Szerintem a külföldi turista is vicces, amikor magyarul próbál beszélni.

In my opinion the foreign tourist is also funny when he tries to speak Hungarian.

Breakdown of Szerintem a külföldi turista is vicces, amikor magyarul próbál beszélni.

• lenni: to be
• én: I
• is: also
• amikor: when
• magyar: Hungarian
• szerint: according to
• próbálni: to try
• beszélni: to speak
• turista: the tourist
• külföldi: foreign
• vicces: funny

Questions & Answers about Szerintem a külföldi turista is vicces, amikor magyarul próbál beszélni.

How is this sentence structured literally? Can you give a word‑for‑word breakdown?

The sentence is:

Szerintem a külföldi turista is vicces, amikor magyarul próbál beszélni.

A fairly literal breakdown:

• szerintem – according-to-me → in my opinion / I think
• a – the definite article the / a
• külföldi – foreign
• turista – tourist
• is – also / too / even
• vicces – funny
• amikor – when
• magyarul – in Hungarian (literally: Hungarian‑ly)
• próbál – tries
• beszélni – to speak (infinitive)

So a close literal rendering is:

In‑my‑opinion the foreign tourist also funny, when in‑Hungarian tries to‑speak.

What does szerintem mean exactly, and where can it go in the sentence?

Szerintem literally means “according to me”, and it functions like “I think” / “in my opinion”.

• It does not need a verb like English I think; szerintem alone already carries that meaning.
• It usually stands at the beginning of the sentence, but you can move it somewhat:
  • Szerintem a külföldi turista is vicces… – neutral, very common.
  • A külföldi turista szerintem vicces… – still possible; puts a bit more weight on “in my opinion” (like “the foreign tourist is, in my opinion, funny…”).

You cannot conjugate it; you don’t say something like szerintek to mean I think. For other persons you use:

• szerintem – according to me
• szerinted – according to you
• szerinte – according to him/her, etc.

Why is a külföldi turista singular, when in English I might say “foreign tourists”?

Hungarian very often uses a singular noun with an article to talk about people in general:

• A külföldi turista vicces.
  Literally: The foreign tourist is funny.
  Meaning: Foreign tourists are funny (in general).

This is similar to English sentences like:

• The whale is a mammal. (meaning whales in general)

So:

• a külföldi turista – the foreign tourist → foreign tourists (as a type / group)

If you really want to emphasize the plural group, you can say:

• A külföldi turisták viccesek. – Foreign tourists are funny.
  (Here both the noun and adjective become plural: turisták viccesek.)

What is the role of is after turista? Could it go somewhere else?

Is means “also / too / even”, but in Hungarian it always attaches to (logically belongs to) the word immediately before it.

• a külföldi turista is vicces
  → the foreign tourist is also funny
  (for example: Hungarians are funny, and the foreign tourist is also funny)

If you move is, you change what is being emphasized as “also”:

• Szerintem a külföldi turista vicces is – I think the foreign tourist is funny too (among other things).
• Szerintem a külföldi turista is vicces, amikor… – I think the foreign tourist is also funny when… (maybe compared to some other situations or people).

So:

• Position of is matters; it “sticks” to the word right before it in terms of meaning.

Why is it külföldi turista and not something like turista külföldi?

In Hungarian, adjectives normally come before the noun they modify:

• külföldi turista – foreign tourist
• magyar turista – Hungarian tourist
• vicces turista – funny tourist

Putting the adjective after the noun (like turista külföldi) is usually:

• either wrong,
• or extremely unusual and would sound poetic/marked in everyday speech.

So the natural pattern is:

adjective + noun
külföldi turista, fiatal tanár, kis ház, etc.

Is vicces an adjective or an adverb? Why isn’t there some -ly ending like in English?

Vicces is an adjective meaning funny.

Hungarian generally does not use a special -ly adverb form the way English does. Very often:

• an English adverb “funny / funnily”
  corresponds to the same Hungarian form: viccesen or just vicces, depending on structure.

In this sentence:

• a külföldi turista … vicces – the foreign tourist is funny
  → simple adjective as predicate, like English “is funny”.

If you wanted to modify a verb explicitly in an adverbial way, you could use:

• viccesen beszél – speaks in a funny way / speaks funnily.

But in the given sentence, we just state that the tourist is funny (in that situation), so vicces (adjective) is correct.

What does magyarul mean, and how is it different from magyar?

• magyar by itself can mean Hungarian (person) or Hungarian (language), depending on context.
• magyarul is an adverbial form meaning “in Hungarian” (as in: in the Hungarian language).

The -ul / -ül ending is used to form language adverbs:

• magyar → magyarul – in Hungarian
• angol → angolul – in English
• német → németül – in German

So:

• magyarul beszél – speaks Hungarian / speaks in Hungarian
• You would not normally say beszél magyar for this.

How does próbál beszélni work? Is there an equivalent of the English “to”?

In Hungarian, the verb próbál (to try) is followed directly by the infinitive of another verb, without a separate word for “to”:

• próbál beszélni – tries to speak
• próbál enni – tries to eat
• próbál segíteni – tries to help

So the structure is:

próbál + infinitive

There is no separate word like English “to”. The -ni ending on beszélni is what marks the infinitive.

Why is magyarul próbál beszélni and not próbál magyarul beszélni? Is the word order fixed?

Both word orders are actually possible, but word order affects focus in Hungarian.

• magyarul próbál beszélni
  – The focus is more on magyarul: the fact that it is in Hungarian that they are trying to speak.

• próbál magyarul beszélni
  – More neutral; just tries to speak Hungarian.

In the original sentence, magyarul is directly before próbál, which gives extra emphasis to “in Hungarian” – that’s exactly what makes the situation funny: the foreign tourist is trying in Hungarian, not in their own language.

What is the function of amikor here, and why is there a comma before it?

Amikor means “when” and introduces a subordinate clause:

• amikor magyarul próbál beszélni – when (he/she) tries to speak Hungarian

Hungarian punctuation normally uses a comma before most subordinate conjunctions, including amikor:

• …, amikor … – …, when …

So:

• Szerintem a külföldi turista is vicces, amikor magyarul próbál beszélni.
  → main clause: Szerintem a külföldi turista is vicces
  → subordinate clause: amikor magyarul próbál beszélni

You almost always keep that comma in standard written Hungarian.

Why is it próbál beszélni (3rd person singular), not a plural form?

The subject is:

• a külföldi turista – the foreign tourist (singular)

So the verb that agrees with this subject is 3rd person singular:

• (ő) próbál beszélni – he/she tries to speak

Even though in meaning we might be talking about foreign tourists in general, Hungarian grammar still treats a külföldi turista as singular, so the verb form is singular as well.

If you made it explicitly plural:

• A külföldi turisták viccesek, amikor magyarul próbálnak beszélni.
  – Foreign tourists are funny when they try to speak Hungarian.
  (Here both viccesek and próbálnak are plural.)

Does the sentence sound rude in Hungarian? Is it okay to say that “the foreign tourist is funny” when they try to speak Hungarian?

The sentence can sound a bit mocking or at least amused at the foreigner’s expense, depending on context and tone.

• vicces – funny – can be neutral, but in this context it often implies:
  • They sound amusing / kind of ridiculous when they try.

If you want to be more positive or kind, you might phrase it differently:

• Szerintem nagyon aranyos, amikor a külföldi turista magyarul próbál beszélni.
  – I think it’s very cute when the foreign tourist tries to speak Hungarian.

So it’s grammatically fine, but in real life you’d be careful with it around actual foreign learners, unless it’s clearly friendly joking.