A bakelitlemez itt van.

to be

Breakdown of A bakelitlemez itt van.

• itt: here
• az: the
• bakelitlemez: a vinyl record

Questions & Answers about A bakelitlemez itt van.

What does A mean at the beginning of the sentence?

A is the definite article in Hungarian, equivalent to the in English.

So A bakelitlemez means the vinyl record.

Hungarian has two singular definite articles:

• a before most consonant sounds
• az before vowel sounds

For example:

• a könyv = the book
• az alma = the apple

What does bakelitlemez mean, and why is it one word?

Bakelitlemez means vinyl record or gramophone record.

It is a compound noun, which is very common in Hungarian. Hungarian often joins words together where English would use two separate words.

Here:

• bakelit = Bakelite / vinyl (historically referring to the material)
• lemez = disc / record / plate

So bakelitlemez is literally something like Bakelite disc.

This kind of one-word compound is normal in Hungarian.

Why is there no separate word for is in some Hungarian sentences, but here there is van?