Az útvonal hosszú.

Hungarian has two forms of the definite article:

• a before a consonant
• az before a vowel

Since útvonal begins with the vowel ú, the correct form is az útvonal.

Compare:

• a ház = the house
• az autó = the car

This change is only about pronunciation flow; it does not change the meaning.

In Hungarian, the verb to be is often omitted in the present tense, third person.

So where English says:

• The route is long

Hungarian simply says:

• Az útvonal hosszú.

This happens with sentences like X is Y when talking about the present tense in third person:

• A ház nagy. = The house is big.
• A leves meleg. = The soup is hot.

But in other persons, Hungarian does use the verb:

• Én fáradt vagyok. = I am tired.
• Te fáradt vagy. = You are tired.

So the missing is is completely normal here.

Here, hosszú is not directly modifying the noun inside a noun phrase; it is the predicate adjective.

So:

• Az útvonal hosszú. = The route is long.

But if you want to say the long route, then the adjective comes before the noun:

• a hosszú útvonal = the long route

This is similar to the difference between:

• The route is long.
• the long route

So the position changes depending on the sentence structure.

Not exactly.

• út usually means road, way, or trip/journey depending on context.
• útvonal means route, itinerary, or course/path to follow.

So útvonal is more specific: it refers to the planned or actual route from one place to another.

For example:

• Ez egy hosszú út. = This is a long road/journey.
• Ez egy hosszú útvonal. = This is a long route.

The word útvonal is built from:

• út = road/way
• vonal = line

So it literally has the sense of a route line.

A rough pronunciation guide:

• útvonal ≈ oot-vaw-nawl
• hosszú ≈ hos-soo

A few important points:

• ú is a long vowel, like a longer oo sound.
• sz in Hungarian is pronounced like English s.
• s in Hungarian is pronounced like English sh.

So in hosszú:

• h o ssz ú
• the ssz combination is pronounced as a long s sound

Also, Hungarian stress is almost always on the first syllable:

• ÚTvonal
• HOSszú

The accent mark shows vowel length.

So:

• u and ú are different vowels in Hungarian
• ú is held longer than u

This difference matters because vowel length can change the word entirely.

For example, in Hungarian, short and long vowels are separate sounds, not just spelling variations.

So in this sentence:

• útvonal
• hosszú

the long ú should be pronounced clearly longer than a short u.

Yes. Hungarian word order is flexible, and changing it often changes the emphasis.

• Az útvonal hosszú. is a neutral statement: The route is long.
• Hosszú az útvonal. puts more emphasis on long: The route is long / It’s the route that is long.

So both are grammatical, but they are not exactly the same in focus.

Hungarian often uses word order to show what is being emphasized rather than relying only on intonation.

In this sentence, hosszú is in its basic form because it is a predicate adjective.

Hungarian adjectives do not change for gender, and they usually do not change for number in this kind of sentence.

So:

• Az útvonal hosszú. = The route is long.
• Az útvonalak hosszúak. = The routes are long.

Notice that in the plural predicate, the adjective often does take a plural ending:

• hosszú → hosszúak

But in the singular sentence you gave, the basic form hosszú is exactly what you expect.

No. Hungarian does not have grammatical gender like many European languages do.

So útvonal is not masculine, feminine, or neuter. It is simply a noun.

That means:

• no gender-based article changes
• no adjective agreement by gender
• no need to memorize nouns as masculine/feminine/neuter

This is often a relief for English speakers.

Yes.

• Az útvonal hosszú. = The route is long.
• Ez az útvonal hosszú. = This route is long.

Adding ez makes it more specific and points to a particular route.

A small grammar note: in Hungarian, when ez or az is used with a noun, the definite article also appears:

• ez a ház = this house
• az a könyv = that book
• ez az útvonal = this route

So that doubled-looking structure is normal in Hungarian.