Questions & Answers about A szomszéd nő vizet kér.
What does each word contribute grammatically?
- A = the (definite article; used before a consonant)
- szomszéd = neighbor
- nő = woman
- víz = water; vizet = water in the accusative (direct object) form
- kér = asks for / requests / orders
So A szomszéd nő vizet kér literally tracks as “The neighbor woman water asks-for.”
Why is it vizet and not víz or vízet?
- Hungarian marks direct objects with the accusative ending -t. Many nouns take a linking vowel before it, so víz + -t → vizet (with an inserted e).
- The long í in víz shortens to i in this form: víz → vizet. Writing vízet is a common mistake.
- Similar patterns: kéz → kezet (hand), tűz → tüzet (fire).
Why doesn’t nő have any ending? Isn’t Hungarian full of endings?
What’s the difference between kér and kérdez?
- kér = to ask for/request/order something (the thing is the direct object): vizet kér (asks for water).
- kérdez = to ask (a question): kérdez valamit or kérdez tőle (asks something / asks him-her).
Where is the word “for” (as in “ask for”)?
Hungarian doesn’t use a separate preposition here. kér takes the thing requested as a direct object: vizet kér = “asks for water.”
If you name the person you ask from, use -tól/-től: vizet kér a szomszédtól (asks the neighbor for water).
Is the word order fixed? Can I move things around?
Hungarian word order serves information structure (topic/focus). All of these are possible, with different nuances:
- A szomszéd nő vizet kér. Neutral statement; topic = the neighbor woman; focus on the requested item before the verb.
- A szomszéd nő kér vizet. Grammatical; puts a bit more emphasis on the action of asking.
- Vizet kér a szomszéd nő. Emphasizes that it’s water (not something else) she’s asking for; good as an answer to “What does she want?”
How would I say “The neighbor woman asks for the water” (specific water)?
Make the object definite and switch the verb to definite conjugation:
- A szomszéd nő a vizet kéri. (Definite object a vizet triggers kéri instead of kér.)
Could/should szomszéd nő be one word?
You’ll see both:
- szomszéd nő (two words) — perfectly fine in everyday speech.
- szomszédnő (compound) — also common, especially in writing.
- Another frequent option is szomszédasszony (“neighbor lady”), and more formal is szomszéd hölgy.
How do I say “ask X for water”?
Use the pattern kér valakitől valamit:
- A szomszéd nő a portástól vizet kér. (The neighbor woman asks the doorman for water.)
- With pronouns: tőlem/tőled/tőle/tőlünk/tőletek/tőlük (from me/you/him-her/us/you(pl)/them).
How do I form a yes–no question from this sentence?
Just use question intonation (and a question mark in writing):
- A szomszéd nő vizet kér? You can also front the focused element for emphasis: Vizet kér a szomszéd nő?
How do I negate it?
Put nem before the verb (and anything focused remains before the verb):
- A szomszéd nő nem kér vizet. (She doesn’t ask for water.)
- Vizet nem kér a szomszéd nő. (What she doesn’t ask for is water.)
Why is there no word for “some” before water?
Hungarian typically uses a bare singular object for an indefinite amount of a mass noun:
- vizet kér ≈ “asks for (some) water.” If you want to stress the small quantity: egy kis vizet or némi vizet.
Can I say “one water” like in a restaurant?
Yes. Counting implies a portion (glass/bottle):
- Egy vizet kérek. (I’ll have a water.) In third person: A szomszéd nő egy vizet kér.
What’s the pronunciation of the tricky letters?
- sz = English s (as in see). Note: Hungarian s alone is “sh.”
- é is a long close-mid e (like the vowel in “café,” longer, no glide).
- ő (double-acute) is a long ö (like German “ö”).
- í is a long i (like “ee” in see), but in vizet it’s short i.
- Primary stress is always on the first syllable of each word.
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