Sem a fúrás, sem a kopogás nem zavaró.

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Breakdown of Sem a fúrás, sem a kopogás nem zavaró.

• nem: not
• sem: neither
• sem: nor

Questions & Answers about Sem a fúrás, sem a kopogás nem zavaró.

What does sem ... sem mean in this sentence?

Sem ... sem is the standard Hungarian pattern for neither ... nor.

So:

• sem a fúrás = neither the drilling
• sem a kopogás = nor the knocking

Together, Sem a fúrás, sem a kopogás ... sets up two things that are both being denied.

This pattern can be extended to more than two items:

• Sem a zaj, sem a fény, sem a szag nem kellemes.

Why is there also nem? Doesn’t sem ... sem already make the sentence negative?

Yes, but Hungarian normally still uses nem with the predicate.

So the structure is:

• Sem X, sem Y nem ...

This is normal Hungarian grammar, not a mistake. English usually uses just neither ... nor without another negative word, but Hungarian commonly keeps the negative marking on the verb or predicate too.

So:

• Sem Péter, sem Anna nem jön.
• Sem a fúrás, sem a kopogás nem zavaró.

A good way to remember it is: sem ... sem introduces the negative subject(s), and nem negates the predicate.

Why is there an a before both fúrás and kopogás?