Learn Hardcore Hungarian: Vasárnap néha nem akarok sportolni, csak egy kicsit sétálok. - On Sunday I sometimes don’t want to do sports, I just walk a little.

Hungarian often puts time expressions (like vasárnap – on Sunday / on Sundays) at the beginning of the sentence as the topic: what we are talking about.

Vasárnap néha nem akarok… = On Sundays I sometimes don’t want…
Néha vasárnap nem akarok… = Sometimes, on Sundays, I don’t want…

Both are grammatically correct, but the emphasis shifts slightly:

With Vasárnap first, the main “frame” is Sundays in general.
With Néha first, the main “frame” is sometimes in general.

Also, vasárnap is capitalized here only because it is at the start of the sentence; days of the week are normally written with a lowercase letter in Hungarian.

Why is there no preposition like on before vasárnap (Sunday)? Why not something like “on Sunday”?

Hungarian usually does not use prepositions with days of the week. Instead, the bare day name itself functions as an adverb of time:

Vasárnap elmegyek. – I’m going (somewhere) on Sunday.
Hétfőn dolgozom. – I work on Monday.

You’ll also see a suffix -on/-en/-ön sometimes (e.g. vasárnapon), but in modern everyday speech, for days of the week, vasárnap without a suffix is completely normal when it means on Sunday / on Sundays.

What exactly is the role of néha in Vasárnap néha nem akarok sportolni? How is that different from English?

Néha means sometimes. Its scope here is over the whole negative phrase nem akarok sportolni:

Néha nem akarok sportolni. ≈ Sometimes I don’t want to do sports.

Compare these two ideas:

Néha nem akarok sportolni. – On some occasions, I don’t want to do sports at all.
Nem mindig akarok sportolni. – I don’t always want to do sports. (Similar meaning, but the structure is different.)

A sentence like Nem akarok néha sportolni is not natural Hungarian; néha normally comes before the negation or the verb, not after the infinitive.

Why is the negation nem placed directly before akarok?

In Hungarian, nem normally comes right before the finite verb (the conjugated verb) that you’re negating:

Akarok sportolni. – I want to do sports.
Nem akarok sportolni. – I don’t want to do sports.

If you move nem somewhere else, it either sounds wrong or changes the meaning. So nem + [finite verb] is the standard pattern:

Nem sétálok. – I’m not walking.
Nem fogok sportolni. – I will not do sports.

What does akarok mean exactly, and why is sportolni in that -ni form?

Akarok is the 1st person singular present of akar – I want.

In Hungarian, when one verb takes another verb as its complement (like want to do, like to eat), the second verb is in the infinitive, which ends in -ni:

akarok sportolni – I want to do sports
szeretek olvasni – I like to read
próbálok tanulni – I try to study

So the structure is:

[akarok] (finite verb) + [sportolni] (infinitive).

Why is it sportolni and not something like sportot csinálni or sportolás?

Hungarian has a specific verb sportol, which means to do sports / to play sports (in general). So:

sportolni = to do sports

You could say things like:

sportot űzni – to practice a (particular) sport
sportolás – the noun doing sports, sporting activity

But in everyday speech, sportolni is the natural, simple way to say to do sports in general, so nem akarok sportolni sounds completely normal and idiomatic.

Why is csak before egy kicsit? Could I say Egy kicsit csak sétálok instead?

Csak means only / just, and it typically comes right before the word or phrase it limits:

csak egy kicsit sétálok – I only walk a little.
csak sétálok – I’m just walking (and doing nothing else).

Csak egy kicsit sétálok is the most natural order here.

You can say Egy kicsit sétálok csak in some contexts, but that has a slightly different, more “afterthought” feel, and Egy kicsit csak sétálok is unusual and not idiomatic in neutral speech.

So, as a safe rule: put csak before the word/phrase you want to emphasize as only/just.

What exactly does egy kicsit mean, and how is it used?

Egy kicsit literally means a little (bit). It works as an adverbial expression, modifying the verb:

egy kicsit sétálok – I walk a little (bit).
egy kicsit fáradt vagyok – I am a little tired.

You’ll also often hear kicsit without egy (e.g. kicsit fáradt vagyok), and even egy kicsikét (very similar meaning, a bit more “diminutive”/soft). All three are common and quite close in meaning in everyday use.

Why is it sétálok and not sétálni in the second part?

In the second part, we have a new clause with its own finite verb:

… nem akarok sportolni, csak egy kicsit sétálok.
– … I don’t want to do sports, I just walk a bit.

Hungarian is saying literally:
“I don’t want to do sports, I just walk a little,”
not “… I just *to walk a little.”*

So sétálok is the normal 1st person singular present form of sétál (to walk). If you wanted an infinitive, you’d say sétálni, but then you’d need another verb that can take an infinitive (want, like, start, etc.), which is not the case here.

There’s only a comma between the clauses, no and or but. Is that typical in Hungarian?

Yes. Hungarian often just uses a comma between related clauses where English would use and or but. In this sentence, csak already signals a kind of “but only / just” contrast:

…nem akarok sportolni, csak egy kicsit sétálok.
≈ …I don’t want to do sports, I just walk a little.

You could add hanem (but rather) in some other structures with nem … hanem …, but here csak plus the comma is natural and sufficient to express the contrast.

Why isn’t the subject én (I) written? How do we know it means I?

Hungarian usually drops subject pronouns when they are clear from the verb endings. The verb forms akarok and sétálok both end in -ok, which marks 1st person singular (I).

So:

Én nem akarok sportolni, csak egy kicsit sétálok.
Nem akarok sportolni, csak egy kicsit sétálok.

mean the same thing; the second is just more natural and less heavy in everyday speech. You only add én if you want to emphasize I (as opposed to someone else).

Is the present tense here talking about right now, or about a habit? Why no extra word like “usually”?

Hungarian present tense can express both:

present time (right now)
and habitual/general actions, especially with time expressions

Here, Vasárnap néha… (On Sundays, sometimes…) clearly suggests a habitual meaning:

On Sundays I sometimes don’t want to do sports, I just take a little walk.

You don’t need a separate word like usually or normally unless you specifically want that nuance; the combination of present tense + vasárnap / néha already gives a regular/habitual reading.