Pénteken nem a városban vacsorázunk, hanem otthon.

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Breakdown of Pénteken nem a városban vacsorázunk, hanem otthon.

• -ban: in
• nem: not
• város: the city

Questions & Answers about Pénteken nem a városban vacsorázunk, hanem otthon.

Why does Péntek become Pénteken?

Because Hungarian often adds a suffix to days of the week when it means on that day.

• péntek = Friday
• pénteken = on Friday

The ending -en here is one of the forms used for this time expression. With days, Hungarian usually does not need a separate word for on the way English does.

Examples:

• Hétfőn dolgozom. = I work on Monday.
• Szerdán utazunk. = We travel on Wednesday.
• Pénteken otthon maradunk. = We stay home on Friday.

What does nem ... hanem ... mean?

This is a very common Hungarian pattern meaning not ..., but rather ... or not ..., but ....

In your sentence:

• nem a városban = not in the city
• hanem otthon = but at home

So the structure is:

• nem X, hanem Y = not X, but Y

More examples:

• Nem te, hanem én. = Not you, but me.
• Nem ma, hanem holnap. = Not today, but tomorrow.
• Nem kávét iszom, hanem teát. = I’m not drinking coffee, but tea.

This pattern is especially used when correcting or contrasting information.