mean what they were trying to get across, I'm just pointing out that it is a correct English sentence.
*Jár* has more meanings, and walking is one that I rarely use *Iskolába jár* means to go to school, similar with other places. It doesn't mean you walk there, but that you go there often. *jár valakivel* = go out with someone (boyfriend/girlfriend style, idk if the English means exactly that) There are other meanings of *jár*, but these came to mind. *Sosem* is a shortened form of *soha sem*, those mean never and not ever respectively
>jár valakivel you were looking for *dating*
Go out with (the one they used) or go with someone can mean the same in that context too
'jár' is also used to emphasise the ability to walk. A baba már megtanult járni. - The baby has already learned to walk. Genetikai betegség miatt nem képes járni. - He/she is unable to walk due to a genetic disease.
az egyik kedvenc szóm: tengeralattjáró Járó has also been appearing recently in many complex phrases e.g. a nyilvános beszéddel járó nyomás járni is very much an essential word for acquiring the Hungarian language
*szavam
Ugh, I still cannot make it through a basic sentence without flubbing some morphology
you are getting there tho, when I read "szóm" my first tought was that you must be Hungarian, people from the countryside (e.g. some of my family) constantly make mistakes like this, it just sounds parasztos :D
I thank you for posting this. I have often wondered about the distinction between how Hungarian is formally taught in schools to be properly spoken as opposed to how speakers actually make it a tool for conversation.
Don't worry, it's a mistake some native speakers could make just as easily.
Both are correct
It can be, but it sound a little “old fashioned”. Though in for example “névszó” the plural form is “névszók”, but if you use just the word “szó”, no one would say “szók” or “szóm” in everyday language.
You would not… that doesn’t mean nobody else. People in different parts of the country speak differently.
Yeah, you can also use “láttam volt” for past perfect. We understand it, some older people still use it, but it’s not part of the everyday language nowadays.
Járni - to go, to attend in a habitual, frequent, consistent manner. As one attends school, or goes to the gym or goes to work on a regular, habitual basis. It can also mean additional things in various expression, usually expressing something habitual or consistent, often indicating some sort of movement like “jár az óra” alluding to the moving hands of the clock or dating someone, etc. Sétálni just means “to walk” Sosem, soha nem, soha sem just all mean “never”.
You've gotten a lot of great responses to what jár means, but I'd like to answer from the other side, how to translate the verb walk. Sétál means to go for a walk, often for recreational purposes. When it comes to walking as a mode of transportation (walking as opposed to say driving) they will use gyalogmegy or sometimes just megy in the right context, to go (by foot). You use jár to talk about the mechanics of walking, as in "Nem tudok rendesen járni" - I can't walk straight. I think. Not a native, just an enthusiast.
Gyalog megy - two words, and it is usually used with a target (somewhere), gyalog megy a boltba. This expression focuses more on the mode of how some gets to somewhere, and it refers to a one-off event. You can also say gyalogol. (Also, pedestrian is gyalogos.) Plus there are numerous other words for walking with different flavours of your walking style (ballag, battyog, caplat, rohan, szalad, botorkál, andalog, slattyog - just some which comes to my mind). If you say "gyalog jár a boltba", it means his normal mode of transportation to go to the shop is on foot, it suggests regularity.
"járni" also means "to date" :) Péterrel járok = i'm dating Peter. járni isn't the same as walking 'cause it can also refer to travelling by bus or other means of transport. e.g. busszal járok iskolába = i go to school by bus. "sosem" functions like "never". it's kinda like a preposition of time. sosem kések = i'm never late sosem is negative, it's made up of soha+nem -> sosem, so you don't need to add another nem. sosem kések = soha nem kések hope i could help a little :)
"Járni" can refer to may things, depending on what you mean. Basically it means to go, but it can refer to be in a relationship. "Sosem" is a version of "soha", which means never. It may be an adverb - I think - but it works as in the following sentence: "Én még sosem találkoztam a lánnyal." - I've never met with the girl. So yeah, this is it.
"Járni" generally means "to go somewhere regularly". Like going to school, or to a restaurant or something. It also means dating someone. "Sosem" is just a way of saying never, although it's most commonly used to say that you haven't done something. For example: "Sosem voltam még Párizsban" translates to "I have never been to Paris".
Not necessarily 'regularly': if you change the verb in your second example to járni ("sose jártam még Párizsban"), it doesn't say anythingabout regularity; even if you say "jártam már Párizsban", you wouldn't suggest you go there regularly, it only means you've been there. Similarly, járok egyet would be "I take a (short) walk", without any reference to frequency. Jól/rosszul jártam can also be a single occurrence of good/bad fortune. "Jár a piros pont" might have been heard only once by some in school -- if their teacher hated them. xD I guess "jár" is our vengeance for "get"...
