A rezsi olyan nagy, mint a közös költség.

Rezsi is an everyday Hungarian word for household running costs, especially utilities such as electricity, gas, water, and heating. Depending on context, it can mean:

• utility costs in general
• the utility bill
• household overhead expenses

So even if the English translation uses utilities, Hungarian usually treats rezsi as one collective thing.

Because rezsi is a collective noun in Hungarian. It refers to the whole category of utility expenses as a single concept.

So:

• a rezsi = the utilities / utility costs
• not normally a plural form in this meaning

This is very common in Hungarian: one singular noun can correspond to an English plural idea.

Közös költség literally means common cost, but in real-life Hungarian it usually refers to the monthly common charges / maintenance fee in an apartment building or condominium.

It often covers things like:

• stairwell cleaning
• elevator maintenance
• shared electricity
• building upkeep
• garbage collection
• other communal expenses

So it is a fixed housing-related expression, not just any random shared cost.

In Hungarian, the verb van (is) is usually left out in the present tense, third person when you are saying that something is something or that something is adjective-like.

So:

• A rezsi nagy. = The utilities are high / The utility cost is high.
• literally, there is no spoken is

That is why:

• A rezsi olyan nagy, mint a közös költség.

has no separate word for is.

But in other tenses, the verb appears:

• A rezsi nagy volt. = The utilities were high.

Olyan ... mint ... is a common Hungarian pattern meaning as ... as ...

In this sentence:

• olyan = so / such / that kind of
• nagy = big / large / high
• mint = as / like

So:

• olyan nagy, mint ... = as big/high as ...

The structure is:

• [noun] + olyan + adjective + mint + [comparison]

Example:

• A ház olyan nagy, mint az iskola. = The house is as big as the school.

Yes, nagy literally means big or large, but Hungarian often uses it more broadly to mean:

• large in amount
• considerable
• high

With expenses, bills, problems, workload, and similar things, nagy can sound natural.

So here nagy means something closer to:

• high
• large
• substantial

A learner should also know that with prices and fees, magas (high) is also common. So a Hungarian speaker might also say something like:

• A rezsi ugyanolyan magas, mint a közös költség.

The given sentence is understandable; nagy just expresses the idea through size/amount rather than literal height.

A is the Hungarian definite article.

So:

• a rezsi = the utilities / the utility cost
• a közös költség = the common charges / the maintenance fee

Hungarian uses definite articles quite regularly, and there is no grammatical gender, so a does not mean masculine or feminine.

The two forms are:

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

For example:

• a rezsi
• az ár

Not in this sentence. After mint in this kind of comparison, the noun usually stays in its basic form.

So:

• mint a közös költség

has no extra ending on költség.

That is convenient for English speakers: you can often think of mint here as simply introducing the second half of the comparison.

Because Hungarian adjectives do not change for gender, and they do not behave like English adjectives with separate comparative agreement patterns.

Here nagy stays nagy because:

• Hungarian has no grammatical gender
• the adjective does not have to agree in gender
• in this predicate use, it simply remains in its base form

So you do not need to worry about changing nagy to match rezsi or költség.

Yes. Hungarian word order is flexible, and it often reflects topic and emphasis rather than a fixed English-style pattern.

The sentence:

• A rezsi olyan nagy, mint a közös költség.

makes a rezsi the starting point, the thing being discussed.

You could reverse the two nouns:

• A közös költség olyan nagy, mint a rezsi.

That would still be understandable, but now a közös költség is the topic.

So the core comparison stays similar, but the speaker’s focus changes.

No. Hungarian has a few ways to express this idea.

Possible alternatives include:

• A rezsi akkora, mint a közös költség.
• A rezsi ugyanolyan magas, mint a közös költség.

These differ slightly:

• olyan nagy = as big / as large
• akkora = that big / of that size/amount
• ugyanolyan magas = equally high

So the given sentence is fine, but Hungarian speakers may choose a slightly different adjective depending on style and what they want to emphasize.

You simply add nem before the adjective phrase:

• A rezsi nem olyan nagy, mint a közös költség.

This means:

• The utility cost is not as high as the common charges.

So the pattern is:

• nem olyan + adjective + mint ...
• not as ... as ...