A közös költség nagy.

In Hungarian, the verb to be is usually left out in the present tense, third person when you are saying something like X is Y.

So:

• A közös költség nagy. = The common cost is high / big.

But in other persons, Hungarian does use the verb:

• Én magas vagyok. = I am tall.
• Te magas vagy. = You are tall.
• Ő magas. = He/she is tall.

So the missing is here is completely normal.

A is the Hungarian definite article, so it means the.

Hungarian has two forms of the:

• a
• az

Which one is used depends on the sound that follows:

• a before most consonant sounds
• az before vowel sounds

So:

• a közös költség = the common cost
• az autó = the car

Because közös begins with a consonant sound, Hungarian uses a.

Literally, it means common/shared cost.

In real-life Hungarian, közös költség is a very common expression, especially in apartment buildings or condominiums. It usually refers to the shared building fee / maintenance fee / service charge paid by residents.

So depending on context, it can mean:

• shared cost
• common charges
• maintenance fee
• service charge

Even if the meaning has already been given to the learner, it is useful to know that this is a fixed everyday expression in Hungarian.

Because közös is describing the noun költség.

Hungarian adjectives normally come before the noun, just like in English:

• nagy ház = big house
• jó könyv = good book
• közös költség = common/shared cost

So the noun phrase is built very straightforwardly here:

• közös = common/shared
• költség = cost/expense/fee

No—Hungarian adjectives do not agree with the noun in the same way they do in many European languages.

So even though költség is a noun, nagy stays just nagy.

Compare:

• nagy ház = big house
• nagy házak = big houses

The adjective does not change just because the noun is singular or plural.

The same is true when it is the predicate:

• A ház nagy. = The house is big.
• A házak nagyok. = The houses are big.

Notice that in predicate position, plural can show up on the adjective (nagyok), but in this sentence the subject is singular, so nagy is correct.

Literally, nagy means big or large, but in context it often corresponds to high in English.

So:

• A közös költség nagy.

can naturally mean:

• The common cost is high.
• The service charge is high.

English often says high for prices, costs, and fees, while Hungarian can use nagy in those contexts.

Yes. Hungarian word order is flexible, and changing it often changes the focus or emphasis, not the basic meaning.

For example:

• A közös költség nagy.
  Neutral statement: The common cost is high.

• Nagy a közös költség.
  More emphasis on nagy: The common cost is high / It’s the common cost that is high.

So the version you have is a normal, neutral way to say it.

A rough pronunciation guide:

• közös ≈ kuh-zhush
• költség ≈ kuhl-chayg

A few important points:

• ö is a rounded vowel that English does not have exactly.
• zs is like the s in measure.
• cs is like ch in church.
• é is a long vowel, roughly like ay in say, but cleaner and tenser.

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

• KÖ-zös
• KÖLT-ség
• NA-gy

In Hungarian, accent marks are very important because they show different vowels, not just stress.

In this sentence:

• ö is a separate vowel from o
• é is a separate vowel from e

So these are different words if you change the accents.

For example:

• e and é are not just short and long versions in a casual sense—they are distinct sounds.
• o, ó, ö, ő are also distinct vowels.

So you should learn the accented letters as full letters of the alphabet, not as optional marks.

Not exactly.

Költség usually means:

• cost
• expense
• fee

It is not the most direct word for a store price. For price, Hungarian often uses ár.

So:

• ár = price
• költség = cost / expense / fee

In közös költség, the idea is more like a fee or shared expense, not a simple sticker price.

Yes, literally it can.

Word-for-word:

• A = the
• közös = shared/common
• költség = cost/expense
• nagy = big/large

So a very literal translation would be:

• The shared expense is large.

But in natural English, depending on context, you would usually say:

• The shared cost is high.
• The service charge is high.
• The maintenance fee is high.

So the best translation depends on the situation, even though the Hungarian sentence itself is simple.

Yes, completely natural.

It is a full Hungarian sentence with:

• a subject: A közös költség
• a predicate adjective: nagy

Even without an explicit word for is, the sentence is fully grammatical and idiomatic in Hungarian.

It sounds like a normal everyday statement, especially in contexts involving rent, apartments, or building fees.