A szélirány fontos.

• a = the
• szélirány = wind direction
• fontos = important

So the full sentence means The wind direction is important.

In Hungarian, the verb to be is often left out in the present tense when the subject is third person singular or plural.

So instead of saying something like A szélirány fontos van, Hungarian simply says:

A szélirány fontos.

This is the normal way to say The wind direction is important.

But in other persons, the verb does appear:

• Fontos vagyok = I am important
• Fontos vagy = you are important

Hungarian has two forms of the definite article:

• a before a consonant sound
• az before a vowel sound

szélirány starts with sz, which is a consonant sound, so the correct article is a:

a szélirány

Compare:

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

Yes, szélirány is one word. It is a compound noun made from:

• szél = wind
• irány = direction

Together, szélirány literally means wind-direction.

Hungarian often forms compounds this way, and they are usually written as a single word.

This is the neutral, straightforward word order in Hungarian for this kind of sentence:

A szélirány fontos.

Literally: The wind direction important.

The subject comes first, and then the adjective/predicate.

However, Hungarian word order is flexible and can change emphasis. For example:

Fontos a szélirány.

This still means The wind direction is important, but it puts more focus on important.

A rough pronunciation guide:

• A = short aw
• szélirány ≈ sayl-ee-raany
• fontos ≈ fon-tosh

A few key pronunciation points:

• sz is pronounced like English s in see
• plain s in Hungarian sounds like English sh
• é is a long ay sound
• á is a longer, more open a sound
• stress is normally on the first syllable of each word

So:

• SZÉLirány
• FONtos

It is in the basic dictionary form, often called the nominative form. There is no case ending on it here.

That is because szélirány is the subject of the sentence:

A szélirány fontos. = The wind direction is important.

If it had another role in the sentence, it might take a case ending:

• A szélirányt figyelem. = I observe the wind direction.
  Here szélirányt has the object ending -t.

Not in this sentence. Hungarian adjectives do not change for gender, because Hungarian has no grammatical gender.

In predicative use like this, the adjective stays simple in the singular:

A szélirány fontos.

If the subject is plural, the adjective usually becomes plural too in this kind of sentence:

• A szélirányok fontosak. = The wind directions are important.

So:

• singular: fontos
• plural: fontosak

In most normal situations, if you mean the wind direction, you should keep the article:

A szélirány fontos.

Without the article, Szélirány fontos sounds unnatural in ordinary speech unless it appears in a special context such as a heading, note, label, or very compressed style.

So for regular sentence building, use:

A szélirány fontos.

Both are correct and can mean the same thing, but the emphasis is different.

• A szélirány fontos.
  Neutral statement: The wind direction is important.

• Fontos a szélirány.
  More emphasis on important, something like: The wind direction is important / What matters is the wind direction.

Hungarian often uses word order to show focus or emphasis, much more than English does.