Breakdown of Ahelyett, hogy gyorsan befejezné a munkát, a kolléga még egy kicsit beszélget az irodában.
Questions & Answers about Ahelyett, hogy gyorsan befejezné a munkát, a kolléga még egy kicsit beszélget az irodában.
Ahelyett, hogy is a fixed conjunction meaning instead of (doing something) or rather than (doing something).
Pattern:
- Ahelyett, hogy + finite verb (usually in conditional) + ... , ...
In this sentence:
- Ahelyett, hogy gyorsan befejezné a munkát, ...
- Literally: Instead of (that) he would quickly finish the work, ...
So:
- ahelyett = instead of that
- hogy = that, introducing a full clause
In English you’d often use -ing (instead of finishing), but Hungarian normally uses a full clause with hogy after ahelyett.
Yes, befejezné is conditional (3rd person singular): would finish.
After ahelyett, hogy, Hungarian very often uses the conditional to express an alternative, unreal action that is not happening, because something else is happening instead.
- Ahelyett, hogy gyorsan befejezné a munkát, ...
- implies: He/She is not actually finishing the work quickly; that would be the alternative action.
This conditional here does not usually translate with would in natural English; we just say:
- Instead of finishing the work quickly, the colleague chats a bit more in the office.
So: conditional form in Hungarian, but simple form in English.
The difference is indefinite vs definite conjugation in the conditional.
For befejez:
- befejezne = 3rd person singular conditional, indefinite
- befejezné = 3rd person singular conditional, definite
You use:
- indefinite when there is no definite direct object (or the object is not specific).
- definite when there is a definite object, like a munkát (the work).
In the sentence:
- befejezné a munkát
- a munkát is a definite object (a = the)
- so you must use the definite conditional: befejezné, not befejezne.
You will hear native speakers use the indicative:
- Ahelyett, hogy gyorsan befejezi a munkát, ...
However, in standard / careful Hungarian, the conditional (befejezné) is preferred here, because the action is:
- hypothetical / alternative, and
- not actually happening.
So:
- befejezné = more standard and “correct” in writing.
- befejezi = colloquial, often used in speech, and most people will accept it.
If you are learning, it is safer and more “textbook-correct” to use befejezné after ahelyett, hogy.
The commas mark off the subordinate clause:
- Ahelyett, hogy gyorsan befejezné a munkát,
- This is a complete subordinate clause introduced by ahelyett, hogy.
- Then comes the main clause:
- a kolléga még egy kicsit beszélget az irodában.
Hungarian punctuation rules:
- Subordinate clauses introduced by conjunctions like hogy, mert, amikor, ahelyett, hogy are usually separated by commas from the main clause.
- With ahelyett, hogy, most style guides recommend keeping the comma after ahelyett:
- Ahelyett, hogy ... , ...
So both commas are normal and correct.
Hungarian word order strongly reflects focus (emphasis).
The main focus position is right before the conjugated verb.
In hogy gyorsan befejezné a munkát:
- Conjugated verb: befejezné
- Focus position: just before it → gyorsan
- So gyorsan is emphasized: would quickly finish the work.
Other possible orders (with different nuances):
- hogy a munkát gyorsan befejezné
- Focus on a munkát: that he would quickly finish *the work (and not something else)*.
- hogy befejezné gyorsan a munkát
- More neutral, gyorsan is less strongly focused; acceptable but sounds a bit less natural here.
The original:
- hogy gyorsan befejezné a munkát
- naturally emphasizes doing it quickly.
The verb befejez contains the prefix be-:
- fejez = to finish / to end (less common by itself in modern everyday speech)
- befejez = to finish / to complete (very common)
In neutral sentences, the verbal prefix normally stands before the verb:
- befejezi a munkát = he finishes the work.
The prefix moves after the verb mainly:
- in some emphatic or negative structures,
- in some questions,
- with certain particles.
Here:
- hogy gyorsan befejezné a munkát
is a neutral clause inside a larger sentence, so the preverbal position (befejezné) is normal and preferred.
You can say fejezné be a munkát, but it sounds more marked, and also slightly different stylistically (and gyorsan fejezné be a munkát would be the natural variant in that case). The given sentence is perfectly idiomatic as is.
