Hungarian normally has no spoken or written equivalent of English is/are in a present-tense third-person classification: Anna orvos means “Anna is a doctor,” and A szülei orvosok means “Her parents are doctors.” The missing verb is called a zero copula. “Zero” means that the relationship is grammatically present even though no verb form appears.
The omission is carefully limited. First and second persons require vagyok, vagy, vagyunk, vagytok; past and future require forms of volt and lesz; location and existence use van/vannak in the third person as well. The usage page applies these forms in conversation and description. Unless labeled otherwise, this page describes neutral modern standard Hungarian.
The core present-tense contrast
A noun or adjective can be the predicate: it says what the subject is or what quality it has. In the present indicative, third-person ő “he/she” and ők “they” have no overt copula.
Anna orvos, Péter pedig ápoló.
Anna is a doctor, while Péter is a nurse.
A rendelő világos és csendes.
The clinic is bright and quiet.
A gyerekek kíváncsiak, a szüleik pedig türelmesek.
The children are curious, while their parents are patient.
The predicate still marks number. Singular orvos, kíváncsi contrasts with plural orvosok, kíváncsiak. Hungarian does not mark masculine or feminine agreement: Anna orvos and Péter orvos use exactly the same predicate form.
Compact paradigm: present, past, and future
The following paradigm uses tanár “teacher.” Pronouns are shown to make person visible; in ordinary speech they are often omitted when the verb ending is clear.
| Person | Present | Past | Future / becoming |
|---|---|---|---|
| én | tanár vagyok | tanár voltam | tanár leszek |
| te | tanár vagy | tanár voltál | tanár leszel |
| ő | tanár ∅ | tanár volt | tanár lesz |
| mi | tanárok vagyunk | tanárok voltunk | tanárok leszünk |
| ti | tanárok vagytok | tanárok voltatok | tanárok lesztek |
| ők | tanárok ∅ | tanárok voltak | tanárok lesznek |
Only the two third-person present cells contain ∅. The other forms are overt and agree with the subject. Predicate tanár is singular with én, te, ő, while tanárok is plural with mi, ti, ők.
Tanár vagyok, a nővérem pedig mérnök.
I'm a teacher, and my older sister is an engineer.
Ti is egyetemisták vagytok?
Are you university students too?
Hungarian can omit én, te, mi, ti because vagyok, vagy, vagyunk, vagytok already identify the person. The predicate cannot replace the verb in these persons: bare Tanár means “teacher” or, in context, “He/She is a teacher,” not normally “I am a teacher.”
Bare and definite nominal predicates
A bare profession or class noun presents membership: Anna orvos “Anna is a doctor.” A definite predicate identifies which known person fills a role: Anna az orvos, akit hívtunk “Anna is the doctor we called.” Both use the zero copula in the third-person present.
Bence szakács, de ma ő a műszakvezető.
Bence is a chef, but today he is the shift supervisor.
The article contrast belongs to the noun phrase, not to the copula. Hungarian does not insert van just because the predicate is definite. English uses a/the and is; Hungarian uses the article when needed but leaves the third-person present copula unexpressed.
Plural predicates and stem behavior
With an ordinary plural subject, a predicate noun or adjective is also plural: A testvéreim tanárok, A termek világosak. Its plural follows the normal stem class and vowel harmony: tanár + -ok, mérnök + -ök, színész + -ek, fiatal + -ok.
A szüleim mérnökök, a nagyszüleim pedig tanárok voltak.
My parents are engineers, while my grandparents were teachers.
Ezek a szobák kicsik, de világosak.
These rooms are small but bright.
The vowels are not gender endings. Mérnökök is plural because the subject is plural and uses ö because of front rounded harmony. A mixed-gender group and a same-gender group take the same form.
After a numeral, the noun phrase is grammatically singular, and a nominal or adjective predicate is normally singular too: A két testvérem orvos, A három szoba világos. Arithmetic plurality does not automatically license orvosok or világosak here.
A két új kolléga tapasztalt mérnök.
The two new colleagues are experienced engineers.
Past identity with volt
Past nominal predicates require the past forms voltam, voltál, volt, voltunk, voltatok, voltak. The zero-copula rule does not extend into the past.
Régen ez az épület iskola volt.
This building used to be a school.
Tavaly még gyakornokok voltunk, most már teljes állásban dolgozunk.
Last year we were still interns; now we work full-time.
Third-person singular volt and plural voltak differ overtly. In the plural example, both predicate gyakornokok and verb voltunk carry number/person information. Hungarian tolerates that apparent repetition because the two markers belong to different constituents.
Future identity and change with lesz
Future or resulting status uses leszek, leszel, lesz, leszünk, lesztek, lesznek. Depending on context, lesz can mean “will be” or “become.”
