Az útvonal hosszú.

The route is long.

Breakdown of Az útvonal hosszú.

• az: the
• hosszú: long
• útvonal: a planned route

Questions & Answers about Az útvonal hosszú.

Why is the article az here instead of a?

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.

Why is there no word for is in the sentence?

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.