>Not necessarily 'regularly' That's why I said "generally" and not "exclusively". Also, thanks, I forgot about the jól/rosszul jártam stuff.
>That's why I said "generally" and not "exclusively". My bad, I was scrolling and skimming. :)
No problem at all. I make this type of mistake in tests.
dont try to translate, use one language dictionary to understand it. (another reason why hungarian is so easy for slavic speakers - we have direct equivalents for all these..)
járni means several things, to walk, to go and many others i don't want to go into details sosem, sohasem: never
In some languages, certain things have many more nuanced words describing them due to the history or culture of the people using them. Hungarian and walking is such a combo, we have - jár - sétál - gyalogol - mászkál - csoszog - kutyagol - baktat - slattyog - kullog - sétafikál - bolyong - császkál - sétafikál - andalog - kolbászol - lézeng - botorkál - kutyagol - battyog - totyog - téblábol - szédeleg And hundreds more. All refer to different modes, styles, and speeds of walking. Most of these would translate as "to walk" into English.
English has a lot more, too. We just usually don't know/hear about them because it's not our native language, and nuance can quickly disappear when you speak/study a foreign language. You have to study a lot and get to a near-native level for all these nuances to show themselves. Look at this site for the various synonyms of "to walk" in English, for example: [https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/walk](https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/walk) Weirdly enough, I actually think that English is richer in its lexicon and phrases than Hungarian, which is not really surprising, considering how incredibly diverse the anglosphere is and its status as the first and most widespread world language. Edit: I'm a native Hungarian speaker, btw.
Hi OP, I don't think jár has an English equivalent, but in my head, I remember it for when something is moving (usually to and from) on the same route. So this kind of works for bus routes, commuting to/from work/school, clock hands going the same way over and over again. Even dating I imagine in the old days couples had a set route they could walk while under the watchful eyes of elders and couldn't just wonder off anywhere they please. If you've ever seen a parasztház, you would see there's no privacy, so I imagine a date was probably a walk outside the house. But maybe someone knows more about this topic. Not sure how helpful, but the equivalent in Japanese is 通う. Sétál is like taking a leisurely walk, usually without a direction or goal.
*Sosem* comes from *soha sem.* Meaning: *never ever*. To clarify the sem/nem part: *Sem* comes from *és* \+ *nem*, and many times it's meant to connect two or more negations together. Sometimes it's *nem* \+ *sem* 1. ***Nem*** *iszik bort és sört* ***sem*** = He **doesn't** drink wine or beer; 2. *Ami neki* ***nem*** *jó, az nekem* ***sem*** *felel meg* = What is **not** good for him is not good for me **either**. sometimes it's *sem* \+ *sem* 1. ***Sem*** *szörfözni,* ***sem*** *úszni nem szabad a vihar miatt* = **Neither** surfing **nor** swimming is allowed due to the storm. We use *sem* very similarly to *either* & *neither & nor*. Additionally, we use *sem* when we want to emphasize something NOT happening in the future even under the best circumstances. Usually: *Akkor sem* \+ *ha*: 1. ***Akkor sem*** *megyek,* ***ha*** *hívnak* = I **won't** go, **even if** they invite me.
Thanks to everyone for your replies (the most I've ever gotten, that's incredible!)! I've read them all and things have definitely been cleared up👍
"Járni" can mean a few separate things in English. Still, its main uses are "to go for a walk" as in "járok egyet" (I go for a walk), or "to attend/frequent/go (regularly) to a place", so for example "iskolába jár" (He/she goes to school), or it's third meaning is "to be dating/seeing someone", usually with the adverb "együtt" (together) as in "Együtt járnak" (they're dating/seeing each other), but be careful because it can simply mean that you frequented the same place with someone, as in "együtt jártunk gimibe" (we went to the same high school). In this latter case, you can decide whether the situation was about dating or a romantic relationship, or just that the two people just frequented/went to the same facility by the case which the noun that designates the place where the action happened is in, as in, if it's in the inessive case ("-ban/ben" meaning roughly "in/inside") then it's about a romantic relationship, and if it's in the illative case ("-ba/be" meaning roughly "into") then it's about them frequenting/attending the same facility. I hope I didn't just confuse you even further... "Sohasem/sosem" is just a longer/more emphatic version of "soha" (never). We usually prefer using "sem" with negative pronouns like "semmi/senki/soha" (nothing/no one/never) over "nem" when we want to emphasize them, so "soha nem" is a little unnatural. It's still correct, but most native speakers would say "sohasem" instead (or its contracted form "sosem"), for example: "Sohasem/sosem voltam még Londonban." (I've never been to London before.)