A lányom jövőre egyetemista lesz.
My daughter will be a university student next year.
Ha minden jól megy, két év múlva orvosok leszünk.
If everything goes well, we'll be doctors in two years.
There is no present lesz counterpart in a current identity sentence. Anna orvos says she is a doctor now; Anna orvos lesz places that status in the future or presents entry into it.
Location and existence require van/vannak
The zero copula applies to noun and adjective predicates, not to neutral statements of location or existence. Use van with a singular third-person subject and vannak with an ordinary plural subject.
Az orvos a rendelőben van.
The doctor is in the consulting room.
A betegek a váróteremben vannak.
The patients are in the waiting room.
An existential sentence commonly begins with van/vannak or places the indefinite noun after it:
Van egy gyógyszertár a pályaudvar mellett.
There is a pharmacy beside the railway station.
Vannak még szabad helyek az esti előadásra.
There are still seats available for the evening performance.
Compare Anna orvos “Anna is a doctor” with Van egy orvos a folyosón “There is a doctor in the corridor.” In the second sentence, van asserts presence; it is not a forbidden third-person copula.
Negative classification uses nem without a copula: Anna nem orvos. Negative location or existence normally uses nincs/nincsenek: Anna nincs itt; Nincsenek szabad helyek. These forms are not built by simply adding nem before van.
Péter nem ügyvéd, és ma nincs is az irodában.
Péter isn't a lawyer, and he isn't in the office today either.
Segmentation exercise
Identify the predicate, any overt copula, and the source of number marking.
- Anna orvos = singular subject + singular noun predicate + present third-person ∅.
- A szülei orvosok = plural subject + orvos + -ok
- present third-person ∅.
- Tanár vagyok = singular predicate + first-person present vagyok.
- Tanárok voltunk = tanár + -ok
- first-person plural past voltunk.
- Orvos lesz = singular predicate + third-person future/result lesz.
- A betegek bent vannak = plural subject + locative predicate + vannak.
- Van egy kérdés = existential van
- indefinite singular noun.
- A két jelölt tapasztalt = quantified singular subject + singular adjective predicate + present third-person ∅.
Common Mistakes
1. Copying English is into a present third-person classification.
❌ Anna van orvos.
Incorrect — a present third-person noun predicate uses the zero copula.
✅ Anna orvos.
Anna is a doctor.
2. Omitting the required first-person copula.
❌ Én tanár.
Incorrect as a complete neutral statement — first person requires vagyok.
✅ Tanár vagyok.
I'm a teacher.
3. Leaving the predicate singular with an ordinary plural subject.
❌ A szüleim orvos.
Incorrect — the plural subject requires plural predicate orvosok.
✅ A szüleim orvosok.
My parents are doctors.
4. Extending zero copula to a location.
❌ Az orvos most a rendelőben.
Incomplete as a neutral location statement — van is required.
✅ Az orvos most a rendelőben van.
The doctor is in the consulting room now.
5. Copying English plural agreement after a numeral.
❌ A két testvérem orvosok.
Incorrect — the quantified noun phrase and predicate are grammatically singular.
✅ A két testvérem orvos.
My two siblings are doctors.
Key Takeaways
Present third-person noun and adjective predicates use no overt copula: Anna orvos; a szülei orvosok. First and second persons use forms of vagy, past uses volt, and future or resulting status uses lesz. Predicate number follows grammatical number, with singular after numeral phrases. Location and existence retain van/vannak, while negative location and existence use nincs/nincsenek. None of these predicates marks gender.
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Start learning Hungarian →Related Topics
- Nominal Predicates and the Zero Copula: Meanings and UsageA1 — Use Hungarian zero-copula predicates for identity and qualities while keeping overt forms for person, time, location, and existence.
- Nominal Predicates and the Zero Copula: Contrasts and Learner TrapsA2 — Distinguish present-tense zero copulas from overt forms of van, past volt, future lesz, existential clauses, and plural predicates.
- van, Zero Copula, volt, and lesz: Forms and Core PatternA1 — Build Hungarian clauses of identity, state, location, existence, past being, future being, and becoming.
- Nominal, Adjectival, Existential, and Locative Predicates: Forms and Core PatternA1 — Form Hungarian identity, property, location, existence, and possession clauses with zero copulas, van, and their tense and negative forms.
- Genderlessness, Singulars, and Plurals: Forms and Core PatternA1 — Form Hungarian singular and plural nouns, use gender-neutral ő, and make nominal and adjectival predicates agree in number.
- Singular Nouns after Numerals and Quantifiers: Forms and Core PatternA1 — Form Hungarian noun phrases with cardinals, quantity words, paired body parts, singular predicates, and later plural reference.