Questions & Answers about A kitartás nagyon fontos.
Why is there no word for is in A kitartás nagyon fontos?
Because Hungarian usually drops the present-tense verb to be in the 3rd person singular and plural when the predicate is a noun or an adjective.
So:
- A kitartás nagyon fontos. = Persistence is very important.
This is normal Hungarian, not an incomplete sentence.
You do use forms of to be in other situations, for example:
- Fontos vagyok. = I am important.
- Fontos vagy. = You are important.
- A kitartás fontos volt. = Persistence was important.
- A kitartás fontos lesz. = Persistence will be important.
So in this sentence, the missing is is completely expected.
What does A mean here? Is it really the?
Yes, a is the definite article, equivalent to English the.
But Hungarian often uses the definite article where English would use no article, especially with general or abstract ideas.
So:
- A kitartás nagyon fontos.
is most naturally translated as:
- Persistence is very important.
not necessarily:
- The persistence is very important.
Hungarian likes the article here; English usually does not.
A useful comparison:
- A zene fontos. = Music is important.
- A türelem hasznos. = Patience is useful.
What exactly is kitartás grammatically?