[#DuolingoForumGems originally posted on 2021-01-16 on the Duolingo Hungarian for English speakers forum by peter.kristof.hu ] 

Lenni vagy nem lenni

The verb van has many meanings and is used in several ways. Its infinitive form is lenni. It roughly corresponds to the verbs "to be" and "to have". As an intransitive verb, it cannot have an object. To understand the use of van, we need to know the types of predicates in the Hungarian sentences.

• Simple predicate. It usually consists of one verb (but it can be more complex).
  For example:
  A vonat gyorsan halad. -- The train is moving fast.

• Complex predicate (nominal - verb). It consists of a nominal (noun, adjective, numeral, pronoun) and the conjugated lenni. It is the case when the verb van/vannak is used as an auxiliary verb, i.e. a linking verb or copula. Van/vannak is to be omitted in some cases. In these cases, it is sometimes called a nominal predicate because there is no verb.
  An example of the complex predicate:
  Te (egy) tanuló vagy. -- You are a student. You will see that the English and Hungarian approaches are slightly different.

Next, let's look at the common meanings of lenni. (Predicates are marked in bold.)

nincs, nincsenek, sem, sincs, sincsenek

Q: What is the difference between nincs, nincsenek, sincs, sincsenek?

A: you can think of these words like fusing some other words together

instead of "nem van" write "nincs". So nem+van = nincs

is + nem =sem

and one more level, is + nem + van = is + nincs = sincs

nincsenek is the plural version of nincs

sincsenek is the plural version of sincs

Some examples.

Az autó itt van. The car is here.

Az autó is itt van. The car is also here. (something else is here + the car too)

Az autó nincs itt. The car is not here.

Az autó sincs itt. The car is not here either. (something else is not here + the car also not)

Az autók nincsenek itt. The cars are not here.

Az autók sincsenek itt. The cars are not here either.

Is, sem, and double negatives

 [Originally posted on 2019-07-19 on the Duolingo Hungarian for English speakers forum by jzsuzsi. ]

is

In Hungarian, is means too or also. We place is right after the word it refers to.  

Examples:  

I, too, like horses = Én is szeretem a lovakat. 

I like horses too (stress on "I" and "too" in speech) = Én is szeretem a lovakat.

I like horses too = I like horses (in addition to something else that has already been mentioned)   Szeretem a lovakat is.

Én is okos vagyok = I am also smart. (and someone else is smart as well)

Én okos is vagyok és szép is. = I am smart and beautiful too.

Van and Nincs

The word nincs is an interesting word in Hungarian. 

"van" is a third person singular verb, meaning "is".
"nincs" is also a third person singular verb, which is the negated form of van. 

This does not happen to any other verb to have a special, extra form, only with the verb "to be". (For example, the negated form of "alszik" is simply "nem alszik") 

As we know, "van" is sometimes omitted (see the previous post: https://magyarbagoly.blogspot.com/2022/01/when-to-use-vanvannak.html )

When to use van/vannak

[#DuolingoForumGems originally posted on 2016-07-08 in the Duolingo Hungarian for English speakers forum by Rashad89 ]

Question by Rashad89

Hi guys,

I am having a little problem with the verb "lenni". I still cannot understand why in some case it is there and in some it is not. I understand that it is used in questions and with adverbs. But are there any other rules that I am missing? Like why isn't there a verb in "ő egy tanár"?

Thanks in advance!

Answer by linguafiqari

I assume you're talking about "Van" and "Vannak" - these are dropped most of the time in Hungarian, but there are four cases where they are used.

• Time - Expressing when something is
  "Mikor van a buli?" - "When is the party?"
  "A buli 7-kor van." - "The party is at 7."

• State - Expressing how something/someone is
  "Apád ma hogy van?" - "How is your dad today?"
  "Ma jobban van, mint tegnap, köszönöm." - "He is better today than he was yesterday, thank you."

• Location - Expressing where something is
  "Hol van a mozi?" - "Where is the cinema?"
  "Ott van jobbra." - "It's there on the right."

• (Adverbial Participle - Expressing a verbal state of a noun - this will come later on)
  "Ki van nyitva az ablak?" - "Is the window open?"
  "Nem, be van zárva." - "No, it's shut."

All the above become "Vannak" when the subject in question is plural:

"Itt vannak a poharak." - "Here are the glasses."
"A szobák fűtve vannak." - "The rooms are heated."