Breakdown of A kenu felborulhat az áramlatban.
az
the
kenu
a canoe
áramlat
a current in water
felborulni
to capsize or overturn
Questions & Answers about A kenu felborulhat az áramlatban.
Why is it a kenu but az áramlatban?
Hungarian has two forms of the definite article:
- a before a consonant sound
- az before a vowel sound
So:
- a kenu = the canoe
- az áramlatban = in the current
This is similar to how English uses a and an, except Hungarian does it with the definite article instead.
What does felborulhat mean literally, and how is it built?
felborulhat can be broken down like this:
- fel- = up / over
- borul = tip over, overturn
- -hat / -het = can, may, might
So felborulhat means something like:
- can capsize
- may overturn
- might tip over
In natural English here, may capsize or can capsize works well.
Why is there no separate word for can or may?
Because Hungarian often adds that meaning directly to the verb with the suffix -hat / -het.
So instead of using a separate helper verb like English can, Hungarian says:
- felborul = capsizes / overturns
- felborulhat = can capsize / may overturn
Which form appears, -hat or -het, depends mainly on vowel harmony.