Reader question: “Nem megyünk moziba?”

Budapest’s Bem Cinema in 1958, which is still in operation today.
FORTEPAN / Budapest Főváros Levéltára (CC BY-SA 3.0)

We got a great question from one of our listeners/readers, Miloš. I’m not sure where he’s from, but his Hungarian is quite impressive! This is from his email to us about our website:

Most magyarul tanulok. Ez nagyon hasznos. Nagy segítség! 😉 (I’m studying Hungarian now. This is very useful. A big help!) (Thanks Miloš!)

van egy kérdésem, ha valaki tud válaszolni. (I have a question, if there is someone who can answer it.)

What would be more common to ask?

nem megyünk a moziba?
van kedved menni a moziba? or nincs kedved a moziba?

curious because I find this “negative” way of asking a bit strange. almost a bit passive agressive which I am sure is not. 😉

Steven: Great question Miloš! Your Hungarian must be really good to ask about this kind of difference.

Györgyi: I would say that all of them are acceptable, but I would change the wording of the questions a little bit.

“Nem megyünk moziba?” would be used when you have already decided that you’re going to spend your time together doing something, but you don’t know what. A good translation would be: “Why don’t we go to the cinema?“
“Van/Nincs kedved moziba menni?” is used when you want to spend time with someone, and you offer going to the cinema as a possibility. A translation would be: “Would you like to go to the cinema?“

Steven: Regarding the issue of asking negative questions, I agree with you, Miloš! In English it can sound a bit “passive/aggressive” sometimes, as you say. But it’s a little different in Hungarian. What do you think about this, Györgyi?

Györgyi: I think that it has the same meaning whether you start a question with “Van” or “Nincs.” So in this example, they both mean the same thing.

Steven: I know that when you sometimes ask me a negative question in English, I think to myself, “What’s your problem??” But you probably don’t mean it in a bad way…

Györgyi: Yes, that’s one mistake that Hungarians are liable to make when they speak English!

In summary:

Nem megyünk moziba? – Why don’t we go to the cinema?

Van/Nincs kedved moziba menni? – Would you like to go to the cinema?

Do you have any questions about the Hungarian language?? Let us know via the “Contact Us” page located at the top of the site!