Both can often translate as finishes the work, but there are nuances:
befejezi a munkát
- befejez focuses on ending something that was in progress.
- Neutral, very common: finish doing the work.
elvégzi a munkát
- elvégez emphasizes completion / carrying out a task successfully.
- Slightly more “task-oriented”: get the work done / complete the job.
In this sentence, befejezni a munkát fits very naturally; elvégezni a munkát would also be grammatically correct, but the tone is a bit different.
beszél = to speak, talk (more general)
- Beszél magyarul. – He/She speaks Hungarian.
- Beszél a főnökével. – He/She is talking to the boss.
beszélget = to chat, have a chat / conversation
- implies more informal, often mutual, back-and-forth talking
- often used for small talk or casual conversation.
In the sentence:
- a kolléga még egy kicsit beszélget az irodában
- suggests chatting, small talk in the office, not a formal discussion.
Literally:
- még = still, yet, more
- egy kicsit = a little, a bit, a little while
Together:
- még egy kicsit ≈ a bit more / for a little (while) longer.
Usage:
- Maradj még egy kicsit! – Stay a bit longer!
- Még egy kicsit dolgozom. – I’ll work a bit more.
In the sentence:
- a kolléga még egy kicsit beszélget az irodában
- still chats / chats for a bit longer in the office, instead of finishing the work quickly.
Az irodában = in the office (a specific, known office).
The article a / az is used when the noun is definite / identifiable in context.
- irodában without article would mean something like in an office / in offices (in general). It’s possible, but less common in this kind of concrete context.
In this sentence, we imagine the colleague’s office / the workplace office, which is a specific, already known location, so az irodában is natural and expected.
Hungarian and English use articles differently.
In Hungarian:
- Professions and roles with a specific person in mind usually take the definite article:
- A tanár bejön. – The teacher comes in. (= that specific teacher)
- A kolléga még egy kicsit beszélget. – The colleague chats a bit more.
Without more context, a kolléga here means that particular colleague already known from context (e.g. one you’ve been talking about).
English often omits “the” in a generic description (Colleagues often chat in the office), but Hungarian tends to keep the article in such cases.
kolléga is formally gender-neutral in modern Hungarian.
Historically:
- kolléga was more male-coded,
- kolléganő was explicitly female colleague.
Today:
- kolléga can refer to any colleague, male or female.
- kolléganő is still used, but some people avoid it because it marks gender unnecessarily.
In this sentence:
- a kolléga could be he or she; gender is not specified. Context would tell you if needed.
Yes. Hungarian is a pro-drop language: it freely omits subject pronouns when they are clear from context.
In:
- Ahelyett, hogy gyorsan befejezné a munkát, a kolléga még egy kicsit beszélget az irodában.
The subject of befejezné is the same person as a kolléga in the main clause:
- Literally: Instead of (that) he/she would quickly finish the work, the colleague chats a bit more in the office.
In English you usually put the subject as soon as possible; in Hungarian, it’s fine that the subject appears in the main clause and is understood in the subordinate clause.
Yes, Hungarian allows several orders, with small differences in emphasis:
Original:
- a kolléga még egy kicsit beszélget az irodában.
- Verb: beszélget
- Focus position: még egy kicsit (before the verb)
- Emphasis: He chats *a bit more in the office (rather than not).*
Other possibilities:
- a kolléga az irodában még egy kicsit beszélget.
- Focus on az irodában: it’s in the office that he chats a bit more (not somewhere else).
- az irodában a kolléga még egy kicsit beszélget.
- Stronger focus on az irodában at the very start: In the office, the colleague chats a bit more.
All are grammatical; they just shift what is highlighted.
The given version is neutral and natural, with emphasis on még egy kicsit.
No, that kind of direct infinitive construction is not natural in Hungarian.
You normally say:
- Ahelyett, hogy gyorsan befejezné a munkát, ...
To use an infinitive, you would need a different structure, e.g. with helyett as a postposition:
- A munka gyors befejezése helyett a kolléga még egy kicsit beszélget az irodában.
- Instead of the quick completion of the work, the colleague chats a bit more in the office.
But that is more formal and changes the style.
For everyday sentences like yours, the pattern is:
- Ahelyett, hogy + (usually conditional) clause, main clause.